Kondia FV-1 Head disassembly

[stevec]

Darren, Darren, Darren! the love and persistence you have shown toward your mill will be rewarded to you once you've gotten it up and running . The gratification for both you and your saviour in the "States" will be appreciated by you both as well as all of us.
Besides, it's been interesting and edifying for all of us I'm sure.

Steve

( couldn't find a smiley for "gag choke!)

 

[Highpower]

(02-20-2015, 06:40 PM)Mayhem Wrote: Thanks Willie - I'm betting that you either purchased your mill new or that a previous owner didn't accept a challenge to try and deliberately destroy it.  I still don't understand how some of the parts got broken.  Perhaps his wife said that he couldn't buy a CNC mill whilst he had a perfectly functioning manual mill...


At the end of the day I will (should) have a decent mill and will have a total outlay about the same as what I would have paid locally for a used mill in better condition.  Last one I saw advertised was $3900 and I've not seen one for more than a year now.  Also, it is easier to spend a little bit frequently than a lump sum.  I know I will get my money back (plus some) if I ever sell.

That's not a valid argument Darren. In certain circles everyone knows that a clapped out Bridgeport is worth 10 times more than any brand new Chinese mill.  And don't ever waste your time and money putting any lipstick on one of those pigs!
(Just kidding.....) 

Seriously though, I'm quite certain your mill will be in better condition than when it left the factory when you are done. One thing is for certain, you will know that machine inside and out! That's a good thing and I know it will serve you very well. You've done a bang up job on it and will have earned a well deserved "you suck" in the near future. Just felt the need to give you a little ribbing.... 

Maybe it's my new meds.... or maybe I had a subconscious urge to channel Steve. Not sure which. 

[Mayhem]

Let's hope it is the meds Willie - not sure we could cope with the second possibility...

[stevec]

   

Steve

[Mayhem]

What do they say about taking one step forward and two steps back?

I finished off the motor clamp, so I can keep tension on the belt without using a G-clamp.  I oil blackened the parts but for some reason, the clamp body looks like crap in the picture.  It looks much better in normal light but probably warrants another cycle. 

   
   
   

I then spent the best part of two hours making minor adjustments to get the quill feed working.  I figured out that I could set the clutch easier by removing the feed trip bracket and manually depressing the overload clutch trip lever.  Once I thought I had it set correctly, I put the feed trip bracket back on and tried it out.  

It worked but kept tripping itself.  I decided that the spring that actuates the overload clutch trip lever was too strong.  So I shortened the spring by a couple of coils and tried it again.  This time the mechanism stayed engaged but the clutch was slipping.  I pulled the clutch out and put an eighth of a turn on the overload clutch locknut and put it all together and tested it again.  I engaged the trip lever and there was linear motion followed by a sound that resembled gears crunching and (potentially) spitting teeth 

So - from the last picture above to this all in the space of a couple of hours...

   
   

Initially I thought it may be the clutch slipping but removing it didn't resolve the issue.  My concern then was the feed worm, hence the (almost) complete tear down of the head.  I'm very pleased to say that the worm feed and associated gears are undamaged.  However, I haven't found the cause of the sound.  I need to remove feed drive gear cluster, which transmits drive to the forward/neutral/reverse gears that control the quill feed.  The cluster was very difficult to turn manually (i.e. with a screwdriver). I need to grab my slide hammer, which is in my other shop to remove this.

 I'm away on business all of next weekend, so I'm hoping to get to this the following week.  

Any thoughts???

[Mayhem]

I forgot to add that I couldn't unblock the oiler, so I'm going to order a new one. I cannot see any reason not to replace all the oilers now and be done with it. After all, if one is blocked and I have unblocked others, I have no guarantee that they are fully unblocked. After all the time and effort I have put into this mill, I don't want to come undone by lack of adequate lube.

My only problem is that all of the Dropsa oilers are stamped with a "D", which I am guessing stands for Dropsa and not the flow rate. I'm guessing that the slideway oilers are a different rate to the nut oilers. There is nothing in any of the Kondia literature that I have, so I have contacted Dropsa and will see what they suggest...

[PixMan]

Darren,

Oilers are a minor thing here.

I'm very concerned about this crunching sound you are getting from the quill feed mechanism. I sense there's a clearance issue somewhere, probably something as simple as a missing spacer, washer, shim, etc. that never made it to any of their assembly prints.

I really feel for you because it could be (or is, I should say) quite a chore to figure this out and fix it. You've come too far and put too much time into it to give up or just slap it together and see what happens.

Best of luck to you, seriously!

Ken

[Mayhem]

OK - some progress!

1. Closer inspection of the back gears shows a little wear on the tops of the teeth of the counter shaft gear.  When I initially replaced the bearings in this, the selector shaft was bent.  I straightened it but after pulling it apart I either didn't do a good job or it has bent again (albeit ever so slightly).  Perhaps I did something stupid and not disengage it properly when shifting back to high range...  I'll straighten it again and will probably make a new guide shaft as the old on is pitted and I think it is slightly worn.  Without the cover on it allows the selector fork to canter a little.
   
   
2. I pulled the quill feed drive shaft and gear cluster and found that the shaft is very tight (to the point of locking up) in the top bush.  I actually had to use my slide hammer to separate the two and the bush is scored around the circumference at the top of the bore.  I'd not separated the two previously but will now polish the bore and the shaft as necessary to get a nice fit again.  
   
   
3. Dropsa have informed me that the D mark on all eight metered oilers indicates a flow rate of 4 drops of oil with a
   viscosity of 100 CST at 40°C.  Interesting, as the Bridgeport mills spec different flow rates for the nuts and slideways.  Given that one is still blocked solid and the others demonstrate variable rates of flow, I am going to replace them all and be done with it.  At less than $15 each, I look at it as cheap insurance.
   
   

I'm on the other side of the country over the weekend and Monday, so I hope to get some time before next weekend to make some further progress.

[mike-sid]

Exciting update. Sounds like you are on top of it!

[PixMan]

I agree with Mike, good job of analyzing the issues.

Me, I'm just glad to hear the part I made isn't (yet) part of the problem with getting it running well. You'll get there soon!