Axelson lathe apron clutch repair trouble shooting

[@kurtkrause7151]

Thank God for your Axelson that you have an older gentleman's will and patience. It is almost 100% assured of a full recovery!! Thanks for sharing your Axelson dee dee!!🙏✌️

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

These old machines were made with other old machines so they are repairable, thanks!

[@kurtkrause7151]

@@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision repairable by one, who is highly qualified, in your case dee dee!! ✌️🙏

[@mjm7187]

Attention to detail, your videos and tips are always appreciated Don. Nice close up images!

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

Hi thanks, I am glad to share the adventure!

[@pweimer47]

Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the clutch failed. Now this allows you to correct all the other issues found inside. Thanks for sharing, have a great day.

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

There is nothing in there that cant be fixed, the way things were built then

[@emerycreek8016]

Great job troubleshooting. It should be a huge improvement once you get it fixed. Better oiling, solid clutch, back to it's old glory. I was really looking forward to see what caused it.

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

Now is the time to go a head to clean the oil channels, looks like the cross slide clutch has been a problem in the past, thanks!

[@tomeyssen9674]

Great video series. Really interesting and edifying. Thanks Deedee

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

Thanks for coming along!

[@jasonhull5712]

Looking at the clutch I was thinking what in the world would cause the bearings to fail ?? Overnighted? Or ran dry without adequate lubrication? That's wild. Those are pretty good sized bearings too. That's going to make one fine machine when you get done. I've just purchased two clausing metosa c1330s lathes. One was "working" and the other needs a new topslide, and the crossslide where the compound slide mounts and pivots is pulled up/ busted and stripped. Also the the tailstock quill is missing... I wish I would have seen your channel Before I bought them. I would have bought a monarch or something. Now I am going to have to build some replacement parts and I'm nowhere near the machinist that you are so this is a monumental task for fella like myself. I really enjoy watching your videos, I learn alot from watching you use these machines. Both lathe work as well as milling. Although I'm a little more versatile on the mill. I've got more experience on mills but nowhere near the experience you have. Thank you for doing these videos and sharing your insights. I do value your expertise. Hope you have a great day. Looking forward to seeing the repairs. 👍

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

I will have a better look at everything as I go, so far it looks like missing spacers caused the problems. The lathes you have are pretty well known and bring good prices, hopefully Clausing still has support. Buying old machines is buying an education!

[@jasonhull5712]

@@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision ain’t that the truth ! Lol I’ve reached out to them and they gave me a contact at the parent company name evades me at the moment but it’s pinacho or something like that. They still sell parts for it. But not the tailstock quill, it’s discontinued. The crossslide is $2500.00 USD. ((Yikes)) it’s 200 dollars worth of ductile iron plate. I had them quote me all the missing pieces and it came out to 8,500.00 USD. So I will have to make them. I only paid $3000 for the lathe. That would put me in the ballpark of what they sell for. But I’m not that rich. I have 9000 In the two machines. That’s why I made the comment about seeing your channel before buying them. I could have purchased a really nice (and bigger) colchester or well tooled axelson ! But as my father always said, you pay for your ignorance. And education is never cheap. Hope your day goes great 👍 thanks for the reply.

[@danrabenhorst2549]

I hope you can get it fixed after all that work you did getting it in the shop

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

These old machines are still really serviceable and built to last, it looks good so far, thanks!

[@DannyOldroyd]

I need shaft seals for the apron on my 1954 Axelson Lathe. Do you have any idea where I can purchase them? I can't find them based on their numbers!

[@akfarmboy49]

Good information. Did spring wear through bearing cage? I have run into that before. I made bearing stand-off spacers to center spring and keep away from bearing and it worked fine.

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

It looks like the spring caught on to the bearing cage

[@akfarmboy49]

@@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision I would do something about that spring issue

[@ÁREAJ27]

Olá meu amigo da trabalho más com certeza vai trabalhar perfeitamente!!! Abraço e boa sorte!!!

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

Thanks!

