Perfecto lathe / Myford ML4 – counter shaft/assembly help please

[Cat purpleParticipant @catpurple99601]

Perfecto lathe / Myford ML4 – counter shaft/assembly help please

[Cat purpleParticipant @catpurple99601]

Hi ,
Hope your all well .
I was hooping to get a little help , with my Perfecto lathe , which is meant to be a copy of Myford ML4 .

I bought the lathe in 2016 . I had to put it together to get it running , which I did . But now I have forgotten how to do things .

At the moment I want to take the counter shaft off to see the bearings , well actually I want to oil them as they start to make a squeaky noises and get back to turning.

But anyway I want to take the counter shaft off to see the bearings . Problem I am having is I can not seem to take it apart , the pulley for the motor does not seem to want come off . nor does the pulley for the lathe shaft.

O put a new V belt on back in 2016 so I know it comes off but can not remember how .

Please can someone help

I have photos in here , but can not seem to add them to this

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

Hello, CP, welcome to the forum..

There's a 'How To' page here to help you put some pictures up..

How To Post Pictures / Photographs..

[Cat purpleParticipant @catpurple99601]

Hi pics of the lathe – https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/albums/member_album.asp?a=59528

[Cat purpleParticipant @catpurple99601]

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

It almost looks as if the countershaft spindle icould be a lathe mandrel?

In any case, check that the pulley grubscrews are all out, being aware that sometimes the initial screw may have another fitted above it to stop it loosening..

The cone pulley is a mandrel pulley, I wonder whether there are spacers fitted at one (or both ends) – it looks a bit like it in the second last picture?

Does the cone pulley rotate on the shaft once loosened?

[Cat purpleParticipant @catpurple99601]

Right this is what I have done, dunno if this is what or how it should have been done .

The red cap plays a part , I think it is a WD40 cap , but it has splines on the inside which help to centralised the shaft in the frame of the counter assembly part .

So , I undid all the bolts holding the counter shaft , thus the bearings as well , up .

Using the red cap centralising the shaft in the middle of the round bearing holder part of the frame to the counter assembly , then screwed in the bolts locking the top one off and the bottom one tight , did not have a lock nut on bottom . Then did the same to the one next to the big pulley wheel to the motor.

Found some holes on the bearings for oil , set them so they are pointing up so you can put oil in , but my , what I thought was thin enough oil can , does not fit in-between the pulleys and frame . It is really tight but can see a drop or two going in and that seem to be enough to get rid of the high pitch metal squeaking noise and big pulley to motor not getting as hot but still warm? , belt to motor does not seem to be too tight .

I have not taken the big pulley to the motor , off . Which I think is how you would take the belt off or put on , but how to take that wheel off is the question.

Thing I am worried about is , having turned the bearing , bolts holding rhe bearing , they are not sitting in a recess , which I think they where before , which is why I wanted to take it all apart because I do not like these unknowns

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Myford lathe group is also a useful point of call for info link

https://groups.io/g/myfordlathes

H

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

The countershaft bearing blocks should be centralised in their housings by adjusting the top and bottom screws – the pointy ends of the screws should locate in dimples in the bearing block, and should be tightened until they make contact and then backed off say a quarter turn, so that the block can 'self-algn' and support the shaft with no binding or tight-spots.

If you are missing a lock nut, a dab of blue threadlocker (low strength, '243' or similar) should hold it.

The bearings are plain and usually the 'oil hole' is formed to make a little reservoir for oil which should be topped up at the start of a session – but if there's some wear on the shaft you might want to just put a couple of squirts from an oil can in to start with and see how long it takes to come out .. something like 'SAE30' mower oil from a garden centre will do.

If you can get the shaft running freely, it isn't rattling about in the bearings, and all feels 'good', then I'd probably be inclined to re-secure the pulleys and leave the rest of the assembly as is unless you really need to strip it all down.

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