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View Full Version : Dam its quiet here, so info on bearings?



footz
28th October 2008, 09:39 AM
Hi all, I thought Id repaint the hercus and stripped it last nite. I found the front headstock bearing has a pit on the bottom. I gather the lathe whilst it was sitting water must have got onto it and where 2 rollers sat there is to pits. This would explain the slight rumbling sound it made had high speed, I should of left it alone but I would open it up sigh.

So today I am chasing up availability and price on a new bearing and wondering if anyone has any info they can pass on regards suppliers or options. I am waiting for a few suppliers to get back to me and price is about 600.00 for 1 cup and roller .

One place said they are not available in Australia and it is a 3 month wait! . If so I can always put it back together, or try out a ordinary bearing.

pipeclay
28th October 2008, 10:17 AM
How bad is the pitting,would it be possable to clean the cone up with wet&dry.

Is it only the cone thats got the pit marks or the rollers as well.

footz
28th October 2008, 10:34 AM
Hi Pipeclay
I have got a couple pics, the groves on the ring you can feel and on the rollers 1 is worse then the other. I thought of getting a oil stone and softly taking the edge of it, but I have no knowledge of this.See what you think( I should of cleaned my nails LOL)

pipeclay
28th October 2008, 01:26 PM
When you run your (DIRTY) finger nail across them do they only feel Ruff or is there a definent Under Cut in the cone and roller.

To try and make it easier to understand when your nail passes over the effected area does it get stopped.

If it gets stopped its time to renew in my opinion,but if it only seems ruff I would try to save them with wet and dry an oil stone maybe a little to coarse.
If the bearings are to far gone you do run the risk of the case hardening starting to peel off.
This will in time only make the running of the spindle worse.
If you find it hard to source replacement bearings quickly and you wish to reasemble the main shaft to continue using your lathe cant really fore see any damage that you will do.
The only down side would be the quallity of the finished jobs.
If you do happen to go this route take note of any increased chuck run out you get,this will be a good indicator that the bearings are deteriateing.
As long as the lube is kept up to the bearings should effect the RPM you run at.

footz
28th October 2008, 02:36 PM
HEHEEH dirty fingers hey

There is a distinct groove sigh. I gave it a rub down with some 800 and it blasted it out and lubed feels quite good. I think I will put it back unless I can get a bearing cheap enough but it appears they are expensive for a precision 3.
Do you know if anyone has put ordinary bearing in a hercus . The bearing people have told me it will have a runout on it. It worked all good before so I think assemble and let it go, and when it plays up worry about it then.
My dad always said leave well enough alone LOL. And another old timer told me if it aint broke dont fix it. I should never have decided to paint all of it , ahh well

pipeclay
28th October 2008, 02:48 PM
Could tell you what standard bearings would be like,If the price is right for standards why not give them a go,would probably make a few enquiries as to the difference between the sets.
Apart from making these old lathes look (PRETTY) Im wouldnt go pulling them apart,If you use them they get dirty again and you would spend more time keeping them (PRETTY),after all there a Machine Tool.
Keep the working parts cleaned of swarth and lubed and keep maching.
No harm in checking your spindle or other things but if it aint broke dont fix it.
If it suits what you are doing just keep using it.

footz
28th October 2008, 03:05 PM
On my hercus the paint has been applied extremely thick probably to cover up the castings. Hence it chips really easily and being in the paint game it just grates me so I got a few of the bolt on bits painted and now I want to do the rest to make it all look uniform. Probably a waste of time as just clearing up the swarf from a nights turning amazes me, and I lubricate it all the time so its oily as well . I feel like I am a mechanic on a old steam loco or liner when I lube it up ! But when done Ill have a clean lathe for a couple weeks ? Mind you my nails wont be *&&^