I have a Hardinge Superslant that I changed over from the Fanuc to a LinuxCNC board. With that, I had always told myself to check the lube as the old lube level switch didn't work. Well, I forgot it and then during the middle of an operation everything went bad. The X axis servo overloaded, stopped and the axis seized.
This is my progress of what I am doing to resolve it. I will do what I can to solve it, if I can. When I started I didn't know if the ball screw or the ways were sized.
This morning, start
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Turret and tail stock. I placed wood in case the turret fell, but even without the belt drive connected, nothing was moving.
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The status of the X axis servo motor. The belt/pulley did not want to move at all.
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First I removed the main cover. Screws on side, bottom, and top.
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I acquired this lathe either third or fourth hand. It seems there was 'something' bolted to the back of the camber shown here by the clean circle, but I have no idea what it was. A lamp of some sort?
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Cover off, I removed the lower front panel to remove the door.
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Lower panel removed. It had two plates and foam between. The foam was quite oil soaked.
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I looked at the ball screw at the bottom. It seems a metal cover plate that was to be there was missing.
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Remove a plastic cover which has a lip around the side to remove debris. This was quite brittle. Aged plastic.
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Beneath was a set of screws and the central screw. I removed the center plug and black oil poured out. The two smaller screws at 10 and 5 on the round disk came out (metric size?) but the plate did not come out. I took a bolt and tapped it 9/16-NF and threaded it in to the center plug to pull the cap out.
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Ungodly oil poured out. About two tablespoons of this black stuff.
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From the manual, I can make a tool with two pins to remove the outer nut. I would then remove the inner hex nut on the ball screw to remove the bearings. Afterwards I removed the three nuts holding what I assume are way clamps or something like it. Shims of metal that maintain pressure between the turret and the ways.
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Next I looked towards the top. I removed the upper covers. The black plastic had already been broken by someone else's hand it seems. Notice a small bar of metal slot near the bottom. That is what I believe is the top of the way sliding shim. Maybe.
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More removal exposing the gear and ball screw ends.
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Exposing the sides of the turret.
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It was at this point I started experimenting. Granted, I am not the best experimenter.
Experiment 1. Can it move?
Using a 7/8" socket set, I could (with some force) turn the ball screw nut. So ball screw works.
Experiment 2. How much can it move?
Taking a hydraulic power pack, I put the cylinder on blocks and pushed the turret up. No movement. Using the socket set, it moved 0.5mm, then 1mm upwards. I can only tighten the nut on the end of the ball screw one direction, so I don't want to go further as I cannot go the opposite way. But it does indicate I can move along the ways with great force.
Experiment 3. Likely what I should have done first. Put penetrating oil onto the ways.
The outcome:
It barely moves. It seems seized. I have removed the nuts holding the shims, so maybe I can get them out somehow.
The ways are held together with bolts coming up from below. That doesn't seem good, as I can't get to them. From the manual it says there are 10 bolts and I can only see the two two pair.
Next steps:
Option 1. Remove turret, look at it from below.
Not the best option. There are bolts on the side to remove the X from the Z axis ways. This would involve a bunch of removal of wires and seeing if I can pull apart the axis to get to the nuts and get to the ways. I don't know if the ball screw is accessible from below.
Option 2. Remove the ball screw?
Not sure if this would do anything. I don't think the bearings are bad, but they are coated in black oil. It could also have the chance if spilling bearings all across the floor. However, this does make it seem that the ball screw cartridge would be accessible from one side during install, possibly the bottom as noted in Option 1. There is no noticeable access port to the ball screw from the top.
Option 3. Tap out the way blocks
I don't know if tapping the spacers holding the ways in place will slide them out the bottom. I don't know if anyone has done this or if this could work.
Option 4. Send it.
A bad idea. A phrase said multiple times by my colleague right before he snaps a bolt with his impact gun. I don't know if I can slide the turret off of the frame somehow to clean this up. It is promising that I could move it a mm or so, however that was with a bottle jack and a lot of torque.
