Engine Lathe Headstock Rebuild / Spindle Bearing Replacement

I complete the rebuild of the engine lathe headstock with all new bearings and seals. I install new spindle bearings and discuss the pre-load procedure.

[@Kevintherubiconjeep]

Going back through these "older" videos are great. Glad to of found your channel recently.

[@jamesgrubbs6496]

As a retired Mechanical Engineer who was also a Machinest Mate 2nd class, mechanical operator of Nuclear Reactors and was drafted in 1971, I am very impressed with your understanding of mechanical and electrical, principles and how things work. I know the video's take a lot of extra work and editing and also just reading the comments takes a lot of time also. Keep it up, I hope to be able keep up with you.

[@steveh8724]

To get the maximum benefit from this video BE SURE to listen to the last 3 minutes where the choices for tools, supplies, and methods are thoughtfully explained. Some great tips regarding why he uses a steel tool to seat some of the bearings (including specifically why he DOES NOT use brass, bronze, or aluminum tools in those instances). Also great advice on product selection for liquid form gasket materials. Highly recommended!

[@jerrywodom]

I appreciate all the work you did and the fact that there was so little talking. Thanks again. Refreshing.

[@mdouglaswray]

Wes, I worked on a lathe exactly like this when I was younger. THANKS for sharing this video - I have even more respect for the machinists I worked with!! Your careful, logical presentation salted with comments is informative and yet amusing. Cheers!!

[@constitutionalUSA]

You're as good as anyone at analyzing and fixing things, Wes, Keep up the good work. Enjoying going through the variety of things you tinker with.........From an old permatex #2 user

[@davejones5338]

I've really enjoyed your videos (finally got done viewing them all). I love the way you present things in such a logical fashion. You've taught me much, thank you.

[@WatchWesWork]

I try to show the process in the actual order I work in. Of course, I edit out all the parts where I screw up.

[@RGMultimedia]

@@WatchWesWork Hello, can you tell me where I can get the replacement seal to purchase for the covers for the headstock.

[@user-of5wy4xp5c]

How would you do, brother, if I would kindly ask for the name and the pendant of the lathe?

[@pinwizz69]

I'm surprised County vocational schools haven't started using Wes's videos as teaching aids. He's extremely professional at explaining what he's doing as he goes along with a very good demeanor and sometimes funny self depreciating humor.

[@brianessex6666]

Thank you, you fill my evenings up. Far better than any soap!

[@henryg683]

You have the patience of a saint to have been doing this rebuild awesome 😎!!!

[@James-fs4rn]

thanks for sharing and your time Wes. machine repair is rewarding. enjoyed!

[@chuckgulledge2304]

It's amazing that you are able to remember how all that goes back together

[@artszabo1015]

Well, I did it again. At the beginning I said, "Look out boy, yer gettin in over yer head". Just like a hunnert times afore, but ya weren't an ya didn't. You just keep earning my respect over and over. Art from Ohio

[@tedtriche407]

Today is Feb 7, 2020, and this posting was 2017 but I enjoyed going through you from start to finish. It takes a cool head and sharp mechanical mind to be able to do this and especially to be able to talk us through it as you do this. Thanks for providing me with an overview of repairing a gearbox. You are a sharp young man.

[@sebastiaodmelo2467]

In the video the technician may have not used proper tools for some assembly points but the technician is confident in his job and that's called the art , not everywhere you got right tools so some inovative ideas will do your job, .Great job

[@somerandomguy3868]

Not surprising that this is getting a lot of views, very little of this sort of content on YT, thanks for taking the time to show us

[@seven6twomm]

Excellent video! I have worked on a number of Asian import machines where the user's manual and/or part diagrams were dismal to non-existent. Often times, it took quite a bit of interpretation and trial to get things to go back together correctly. Now when I disassemble anything, I take videos and pictures, with written and verbal notes, of everything in minute detail to make my own guide. Thank you

[@duobob]

Great work, nice video. You obviously know what you are doing, Wes.

[@ke6bnl]

you sure have a variety of mechanical knowledge, fun to watch.

[@cdwlights]

Hey Wes, I’m watching your newest videos. My dad retired as an industrial maintenance lead. Love these videos

[@MrPlod999]

This is the best video I've seen in a long time! Your manner is first class, as is your temperament. The one thing you need on a rebuild that's fairly complex is a control that comes with experience. You've got that Wes. Well done. (I was doing lathe rebuilds back in late 69-70)

[@johnstrange6799]

Awesome to see it back together. I imagine this video might be of great help to others looking to undertake the same task.

[@WatchWesWork]

I hope is a help.

[@pauljoseph8338]

Great video. I've been looking for the past couple months, and I think this might be the only detailed head stock maintenance video on youtube.

[@WatchWesWork]

I don't know of any others. There are some videos about small hobby machines and ancient plain bearing spindles, but not much on modern gear head machines of a decent size.

