So I got bored this evening

[DAT510]

Not sure if this is related.....

I had a rattling issue too, under load, that I've been chasing. The spindle shaft would knock back and forth between the backlash with the spindle drive gear/cog. The Drive Gear/cog needs clearance to allow the spindle to transition up and down, and it didn't look like the matching splines in the drive gear/cog were worn. So other than making a new drive gear/cog with tighter tolerances, I couldn't think of any other solution.

Jump forward to this week. I was taking some deep cuts with a bigger end mill and I heard a new noise. Sounded like the belt was occasionally jumping a cog. So I pulled the cover and found the cogged drive belt fairly loose. I tightened it up and guess what else it eliminated.... The rattling between the spindle and drive cog.

 

[BROCKWOOD]

It's hard to compartmentalize a train of thought (half time) to look at other possibilities....

 

[Pevehouse]

Not sure if this is related.....

I had a rattling issue too, under load, that I've been chasing. The spindle shaft would knock back and forth between the backlash with the spindle drive gear/cog. The Drive Gear/cog needs clearance to allow the spindle to transition up and down, and it didn't look like the matching splines in the drive gear/cog were worn. So other than making a new drive gear/cog with tighter tolerances, I couldn't think of any other solution.

Jump forward to this week. I was taking some deep cuts with a bigger end mill and I heard a new noise. Sounded like the belt was occasionally jumping a cog. So I pulled the cover and found the cogged drive belt fairly loose. I tightened it up and guess what else it eliminated.... The rattling between the spindle and drive cog.

I think you’re dead on. I have been studying this thing from the topside and it looks like it’s probably gonna be that gear you spoke of. The only thing is mines a geared head and not a belt drive so I’m not sure if anything can be done about it

 

[Pevehouse]

It's hard to compartmentalize a train of thought (half time) to look at other possibilities....

Your right, that’s why it’s such a good thing being able to bounce these ideas of other super intelligent people

 

[Pevehouse]

So, I finally got back around to my mill. Got the bearing races removed from the spindle and started doing some research. Seems SKF offers a range of bearing with the proper dimensions. All being angular contact, however getting the OAW the same is gonna be a challenge. So I’m guessing I will have to bore my quill a little deeper on each end to facilitate the extra width of the bearings. I don’t exactly know which SKF angular contact bearings to go with, so if anyone has any insight I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[wildcatter]

about the issue of getting a slight step between passes, I was getting that too, until I realized I was not locking the vertical ways. Did that and all was well again.

 

[Pevehouse]

about the issue of getting a slight step between passes, I was getting that too, until I realized I was not locking the vertical ways. Did that and all was well again.

I have tried locki g everything and still get a slight step. Sometimes it’s nothing more than shading and other times it’s a pretty obvious step

 

[pontiac428]

I have tried locki g everything and still get a slight step. Sometimes it’s nothing more than shading and other times it’s a pretty obvious step

Preloading the quill spring another turn or two might help take up some z backlash, at least it did with my previous RF mill. A visible line might just be the light playing with your eyes, bit a step you can feel with a fingernail is too much...