Bearing Question, , Hughie, Comment

**Paul39** · 21st December 2013, 12:25 PM

I was turning a goose egg from a Dogwood triple crotch (dry, hard) when the headstock made a squalling noise. I turned off the lathe and felt the bearing area of the headstock, barely warm & much cooler than after a session with a big bowl.

Shed temperature 14 C. I have run it at 4 C. with no problem after a no load warm up. Removed belt from motor and run motor, purrs like a cat full of warm milk.

I started at 800 rpm then went to 1400 for finish scraping, squalled at 1400.

I loosened the belt and turned the spindle by hand, a little tight. Backed off tailstock, felt better. I do tend to keep the tail center fairly tight.

I can not detect any side to side movement but have not dug out my indicator and measured spindle run out.

If it does not make any more noises, can I continue to run it without hurting the bearings?

If it does make a noise or feel funny I will shuck it apart and clean, inspect and repack the ball bearings, or replace if needed.

I'm the 3rd owner and have had it for 5 years. It was barely dusty when I bought it. It is about 12 years old.

Any comments are welcome.

**NCArcher** · 21st December 2013, 01:32 PM

Noise under load means it needs repacking at the least. I'd pull it apart and inspect. Depending on how difficult it is to disassemble, you might as well replace the bearings while you've got it apart. Bearings are cheap and will easily last another 15 yrs.

**RETIRED** · 21st December 2013, 07:56 PM

What Tony said. Also check that the fault isn't in the tailstock centre.

**powderpost** · 21st December 2013, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by

What Tony said. Also check that the fault isn't in the tailstock centre.

Had that happen once, soaked the centre in wd40 and replaced, no more squealing. The centre was then unceremoniously consigned to the rubbish bin and replaced with a new unit.
Jim

**Old Croc** · 21st December 2013, 10:16 PM

Hi Paul,
Firstly age does not determine when a bearing will fail, sometimes they just do. If you do replace either the headstock or live centre bearings be aware that there are different quality in bearings depending on their intended use i.e. the speed they run at and the side loading they are subjected to in a wood lathe.The numbers and letters on the bearings tell the story, but only if you know what they mean.
Anyway, get off the computor and go and chop some wood, looks like you are in for a tough winter over there.
Rgds,
Crocy.

**Paul39** · 22nd December 2013, 12:29 PM

Between feeding the boiler today I made another egg, a tool handle, and finished the egg started yesterday. I was careful to back off the tail center a bit once the drive and tail centers had a good bite. No unusual noises. I did not think to check the live center, it is older than Moses, from another ancient lathe. I have several sets of centers, some hollow for drilling, cup with point, cup, 60 degree, big cones, little cones, etc. Shed was 16 C. today.

When it is time to replace bearings, I will take the old ones to the bearing and drive store close by and get equal quality.

Croc, It is 16 C. right now. The Southeast is supposed to have a mild winter. The rest of the country; cold, snow, freezing rain.

Thanks for the comments, Merry Christmas to all.

**hughie** · 22nd December 2013, 03:19 PM

Screaming , noisy bearings etc, sounds like Tailstock. If the headstock is that noisy you should be able to feel the state of the bearing when you rotate it by hand and it often wont have much side in the beginning . But either way its heading for seizure and you dont want that as it may spin in the housing

By the sounds of its the Tailstock and I agree with the previous diagnosis.

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