Burke Millrite Spindle Bearings Access Plug

Dennis van Dam · 2004-07-21T04:26:12+00:00

I could use the assistance of anybody familiar with milling machinespindle bearings, in particular anybody familiar with the lower "Timken"bearings on an older Burke Millrite spindle.I've never serviced the lower spindle bearings and today, after runningthe mill for about 15 minutes at the highest possible spindle speed,(which I've never done before), I noticed that the bottom of the quill hadbecome too hot to touch.After letting it cool down I reset the drive belt to run at a lower speedbut noticed the quill was still warming up although not as bad. Maybeit's been doing this for a while and I just hadn't noticed.At this point it seemed a good idea to check the lower bearings forsufficient lube and proper axial preload as, in the service manual, theseare the listed causes of this end of the spindle running hot (other thanshot bearings altogether).Per the manual, if you drop the quill all the way down it exposes athreaded plug in the side of the quill that can be removed with a 5/16"hex key to lubricate or adjust preload on the lower spindle bearings.However the quill plug on my mill has a curious arrangment occupying the5/16" hex socket in the plug which precludes being able to engage the plugwith a hex key. It appears to be something in the way of a "halfAlemite" fitting that somebody made up and inserted to facilitate oilingthe lower bearings without removing the plug. At least this is what theguy at DC Morrison (they handle Burke Millrite machines) postulated when Idescribed it over the phone. Even if this is what it is, efforts to passoil through the fitting in the plug did not appear to be very effective,most/all of the oil coming out of the spout just dripped down the outsideof the quill .Before I attack this setup with a drill and an easy out, so that I canremove the plug and properly lube/adjust the bearings, I thought I'd posta couple of pictures to the drop box for scrutiny by those moreknowlegeable than I, to confirm that this arrangement is not...

Jul 21, 2004 22 Replies

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Gunner 22 years ago

I cant say Ive ever seen a wood working machine with worn parts that could be attributed to such a phenomenon.

Ive cut a fair amount of wood on metalworking machines..and the only problem Ive noted is the tendency for the sawdust to turn into cardboard in the damnedest places.

Gunner

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Dennis van Dam 22 years ago

Gunner,

Good point, however I would contribute that wood working machinery wouldn't be expected to hold the same tolerance that metal working machinery holds, my point being that in so far as there is any credance to wood resin wearing on the machinery, the effects would be less apparent on wood working machinery than on metal working machinery.

On the other hand wood working machinery would realize a much greater exposure to the (alleged) phenomena than metal working machinery, which tends to bear out your implied conclusion (that wood resin abrasion is not a problem) indicated in your observation that you've never noticed any acute wear on wood working machinery that could be attributed to wood resin abrasion.

This would bring me back to my hunch that some part/all of of the phenomena is/may be attributable to "metal working tools being appropriate to metal processing only" per metal working purists.

(BUT I'm still going to keep ALL chips as clear of the the machine as possible) (-8

Dennis van Dam

That would tend to support my observation that wood chips/dust is more pervasive/intrusive on the machinery than metal chips.

(Also that it's more compressive) (-8

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