Renovating a Hardinge HLV-H

[BillTodd]

Yesterday, after moaning about the lack of industry in Colchester, I found a firm who can metal-spray my carriage gear that is, literally, a stone's throw away from me (well, a stone's throw with a good arm and a fair wind).

I thought Colchester Rewind and Repair just fixed electric motors, but they have a whole range of medium-heavy engineering equipment - You know you're onto a winner when you walk in the door and get; "Hello, I know you. You're Andy's mate; You fixed my computer..."

After talking to Paul, their spraying expert, we agreed that even their hardest power would not be suitable for a needle roller, so I chose to go with the hard power and to make bronze bushes to support the sprayed gear.

Today. I Spent most of the morning waiting for a phone call from CR+R only to find Virgin's phone/Internet & TV were all down :( I popped 'round the corner after lunch and picked up the newly sprayed gear :)

The little Southbend made light work of a couple of bronze bushes (it really is a good little lathe); I decided to put a seal on the rack side of the carriage bearing. I struggled a bit to make the O-ring groove; didn't have a suitable tool, but managed in the end by grinding the life out of an old boring bar (the groove could have been a little deeper, it's a right ******** to get the gear past the seal without pinging the o-ring out of its seat)

I was expecting to have a major job honing/boring the two bearings parallel (the apron front is pinned to the carriage and there are other gears to keep aligned so it has to be right), however, with nothing more than light honing through the pair of bearing with a brass rod and a tap or two with a rubber mallet, the thing went together a treat :)

I couldn't resist test fitting the carriage onto the bed just to feel how the thing moved --Smooooooth :)