Hello Dave,

There are probably a pair of nuts on the far end of the main spindle that you can use to adjust the bearings.

Neil

Your in the right place if you want to change the bearings. The front cone can be a pain to get off. The fit of the rear ones varies but can sometimes benefit from a very light polish to ease refitting. Arc euro have a pdf on titivating one of their lathes and they are all very similar. For slide adjustment Taig have a good pdf concerning building one of their lathes from their kit. Do it as they suggest lead screws out and look for a bit of resistance pushed by hand.

BMTS are in the middle of town. If you take the spindle along and ask they will probably get the front cone off for you and refit a new one. Take the bearings and buy a decent european brand. It's likely to need a bearing press so as they are close no point in trying to knock something up at home and risk damaging the spindle.

If you do change the bearings you will need to make a few bits and pieces. Couple of discs a touch smaller than the od of the bearing with a hole in the middle for all thread to press the new shells in. Something to locate in the spindle and keep the all thread central and a spacer to pull the spindle out. I did that badly like this, different lathe but the principle is the same.

I didn't make sure the all thread was central. That made it a lot harder to get out and scored the spindle a touch. Fortunately it didn't damage it.

What mill is more or less set by what table size and travel you need. In other word the area it can machine and also the daylight under the cutter which limits how "tall" work can be. If you want something that really has some grunt and doesn't take up much space personally I would go for one of these and not one of the variable speed machines.

**LINK**

They used to be available in a number of sizes and sold well. I'd hope they still deserve the same reputation. I haven't got the space otherwise I would know. For a bigger industrial machine Bidgeport wouldn't be my choice but all sorts of bits and pieces are available for them. Ideally I would want a universal but changing over on some might result in a hernia. They also tend to weigh a few tonnes. There are all sorts of makes available on the used market in all sorts of sizes.

John

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Possibly the centre of the Universe

**LINK**

its near the black country!

Good link Michael. I had never noticed it before.

It should add that Brum has more miles of canals than Venice. They are probably a little less romantic though.

There is a bit more about the place here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham

John

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Edited By Ajohnw on 25/04/2016 18:00:19

They should be greased when assembled and then the correct preload set. Have a read of the Timkin Manual and then run your tests from the other thread again when the lathe has warmed up.