New Hardinge Toolroom Lathe (hlv-h) Is Giving Me Grief…

By the way,I see no reason why you can't use other makes of gears on the outboard gear mounting banjo of the HLVH. Some of their gears cost about $500.00 a pair,and that is just beyond what I am willing to pay. But,I have lots of gears from other lathes I have acquired over he years. As long as they mesh,they can be used. The Hardinge gears have a special,shortened 20º tooth,which should not be used with other gears. They did that so you'd HAVE to use their parts,I think! Well,in other places,like inside the apron,I would only use Hardinge gears,but on the outboard banjo,there is no reason I can see why you can't use other gears that mesh properly.
 
Patience Smoke, patience! There are 4 of us in my locale who have restored HLV-Hs to like new condition. In the beginning my first resto was a bit intimidating, but the more I disassembled the more I appreciated the design of these machines. My advice is to find the maintenance manual as it was an invaluable tool during disassembly and assembly and maintenance. I believe Hardinge absolutely had maintenance in mind during the design phase of the HLV-H. True, parts from the OEM if available are quite expensive but there are workarounds. Gears and shafts are a great example, as the pinion shaft is north of $400. I needed one because a previous owner used water based coolant, which is one of the biggest no no's for these lathes since the apron/gearbox is not a completely sealed unit. The pinion shaft was fine but the water in the gearbox ruined every gear inside, including the pinion gear. The fix was simple and I had a guy cut me a new gear, and I keyed it and pressed it onto the turned down old gear. All gears for an HLV-H are cut to a dual pitch of 22/29 with a PA of 20 degrees. They had their reasons for this and I can tell you it wasn't to be different. I could go on on this topic but I just find these lathes to be the finest to be had. Stick with it, there are lots of people out there who can and are willing to help you any way they can.
 
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