# M head rattling after rebuild



## seanb (Feb 4, 2017)

Its me again with another m head problem 

I replaced all the bearings in the head because of noise only to discover that the noise is worse.

When I cut I get a loud rattling sound. I have narrowed it down to the female spline shaft that goes through the step pulley that drives the spindle. 

Does anyone know how to take the rattle out or where to get new drive spline shaft.


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## chips&more (Feb 4, 2017)

I can understand your frustration and on top of that the time and money that went into it. Have you thought about getting a J head and selling the M to recoup some of your $. I know it’s hard to give up any toys that are acquired (believe me I know!), but the J head is sooooooo much better…Dave.


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## seanb (Feb 4, 2017)

I have thought about it

I got the m for $750

Put about $400 in it

How much do you think I could sell it for?

I would keep the new motor $150

It's all pretty now with all the parts there


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## Bob Korves (Feb 4, 2017)

You might try putting some fairly heavy grease like NLGI 2 on the spindle splines where they go through the pulley, and see if that helps to quiet it down...


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## Timpmandan (Jul 3, 2017)

Did you try anything or have any luck with this? I'm about to deal with this same issue. One idea I have is to use some thin "teflon tape" that timpanist use on their drums on the bearing edge where the head (skin) meets the copper bowl. It removes friction and sound when the head is tightened. I have some that is thin enough I think if I ran it vertically up a few of the splines it may help. It may need to be replaced every once in a while... (If it works, I'll report back here.) 
For those of you interested, this is teflon tape (not the plumbing kind) - 
http://www.lonestarpercussion.com/C...1839/Yamaha-W6692000-Timpani-Teflon-Tape.html


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## Technical Ted (Jul 3, 2017)

Interesting thread. I have a M head that I mounted on my Brown & Sharpe 2B horizontal mill and it makes the same backlash noise in the spline. I've gotten used to it and just tolerate it, but if I could come up with a simple/cheap way of eliminating it I most likely would! 

Ted


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## Technical Ted (Jul 3, 2017)

Just did a quick search and didn't come up with much except for this (picture on bottom of page):   http://www.angelfire.com/sc3/shapeaholic/Rockwellmill.html

Interesting... 

Ted


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## Timpmandan (Jul 4, 2017)

Very interesting idea. If my teflon tape idea doesn't work you can bet I'll try that spring trick!


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## AGCB97 (Jul 4, 2017)

chips&more said:


> ...Have you thought about getting a J head and selling the M to recoup some of your $. I know it’s hard to give up any toys that are acquired (believe me I know!), but the J head is sooooooo much better…Dave.



When I bought my Bridgeport I knew there were parts missing for the power quill feed and thought I probably would not need it ever anyway. A few boring jobs on the mill and it was sorely missed.

So I decided to look into getting it working. A little disassembly to see exactly what was needed and looking up those parts on machinery sites or EBAY, I quickly determined that the cost was well over what I was willing to pay. But while I was on EBAY I came across a  quill housing complete that was removed from a "tracer unit". It looked like it had everything I needed by the pictures so I decided to spend the $295 and take a chance. I did not realize the truck shipping (150#) would be $120. So now I had over $400 into it.

To my surprise that unit contained EVERYTHING I needed to make my mill 100%

The spindle that was in it looked as though it had new bearings on it and was a Ericson QC30 in good condition. I put it on EBAY for $350 and excepted an offer of $290, I paid $22 shipping. My total expenditure now down to $132.

Put the whole back on EBAY as a "for parts, not working" and sold a variety of lever handles etc. for about $32. Total expenditure now down to $100

Back on EBAY and sold the rest for $100 PLUS shipping I now have all my money back and a complete mill in my shop!

I usually don't do very well as a 'wheeler dealer' but this time it worked

Aaron


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## Timpmandan (Jul 6, 2017)

FYI two 6" strips of the teflon tape placed 120 degrees from each other over both a raised and lowered spline made a huge difference! I tried three pieces initially but it was too tight to even get the guard housing back on to the head. I don't know about longevity yet, but I have plenty of this tape from maintaining timpani... I'll report back in a while. If anybody else is interested in doing this, I'd recommend contacting a teflon PTFE adhesive maker and ask for a thin sample. As it is a roll of tape in my form, I can't send people just small pieces. I'm sure different machines will have differing amounts of wear, so more or less tape may be needed. I can measure the thickness of the stuff I used (thinnest I had) if anybody needs that info.


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## seanb (Jul 25, 2017)

I tried the spring idea but that didnt work so I drilled and tapped the drive pulley for 2 set screws and tightened them up. rattling went away but now I cant move the quill up and down. I just use the table now to get Z movement. I am seriously thinking about selling it. Its a good strong machine but i want powerdownfeed and bigger tools than 1/2 shank


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## Timpmandan (Jul 26, 2017)

seanb said:


> I tried the spring idea but that didnt work so I drilled and tapped the drive pulley for 2 set screws and tightened them up. rattling went away but now I cant move the quill up and down. I just use the table now to get Z movement. I am seriously thinking about selling it. Its a good strong machine but i want powerdownfeed and bigger tools than 1/2 shank


Have you considered trying set screws that have a teflon or nylon insert? I wish I could share my tape with everyone because it makes a wonderful difference in sound and even feels better having just enough slip in the splines to feel tight.


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## Technical Ted (Jul 27, 2017)

Have you got a deep enough threaded hole that you can put a spring loaded ball in it to push against the spline? Or a spring loaded softer insert, like teflon or delrin. Over time, this would most likely wear a groove in the spline, but it might work???

Ted


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## Silverbullet (Jul 27, 2017)

Would a couple of orings help stop the rattle. Just thinking


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