Taig Mill Spindle Removal

Jun 15, 2005 2 Replies
T

I wanted to remove the spindle and bearings from the headstock on my taig mill. I removed the pulley, top nut, and small allen head screw on back of headstock. But the spindle will not come out.



Any tips or tricks to removing this? I wanted to convert to an ER-16 collet chuck. Just want to see exactly what bearings I'll need if any. The ER-16 has a 5/8" shank, which is the same size as the upper part of the taig shaft, but since I can't remove it, I'm not sure what the rest of the shaft is. I don't think the shaft can slide through the bearings since it has threads at the top. So I'm not quite sure what to do next.



Thanks.



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F

How to Replace Headstock Shaft or Bearings on the Taig: Old style headstock (2 split piece housing): get a brass punch (or piece of round stock) 3/8" in diameter. remove headstock from bed remove two screws on either side of headstock separate halves of headstock extrusion loosen setscrew on pulley press shaft off pulley using brass punch from pulley end in arbor press. Never use a hammer!!!! If you only need to remove the pulley but don't have an arbor press, use a small gear puller. Heating the pulley helps as well. remove retaining ring w/ appropriate retaining ring pliers (oldest version) or if the nut version, unscrew the preload nut. press shaft out of bearing/spacer assembly supporting bearing race as fully as possible (wearing safety goggles), press w/ brass punch at pulley end of shaft. This took a bit of force but my ratchet press of unknown pressing capacity handled it easily. Replace in reverse order

For the newer one piece housing: get a brass punch (or piece of round stock) 3/8" in diameter. remove headstock from bed remove two screws on either side of headstock heat the housing with a heat gun or other mild heat source (hotplate is what the factory suggests). The spindle assembly should then drop out of the housing as it expands (wear oven mitts/welding gloves!) loosen setscrew on pulley press shaft off pulley using brass punch from pulley end in arbor press. Never use a hammer!!!! If you only need to remove the pulley but don't have an arbor press, use a small gear puller. Heating the pulley helps as well. unscrew the preload nut press shaft out of bearing/spacer assembly supporting bearing race as fully as possible (wearing safety goggles), press w/ brass punch at pulley end of shaft. This took a bit of force but my ratchet press of unknown pressing capacity handled it easily. Replace in reverse order

Let me know if you need any help via email. Nick

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