BV30 Lathe

[Jon S]

Jonathan,

Thanks for the bellows idea, I had just been thinking about the ballscrew but bellows could help keep the ways clear as well.

I agree that it seems like a lot of work, and that just replacing the bearings would be the easy option.... but the gearbox has too much slop for index &or live axis use which is something I want to be able to do in the future.

The bearings look like they are just deep groove, not certain of the size yet. the spindle bore is MT5.

If I were to replace the bearings with a pair of nice AC ones, I could then hack a shaft in the gearbox and spindle shaft to use a toothed belt to drive the spindle.
The belt, cogs and tensioner would be trapped in the gearbox, which I was trying to avoid.. however I recon that a belt should last >1year so no issue.

The existing V belt drive can be replaced with more toothed belt and that could be used to provide ratio changes.. but I am hoping that I can get a beefy enough motor that there will be no need :-)

Now where is that growth hormone powder for the sherline?

Thanks.

Jon