Changing gears on new small lathe

[Jim Ferrous]

Hi all,

As some of you may know I bought a AL-60 from a Hare Forbes a few weeks ago.

Just wondering how tight should it be changing the gears on the keyed shafts?

These are PITA tight, I don't remember them being this much of a hassle to change on the AL-50 that I used to own.


I feel like ever so slightly lapping the insides of the gears but I haven't yet because I'm worried it may set up some wobble and create noise.

Any suggestions?

[morrisman]

Hi

The gears might loosen up and slide more easily after you have used the lathe for a while . Sounds like a quality control issue at H&F because the lathe should not have been sold in that condition . Can you ask H&F to fix it ?

Mike

[azzrock]

hi have you cleaned the shafts and gears. have you tried fitting them with out they the key?
aaron

[mahgnia]

Jim,
On my C6 I just cleaned the gunk out of the gears and then used fine emery paper to clean up burrs and to give an good push fit for each gear on the shafts.
You will need to ensure that the keyways are clean and deburred, and when fitting the gears check that the key is not being dislodged by the first gear on each cluster.

The gears will need to be a firm fit to prevent excessive backlash occurring when the screwcutting tool come under load at the start of each cut, and when reversing lathe direction between each cut.

Andrew.


For some reason I cannot put line breaks in this reply?? OK now, pressed wrong button on the edit menu!

[Jim Ferrous]

Thanks for the replies everyone, much appreciated.

[nadroj]

Sometimes the key needs a bit of filing on the top surface. Clearance here doesn't matter.

Jordan

[Jim Ferrous]

I've had some tiny files for around 30 years and I have never used them before.

Yesterday they worked a charm and what a difference it makes removing almost microscopic burrs!!!!

[azzrock]

I've had some tiny files for around 30 years and I have never used them before.

Yesterday they worked a charm and what a difference it makes removing almost microscopic burrs!!!!

bull nose scrapers are good for that type of debuting as well.