[@dextermuir7882]

I'd got used to automotive content here, and this more basic engineering is a breath of fresh air. Great stuff! This is the type of engineering my Step-dad did, and he was born January 1900, one of the last Centennials. I remember him at 1960 (I was 10) creating new gearing for his Bradford van specifically for the uphill from his work at Chelsea Sugar Refinery in Auckland NZ. The latest whizz-bang Chevrords stood no chance versus that !

[@artmckay6704]

Kudos! You had the patience and the tenacity needed! Great job! It has to feel so good to have new bearings in there. I'll bet cutting chatter went bye bye..... Good for you :)

[@lawrenceengel3330]

That was a difficult job that you made look fairly easy, well done 👍

[@steveleatherbarrow5917]

Really enjoyed that Wes...loved the relaxed style.

[@clarencewiles963]

Thumbs up 👍 load up! Good to see the paint job inside the box 📦

[@ShainAndrews]

Couple of years later and you're at 7.7K subscribers. Don't mind me, just slummin through some of your older work. First thing I noticed was how quiet it was on deceleration. Keep up the good work Wes, hope the new place is coming together for you.

[@mickocallaghan4896]

great job wes,well pleased it went together ok for you.

[@thomasutley]

And this proves why simple conehead South Bends are so popular with us home shop guys! Haha. Great video, nice job.

[@northfieldpiper]

I stand (in my case sitting) in awe. Great video

[@WatchWesWork]

No big deal. It only goes together (correctly) one way!

[@joseortiz5965]

Mine blowing AWESOME! I drank a whole bottle of wine watching this video.

[@bingskiddd]

My Man........................

[@MetrologyEngineer]

0:00 My eyeballs just about popped out of my head; there's nothing more beautiful than new bearings!

[@davidkulm6795]

except maybe a beautiful woman spinning them, lol.

[@aserta]

I did a head stock rebuild for a relatively ancient, but very dependable large German lathe. Obviously no parts existed and finding the exact "denominations" was a murder because these things remain the same, but always change. I never tallied it up, because i bought parts as i found them, but i think it must've been something like ~4k euros. I don't even want to think what it would've costed had i gone the suggested route, which was to bring a specialist, because most of the time i spent after getting the parts was fitting things right. New washers, cut a new bearing pocket here, dress the face to this pocket there. PITA. But in the end it was worth it because tho i rarely use this lathe, when i need it, well "there's no replacement for displacement". As you said, for hobbyists the price is unfairly stacked, back then i could barely justify it, i could probably pass it off as a business expense these days. :))

[@tullydog9047]

Just found this one...Fascinating! Enjoyed very much!

[@sickboymech92]

I will definitely be checking out more of your videos. Some ideas to mull over. I have had a lot of luck assembling and disassembling stuff with home made wedges and screw jacks. When I say wedges think adjustable parallel, where you can use a clamp to apply pressure on opposing sides of the wedges creating a jack effect. As for the screw jack, just need a couple different length bolts with matching nuts/hardened washers and various lengths of pipe. Both are handy as heck in tight quarters.

[@djberg3483]

Seriously thanks so much for making this, gotta check out the spindle bearing surface grinder vid as well.

[@JourneymanRandy]

Once again great information. Holy crap that looked complicated. Nice work. I would have never guest the price of the bearings. When I started out an expensive one was 6 or 8 bucks and a seal was around 2 to 3. That wasn't that long ago. Thanks Wes

[@gertjanvannoordt2288]

I have the 95% same lathe from an old fishingboat and needed to repair highest speed gear connection (for the fun) . This video is 100 times better than the copymachine manual from 1999 .

[@leecarroll1817]

Reminds me of the time I restored/ revamped my old Black&Decker valve grinding machine. The local Chev dealer in Texas was throwing this and all attachments away. I asked to buy it and they told me to get it all picked up and gone. I obliged. It was old because it had pilots and stones for Model A Ford's, 38 Chev, DiamonT and Reo. Driver was burned up, got a good P&H from a friend.

[@jacquespoirier9071]

excellent video, I had to do this on an old Willson lathe without any tech info, I had to replace all auxiliary bearings in the headstock fortunately, the spindle bearings were acceptables.

[@andrewsmancave]

I've got an old Wilson lathe I'm hoping to get into the shop some day and it needs a complete rebuild.. any advice / things to watch out for? I heard from another Wilson owner that the headstock had casting sand still in the headstock!

[@randysteele7386]

Awesome job, love your videos,I would never attempt something like that!!!

[@joeszabo4237]

Great video Wes thanks. I agree 100% on what you said about how looking at a job like this can be intimidating. I had to remove the spindle on a Clausing/Cholchester 17 x 60 and looking at it I thought to myself what have I gotten myself into hear. Like you said though, they only go togeather one way. Thanks again.

[@WatchWesWork]

Somebody figured out how to put it together once. We can surely figure out how to do it again.

[@davestrong6472]

Nice job, years ago I rebuilt a MBZ unimog 6 speed transmitting that was disassembled by another shop. Fortunately I had a shop manual, but it was still a challenge...Dave

[@WatchWesWork]

That sounds like fun. The craziest truck transmission I ever had apart was a Mack triple countershaft 13 or 18 speed. Can't remember which now.