Any suggestions? I will not be back at this for about 3 weeks as I have to fly out to do a service call half way across the continent.
This is my progress of what I am doing to resolve it. I will do what I can to solve it, if I can. When I started I didn't know if the ball screw or the ways were sized.
This morning, start
Turret and tail stock. I placed wood in case the turret fell, but even without the belt drive connected, nothing was moving.
The status of the X axis servo motor. The belt/pulley did not want to move at all.
First I removed the main cover. Screws on side, bottom, and top.
I acquired this lathe either third or fourth hand. It seems there was 'something' bolted to the back of the camber shown here by the clean circle, but I have no idea what it was. A lamp of some sort?
Cover off, I removed the lower front panel to remove the door.
Lower panel removed. It had two plates and foam between. The foam was quite oil soaked.
I looked at the ball screw at the bottom. It seems a metal cover plate that was to be there was missing.
Remove a plastic cover which has a lip around the side to remove debris. This was quite brittle. Aged plastic.
Beneath was a set of screws and the central screw. I removed the center plug and black oil poured out. The two smaller screws at 10 and 5 on the round disk came out (metric size?) but the plate did not come out. I took a bolt and tapped it 9/16-NF and threaded it in to the center plug to pull the cap out.
Ungodly oil poured out. About two tablespoons of this black stuff.
From the manual, I can make a tool with two pins to remove the outer nut. I would then remove the inner hex nut on the ball screw to remove the bearings. Afterwards I removed the three nuts holding what I assume are way clamps or something like it. Shims of metal that maintain pressure between the turret and the ways.
Next I looked towards the top. I removed the upper covers. The black plastic had already been broken by someone else's hand it seems. Notice a small bar of metal slot near the bottom. That is what I believe is the top of the way sliding shim. Maybe.
More removal exposing the gear and ball screw ends.
Exposing the sides of the turret.
It was at this point I started experimenting. Granted, I am not the best experimenter.
Experiment 1. Can it move?
Using a 7/8" socket set, I could (with some force) turn the ball screw nut. So ball screw works.
Experiment 2. How much can it move?
Taking a hydraulic power pack, I put the cylinder on blocks and pushed the turret up. No movement. Using the socket set, it moved 0.5mm, then 1mm upwards. I can only tighten the nut on the end of the ball screw one direction, so I don't want to go further as I cannot go the opposite way. But it does indicate I can move along the ways with great force.
Experiment 3. Likely what I should have done first. Put penetrating oil onto the ways.
The outcome:
It barely moves. It seems seized. I have removed the nuts holding the shims, so maybe I can get them out somehow.
The ways are held together with bolts coming up from below. That doesn't seem good, as I can't get to them. From the manual it says there are 10 bolts and I can only see the two two pair.
Next steps:
Option 1. Remove turret, look at it from below.
Not the best option. There are bolts on the side to remove the X from the Z axis ways. This would involve a bunch of removal of wires and seeing if I can pull apart the axis to get to the nuts and get to the ways. I don't know if the ball screw is accessible from below.
Option 2. Remove the ball screw?
Not sure if this would do anything. I don't think the bearings are bad, but they are coated in black oil. It could also have the chance if spilling bearings all across the floor. However, this does make it seem that the ball screw cartridge would be accessible from one side during install, possibly the bottom as noted in Option 1. There is no noticeable access port to the ball screw from the top.
Option 3. Tap out the way blocks
I don't know if tapping the spacers holding the ways in place will slide them out the bottom. I don't know if anyone has done this or if this could work.
Option 4. Send it.
A bad idea. A phrase said multiple times by my colleague right before he snaps a bolt with his impact gun. I don't know if I can slide the turret off of the frame somehow to clean this up. It is promising that I could move it a mm or so, however that was with a bottle jack and a lot of torque.
Any suggestions? I will not be back at this for about 3 weeks as I have to fly out to do a service call half way across the continent.