Perform lathe maintenance??

[Paul.J]

With all the problems some Perform lathe owners are experiencing at the moment,and talk of maintaining the lathe i thought i'd give mine a bit of TLC.
Cleaned it all out from dust etc,but didn't quite know what and what not to lubricate.The manual is useless.
So i took some piccys of the workings and thought someone could point out what to do,if you don't mind.
The two grub screws on the drive shaft were loose(piccy3),so these were tightened.
The lathe as now started to develop a slight rattling noise which i can't pinpoint,seems to coming from the drive shaft by the spring:?: :?:
I can see where the grease nipple is,but what about spraying with WD40 or PTFE.Which parts need this. :roll:







Paul.J.

 

[Bodrighy]

Hi Paul,

You need to get some PTFE on the shafts but be careful not to get it on the pulley wheels or the belt or it will slip all over the place.

Pete

 

[philjones]

I have the same machine but by Scheppach, DMS900.
Check the grub screws are flat on the bottoms as they were junk on mine so the pulley kept sliding around. Mine has heavy duty ones and they are now secure. PTFE will be fine on the shafts if these screws are secure else you will have the same problem only it will recur at very frequent intervals.
Check the belt alignment too as if it is offset the belt will be chewed by the pulleys. I use a sheet of A4 under the drive and if it gets black rubber on it you are out of alignment.
My machine has done less than 200 hrs and it rattles at certain speeds, I wasn't overly concerned. You didn't say whether it is a constant rattle or not.
Hope this helps.

Phil

 

[Paul.J]

Hello Phil,and welcome
Thanks for your reply.
The rattling as only recently started and is when it is running at the lower speeds.
When you say heavy duty grub screws,i take it you mean better quality ones.
I didn't see any black rubber but there was plenty of the ali dust in the casing.I took this as normal being a newish machine,wearing in and all that.
Pete i have now given the shafts a coating of the PTFE spray,and does seem to run smoother
Paul.J.

 

[CHJ]

Paul, the only time mine developed a rattle was when the grub screws on the inner motor pulley had worked loose.

Make sure that the inner pulley is in its correct location when you re-tighten the grub screws (put machine in high speed and and check that the belt is riding sensibly in the top of the motor pulley Vee) If the motor pulley is too far apart the belt will be on the motor shaft and not the Vee.

As far as lubrication goes, I just greased the motor shaft and checked for traces of grease on the shaft when run through the speed range.

I sprayed the top shaft and Pulleys with Dry PTFE, although the spray went on the Vee belt I never had significant belt slippage in use, but I did notice considerably less belt dust in the headstock on subsequent services due to wear.

In fact I spray the belt on my current machine with no detectable slip, just a considerable reduction in belt squeal due to pinching in the vee. (I have checked this under load with strobe speed discs)

 

[Paul.J]

Thanks for that Chas.
CHJ wrote
In fact I spray the belt on my current machine with no detectable slip, just a considerable reduction in belt squeal due to pinching in the vee. (I have checked this under load with strobe speed discs)
We always used to spray the belts at work now and again,kept them more supple and as you say quieter.
Used some sort of belt spray,can't remember though what it was :roll:
Paul.J.

 

[CHJ]

...snip
Used some sort of belt spray,can't remember though what it was :roll:
Paul.J.

Probably This or its equivalent

Not having any to hand was my reason for risking the ptfe, having checked results I found IN MY SETUP that if proved beneficial and with my current machine I lost the belt squeal and did not get adverse belt slipping.

The only problem with the dedicated belt dressing is that it can collect fine dust and leads to a dirtier job when servicing/cleaning down.

Don't know how the Rocol Belt Dressing would perform on the variable Vee drives though, may provide too much grip on the sliding faces of the cones.

 

[Paul.J]

Yes Chas,that's the one.
Didn't think it was that dear,we used to go through tins of it. :roll:
Mind you there were a lot of belts. :wink:
Paul.J.

