The power feed on my mill works smooth and quietly but it would not stay engaged unless I held the lever in the "on" position. It would just pop back to "off" as if the detent was worn out. The levers had obviously been repaired/replaced/modified at some point in the distant past. They didn't look like the parts diagram.
I couldn't find any information about this control unit except Mr. Pete commented about how complicated it looked. Also there was no obvious way to lube it and it was not included in the SB lubrication chart. Surely something with that many moving pieces needs lube!
Two bolts and two set screws later and I had the whole thing on the bench for inspection. First off, if it had ever been lubed, that was long dried up and there was surface rust on a lot of the pieces. A pass through the parts washer and the rust remover (Metal Restore ~Evapo-Rust) and it was looking pretty good. I didn't take the detents out of the plungers as the threads were staked down. After a good blast of WD-40 to push out any water from the cleanup they were both working well but showed signs of significant wear on the points. The holes in the gear that the detents drop into were also worn on the edges, giving to a ramp effect. This all contributed to the detents not locking down properly.
The shafts were an absolute mess where the handles attached as it was obvious that someone in the distant past didn't understand it and tried to FORCE it to work. Grrr....
Anyway, with everything de-burred as much as possible it was time to lube it up and put it back together. Now the horror of what I have started is sinking into my brain! First I had to figure out how it is supposed to work, then see if I can tell why it doesn't work. I was hoping that it was a combination of the dry rusty parts and the oversized homemade handles that were working against those tiny detents. Hopefully the wear was not so bad that parts need replacing. I had the parts diagram, how hard can this be?
Well, let me tell you, it wasn't easy. I didn't keep track of how many times and how many different ways I tried. Eventually it started to make sense and then the correct sequence of assembly started to appear. Eventually I figured out that there is only ONE order of assembly that works. Once back on the machine, it still won't lock on as described in the manual, but I did discover that if I hold the release lever up while locking the drive to the on position, it will stay engaged. Both release buttons work as well as the release lever.
It was such an ordeal that I decided I had better write it down so that when I get up enough ambition to make new detents and shafts I won't have to figure it all out again. I am sure to forget most of it if not written down.
Here is a picture of the parts after de-rusting and a copy of what I wrote about putting it back together. Hopefully this will help someone.
I couldn't find any information about this control unit except Mr. Pete commented about how complicated it looked. Also there was no obvious way to lube it and it was not included in the SB lubrication chart. Surely something with that many moving pieces needs lube!
Two bolts and two set screws later and I had the whole thing on the bench for inspection. First off, if it had ever been lubed, that was long dried up and there was surface rust on a lot of the pieces. A pass through the parts washer and the rust remover (Metal Restore ~Evapo-Rust) and it was looking pretty good. I didn't take the detents out of the plungers as the threads were staked down. After a good blast of WD-40 to push out any water from the cleanup they were both working well but showed signs of significant wear on the points. The holes in the gear that the detents drop into were also worn on the edges, giving to a ramp effect. This all contributed to the detents not locking down properly.
The shafts were an absolute mess where the handles attached as it was obvious that someone in the distant past didn't understand it and tried to FORCE it to work. Grrr....
Anyway, with everything de-burred as much as possible it was time to lube it up and put it back together. Now the horror of what I have started is sinking into my brain! First I had to figure out how it is supposed to work, then see if I can tell why it doesn't work. I was hoping that it was a combination of the dry rusty parts and the oversized homemade handles that were working against those tiny detents. Hopefully the wear was not so bad that parts need replacing. I had the parts diagram, how hard can this be?
Well, let me tell you, it wasn't easy. I didn't keep track of how many times and how many different ways I tried. Eventually it started to make sense and then the correct sequence of assembly started to appear. Eventually I figured out that there is only ONE order of assembly that works. Once back on the machine, it still won't lock on as described in the manual, but I did discover that if I hold the release lever up while locking the drive to the on position, it will stay engaged. Both release buttons work as well as the release lever.
It was such an ordeal that I decided I had better write it down so that when I get up enough ambition to make new detents and shafts I won't have to figure it all out again. I am sure to forget most of it if not written down.
Here is a picture of the parts after de-rusting and a copy of what I wrote about putting it back together. Hopefully this will help someone.
