Feeler FTL 618

[BillTodd]

So, mine has a 70 tooth major and 14 tooth minor. If anyone has a similar gear in their machine can they tell me if it's metric or imperial and I'll order it from Hardinge. It may make my Taiwanese copied crap more accurate!!!

I always wondered if Feeler's were 'approved' Hardinge copies, I guess I have the answer now :) FWIW I understand that Feeler's are very good and very well made.

Attached is the best picture I have of my (imperial) apron gears I count 14 on the small gear and 70 on the larger one (there's is a bit of guess work involved - so please re-count them and double check)

That's an interesting repair job - something similar was suggested for mine by Jim Rozen over on the practical machinist site:
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...-h-174652.html with a bit of silver soldering and a spray and re-grind your gear would be probably be perfectly usable.


[edit] BTW if Hardinge insist on a serial number before quoting for parts etc. Mine is HLV-H 397

[edit2] BTW have you tried Feeler for spares?http://www.feeler.com/en_products.asp

[edit3] Thinking about it, your lathe will be imperial i.e. 8tpi lead-screw, 10tpi dials because the dials and gearbox convert english to metric not vice versa. Only an all metric machine would have metric threads and a different carriage gear :)

[pfincham]

I make the same count as you, 70 and 14. I had a chat with a mate who has a machine shop. He says that one off gear hobbing is pretty expensive so I guess I'll order the one from Hardinge at 210 dollars. Converting to 130 quid it seems like the simplest method right now. While I'm at it I'll get some other small bits that seem to have gone missing over time.
I'm not really worried about the stupid comments from Hardinge. I know some guys who have had both Hardinge and Feelers at the same time and they say that the feeler compares well.