[@JMachien]

Is that clutch cone made of anything special? It's interesting to see how that clutch works vs say the spindle clutches on the Brown & Sharpe screw machines. Looking forward to seeing the Axelson back up & running :)

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

It appears the tapered clutch faces are the alloy steel the gears are made of. Getting close to running waiting for bearings

[@4GSR]

Late to the party here. I recall there being a problem with the cross feed clutch not disengaging when you wanted it to. You really had to "pop" the lever to get it to disengage. Whenever you engaged it, you pulled the lever in gently. No offense to you or anyone else that ran the lathe. That's the reason for the damaged bearing. What is happening is, you're getting a fluid lock between the two clutch halves. Note all of the gunk and oil you cleaned out between the clutch halves. That was causing the lockup and eventually from force, damaging the bearings. To prevent this from happening, need to drill several cross holes in each half to prevent this vapor lock from happening. And when you go back together, use oil, do not apply any grease to the bearings. Every lathe manufacture is different, some use ball bearings and some use a combination of ball and thrust bearings on the clutch assemblies. My Sheldon lathes have thrust bearings at each end and bronze bushings for the gears to ride on. My old Lodge & Shipley lathe was like the Axelson. The bearing numbers are shown in the Axelson lathe manual, and they are accurate numbers. Just have to cross over to a number that is available today. I still regard the Axelson as one of the finest lathes out there along with the Monarch lathes, too. Ken

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

The previous repair everything was heavily greased in the apron. There is a washer missing that shields the bearing from the spring and there may be a spacer missing as the clutch adjustment is taken up with the rear bearing not half seated in its pocket. This year 1941 Axelson made 200 lathes total of all sizes and made many changes in the following war years. The manuals seen online are 1950s. I remember there being a problem with the early Axelson power feeds, but I think it is all lubrication related, there are over 34 ball oilers in addition to its automatic oiling on this early machine that was reduced on later versions, i keep discovering more on the apron. Axelson had 1/10th the production of Monarch with less than 6000 machines.

[@zedostenso3069]

Could this be for sitting in the scrap yard to long looks like some birnelling on the balls?

[@stevenaegele5228]

I use pipe cleaners, the kind with bristles to clean oil galley's out with. And of course with Hoppe's #9!

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

Yes! The last time it was worked on they used alot of grease in the apron and it filled up the channels so the Hoppes will help there, thanks

[@bluestarindustrialarts7712]

Are you going to replace the bearings on the longitudinal feed as well while it is already apart?

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

Yes I have those on order, thanks

[@waynep343]

Is there any room on the saddle drain plug to install a neodymium magnet without the tips of the gears picking up magnetism from just spinning near the magnet.

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

To drain the compartment one of the 5/16 Allen screws is removed that holds the oil pump, I don't know if it needs a magnet though

[@waynep343]

@@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision fragged bearing but i know how detailed you are in cleaning.

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

@@waynep343 There is no screen for the pump so I have too clean the oil passages, it looks like they made that fairly easy with removable plugs and only one copper oil line for the right side of the cross slide years of the black goo it looks like.

[@donmadere4237]

Can you point out where the bolt attaches that locks the carriage? Thanks

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

Yes, I will on reassembly, it almost looks possible to slip the nut in from behind without removing the cover

[@donmadere4237]

@@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision that would be great if that works

[@waynep343]

Since axelson was made in los angeles. There is a chance that century spring made the springs.

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

That would seem likely, LA was a huge manufacturing base

[@Gjed16]

So then if I'm understanding, you're thinking that it was reassembled improperly in the past, spring backwards and no thrust washer? ☕

[@deedeeindustrialsuperprecision]

It seems the assembled clutch and shaft is too short causing the rear bearing to hang halfway out of the hole in the apron back and the adjusting nut for the clutch was turned all the way in seems to pull the rear bearing out of the pocket, I have yet to lay all those parts out and compare to the parts book, I can install just the clutch shafts and the apron cover to get a better look from the top