Boxford bearing noise???

[JP SantosParticipant @jpsantos46123]

Hi all, hope someone can help out, give me some ideas on this one..?

I have had this Boxford for quite a few years, it works pretty good for what I do, but I’d like to give a go at screw cutting, but it makes such an awful noise when I engage the auto feed?
Is not so bad if saddle going backwards, but forwards it sounds awful… surely something is not correct?
The bearings are greased – just to double check, using mobilube?

I have a video, hope it works.
Slow speeds is not so bad, but at high speed is really noisy and don’t want to blow it up…

On the video you’ll see it first running free, no noise, then running with backward engaged, more noise and finally forward engaged which is really noisy.
it seems to come from the side? but hard to tell… you guys will definitely know more than me and might be able to point me in the right direction..

thank you!

https://youtu.be/6id8XnFxhB0

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

sounds a bit like the gear teeth could need a good clean and mesh could be a bit tight, try setting mesh with a strip of paper between the teeth to give reasonable clearance and a LITTLE hypoid 90 oil on teeth. Would you realistically be using a mandrel speed like that with that travel feed?.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I concur

MichaelG.

[JP SantosParticipant @jpsantos46123]

OK, great, thanks for the tip!
I guess this is fairly basic, but got to start somewhere with asking. 🙂

you are correct, I probably wouldnt use it at that speed, but used it so the noise could be noticeable on the video.
I’ll do what you say in a bit, and see if makes a difference.

thank you!

[Clive Brown 1Participant @clivebrown1]

Agree that the gear mesh should be checked. Change gears can be noisy even if properly meshed however. Some Boxfords are fitted with tufnol tumbler gears, as mine is, which Boxford supplied as a means of reducing gear noise at higher speeds. They’re not as robust as metal gears of course.

[JP SantosParticipant @jpsantos46123]

well, bit of feedback, it was too tight, played around a bit with it and is better… thank you for the advice, I’m happy it wasn’t something very wrong with it that could lead to major failure.

I shall now venture on the world of screw cutting!

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If it grumbles in one direction, more than the otjher, it sounds as if the gears are slightly worn, through being run without backlash.

Gears should always be run with a little backlash.

+1 for setting backlash using a strip of papoer.

A strip of paper is about 0.002 /0.003″ which would be about correct.

Gears should never be run without backlash, (Unless specifically designed for that condition)

Thick oil, or grease, on the gears will quieten them.

DON’T expect spur gears to run silently.

Even helical gears will make some noise.

FWIW, my method is to set the backlash between the gear on the Leadscrew and the Idler, first.

The banjo can tten be swung to set the backlash between the Idler and the Driver.

If using a compound Idler, backlash can be set in the same way but obviously on the appropriate mesh.

HTH

Howard

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

“Some Boxfords are fitted with tufnol tumbler gears, as mine is, which Boxford supplied as a means of reducing gear noise at higher speeds. They’re not as robust as metal gears of course”.

Is that true? I have always thought that Tufnol gears were meant to fail if there was a crash somewhere on the machine. I have recently introduced some 3D printed plastic gears into a couple of shop-made attachments that have gear trains in the hope that they will fail before the teeth on the change-wheels I have been using. I have done this because I had a seizure recently when testing a device and it broke a tooth on a Myford change-wheel. Myford lathes utilise Tufnol gears on the tumbler reverse and I thought the reason for this was to protect the rest of the machine. I may now be incorrect.

[Clive Brown 1Participant @clivebrown1]

The Lathes.co.uk site mentions optional tufnol gears near the end of the Boxford ME10 page. Reduced noise seems to be the main benefit. Those on my lathe are now 46 years old, so can’t be too vulnerable. A possible point though is the Boxford powered feeds are driven through a friction clutch on the apron. This could perhaps act as a safety valve in the case of a crash. Not for screwcutting though which is a solid drive, though usually much slower of course.

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