 

[sliver]

www.rocol.com at Swillington nr Leeds. W. Yorkshire.
Maybe about 8 miles or so away from me. Not sure if they still manufacture at this site or if it's now offices only, as I've not been past it in a long while, but I hope this helps in some way.

cheers, sliver. :wink:

 

[Russell]

I had a customer bring in a FOX version of these lathes on Saturday the pulleys were almost solid after 9 months with no lubrication on the spindle shafts. Took about 2 hours to free up and strip down. I did a lock bolt coming loose on the bottom of the casting that moves the inside pulley on the top shaft in and out. Please check this on your lathes if it is coming out tighten it. If you don't the speed control shaft it is connected to will crash in to the pulleys not nice when the lathe is on and could smash the pulley completely.

 

[Paul.J]

Russel wrote
I did a lock bolt coming loose on the bottom of the casting that moves the inside pulley on the top shaft in and out. Please check this on your lathes if it is coming out tighten it.
Is this accessable in situ or have you got to take it apart as you did with the Fox :?: Can't really see anything on the Perform that side :roll:
Paul.J.

p.s Thanks for that Mrs Sliver

 

[Bodrighy]

Make sure that the inner pulley is in its correct location when you re-tighten the grub screws (put machine in high speed and and check that the belt is riding sensibly in the top of the motor pulley Vee) If the motor pulley is too far apart the belt will be on the motor shaft and not the Vee.

Just had a thought....Ok Ok I do get them occasionally :lol:

If the grub screw loosened and the two pulleys came apart as you said, the belt could end up on the shaft. If this happens it could prevent them from moving together couldn't it. This in effect would stop the speed control moving from fast to slow. I am assuming that the pulleys move together to push the belt up in the slower speeds. Yes?...No?

Pete

 

[Paul.J]

But if the belt was on the drive shaft wouldn't that make the speed slow :?
To be Honest Pete i've looked at the belts when adjusting the speed,but still can't see how or what moves.I see the belt rise up to the top of the pulleys for full speed,but what moves the pulleys apart i still can't see how it works. :roll:
Paul.J.

 

[Bodrighy]

Hi Paul.
Unless my basic understanding of gearing is wrong (based on pulley systems on a ship) the pulleys providing the power are fixed whilst the pulleys adapting the speed can change (or if on my lathe should change). The smaller the diameter of the variable pulleys, the greater the speed. In other words, the wider open the pulleys are, the greater the speed as the belt will be further down the 'V' and therefore running on a smaller diameter. If you look in between the pulleys you'll see that they are slotted so as they come together they presumably interlock allowing the 'V' to get tighter and thus push the belt up for slower speeds



Mine doesn't close up so is stuck at full speed at the moment.

Hope this helps. If I've got it wrong someone correct me please

Pete

 

[CHJ]

The motor pulley spring is trying to close the V all the time, I.E driving the gearing into high speed at the headstock shaft end.

This is counteracted by the fixed V distance selected by the operator when mechanically positioning the headstock shaft pulley with the control lever.

In practice whilst the drive is spinning a minute amount of flexing of the headstock V pulley occurs when you supply a closing force (lower speed) and this causes the belt to ride (basically slip) up the diameter of the V which in turn tightens the belt and forces the motor pulley apart against the spring.

Moving the speed lever to 'High' induces no load on the system as it opens up the headstock shaft pulley, slackening the tension on the belt, this allows the motor pulley to close by pushing the belt further out towards its periphery.

 

[Paul.J]

Thanks Pete.
Pete it looks like your Perform set up is different to what mine is.I think. :?
My adjusting pulleys are on the motors drive shaft.
Paul.J.

 

[Bodrighy]

Thanks Pete.
Pete it looks like your Perform set up is different to what mine is.I think. :?
My adjusting pulleys are on the motors drive shaft.
Paul.J.

Looking at the pictures I think that they are the same. Chas posted an explanation the same time as you on the previous page, it explains it better than me....more technical.

Pete