How to know if bearongs are worn?

[woodiedonald]

Hi,

How could you tell if lathe headstock bearings are worn? I'm wondering seeing as I own an old lathe and don't know how many bearing changes it ever had and are the noises it makes normal or not. Also, how would i go about changing them if I needed to?

Cheers

 

[SVB]

What type of lathe is it?

 

[woodiedonald]

What type of lathe is it?

Hi, its a Viceroy Educator.

cheers

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Do you have a DTI and clamping kit / magnetic base? If so use it to measure the radial and axial play of the spindle noses - I would hope to see virtually zero radial play and no more than 0.25mm axial.

If you do not have such equipment get the longest screwdriver you own, switch on the lathe, place the business end of the screwdriver on the bearing housing and place your ear on the handle end - you will hear any roughness / knocking from that individual bearing - repeat for the other bearing. These bearings are advertised as 'sealed for life' so if they are rumbling or knocking excessively they would need to be replaced.

Regards Mick

Edit - All of the above for a wood turning lathe - I see there is an Educator which is an engineering lathe, what do you have?

http://www.lathes.co.uk/viceroy/page2.html

Regards Mick

 

[woodiedonald]

Well i just did the screwdriver trick and it sounds a bit like the seaside or one of those shells that sound like the seaside when you listen into them.

So does this mean its OK or not? It was a very even continuous sound, it didn't have any intermittent scrapes or rattles.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

That sounds encouraging - if the bearing was shot I would expect to hear more of a rough sound.

With a face plate installed can you feel any play when you try to move it radially or axially?

Regards Mick

 

[woodiedonald]

no, cant feel any movement at all.

(edit) just seen your earlier edit, i have the wood lathe. I think its a later model than shown on lathes.co.uk, has the sloping cabinet not a flat top one.

cheers

 

[Spindle]

Hi

That's that then - bearings appear to be fine.

Get turning and enjoy yourself.

Regards Mick

 

[woodiedonald]

Cheers Mick!

 

[woodfarmer]

I do not know the lathe at all. It might be worth checking that any pulleys or any thing else mounted on the lathe spindle or the motor is all tight and nothing is loose. Also the drive belt (if it has one) needs to be in reasonable condition with no big cracks.

 

[user 17340]

I'm pretty sure I have the same Viceroy lathe - sloping top on cabinet beneath the tool post table.
The early rattly noises I had were due to;
a) the top pulley being a little loose on the spindle. Tightened the grub screw and it fixed that.
b) lack of tension in the top belt - still to sort that before going back to work (although the occasional slipping has prevented too big a dig in at times!). Good luck.
Mike