Thread: Headstock bearings

Vicmarc - Woodturning Lathes, Chucks, Jaws and Accessories - Home. There is a manual under down loads.

Look at belt replacement.

DJs Timber has replaced the bearings on his VL200 (?) so PM him if you don't get a useful reply in this thread.

Have you tightened the thrust washer? These are tapered roller bearings and this may save you some effort.

If you do have to do the bearings can I suggest you also loop a spare belt out of the way in the headstock so if it needs replacing again the spindle won't have to come out. Though the belts do seem to last well compared with V belts.

Yep, tightened the thrust washer a bit a couple of times. Bearing grumble was more pronounced. Yep I'm gunna do the belt as well. This lathe had a life in a high humidity environment and with the benefit of a torch I can see a small area of corrosion on the mainshaft either side of the pulley. I have given that a light linish and clean so should be no drama to remove. Luckily. the former owner had the forsight to squirt a bit of lubricant into the morse taper and stuff a rag into it so that is all good.

Might as well pull it down so I can ID the bearings and belt.

Ta for the link . I have done that, but it does not give the detail regarding removing and replacing the outer race.

Cheers

Call Vicmarc direct and have a chat with them, it may just be something loose or you may have overtightened. Tapered rollers can be awkward things at times and if not set properly can give headaches.

May save a lot of time and effort.

Good call.

You might want to pull out the bearings to begin with and check the grease and the rollers. May just need repacking with grease. But if the rollers and race show pitting, well $30 ain't much.

And by a spare belt, I meant in addition to the replacement, looped around the spindle but kept out of the way with a few blobs of Blu-Tak. That's a Stubby owner's tip ;-}

Taken the handwheel, thrust washer,etc off so I can access the rear bearing. There is minor, only a spot or two, of marking on one of the rollers. The race in the headstock displays a track where the bearing has been running. No damage that can be detected by touch.

I might get away with them, but, I just would not be happy. Out with the old, in with the new me thinks.

Cheers

It only takes a spot or two to be noisy.

Good call renewing them.

A little caution on repacking the new ones: DON'T over pack them as they can overheat and in some cases the motor won't turn it.

First rule of belt drives if you by more than 1 replacement belt , chances are you wont have to replace it for a long time . If you buy 1 belt it will brake in the next month or so .

I am in the process of changing the bearings on my VL 175 (Circa 2001) and it hasn't been a straight forward process as yet.

PM sent to Enfield Guy to discuss.

The solution has been found. Took the headstock off the lathe and took it down to my local engineer along with the new bearings and the spindle. He is going to remove the outer races from the headstock, install the new races and press the new bearing onto the spindle.

Price. $50.00. Cheap as chips I reckon.

Should be able to re-assemble monday arvo/evening.

SKOT s gong to look into getting his done at the same time.

Cheers

Good idea.

I did the same with the Stubby, to get the conventional ball bearings pressed in (the inboard unit was a double race and I didn't trust myself to do it).

The eedjit knocked it over and broke a hinge lug on the alloy lid. Repaired at his expense.

A big thank you to Enfield Guy for organising the installation on the new bearing cups. We took the headstock over to his engineer yesterday morning and Enfield Guy bought it all the way back to my shed today...top bloke.

I still have to put it all together tonight but Enfield Guy reassembled his last night and says it is working beautifully.

Thanks again Bevan...I'll let you know how it works out.

Big Smiles

The lathe sounds great....no more grinding noise. Still got a little bit of adjustment to do as it got a little warm at the bearings and I need to have a bit of spare time to do a good adjustment.

OK,
A question for the great holders of knowledge.

I spent most of Saturday trying to do a final adjustment on the bearings. The bearings sound fine...no more grinding BUT there is still a minor amount of noise around the headstock area which doesn't sound like bearings.

My thought is that as the flood water went up to the centre of the spindle..the belt has been affected by having 90% of the belt submerged in water for about 12 hours and the other 10% stayed dry. Could this have damaged the fibres in the belt and created an unbalanced belt.

Search on the net has not given a definative answer to this.

Any ideas?

Thanks Scott