Hardinge HC rebuild

[northumbrian]

Took the carriage gear box apart...

Apart from the power feed motor not being wired up, the worm gear on the motor is missing.
So even if the motor is ok, it won't drive anything.

[northumbrian]

Got the brake solenoid off, it's quite loose, but I do get continuity if I wiggle it about a bit.

[BillTodd]

They are built just like a contactor with everything a little loose and sloppy. Does your solenoid have flying leads or do the connections go straight to the bobbin?

Bill

[northumbrian]

Straight to the bobbin.

[BillTodd]

Picture?

Is it possible to re-solder the connection ????

[northumbrian]

I've been talking to ZMT services, the bed plate needs to be reground as it's worn in the middle, so I'll get a new solenoid and get the powerfeed motor done too while I'm at it.

n.rat, I'm interested in a swap, as the manual I have is for the later models. Can you post a pic of the front cover so I can see if it's my HC?

[n.rat]

northumbrian,

I've tried to attach a couple of photographs of the manual, but the files are too large. There is no date information in the manual, but the UK addess is given as Exeter. The photographs on page three illustrate the Early model HC, with speed control by a handwheel on the front of the cabinet. Also, the cross-slide is much smaller and simpler than the one on my machine.

I had my bed plate reground (top surface only) by Triple T engineering at Shildon. They did an excellent job at reasonable price. One consequence, however, is that I now have a bit of backlash in the carriage rack/handwheel, due to the slight lowering of the carriage relative to the bed-mounted rack. The rack is doweled to the bed casting, so it's difficult to make any adjustment to its location. Backlash is now about 30 thou, as indicated at the dial. This could be compensated by using thicker teflon on the carriage underside.

I've been talking to ZMT services, the bed plate needs to be reground as it's worn in the middle, so I'll get a new solenoid and get the powerfeed motor done too while I'm at it.

n.rat, I'm interested in a swap, as the manual I have is for the later models. Can you post a pic of the front cover so I can see if it's my HC?

[northumbrian]

Sounds like my machine, I've sent you a pm.

The rack can be adjusted to compensate for the thinner bed plate, I'll post pics of the process when I get to it.

[BillTodd]

The usual procedure is to make a full bed-sized shim to fit under bed to correct for the re-grind. This keeps the carriage height correct without moving the rack.

Bill

[northumbrian]

The usual procedure is to make a full bed-sized shim to fit under bed to correct for the re-grind. This keeps the carriage height correct without moving the rack.

Bill

That sounds like an easier way to do it.

I'll take some more pics tonight, when I get a chance, every time I try to go in the workshop to do something on the HC, something else comes up.

Anyway I now have an Aciera F3 mill to fit in the workshop so I "have" to spend sometime in there in order to make room and to "tidy" up (typed for the benefit of SWMBO)