[mattinaustin]

Hello everybody, this is my first post here so I hope I am not covering something that has already been done before. I did a search, but couldn't find any info on this topic. Here goes...

I just recently purchased the IH mill from Aaron and it had a couple of problems. One was that oil was dripping form the spindle, especially once the mill was running for a while. It will spit oil out and fling it everywhere if the spindle is moving fast enough. Once I got a hold of Aaron he suggested that I could check the seals at the top of the spindle and the gasket for the flange that holds the seals in there. It was a little more challenging than I thought, but I was able to get the top plate off of the head and see the top seal. It was messed up, but I am not sure if it was done in the process of removing the top plate or if that is what was wrong all along. Anyway, Aaron suggested I change both seals and put some RTV around the flange gasket while I was in there. He sent me 2 seals priority mail and I got them yesterday. The problem is in doing the flange gasket repair. I can not remove the flange because the top gear on one of the gear trees is in the way. If I could drop the spindle spline low enough then I could slide the flange away, but for the life of me I can not figure that out. Aaron mentioned that I just need to remove the spindle spring and a bolt and that would let me drop the spindle, but I wasn't able to get a hold of him yesterday or today to get more detail. I tried removing the entire spindle lowering/raising assembly, but there is only so far the spindle will drop and that little bit poking out of the top of the flange just barely keeps me from getting the flange off. I would really like to get this fixed this weekend and wonder if any of you have gone through the same thing and have some advice??

I either need to remove gear tree that is closest to the flange, or drop the spindle low enough to get the flange off. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!
--Matt

[kentavv]

Sorry, I cannot help but I wondered if you would be able to post a few pictures of the interior of the head. Might be interesting for others to see. Shoot, post a few pictures of your repair as well.

[mattinaustin]

Yeah, a picture would certainly help. Here is one with the damaged top seal in view. You can see the flange right in the middle, the spindle spline is poking up through it. Since this pic was taken, I have removed the drawbar and moved the spindle down as far as it will go so that the top is just about flush with the top of the flange plate (or whatever it is called). Still can't quite get it off with that gear in the way.

--Matt

[widgitmaster]

http://www.use-enco.com/Machinery/105-1145.pdf

Is this the same mill?

[mattinaustin]

Close...its a Rong Fu knock off as well. In that head diagram, the seals that are being replaced are numbered 135 and the gasket is 131 (I believe).

[widgitmaster]

Close...its a Rong Fu knock off as well. In that head diagram, the seals that are being replaced are numbered 135 and the gasket is 131 (I believe).

Go to the www.use-enco.com web site, they have more manuals on their home page! You might find one closer!

Good luck!
Eric

[mattinaustin]

Thanks, but I have the manual. I just don't know what method to use to either break the seal on the bearing that the gear tree sits in or figuring out some other way to get that flange removed. At this point I am looking for help on the method to remove it and that is not in the manual.

Thanks for you help though!

--Matt

[philbur]

Looks to me like item 69 may be an external snap ring on the sleeve, to limit its travel. If this is the case it seems that you will have to pull the obstructing gears before you can remove the offending bearing flange.

Regards
Phil

http://www.use-enco.com/Machinery/105-1145.pdf

Is this the same mill?

[Runner4404spd]

my spindle seal was damaged as well. i was able to remove the spring that was messing it up and its a little loose but holds oil in better. do you have the part number for the oil seal at the top of the spindle? can you post it here?

i would try unwinding the spring, its the chrome plated cover opposite the handle. that may let you bring it down a little more. it would make sense that there is a snap ring minimizing travel. i haven't really dove that deep into this mill yet.

[MAX711]

There are 2 grub screws (one locking the other) in a threaded hole in the side of the head casting. There is also a keyway in the spindle outer sleeve that the grub screws project into and limit the travel. If you remove the coiled spring (chrome thing on side) and the grub screws, the spindle will drop all the way down. The coil spring is tightly wound and gets tighter the further down the spindle is so remove it with the spindle near the top of its travel. You'll also need to withdraw the quill handle through the right side of the head.

Hope that helps.

[philbur]

mattinaustin said in his first post "I tried removing the entire spindle lowering/raising assembly" which I guess means he has removed the spring.

