Wick Oiler for the Atlas 10F

 Based on work done by other I am making a wick oiler for the Atlas front spindle bearing.
The original oiler is a light press fit spring loaded flip up cap.  The new oiler will be loosely based on this drawing.

It will be using a solid copper wire instead of a cloth wick.   Thes cups will not hold much oil.  Most of my sessions are 2 hours or less.  Note that one can stop the oil flow by removing the wike aka wire.

The center post has been machined from a 1/2" diameter length of all thread.  One end has been turned down to fit in the bearing cap.  The other is drilled out to take the wick and allow one to squirt oil directly into the bearing.  This went well.

Using an odd chunk of aluminum I machined a cup that threads on the center post.  The pot has to fit next to the guard over the spindle so it is limited to a diameter of about 1.2".  It did not machine well and although I used the specified 27/64ths bit the fit is sloppy.   May use this as a proof of concept but it is not good enough to keep.   Thinking of making one from steel.  

More to come.

The wire did not drip.  Neither did a section of cord from a window shade.  Thinking....

Testing sand for porosity

 another thing that would cause the surface to be really rough like that is pouring way way too hot

also that seam across the swivel part, that looks like the sand puffed on you when the metal was poured in because the moisture trapped behind the facing sand couldnt escape/vent through the rest of the sand because there was too much, or not enough breathability of the sand, and it just popped that part out as the metal was cooling

Dusty Dan — Yesterday at 11:38 PM

Ah I was wondering about that

Chirpy — Yesterday at 11:46 PM

looks like mostly breathability of the sand and water content tho

@FlashyFlash do you have a 1" or 1 1/2" pvc pipe piece somewhere nearby?

even 3/4" pvc pipe would work too

does not have to be very long, only a few inches really

and a wooden dowel rod that's a little bit longer than the piece of pvc pipe section

Dusty Dan — Today at 12:50 AM

The dowel is for ramming the sand in the pipe ?

Chirpy — Today at 12:54 AM

yea, lightly, and if the sand is too damp, it'll want to stick to the end of the raw wood dowel rod

just pack around 1 1/2" of sand lightly into the tube till the sand starts to push back and it feels solid, it shouldnt take much pressure to ram it in at all

then take your mouth and try blowing it out as hard as you can, if nothing can get through, then it might be that your sand cant breathe, but if it is less of a cork and extremely restricted, then the porousity of the sand might be ok, and just is too wet

or dump around 1 1/2" of sand into the tube and pack it in lightly with the dowel rod

if the sand wants to stick to the dowel rod, then it is really way too wet, or if the end of the rod feels wet after tamping it down

when you turn the tube over, it should feel pretty hard, but hold into the tube very snugly

would feel almost like a sugar cube, so not super hard, but still can crush it with enough force

if your sand can pass a little bit of pressure/air through it, then just sit there for a while and repeat that over and over again, pouring 1 1/2" of sand into the tube, and lightly tamping it down to get a feel for ramming the sand up, then knock that plug out and repeat 

everyone's greensand is a little different, and reacts a little differently to how it likes to be handled, and is a good way to figure out where the issues are with the sand

when you blow through it with your mouth, you dont want to use your lungs, you can try blowing through it, or try sucking the air through it with your mouth, it'll act as either a cork if it cant breathe at all and you end up with a constant vacuum, or if it will lose that pressure/vacuum on it's own as the air gets through the sand

that'll tell you alot about how hard the sand wants to be rammed up

and it sticking/balling up on the end of the piece of wood is a guaranteed way to tell that the water content is too high

Adjusting the play in the Atlas carriage.

Author was asking about a Craftsman 101 so this should hold for Atlas 10s as well.
 Steven Haskell

In one of the manuals, they discuss loosing the screws on the RH end lead screw bearing bracket, moving the carriage to the RH end of the bed, engaging the half nut lever to close the half nuts on the lead screw, then tightening the screws in the RH lead screw bracket. Then disengage the half nuts and see how the carriage feels on the ways.

Drill Speed by Coating

 

Lord of Lava Island 🌋🤷🌋 — Today at 11:09 AM

Was watching a training video, extracted this information. Might be helpful to someone. Cobalt drill bits can run 10% sfm over hss Tungsten carbide drill bits can run 2-3x, very brittle, must use spotting bits, not center drill as they will most likely chip TiN (titanium nitride, dark gold color) typically allows about a 25% increase in cutting speed, until worn off or sharpened away TiCN (titanium carbo nitride, violet grey color) 35-50% higher speeds and 15-25% higher feeds TiAlN (titanium aluminum nitride, violet black color) 75-100% higher speeds, not for aluminum! they stick ZrN (zirconium nitride, very bright yellow color) 25-30% faster speeds, increases tool life 3-5x, great for aluminum as they tend to NOT stick together

Atlas 10F Thrust Bearing

The thrust bearing started making noise.  The part number is 10D-61.  Clausing is said to sell a replacement that is wider than the 1/2" width of the original bearing.   The 10D-61 has 2 ID sizes.  The side with the larger ID faces the babbitt bearing to provide a path for the oil.  A replacement bearing would need to have open area on one face to provide the original oiling setup.

On this spindle stacks up like this

1. Round thrust adjusting nut
2. Change gear drive gear
3. Spacer with keyway
4. Babbitt bearing
5. Thrust bearing 10D-61
6. Backgear gear
7. Pulley stack
8. ...

The spindle has a small pin that rests in #3's, the spacer,  keyway and causes it to rotate with drive gear #2.  The space between the spacer and the babbitt bearing #4 is oiled by oil lost from the babbitt bearing.  This pin is small compared to the size of the keyway. 

Others have succeeded in removing this pin with heat and oil I failed.  Maybe because I was unwilling to use sufficient heat on the spindle. I filed the pin flat and polished the spindle.

My initial plan was to drill a new hole in the spindle and fit a pin.   Visions of doing this on the spindle were unpleasant.  Then I figured I could drill matching holes in the face of #2 and #3 fitting a pin between them which would cause them to rotate together.   Found an 1 1/4 inch pipe and made a mandrel.   With it setup in the drill press I opted to sleep on it.

The next day I came up with what maybe a better solution.   I created a new woodruff key for under the #2 gear with a tail to drive the spacer.  The tail has no groove so it rests on top the spindle shaft.   But it is larger than the pin it replaces so it should be strong enough.   The advantage to this fix is that I did not have to modify anything but the key which is a stock item.  

It took a while to layout and file the key but it happened.  

Now back to #5 the thrust bearing.  The bearing did turn easily.   The ultrasonic cleaner was used many time over a period of 2 days.   Cleaning solutions were place in a zip lock bag along with the bearing.  Cleaners were PB Blaster, Purple Power, and Evaporust.     After many cleaning cycles it is turning freely.  I don't know if it is good enough yet, it would be opinion and subjective.  So I am going to assemble the machine and check it with a dial indicator.   

If it don't work I will be placing a bronze spacer in place of the bearing.  

Also intend to replace the rear felt in the oil cup with one that is less stingy with the oil.

Will edit when its back together.