johnsmachines

machines which I have made, am making, or intend to make, and some other stuff. If you find this site interesting, please leave a comment. I read every comment and respond to most. n.b. There is a list of my first 800 posts in my post of 17 June 2021, titled "800 Posts"

Tag: broken gear tooth

April 25, 2019

Lathe Woes

Removed the gear with the broken tooth from my GBC 400-1000 lathe yesterday, with some help from my brother.    Approached the disassembly a bit nervously.  Did not want to break or damage anything else.

First took some photographs, so I can put things back together eventually, in the correct places and order.

Then removed the chuck, then the back gears, then the large heavy plates at each end of the spindle.  The cap screws came out without any drama, but the end plates required breaking free of the paint, and out of the tightly fitting mounting rebates.

Then loosened the big nuts against the internal gears, the external gears, and one grub screw.

img_7853.jpg

Tabbed locknut undone, allowing the gear cluster to be slipped and driven towards the left, eventually allowing the spindle to be removed.

Gradually removed the spindle by tapping the gears along the spindle with brass drifts.  Pretty tight.  And retrieved the little bits as they fell into the oil in the headstock.

Was finally able to lift the spindle out through the chuck end of the headstock.  It is heavy.   Took two of us to lift it out without damaging the outer races of the tapered roller bearings.

Then looked at the broken gear, and retrieved the tooth from the headstock oil.

IMG_7862

The broken tooth.  Unfortunately, on closer inspection, and adjacent tooth is also cracked.  And very likely more are on the way.   This is more serious than initially thought.  It is a big heavy gear, 240mm dia, with a 65mm long collar,

Next step was to look closely at the meshing gear.

IMG_7857.JPG

With a good light, and getting close I still had trouble checking for cracks.  Only when I looked at this photo did I realise that I had forgotten to change my sunglasses.   Ah, the joys of getting old and forgetful.

Meanwhile, I remembered a tool which might help with the inspection….

IMG_7859.JPG

It is a cheap fiberoptic inspection camera.  Worked fairly well here, and I am reasonably happy that the other gear is not cracked.   But it did convince me that I should have bought a better quality fiberoptic camera.  Put it on the wish list.

So, I have a large, hardened steel gear with at least 2 cracked/broken teeth.  Options?….

  1. Buy a new gear.  I will try, but not confident.  The local importer of these particular Chinese lathes went out of business last year.
  2. Get a new gear made.  I will get a quote.
  3. Make a new gear myself.  Or, if all else fails….
  4. Machine off the teeth of the damaged gear, and the adjacent 20-30mm.   Then make a new set of teeth on a ring which will be attached to the old core of the damaged gear.
  5. Use the lathe without that gear.   This option does not appeal.
  6. Install a VSD and use electronic control of spindle speeds.  The main spindle motor is 5HP, so it is possible.

More information required.  Watch this space.

Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments
April 21, 2019

Back in the workshop, a Lathe Problem…

I have a problem with my big Chinese lathe.  I was hearing a KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK as the main spindle was revolving at low speeds with one setting of the gears.

It is a GBC 1000-400 lathe, meaning that it has a maximum of 1000mm between centres, and it will turn a 400 mm disk.  It weighs 2 tons.  Has been quite useful when turning flywheels, big lumps of metal, large pieces of wood and so on.

So today I removed the cover from the headstock and had a look.   The cause of the knock was quickly obvious.

IMG_7828.JPG

The headstock of the GBC 1000-400

img_7825.jpg

The big gear on the main spindle at bottom.   See the broken tooth?  The meshing gear is intact.

So, what do I do about this?   I need some suggestions, people.

Thoughts so far….

  1. remove the spindle, remove the gear and bronze braze a replacement piece of steel or bronze, then machine a new tooth.
  2. same as 1, except use silver solder.
  3. same as 1 or 2, except do the job insitu (after draining all of the gearbox oil, and screening off the other headstock parts).  Unfortunately the missing tooth is close to the headstock case, so filing or grinding a new tooth would be tricky.
  4. leave it as is, and just avoid using that gear.  I can do that.  It removes 3 of the 9 gear ratios, including the slowest speed (40 rpm), and is not an elegant, or desired solution.

So what do you think?   The gear is most likely made of steel rather than cast iron, from its appearance.  The base of the break is shiny, smooth and not porous.

Here are some pics of the ends of the main spindle.   It does not look too complicated to remove the main spindle, but what would I know.

IMG_7827.JPG

The main spindle is the one in the centre.

IMG_7826.JPG

And the other end, with a self centering 4 jaw in place.

I imagine that the main spindle bearings will be pre-loaded, tapered, roller bearings.  I certainly do not want to damage them.  And how difficult will it be to reinstall the bearings and main spindle?   I imagine that it will involve some careful and precise work.   Am I taking on a job which is way beyond my abilities?   If anyone has experience of this task I would be delighted to hear your views.   I have no drawings or plans of the headstock to assist.

(In parentheses, when I was a teenager, I remember my father pulling a Toyota Crown automatic gearbox to bits, identifying a fault, and fixing it.  There were bits of the gearbox everywhere.  But he fixed the problem.  He was not a mechanic, but he had a go at things, and usually managed the task, as in that case.  Similarly, I dont mind having a go at this lathe job, but I would prefer not to risk destroying the lathe, so any expert opinions will be welcome.   Option 4 above remains a possibility.)

 

22 Comments