Regards
Phil

There are 2 grub screws (one locking the other) in a threaded hole in the side of the head casting. There is also a keyway in the spindle outer sleeve that the grub screws project into and limit the travel. If you remove the coiled spring (chrome thing on side) and the grub screws, the spindle will drop all the way down. The coil spring is tightly wound and gets tighter the further down the spindle is so remove it with the spindle near the top of its travel. You'll also need to withdraw the quill handle through the right side of the head.

Hope that helps.

[mattinaustin]

Runner: I don't have the part number for the seals with me, but I will try and get it when I head back to the shop. However, from what Aaron said they are not always the same. I have the new model for what it is worth.

MAX711: Thanks for the tip. That sounds more like what Aaron was suggesting. I will hopefully be able to give it a try later this afternoon.

Thanks!!!

--Matt

[Randall]

I am sure you checked this out cause it looks like you know what your doing!
But I had a problem at first because I overfilled, cause I didnt know what I was doing. My symptoms where the same as yours.
Randy

[mattinaustin]

Yeah, I was fine on how much oil was in it. That wasn't the problem. Almost certain it was the top seal.

Thanks MAX711! I did as you said and got the spindle all the way down. That allowed me to remove the flange plate. It was a *****, but I got the second seal out, replaced both of them, and then thoroughly cleaned the gasket and put some rtv for extra measure per Aarons advice. It was a little challenging getting everything back together, but all said it only took me a couple of hours. I think everything is working and sealed up now. I didn't have a chance to run it to long, but it didn't leak for the 10 minutes that I did run it.

The number on the seals for my particular mill is 35X45X7 (TCM PART 35X45X7TC).

I took lots of pictures if you guys are interested.

--Matt

[youngfg]

I had the same leak. My top seal was damaged also, but the second was was still good. I changed both seals and it still leaked, it turned out there was a casting flaw in the seal retainer, I put some epoxy on it, now no leaks.

Here are some pics I took during the disassembly.

[youngfg]

More pics.

[mattinaustin]

... it turned out there was a casting flaw in the seal retainer, I put some epoxy on it, now no leaks.

Well my leak is back. Its odd since I have not run the mill since I last posted and there were several days where nothing was dripping. Then I noticed a couple days ago that there were a couple of drops forming on the end of the spindle, but no oil had made its way to the table. Today I look at it and there is about a silver dollar size puddle under the spindle. It's not as bad as before (yet), but still bothers me.

I am curious about your casting flaw and how the leak manifested itself for you. Did it leak only when running, or would it drip just sitting there?

--Matt

[MrWild]

Youngfg, is your top plate cracked at the bearing bore?

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...4&d=1162847541

I see what looks like a crack.

[kimoyo]

The number on the seals for my particular mill is 35X45X7 (TCM PART 35X45X7TC).

Hey,

I just took apart my mill's head yesterday and it went very well. I just followed everything in this thread, (remember to have the spindle all the way up before you remove the quill lock) and everything was straight forward. Oh, something anyone else doing this might find very helpful. I spent about 20-30 mins messing around trying to get the seals out of the flange plate after I removed it from the mill. Then I clamped the plate down on the table. Pushed a flat head screwdriver (from the top) under the lip at the bottom of the first seal as much as could (it didn't go in that far). I balled up some paper towel and put it between the screwdriver and otherside of the top of the flange plate where the screwdriver was resting so I wouldn't dent the plate. Then I pushed down on the handle and the seal popped out in about 10 secs. Did the same with the second with no issues. I post a picture later on if I can.

I do have a few questions.

On the bottom of my seals that came out of the mill, my part number says "NAK TC 35 45 7 4C". I realize that both mattinaustin and I have the newer mill but is the seal Aaron sent out the same ones? Anyone know the product number for them at mcmaster carr?

Mattinaustin - I notice you had some issues with your quill bouncing up and down after you did this. Did you ever solve that? How far did you tighten the grub screws when you put them back on? Are they rubbing against the sleeve? Would the spring have anything to do with it? I was thinking it wouldn't but I realized that we might not tighten it back down as hard as the manufacturer does.

Thanks.

[Runner4404spd]

i got mine from a local bearing supply house. they have an ID of 35 mm and an OD of 45 mm and a thickness of 7mm.