HAFCO AL350B Lathe from Australia

[Oysta]

G'day again.

So I'm into the strip/clean process. The oil sight glasses for the spindle bearings were siliconed in so I suspect the black rubber seals leak. Are these still obtainable, maybe for a Lang Dei or a Shenwai. Alternatively has anybody sealed them in a different way...maybe o-rings?

Thanks in advance

 

[Oysta]

So I ended up using a non-hardening sealer on the seals. Seems to be holding up well and will allow me to remove the glasses if I need to drain the oil. I used Permatex Rubber Gasket Sealant & Dressing #85409. It's grey in colour and a little thicker than toothpaste.
On to the next...

 

[Oysta]

So I've been cleaning the gears inside the headstock. One of the gear bearings, part of the change gear train, is lubricated via a zerk nipple located behind the change gear cover. The shaft for the bearing has a gallery down the centre axis which feeds the lubricant into the bronze bearing on the gear. Should this point be grease or oiled? It appears to be a grease setup but is the only grease point on the lathe. All other lubrication points are ball-type points for oil. So I'm unsure
In the photos, shafts labelled A & B are reflections of each other - the same shaft. I placed a mirror inside to capture the underside of the shaft.

@Ulma Doctor - I know you have essentially the same lathe. Do you have the same nipple and what do you use to lubricate that point.

Back to the shed for me. Cheers.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

So I've been cleaning the gears inside the headstock. One of the gear bearings, part of the change gear train, is lubricated via a zerk nipple located behind the change gear cover. The shaft for the bearing has a gallery down the centre axis which feeds the lubricant into the bronze bearing on the gear. Should this point be grease or oiled? It appears to be a grease setup but is the only grease point on the lathe. All other lubrication points are ball-type points for oil. So I'm unsure
In the photos, shafts labelled A & B are reflections of each other - the same shaft. I placed a mirror inside to capture the underside of the shaft.

@Ulma Doctor - I know you have essentially the same lathe. Do you have the same nipple and what do you use to lubricate that point.

Back to the shed for me. Cheers.

I’ll check to see if i have the zerk fitting like your machine has.
I don’t recall seeing one like it

I’ll get back to you soon

 

[Ulma Doctor]

my machine is a bit different at my home shop, but if you have the capability of using oil delivered by the zerk fitting i would do that.
since i can't imagine it freezing there in South Australia, 30wt (ISO100) oil or 20wt (ISO68) would both suffice
i would lean to 30wt oil myself, but the DTE26 would be great there too
pump the oil into the zerk until the oil runs clean and as far as you can tell the grease has been flushed
run it for a bit and push more oil through to make sure you have got the grease cleared out.
try soak up excess oil the best you can to keep oily grease from getting everywhere when you fire it off again

 

[Oysta]

Thanks for checking Ulma Doctor,

I wonder what the original designers thinking was for that lubrication point.
In general, oil is my preferred lubricant however in this case my concern is that it will inevitably makes its way to the outside of the gears and fling off or contaminate the gear teeth on which I plan to use either grease or tacky oil (CRC Tac2). Having a belt in there also doesn't help.

Either way I've cleaned it pretty well and blown it out with compressed air so only some residual grease remains if I opt for oil.

 

[Downunder Bob]

Looks like you're well progressed with the cleaning up, soon be time to cut some metal.

 

[Oysta]

Looks like you're well progressed with the cleaning up, soon be time to cut some metal.

Yeah I can't wait to actually start cutting. I still want to strip and clean the apron and QCGB. Then strengthen the stand. I figure if I get it all done now I won't have to worry about it for years to come.
It was good to catch up with you.

 

[Oysta]

Well the birth of a second child meant that the lathe was placed on the back burner for a while but now I'm starting to chip away at it again. The quick change gear box appeared to have had grease through it and subsequently metal chips. I made the decision to take it off and strip it down for a proper clean (I'll sleep better at night). It was daunting at first as it looks complex but once I jumped in it wasn't too bad just need to be methodical and have a system. Whilst I was there, I replaced all the ball bearings. A makeshift press from some threaded rod and RHS made the job easy. There were two bronze bushes, one on the lead screw output shaft and the other on the power feed output shaft. The latter has seen better days, most likely due to lack of lubrication. Once I have the lathe up and running, I'll make a new one as it's relatively easy to get out with the QCGB in situ.

The gear box is assembled and ready to go back in but before I do that, I want to come up with a better method of distributing the oil to all the lubrication holes. Previously there was a piece of gauze fabric over the top that 'distributed' oil to the various holes....which I don't think it did effectively and would have favoured some holes over others. I'm working on a system that utilises pipe cleaners into each hole and capillary action from a central reservoir...still going through testing...stay tuned. I’m curious to see what others have implemented. I’ve seen the one-shot systems but to me they are a little complicated and pricey.

I’ve also purchased some sensitive levels (glass tube only) that I plan to use to level the bed. One is a 0.6 mm/m and the other 0.02mm/m. I plan to mount these on a hardwood block and utilise ball bearings pressed into the underside of the block as single contact points with the ways. This should allow for good repeatability. At the end of the day, all I need is relative level from headstock to tailstock, not absolute. We’ll see how it goes…at $15 AUD/$10 US each from Aliexpress it’s no big loss and far cheaper than an equivalent machinist level.

 

[rficalora]

I just found this thread. Im about to start cleaning and setting up my Samson TD-5aa. Thanks for taking the time to share what you're doing.