Lathe bearings

[markr]

I'm finally getting around to getting my lathe cleaned up and plated.  I assume that these are bearings and should not be plated?  Do they just press out and do I press  them in or out? What is the easy way to do this?

[caseback]

I'm not sure they can be separated. The headstock body and bearing look to be machined from one solid block, but I could be mistaken. But even if they could be pressed out, I wouldn't want to risk it. Couldn't you use a tampon galvanising process instead? On the other hand, I wouldn't be suprised if a good clean and polish would already be a big improvement. It looks to be mainly caked in old oil and dirt, or is it actually rust?

Edited November 20, 2024 by caseback

[Neverenoughwatches]

26 minutes ago, caseback said:

I'm not sure they can be separated. The headstock body and bearing look to be machined from one solid block, but I could be mistaken. But even if they could be pressed out, I wouldn't want to risk it. Couldn't you use a tampon galvanising process instead? On the other hand, I wouldn't be suprised if a good clean and polish would already be a big improvement. It looks to be mainly caked in old oil and dirt, or is it actually rust?

What does some chisel sharpened pegwood do it  Case ?

[Neverenoughwatches]

Do to it... the rust looking effect ?

I'm thinking to use autosol or pollinum in like a valve griding process or could that be too much and effect the cone mating surfaces ?

Edited November 21, 2024 by Neverenoughwatches

[caseback]

A soak in some degreaser followed by some sharpened pegwood wouldn't hurt the bearings' steel surfaces. Always difficult to judge a piece from pictures, but I wouldn't be suprised if what you see is caked on old lubricant mixed with rusted dust. Might be wishful thinking though..

But if what we see is really a heavily rusted headstock body, it will be pitted and you would need to do a lot of grinding and polishing (possibly losing the sharp edges as well)  to get the surface perfect before plating. Plating doesn't fill up any surface imperfections. One could then consider to apply for instance a wrinkle finish black paint (see pic) instead of replating the part. Black wrinkle finish paint comes in spray cans. I've used it on MG-B dashboards 

Edited November 21, 2024 by caseback

[rjenkinsgb]

Definitely do not try to remove the bearings - they are likely pressed in, but then finish machined & ground in situ. Any disturbance could wreck the spindle.

Either tape them up thoroughly or paint them with a peelable mask liquid first (or both). 

This is a cross section of an original WW style lathe headstock, for info:

(From "The watchmakers lathe, its use and abuse" - available on archive.org).

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 hours ago, caseback said:

A soak in some degreaser followed by some sharpened pegwood wouldn't hurt the bearings' steel surfaces. Always difficult to judge a piece from pictures, but I wouldn't be suprised if what you see is caked on old lubricant mixed with rusted dust. Might be wishful thinking though..

But if what we see is really a heavily rusted headstock body, it will be pitted and you would need to do a lot of grinding and polishing (possibly losing the sharp edges as well)  to get the surface perfect before plating. Plating doesn't fill up any surface imperfections. One could then consider to apply for instance a wrinkle finish black paint (see pic) instead of replating the part. Black wrinkle finish paint comes in spray cans. I've used it on MG-B dashboards 

 The important thing is that the bearings are rust free, i thought I detected some of the effect you mention at the front edges of the cone. Hopefully it is all old dried on lubricant, i had a thought about rust from swarf etc left on the headstock, its bugged me in the past about rust contamination.  So not initial rust caused  by oxidation but applied rust  from another source, i started to think of it like a disease that can spread via contact.  ????

[nickelsilver]

Rjenkins is right on the nose- you don't want to disturb these. If there is some rust, remove it with steel wool. The lathe will still run fine, even if its lifespan has shortened. It may only do another 100K hours before needing a little touch-up.

[JohnR725]

19 hours ago, markr said:

Do they just press out and do I press  them in or out? What is the easy way to do this?

Easiest way to do this is not to destroy your lathe by playing with them. As others have said they normally do not come out and you do not want to re-grind them. It really just looks like surface something like cleaning should solve the problem. The lathe itself doesn't exactly run on that surface anyway it basically runs on a film of oil. To just clean up whatever that is without modifying the surface if you can do it and make sure you have good oil and add oil from time to time. One of the most interesting problems I've seen of watchmaker's lathe is the failure to grasp that you need to add oil. So typically end up with people running their lathe's dry which is definitely not good at all.

[caseback]

I'm reading Donald de Carle's " the watchmaker's and model engineer's lathe" and found something on page 15 that made me think about this thread:

"Without exception, watchmakers are almost as concerned about the appearance of a lathe as they are about its precision. In no other field is plating used on precision equipment." 

Edited November 24, 2024 by caseback

[Neverenoughwatches]

On 11/21/2024 at 5:01 PM, JohnR725 said:

Easiest way to do this is not to destroy your lathe by playing with them. As others have said they normally do not come out and you do not want to re-grind them. It really just looks like surface something like cleaning should solve the problem. The lathe itself doesn't exactly run on that surface anyway it basically runs on a film of oil. To just clean up whatever that is without modifying the surface if you can do it and make sure you have good oil and add oil from time to time. One of the most interesting problems I've seen of watchmaker's lathe is the failure to grasp that you need to add oil. So typically end up with people running their lathe's dry which is definitely not good at all.

I've made point of topping up the oil wells everytime i use mine.

25 minutes ago, caseback said:

I'm reading Donald de Carle's " the watchmaker's and model engineer's lathe" and found something on page 15 that made me think about this thread:

"Without exception, watchmakers are almost as concerned about the appearance of a lathe as they are about its precision. In no other field is plating used on precision equipment." 

Thats the nature of a watchmaker....in fact any tradesman that considers aesthetics .

[markr]

Lathe has been cleaned and has gone to be re-plated.  It was mostly old plating flaking off.  I'll be posting photos when done.  

[markr]

[GPrideaux]

Ooh, shiny!