(First post, hi all!) I have an old ML7 which has some problems. The spindle runs pretty much concentric by my dial gauge, but has a 'wobble' of around 1 thou forward and back along the axis of the lathe. Initially I thought this was an end float problem, but when this is reduced, you can actually feel the spindle tightening for one half of the rotation and loosening for the other. Having just lifted the bearing caps, I can see it has been mucked about by the previous owner. There are some dodgy looking brass shim pieces combined with the originals, and some scoring on the lower bearings. Having said that, the spindle looks pristine... So, I guess the question is, how difficult is it to fiddle with shims and hand-scrape bearings?? Pretty damn hard, I would have thought - after all, it doesn't sound like the sort of thing you can just nip down to B&Q to get the right tool... On the other hand, a new spindle and bearings are £££! Or is 1 thou not too much to worry about in a machine this old? The difficult bit is that any chuck fitted has a big concentric runout! Any advice appreciated...
- posted
16 years ago