Leaking Oil Help

I appreciate it. But I do want to say that I am not unhappy with your service. I knew the warranty and chances when I decided to go with the cheaper Chinese version. You guys have been more than helpful and understanding with this issue. I’m still recommending PM to anyone that asks.

They definitely didn’t tell me to disassemble the gearbox. And I have been leaving out some details when discussing the back and forth between Mike and I because I didn’t want to create an expectation for others that may run into this same issue. I really can’t remember the original reason I decided to remove the faceplate, I’ll have to read back through when I’m not on my phone. But it was probably more due to my inexperience working on a lathe, and my inability to find a mechanic willing to come look at it.
For the most recent events, I do understand that it’s hard to make that kind of repair at the warehouse. That post was a lot of frustration coming out from the entire situation and less about the failed assembly.
I did end up just emailing the tech department again last week because I got busy at work, and we have come up with a solution that I’m happy with. The details of which I will leave out here for the same reasons. Hopefully I can get this thing going.

-Tony
 
Well, I think I've got it figured out.

I decided to order some gasket material on my own since PM wasn't sure how long the gaskets they ordered were going to take. Worst case scenario it didn't work, and I would be right back to waiting. After some research I decided on a 12x24 roll of Fel-Pro gasket sheet.

I purchase a hole punch set from Harbor Freight to help with the different sized holes. Then using a rule, I laid everything out.
Hollow Punch Set.jpeg
Hollow Punch.jpeg


Punching the holes
Punched Holes.jpeg
Finished Gasket.jpeg


I installed everything last night. It was so much easier than trying to get everything to line up without disturbing the "paste" gasket making compounds since I did have to slide a rule in between to align the shifting blocks. As of this morning, not a drop of oil is showing, and the knobs turn easily enough. Tonight, I will run it through its paces and do a test thread to make sure everything was aligned correctly. But for now, I am very optimistic.
 
What type (product number) of Fel-Pro gasket material did you use? Good to hear things are working
out OK for your lathe.
 
Final update. We have threads again. Finished assembling it enough to safely check the gearing to make sure I lined the shifting blocks up correctly. 16 tpi on the knobs, 16 tpi on the brass rod.
IMG_5531.jpeg


Full disclosure, oil is still leaking ever so slightly at the very bottom, but it’s so minimal that I can live with it for quite awhile. Whenever the true replacement gaskets arrive from PM I will decide if I want to go through all that again. At this point I’m just ready to use the lathe again.

Design suggestion for you guys, add a way to keep the shift blocks from rotating once the brass shifting forks are in place. Maybe some sort of key with circlips keeping the block over the key.
 
Glad that it was worked out - Still some things that we need to address there, but glad you are up and running!
 
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