Enco 12x36 Lathe Rebuild (Picture Heavy!)

[macardoso]

I will be interested in future pictures of a project to add a dial to your ENCO lathe. For reference, this is a picture of my tailstock quill handle removed.

Dave, thank you very much for the pictures, they will become very helpful when I go to make that ring. I'll post lots of pictures about it.

Silverbullet, I've already got the machinery bug! I'm hoping to get everything set up and start seriously looking for some jobs within the next month or two. There will definitely be some tweaks to the machine but overall I am very pleased with it. I have the tools and instruments to do a nice alignment job, so if I can cut some nice parts soon I will be very pleased.

 

[macardoso]

I forgot to mention above, but here are the oils that I bought for the machine:



They were the recommended ones from Grizzly. The DTE (McMaster 2158K15) is in the spindle bearings, apron, ball oilers, and anywhere else that needs a little oil. The Vactra No. 2 (McMaster 2158K21) is on all the ways, screws, gear rack, and in the tailstock. Even though they are both ISO 68, they behave very differently. I'm not sure I know oils well enough to describe it, but the Vactra is more "sticky".

To use the oil, I bought one of these bottles (McMaster 1902T127):


It easily depresses the ball oilers and gets into small places. I also have a habit of using way to much oil, so the tiny needle keeps me under control.

I didn't think it through, but I should have bought more of those bottles. Next time I order from McMaster I will get another.


(The darker one is the Vactra)

I also ordered some ball oilers grease fittings to replace the one I broke. They are M6x1 if anyone needs a replacement.

 

[macardoso]

Awesome! I'll still count mine to make sure but it sounds like you have the correct one. That's totally worth it.

58/21 just counted. Looks like you’re in luck!

 

[macardoso]

Chapter 7: Tooling and Measurement instruments

I think that now would be a good time for a discussion of lathe tooling and measuring instruments. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts and maybe I'll learn about some stuff I never knew of. What do you consider to be an essential package of tooling for a lathe or mill?

To start off, here is the 3 jaw scroll chuck that came on the machine. I'm sure it is of Asian decent, but if anyone knows the logo, please tell me.


(I know its dirty, I'll take care of it!)

I purchased a 4 jaw independent chuck from Small Tools in Euclid, OH. I went to pick it up in person and was blown away by their customer service. They even opened the crate to clean the chuck for me. On top of that, the chuck seems to be well made and was very inexpensive.



Do you oil or grease a lathe chuck?

I purchased a MT2 and MT3 dead centers, an MT2 live center, and a MT5 to MT3 adapter (which needs some small modifications) from Shars. I really like buying from Shars. My personal opinion is they are a step up in quality from most things on Ebay and still quite affordable.



Here is the beater drill chuck that I found in the casting near the tailstock. I doubt I'll ever use it. Also as random 1" shank endmill?




And the new keyless one from Shars. I own several chucks but this one has the best fit and finish by far. I have to test the runout, but it feels really nice.


Here is the lathe's original 4 way tool post with some sort of parting blade holder. Not sure what it's for but it looks nice.




I currently have this indexable boring bar I usually use for the boring head on my mill. It uses TCMT inserts. I also have set of cheap brazed carbide boring bars for odd jobs.


My favorite tool for steel is my no name fraken-WNMG holder. I had a past employer who gave me a small tub of inserts (some completely used, some almost new) so I have a lifetime supply of WNMG inserts.


My favorite all around indexable tool is my SCLCR which uses CCMT or CCGX inserts. Trying out a CCGX (aluminum) for the first time.



For single point threading I have a MTVOR holder. Don't love this style as much as the flat threading inserts, but it gets the job done.


And finally for parting I picked up a basic HSS blade to fit my new toolholder.


Not pictured are an assortment of drills, reamers, endmills, and anything else one might need for a milling machine.

Since this got a little long, I'll follow up with a separate post about metrology instruments.

Cheers! -Mike

 

[macardoso]

Quick update from yesterday.

I lifted the lathe back onto some wood blocks (with no small amount of effort with the engine hoist) so I could fit the hoist under it.




After that I performed a rough alignment of the headstock to the bedways using a 3' piece of aluminum





This was just to improve the pulley alignment and make sure I wasn't damaging the change gears due to misalignment. I got it down to ~.0005 over 24", however this will change once the lathe is on the stand and I level the bed. I'll use a more precision method at that point.

I wired up the motor for direct connection to the outlet. I had some significant issues with the wiring and I'm pretty sure the wiring diagram on the lathe is wrong. I followed the motor name plate and it works great, but this diagram would have caused a line to line short. Glad I double checked. I'll have to investigate more into the matter. (Z1 and V2 are connected at the motor with a factory installed jumper)


I let the spindle bearings run in for about 2 hours while ramping up the speed. The oil level dropped in the sight glasses so I believe there are internal cavities that were empty that filled with oil as I ran it in. I added oil until the sight glasses were half full when the machine was running. The bearings never got above 90*F or so, so I'm very pleased. One issue is that the motor is surging slightly during operation. It is an audible change in pitch, maybe 20-30 rpm. Not sure what is causing that at this time. My second issue is that the motor pulley is misaligned by 1/4-1/2" from the countershaft. I haven't found a way to successfully fix this yet. It isn't significant, but the belt rubs slightly against the flange and creates a little noise that might not otherwise be there.

As the belt ran in, the tension continuously dropped. At this point the motor bracket is fully extended, so I will need to remove a link from the belt. Otherwise I am very happy with the link belt.



I also successfully extracted and replaced the broken grease fitting

 

[macardoso]

Beginning Chapter 7: Setup and Alignment

Over the weekend I managed to get the stand cleaned up and brought down the basement.

I purchased some 300lb leveling feet to use with the lathe from MSC. I spent a long time trying to find reasonably priced leveling pads and MSC came in at $1.89 a piece.



I installed 4 of these into the holes on the stand and lifted the lathe over them with the engine hoist.





I still have to screw down the center panel between the two cabinet boxes, but I'm finding the lathe very unstable and easily rocked back and forth (even after adjusting the feet). I fear that the cabinet may be too banged up to properly support the lathe. I will tinker with it some more, but I may need to add some square tubing to spread the feet out beyond the cabinets (front to back) or fabricate a new stand all together (sadly I haven't learned to weld yet).

I used a generic construction level to get the lathe roughly flat, then brought in my new master precision level to start the leveling of the bed. This was more to get a feel for the process, as screwing in that center segment will certainly distort the stand.



Plenty more to come on this matter. I'll also try to throw in a discussion on metrology instruments when I have time.

 

[Dave Paine]

I still have to screw down the center panel between the two cabinet boxes, but I'm finding the lathe very unstable and easily rocked back and forth (even after adjusting the feet). I fear that the cabinet may be too banged up to properly support the lathe. I will tinker with it some more, but I may need to add some square tubing to spread the feet out beyond the cabinets (front to back) or fabricate a new stand all together (sadly I haven't learned to weld yet).

My Grizzly stand is likely very similar if not identical. It is also not deep enough front-to-back. The location of the bolt holes within the cabinet makes things worse.

If you look back at the picture of my lathe in post #10 you will see I am not using the centre panel. This does not seem to add any stability.

I leveled the lathe with the 4 bolts in the outside holes. I then have 4 feet with rubber bottoms hand tighened in the 4 inside holes. This is just to help the stand stability side-to-side. Not taking any load.

I used one of the holes for the centre panel and used a piece of aluminium bar attached to a right angle bracket which is screwed into a stud on the wall behind the lathe. This helps the front-to-back stability. I need to make a better bar but for the moment this helps a lot. I think if you come up with some way to attach a support bar to the wall behind your lathe it will improve your front-to-back stability.

 

[macardoso]

I used one of the holes for the centre panel and used a piece of aluminium bar attached to a right angle bracket which is screwed into a stud on the wall behind the lathe. This helps the front-to-back stability. I need to make a better bar but for the moment this helps a lot. I think if you come up with some way to attach a support bar to the wall behind your lathe it will improve your front-to-back stability.

Dave, thanks for the idea! If you get a chance to share some pictures which show the feet or bracket I'd really appreciate it!

 

[macardoso]

OK so here is a quick discussion on measurement instruments.

My first job (internship) I worked as a technician in a metrology lab which worked on high precision gears. I got to use equipment on a daily basis which I would never be able to afford for my personal use and I became well versed in the use of various measurement instruments.

As far as these tools in the home shop go, buy what you need as far as your tolerances go, and then choose extra tools to make measurement jobs faster and easier. I could write a whole page on the various tools and tricks to measure difficult features, but I'll try to keep it short here.

Basically if you're trying to hit +/- .005", calipers are great for pretty much everything, if you're aiming +/- .0001", your instrument choice will be more difficult (and expensive!).

