I've noticed it for some time but haven't had the chance to do anything about it.
I was seeing a yellowish sheen on the threads after a while and oil that ran out around the sides of the saddle where the lead screw was, would be blackish (on closer examination it glittered like bronze), I guess with bronze particulates. Obviously this isn't good. The backlash doesn't seem to have noticeably increased though. This has led me to use the machine sparingly to boot.
I was wondering if I had the gibs set too tight but I've tried with them entirely loose and the resistance is about the same, so there seems to be a base resistance to the system. It's not as easily sliding as the head is along the Y-axis, but it's also a lot lighter, but that's real easy and smooth in comparison. It slides easier with the gib set than the X-axis does with the gibs removed.
I took out the gibs and yes as I already knew the gibs are worn, I believe they need to be rescraped for bearing to get a better oil film.
So I think I also need to scrape the ways on the vertical table and saddle to reduce friction. I don't think this is that difficult once disassembled, since I am not altering any geometry. I'm not taking about flaking deep grooves here, that'd only be done on the gibs that are not exposed, Stefan Gotteswinter explained it well in his video where he scraped his shaper.
I removed the nut last night and found it was full of debris. I think some of it was stuff I was not able to get out when I first worked on the machine as I restored it because there was this sleeve on the nut.
I wasn't able to get off back then and I just reassembled it, figuring I had cleaned it well enough.... Well I got the cover this time with a slide hammer and was able to remove some more debris that was behind it.
I am gonna give it an even better clean now and in the ultrasonic cleaner as well. I can feel burrs on the inside so I will probably need to use something to get rid off the burrs, few licks with scotchbrite wrapped around a dowel perhaps. I am thinking this stuff is what was being eaten, the nut itself seems to look the same as last.
I will flush out the inside of the vertical where the nut sat with copious amounts of mineral spirits. Hopefully this will help a little, for now.
Though I feel I really need to take this machine apart again some day and re-scrape the bearing surfaces and backing plates. I have this hunch that the worn sliding surfaces are introducing too much friction and causing this extra wear on the screw.
I am also considering moving to Vactra #2 (68 weight) instead of #4 (220 weight), because while #4 was what I was being recommended, I live quite far north and my shop is quite cold a lot of the year (around 8-10c), I think the way oil might be too viscous under those conditions so I am thinking of moving to the 68 weight oil. I have this gut feeling that oil that is too viscous when cold would add to the making the sliding parts more difficult to slide against each other.
That's my plan for now, any feedback or ideas of your own. Anyone else encountered this?
I was seeing a yellowish sheen on the threads after a while and oil that ran out around the sides of the saddle where the lead screw was, would be blackish (on closer examination it glittered like bronze), I guess with bronze particulates. Obviously this isn't good. The backlash doesn't seem to have noticeably increased though. This has led me to use the machine sparingly to boot.
I was wondering if I had the gibs set too tight but I've tried with them entirely loose and the resistance is about the same, so there seems to be a base resistance to the system. It's not as easily sliding as the head is along the Y-axis, but it's also a lot lighter, but that's real easy and smooth in comparison. It slides easier with the gib set than the X-axis does with the gibs removed.
I took out the gibs and yes as I already knew the gibs are worn, I believe they need to be rescraped for bearing to get a better oil film.
So I think I also need to scrape the ways on the vertical table and saddle to reduce friction. I don't think this is that difficult once disassembled, since I am not altering any geometry. I'm not taking about flaking deep grooves here, that'd only be done on the gibs that are not exposed, Stefan Gotteswinter explained it well in his video where he scraped his shaper.
I removed the nut last night and found it was full of debris. I think some of it was stuff I was not able to get out when I first worked on the machine as I restored it because there was this sleeve on the nut.
I wasn't able to get off back then and I just reassembled it, figuring I had cleaned it well enough.... Well I got the cover this time with a slide hammer and was able to remove some more debris that was behind it.
I am gonna give it an even better clean now and in the ultrasonic cleaner as well. I can feel burrs on the inside so I will probably need to use something to get rid off the burrs, few licks with scotchbrite wrapped around a dowel perhaps. I am thinking this stuff is what was being eaten, the nut itself seems to look the same as last.
I will flush out the inside of the vertical where the nut sat with copious amounts of mineral spirits. Hopefully this will help a little, for now.
Though I feel I really need to take this machine apart again some day and re-scrape the bearing surfaces and backing plates. I have this hunch that the worn sliding surfaces are introducing too much friction and causing this extra wear on the screw.
I am also considering moving to Vactra #2 (68 weight) instead of #4 (220 weight), because while #4 was what I was being recommended, I live quite far north and my shop is quite cold a lot of the year (around 8-10c), I think the way oil might be too viscous under those conditions so I am thinking of moving to the 68 weight oil. I have this gut feeling that oil that is too viscous when cold would add to the making the sliding parts more difficult to slide against each other.
That's my plan for now, any feedback or ideas of your own. Anyone else encountered this?