Index mill, possibly a 40

[tk1971]

The spindle is done.

I turned a 1/4” thick washer to an ID of 36mm and an OD of 61mm to help press in the angular contact bearings. Using this, both inner/outer races are pressed at the same time while the slightly smaller OD and larger ID ensures that this washer falls out easily after installation.

With new bearings, the quill was reassembled and a healthy dose of Mobilegrease 28 added in the quill via the two grease screws.

Did some light woodworking to support the quill/spindle for shipping. It’s going back to Index-Wells for an R8 conversion and new drawbar.

Pics:

 

[Charles scozzari]

The spindle is done.

I turned a 1/4” thick washer to an ID of 36mm and an OD of 61mm to help press in the angular contact bearings. Using this, both inner/outer races are pressed at the same time while the slightly smaller OD and larger ID ensures that this washer falls out easily after installation.

With new bearings, the quill was reassembled and a healthy dose of Mobilegrease 28 added in the quill via the two grease screws.

Did some light woodworking to support the quill/spindle for shipping. It’s going back to Index-Wells for an R8 conversion and new drawbar.

Pics:

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Nice work. The bearings facing each other or back to back achieve the same result, thrust.

 

[tk1971]

Started disassembling the pulleys along with their respective bearings.

Looks like one of the middle idler pulleys was bored out to 7/8” from the original 3/4” ID and a sleeve (with no key) installed on the shaft to tighten things up. I cut and removed the sleeve and will install one with a key after replacing all the bearings.

Here are some pics:

 

[AR. Hillbilly]

Nice work and thank you for sharing.
I hope my collet Chuck isn’t as stuck as that?
Gonna find out soon.
Who did you talk to at Wells Index about the R8 regrind?
A guy they referred me to said they don’t do that.
My collet Chuck doesn’t say what it is?
It looks just like the one you had to bore out.

 

[tk1971]

Nice work and thank you for sharing.
I hope my collet Chuck isn’t as stuck as that?
Gonna find out soon.
Who did you talk to at Wells Index about the R8 regrind?
A guy they referred me to said they don’t do that.
My collet Chuck doesn’t say what it is?
It looks just like the one you had to bore out.

I emailed them and Mark Nielsen (Plant Manager) replied. He sent me a PDF of the Sept 2021 price sheet.

 

[AR. Hillbilly]

I emailed them and Mark Nielsen (Plant Manager) replied. He sent me a PDF of the Sept 2021 price sheet.

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Thank you sir. I plan to do this. The savings and availability of tooling would very soon offset the cost of this.

 

[pontiac428]

That's not bad at all! A factory regrind for half to 1/3rd the cost of a set of bearings seems really palatable to me.

 

[AR. Hillbilly]

I’m really enjoying this post.
Did you order the bearings through Wells Index?
I made a puller or sorts to remove my stuck collet Chuck but it didn’t work. I’m afraid to put too much pressure or heat on it and do further damage.
Once I get this sorted out it’s gonna get the regrind to r8.

 

[tk1971]

I’m really enjoying this post.
Did you order the bearings through Wells Index?
I made a puller or sorts to remove my stuck collet Chuck but it didn’t work. I’m afraid to put too much pressure or heat on it and do further damage.
Once I get this sorted out it’s gonna get the regrind to r8.

I ordered the bearings from locateballbearings.com

I mostly got ND direct replacements (pulley bearings) but I got NSK bearings for the spindle (2 x angular contact, 1 x radial).

Of the 3 new spindle bearings, the top radial bearing was found to be bad when Well-Index inspected the spindle upon receipt, so they’re replacing that one before the R8 conversion (with added material / labor cost). Must’ve been a defect or it got damaged when I installed it.

At this point, I’m sourcing a motor, VFD, switches, breakers, etc.

What’s everyone using for a motor? 1HP, or possibly more? What is the maximum weight of motor that will fit?

I’m also going to source new pulleys for the X power feed, the spindle motor pulley and the idler pulley.

 

[tk1971]

I got the spindle back from the regrind. Looks really good.

I also got the bad bearing back. From looking at it, I think I figured out what I did wrong during reassembly of the spindle to the quill. First off, I used a double rubber sealed bearing (NSK 6206 2RS) Then after reassembly, I used a grease gun fitting that screwed into the top grease hole on the quill. I then proceeded to pump too much grease into that fitting (until it wouldn’t take anymore). The excess grease pushed in and deformed the rubber seal of the bearing, locking it up. After removing the deformed rubber seal, the bearing spun freely again. Lesson learned.

I need to remove the table / saddle and clean them up before re-assembly.

I’m also waiting for some round bar stock, DOM tubing and a 2” floor flange to re-create what I’m missing for the quill power feed.

I also need to start wiring up the breakers, VFD, speed display and switches into electrical boxes.

Pics: