Chevalier 2040 CNC Bed Mill Restoration

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Well after 2 hours of cleaning and $20 in cleaning product the counterweight chain...still has chips in it. Then I got smart and found I can just buy brand new chain for $60 on McMaster-Carr. I ordered new chain and chain connecting links!

Evaporusted the Z axis servo pulley.



New 24mm leveling bolts.



Evaporusted the leveling feet and Y way cover brackets. I found a 6th leveling pad (that was missing) that's close on ebay, inbound.



Primer applied

 

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Rust arrgh!



A 1/2 inch breaker bar, puller and ball peen hammer later...get some Evaporust you rust mother!

 

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Time to catch up the thread to my progress. I decided the head needs to come off in prep for the Z saddle removal. So I can remove the top casting holding up the Z ball screw for cleaning, painting up top. So I began disassembly of the head.

Here I'm pulling the top bearing (1 of 9 bearings in the head dang) which seats into the aluminum top cover. The bearings are 'slight press fit' according to the manual so they are not that difficult to remove.



2nd bearing looks simple enough.



DISASTER AVOIDED - I expected this to come right off but it wasn't budging once it got to the top. You can get yourself into serious broken part trouble with a breaker bar...my about to break something spidey sense was tingling so I BACKED OFF!

On closer inspection there's a screw holding the brass key to the VS top half pulley which I was pressing against with the puller. Removed and then...nope something still isnt' right. Turns out there's a 2nd screw through the key into the VS top half pulley that's covered up by the bearing, sneaky. I had to select smaller puller plug to press against that would stay clear of the key.

In videos these are just supposed to pop off without a puller as it's supposed to move up and down. But after 28 years this one was too snug to yank off by hand.



DISASTER AVOIDED - Again it turns out this mill while similar to Bridgeports has some key differences. Again this was supposed to just pop apart but wasn't budging and I backed off trying to muscle it. Good thing, they bearing is actually locked in place with this steel cover plate that's completely hidded under the VS bottom pulley, sneaky. First I had to push out the shaft, then pull the pulley. After the bearing cover plate was removed a few whacks with a rubber mallet and the bearing popped out.



Much better. I don't think this machine was ever taken apart and cleaned.



Here's the head front plate with the speed dial, gears, etc. removed. It was black and packed with grease.



Tonight I have a full batch coming out of the Evaporust tank. Half that batch includes 6 Bison NMTB 40 taper tool holders I found in a bucket that came with the mill. The spindle VS top and bottom pulley will be getting dunked overnight.

Parts Inbound

1. All 9 bearings for the head including a pair of P4 (ABEC 7) angular contact bearings for the spindle.
2. The 2 PTFE oil-less bushings for the moving half of the VS pulleys.
3. A leveling pad to replace the missing 6th pad.
4. VS belt and timing belt.

Parts Landed

1. New chains and links for the counterweight.
2. Various screws and bolts replacing rusted originals.

 

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Below the YUCK cream tobacco smoke stain original color. Above it the new 'USA White' color it will become! I thought about machine grey but that's just too much grey with the gigantic table.

 

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Enamel, fully cures in 2 months? Let's speed things up, get in there and dry.

 

[pontiac428]

Well that's a novel use for single gang knockout enclosures.

 

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Well that's a novel use for single gang knockout enclosures.

Perfect as I was going to bake them in the oven and they only cost like $2.

 

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Speaking of which...the paint on these cast iron blocks (part of the counterweight system) was still soft after 2 days and I needed to now paint the bottoms. Got tired of waiting on paint to dry so in the oven they went at 175 degrees. I baked them for 15 minutes under power, then turned the oven off and let it cool down with the door closed. 5 hours later I took them out, even the fresh paint is cured!

The oven racks were straining under the weight, like bro what the hell?

 

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Some of the new bearings arrived today, sexy bearing pics to follow.

On a sour note Mcmaster-Carr FAILED me. The claimed made in Japan bearing, that cost 2x what an NSK bearing cost everywhere else, looks like the cheapest made in CHINA bearing ever made. It was hilariously a failure. No markings whatsoever on the bearing. The seals were malformed and there were gaping openings in them. Clearly Mcmaster-Carr got scammed on those. They issued an immediate refund. I may have been ahem, robust in my criticism of it when I contacted them.

 

[matthewsx]

McMaster will make it right. And feedback will be made to the supplier and buyer I suspect.