The basic rundown of instrument precision is that you double the resolution. On digital calipers the resolution is typically 0.0005", meaning you can count on them to measure 0.001" (if you qualify them against standards regularly). On mechanical devices you can estimate one division between the smallest marking. So on a micrometer which has a vernier tenths grating, you can estimate down to .00005 thus giving your quality micrometer a precision of .0001". Again these measurements only count if you qualify them against standards, and if you are in a commercial setting, have those standards qualified by a calibration and qualification service. So your rusty old vernier caliper will not be measuring rocket nozzles.

In my home shop I have collected many measurement tools some new, most used from various sources. I will share the ones I use the most and the ones I rarely touch.

My favorite tool is my Mitutoyo Digimatic calipers. They are your standard run of the mill electronic calipers, but have a nice fit and finish, and have outlasted several other pairs with no end in sight.



In the sad event that those die, I have a no-name mechanical dial caliper which never seems to be short on batteries .



Second most used is my Mitutoyo absolute micrometer. This was a gradutation gift from my dad.



For tool presetting (CNC) and general measurement, I use this shars brand 8" height gauge. Unfortunately my only granite surface plate right now is a 6x8" one from Tormach designed for tool presetting. Hope to pick up an 18x24" at some point.



For more precision work, I have a 0-6" micrometer set. Most of these are mismatched but I do have a set of standards with calibration certificates. I use these standards to qualify most of my tools.



My favorite indicator is my Fowler X-Test Swiss Type. It lost a tip to a keyway a year ago and I finally located the correct replacement tip. Glad to have it back.



During that year, I picked up a Shars .0005" indicator for something like $30. It works like a charm, but I do miss the swivel stem and double range of the Swiss indicator (Shars sells one of those too). I recently picked up a Noga style base from... you guessed it... Shars.



For measuring bores, I use a Mitutoyo 155-903 set of telescoping bore gages. These are a must have. For smaller bores I recommend either split tip style bore gauges or gauge pins.



For measuring depths of internal features or some external features, I have a Starret 0-6" depth micrometer. If you've ever tried to use the back of your calipers to measure depths and found it very frustrating, you need a set of these.




Less often used but very accurate is a Federal .0001" dial indicator. It is old, but runs very true. Really only used for tramming or measuring runout.



New for the lathe are a set of thread measuring wires, metric and imperial theard gauges, and a master precision level.




(honestly this is so sensitive you'll want to pull your hair out)

Finally one last pin micrometer, it is pretty beat up but I trust it for +/- .001" and has saved me on some small and difficult to reach parts.



I didn't take pictures of the various setup and layout blocks that I use, but having a number of decent quality 1-2-3 blocks, v blocks, and angle plates is a must. I also have a high precision cylindrical square for tramming my mill. I'm sure I forgot others but these are the main ones.

Not shown are a few sticks of a very tough green wax we used in the lab. Not sure what the material is, but we used it for checking inaccessible internal features. Heat it up, stick it on, let it cool then measure.

It is a never ending collection, but the more ways you can measure your part and machine, the more confident you can be as a machinist.

-Mike

 

[Dave Paine]

Dave, thanks for the idea! If you get a chance to share some pictures which show the feet or bracket I'd really appreciate it!

Nice set of measuring devices. You have a lot more than I have, so you win. LOL

I prefer the mechanical-digital-tumbler design of micrometer. Easy to read the numbers and no batteries.

The "temporary" bracket under the stand. I will eventually replace with a more robust version and have a bar on either side of the stand.

This is not meant to prevent the lathe from tipping over, just to reduce front-to-back motion during operation.



I have tool holders on a shelf mounted on the backsplash. This does not rock as much now as it did before I installed the bracket.

I purchased 8 of these "tapped neoprene mounts" from ENCO before they were closed down. You can purchase the mount and stud separately. The thought was to reduce vibration to the floor. These cost more than your feet, something like $8.



The lathe stand had been modified by welding plates on the bottom which are tapped for 1/2in x 13 tpi threads. A good size. I then found out that the mounts were designed to use the nut to raise or lower the machine. Since my plates are threaded and fixed, the neoprene would need to rotate as I tweak the height. Not good.

I used the as-purchased arrangement in the 4 outer bolt locations, a 1/2inx13 tpi hex head bolt with a taper machined on the end and a tapered hole in a piece of steel to spread the load. This is a picture of the right side stand.