new machine sound???

[New_Guy]

ok hoping for a quick one here, today the sparky came and wired up my new 12X36" geared head lathe made by steel master and everything works, i had it on the lowest speed listening for any unusual sounds and well its fairly noisy is this normal?

i could place a few of the sounds to the stand and after tightening it up some more it stopped no problem but there is a sort of ticking sound from in the headstock, should i be worried about this or is it just that its in low gear?

what is normal for this size Asian lathe?

thanks i just thought i should ask to be safe

 

[Artie]

Gee thats hard to say without hearing the sounds in question..any chance of a vid of it running with audio?

My mill is VERY noisy, so much in fact that im going to open the gearbox up to take a look. (its a fairly large machine), some ive heard are whistlers, others, like mine sound like a tooth ot two are missing, doesnt sound like a bearing, definatley gear noise..... point is they vary greatly....

:

Rob

 

[New_Guy]

yeah its sort of like that i have heard to watch out for swarft in the gearbox, i gave they guys at the machinery dealer who i got it off a call when i got the oil and asked if i needed to change the oil before i ran it he said no just run it in and change it latter

i gave it another run just before changed the speeds up to see if it improved but it sounded the same i only went to 400rpm (thats the lowest speed in the high range) and didnt dare go higher :-X its funny i have run engine lathes far bigger than this one they are all quieter and most of the time they run well over 400rpm

 

[Deanofid]

If your lathe is an Asian import, I think it would be imprudent not to change the gear oil and have a look in the gearbox, whether that is the cause of the ticking sound, or not. There are a number of documented instances of swarf and casting dirt in the gear boxes of said machines. At least one on this site, that included pictures of "nasties".

 

[New_Guy]

There are a number of documented instances of swarf and casting dirt in the gear boxes of said machines. At least one on this site, that included pictures of "nasties".

are the pic's in the archive? you got a link?

i think ill sort it out tomorrow with a fresh head the dealer i got it off didnt have any display models so no chance of seeing a well set up one to run but ill give them a call anyway. i have looked in the headstock before but didn't find any swarft with a magnet but again ill have another look. ill post pic's tomorrow and maybe a vid

thanks for the quick replies guys

 

[Kermit]

Your geartrain will make all kinds of racket. Doesn't mean it is defective. Something doesn't fit as well as it should, or is loose or otherwise mal adjusted.

You should diassemble the various portions as far as possible and soak in naptha or diesel and scrub them with a toothbrush or fine steel wool. Put them back together and "feel" for rough spots or loose fits as you do. Some motor oil or some heavy gear oil(90-140W) for the newly cleaned parts.

After some cleaning and adjusting you will probably find the noise dies way down and that there was sand and swarf in the recesses.

I've got a pathway of grease spots on my wall and ceiling from where the chuck on the lathe spun out the grease I put in, the first time I had it up to 2000 RPM. ;D

Hopefully helpful,
Kermit

 

[Davo J]

Here are some video's of import lathe's running, mine sounds like the third one.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V__FiCGnr08[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQVVKidlmdY&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTUPcN3ejbo&feature=relatedy[/ame]

There are others on there as well.
Dave

 

[ozzie46]

New_Guy, Heres the link to the "nasties".

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=6343.0

Ron

 

[New_Guy]

thanks Dave i expected it to sound like the first vid but it sounds more like the second.

thanks Ron none of it looks good im not sure about taking to headstock apart but hopefully we wont have to do that

thanks for your help Kermit i feel better knowing there is people on here who have done similar

 

[Artie]

doesnt sound too bad to me..... ;D

 

[Deanofid]

New Guy, the link Ron put up was the one I was referring to on this site.
I didn't mean to insinuate there was anything wrong with your lathe, in my first post. Just that you should be aware that this kind of stuff can be present in the machine.

The lathe in the third video sounds pretty good, to me. Some of the noise in the other two vids could just be because they are running through the gear train, or could be motor noise. Some cameras just pick up a lot of noise, too.

Dean

 

[New_Guy]

no you guys were all right i took some pic's and a few vid's this morning got it up to 2000rpm and heard more funny sounds, put the lathe in neutral ran it same sound it normally made under gear sound opened the headstock yeah there is **** in it. took the belts off the motor didnt sound to bad maybe just crap bearings that will need to be replaced latter but when i rotated the large pulley it sounded like it was rolling in marbles!! this is the rear set of gears behind the main spindle oh and when i opened the gear box before the i noticed even marks on the "collar" of the gear that changes from high to low, it looks like the large bull gear that runs on the smaller gear next to it made contact how i dont know but its clearly marked. when i ran the lathe at around 500rpm you could clearly hear a sort of pepper grinder sound im still not sure what that is but will try latter. oh the great train for the feed box was in neutral on all the tests

oh and as for the second Vid it just sounded to noisy, even the videos i took sound ok till you get something else going on to compare it to.

 

[lathe nut]

Guess I was lucky, got a Harbor Freight 14X40 the head stock had no oil in it, removed the top wiped out the housing and there was no grim in it, shifted it through the gears, all seemed well put the oil and worked great, really like it, hope you come out OK, Lathe Nut

 

[New_Guy]

yeah i dont know anymore everything is back together all tight im not going to change the oil till after i run it in and i think ill do that latter today ill keep you guys posted if i encounter any problems but the grinding sounds have sort of dulled

 

[Deanofid]

I think you should tell the machinery dealer that there is a problem. Because, there is.
Bearings and shafting don't like this kind of stuff.

Dean