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Lathe -- problem with lubrication

I have a Myford Mystro lathe with non-sealed bearings. It has run fine for over 10 years, and I have added the provided lubricating grease at what seemed 'reasonable' intervals. I do not run it every day...but it gets heavy use at times. For the last year or so, it has seemed that the headstock is not running as smoothly, although it is hard to see daily change. Lately, it has begun shutting down under strain, as if overheated, then restarting after a little rest. The manual says nothing about this, as it only discusses adding some occasional lubrication. Could it be that the bearings are OVER packed, and that excessive grease is binding the rotation? Access to the bearings is not covered in the manual, but changing the short drive belt involves partial disassembly of the shaft in order to slip the new belt in. I am not sure if this process, extended a bit, gives access TO the bearings so I can tell if there's a problem.

So...I am just wondering if anyone has any experience, good guesses, or absolute NOs about what I should try or not try?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Reply to
Bill Day
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I would expect that if the bearings were over packed, there would be some extra heat involved some where. Does the lathe feel hot? The motor should be pretty warm, but not burning hot. For me, if my lathe is shutting down, it is usually because I am working it too hard, like on the line between stalling, and easy cutting. Or on occasion because of a big catch that stalls the motor. Other than than, I don't know. Do you have variable speed? I wore one out on my PM once, but it didn't cause it to stall.

robo hippy

Reply to
robo hippy

Thanks for the response.

It is not variable speed. It just has a 5 step pulley. I can't tell if it seems excessively warm....it doesn't 'seem' to. This has been a very gradually developing problem, which is why I made that guess. Because it seems to slow faster when I hit the 'off' switch, I felt like it was 'binding' in some manner.

I will also be emailing the company, although they barely want to admit they once dabbled in wood lathes.

Thanks again

Reply to
Bill Day

why don't you try the simple stuff first:

  1. remove pressure on belt and if possible unhook belt from motor
  2. turn motor on/off - does it spin down slowly or quickly? if quickly, motor bearings may be an issue
  3. rotate spindle by hand - stiff or free - if stiff, spindle bearings are suspect

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Reply to
William Noble

Yes, I should have mentioned that I did those tests. The motor runs easily when the belt is disengaged. It is only the spindle/shaft that turns stiffly. So the thought is that it might be bearings themselves rather than a lubrication (or lack of) issue? My manual makes a brief reference to an 'adjustment' of the bearings. I'll go check it again and see if I can gently change anything.

Thanks....

Reply to
Bill Day

Might have wood powder in the bearings that prevent grease/oil flow. The motor might be off axis with the load. The bracket might be worn or just not set square.

Look at the setup and see if it is square to the spindle and the shafts are parallel. Sometimes the belt shows wear on one side more than another.

The dust might be in the spindle - being close to the dust.

Does it rotate easily ?

Is the tail stock driven in hard and binds itself ?

Hope some of these leads you to the issue before time and money are lost.

Martin

Martin H. Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net TSRA, Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal. NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.

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Bill Day wrote:

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Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

Hi Bill My nephew has a small Myford metal lathe, I remember him complaining that he had to dismantle halve the lathe to get the second belt off, anyway, I can't see your lathe from here of course, but what's keeping the headstock spindle from coming out, or keeping it from moving back and forth ?? Is it just a snap-ring or is there maybe a treaded ring that could have gotten tighter and so making the spindle stiff to turn ??

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Reply to
l.vanderloo

so you know it is a problem in the spindle bearings - if it were my lathe I'd pull the spindle - at least remove whatever holds the bearings in place and see if it gets easier to turn - something is wrong, you can probably find it easily and fix it. And, it's not likely to be too much grease.

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Reply to
William Noble

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