Thread: noisy quick change gearbox

Depends on what you define noisy as.

Is the noise more evident when you have the gears engaged,lathe running but not feeding or screw cutting?

Does the noise change when you are Feeding or Screw cutting?

Is this noise more evident when the lathe is running at High or Low speed?

You said you couldnt see anything,was this a visual inspection with the Gearbox in situ or with the Gearbox removed from the Lathe?

Have you stripped the Gearbox?


You said you cant see anything wrong,is this a visual observation in situ,or have you removed and stripped it.

I just had a quick look this morning.

-Yes the noise is worst with the lathe running, gears engaged to the screw feeding box without feeding.

If I reverse the tumble lever, it sounds a little bit different, not quite as loud but still quite bad.

When I engage the power feed the motor does drop in rpm a little, but the feed is smooth and no sign of stalling. Is this normal?

I cant comment on the high/low speed at the moment as I don't have the back gears in there yet as it still needs repairs.

When I painted the lathe I pulled the gearbox off the lathe, the leadscrew was removed and the shaft and two gear levers were removed from the gearbox. I cleaned the gears thoroughly and checked for any missing teeth, I saw no reason to remove them.

Is this noise still noticeable with the QC gearbox not engaged.

As a side if interested can do an exchange Backgear for $65.

Yes it is, but not quite as loud. Even so without it engaged or with it engaged I wouldn't be able to use it at night as it would annoy the neighbours. Should it be like this?

Would grease on the gears help at all? If I put oil on them it goes everywhere and makes a mess.

Re the backgear, i'm still thinking whether I should attempt it myself or get you to do it. I am still sorting out the chuck issue, need some tooling and I need to mount the VFD into the lathe cabinet so I have a bit of time up my sleeve at the moment.

Dont put grease on the gears.(if anything gets in them that should be there the grease will maintain it much better than chainlube or oil).

Put oil into the top of the QC as you normally would.

With the Gear train I normally spray them with chainlube,it dosent fly everywhere.

Did you run the Lathe prior to cleaning it up,if so was the noise present.

If you can put your hand up under the box and see or feel how much movement there is between the gears and the shaft and the shaft and the housing,if there is this may be part of your problem.

I was reading a thread down below from azzrock about his noisy gears, it was suggested to use a piece of paper to set the clearances between gears. That seems to have made a little bit of a difference.

I had some chain saw chain oil, is that what you are talking about? I put it on there and i heard a difference in noise as I applied it but it went everywhere, well mainly on the freshly painted surface of the drip tray.

Unfortunaltly I didn't have a chance to run the lathe before I stripped it, as when I got it there was no belt. I was thinking of using one of those link style belts but in my pile of junk I managed to find a suitable B belt. The plan was just to pull the spindle & change the belt but it quickly changed into a full strip down, clean & repaint.

Could you describe how it should sound? Should it wake the neighbours when running at top speed with the q/c box engaged?

If I drop the speed down via the vfd it's not so bad.

I will check the box for play tomorrow.

Cheers

The lube I refer to is motorcycle chain lube,comes in a spray can,you dont need to use much and its sticky.

In regards to the noise,most gear train noise on the Hercus,Sheraton or Southbend and similar type Gear train lathes is through the Gear train at the left hand end of the Headstock.

Minimal noise should be coming from the QC unless it has a fair amount of wear.

The noise in the gears is generated from them being Straight Cut,and excessive clearance.

Speed will play a factor if the Clearances between the gears is too great.

the gears in the QC will be spinning quicker than the others.

Have you moved the Selector arms on the QC through there range to see if there is a reduction depending on where they are engaged.

I will try and buy some of that motorcycle chain lube spray tomorrow, hopefully an auto parts store stocks it.

I had a quick play with the levers on the quick change box but didn't seem to make much difference regarding noise levels.

I will spray some of that lube on the gears under there as well.

Just bought some CRC tac2 chain lube, seems to have made a big difference towards the way it sounds now. I still probably wouldn't use it at night, but I think once I get the back gear sorted it will be even better. The way it is now I could have a conversation with someone so I am happy with that.

Thanks for all the help