[@coreyb4073]

your videos are not only informational, but inspiring. you got me motivated to align the trunion on my 5 axis today. i will say rebuilding integral motor spindles is much easier, my last spindle rebuild was an afternoons work. keep the videos coming i need more inspriration

[@WatchWesWork]

It depends on the spindle design. Some of those integral spindles are a real pain. The stators have to be heated or, even worse, some are bonded to the spindle. I like belt drive spindles like my Mori SL-20. That's an easy spindle to work on.

[@MIGASHOORAY]

Nothing made by man that can't be repaired.nice job and no cussing.cheers.

[@WatchWesWork]

Thank you. I try to stay pretty low key.

[@afpienaar4604]

Hi Wes , thank you for an informative video. We still get a lot of Chinese clones in SA and the recommendation is still to toss the bearings and install new ones before using the machine (add that to the purchase price) A F Pienaar Johannesburg

[@robertweitlauf4653]

its nice to watch a professional work. i would never remember how that goes together. oh no there's where your wrong, i will figure out a 2nd way to assemble it. or i would have to disassemble it multiple times because i forgot something.

[@philash5073]

Same. My memory is atrocious, by the time I’d of taken it apart, I would of forgotten how it goes back together

[@flatblack39]

Thanks Wes. That is a lot of money for bearings but it is right and should last you a long long time. Once you are finished tweaking it with be one heck of a machine!

[@WatchWesWork]

It will be nice to have a machine that can make good parts!

[@akfarmboy49]

Thank you for explaining bearing preload amount, yes good point about brass punches chipping off, i like making bearing drivers, and special tools,

[@WatchWesWork]

It's much easier to make those tools when your engine lathe is not in pieces...

[@akfarmboy49]

yes good point you need another lathe.

[@davidkulm6795]

A high powered magnet at the oil pickup and a couple more placed at the bottom of the head case will help keep any future steel chips/filings from getting into the oiling system. Most automotive oil pan plugs have a magnet built into them for that very purpose.

[@shmackie]

Love your vids man. Your new shop needs more machining. This comment brought to you by 2021 Gang!

[@shedfullnow2007]

I just found your channel and watched a third of the videos box set style ! You have a good presentation style and the content is something i haven't seen on KZbin much. I think most people with machinery have a growing list of machines which just need a few little jobs or big jobs but lack the experience to rip into it just in case it spends the next 2 years in boxes ha ha Thanks for making the vids

[@WatchWesWork]

I've got enough machines in boxes all over the shop. I needed to put one of them back together...

[@mannycalavera9181]

Superb video, thanks.

[@endoresu]

I like the random forklift noises for extra plant atmosphere immersion

[@jomgelborn]

Another sweet vid. Thanks

[@comtrans123]

wow this is some serious shit! thank you for filming all that you do Wes. youre a very talented guy.

[@daveprototype6079]

Great detailed video Thanks

[@SoupyOatmeal]

Some people have it ( what ever it is ) some people don't - Wes you seem to have that easy way of talking to people that let your audience think there right in there with you wrenching thoes bolts and nuts. I sure like it and so do lots of others.

[@imysteryman]

Impressive to say the least.

[@kthwkr]

Before watching your videos, lathes and mills were machines I used at the research lab in college 45 years ago. It was fun but I only did crude non accurate parts for the experimental projects. Never needing to make accurate parts I never thought about the precision of the machines inner workings. You have educated me. I assume you are an ME. I'm an EE. I watched you work on a PCB and you understood the electronics as well as me. It's like you got a ME and an EE. Actually I knew a couple guys who did get double degrees but they were trying to keep their draft deferment to avoid Nam.

[@timstubbs6900]

Great job i learned alot . Thank You

[@phooesnax]

Interesting job!

[@adnacraigo6590]

Dang dude. You'll tackle anything!

[@alskdjfhg3712]

Keep up with the videos Wes, I really like your no nonsense straight forward style and I'm sure other will. Not that it matters, but I'm your first or second subscriber (99% sure) from a video you posted on PM.

[@WatchWesWork]

Thank you. I think you are number 2. I'm pretty sure the first guy got fed up and left!

[@jonka1]

When "precision beating" bearings it's possible to help prevent "pre brinelling" by making a stout washer to beat on, this spreads the blow onto both inner and outer race. Takes time but you are less likely to revisit those bearings.

[@jeromeclements6532]

Agree. And STOP using steel shit to drive these piece together. Use brass or even aluminum. Eventually you're going to chip a race or screw one up some other way.

[@melgross]

@@jeromeclements6532 well, you can’t always do that. He points out, correctly, why he uses a steel tool specifically designed for that purpose. I do that as well. Maybe you need to learn how this is done.

[@MrVdmg]

Nice work ! You have a good memory to remember what goes where and when especialy with so poor information

[@WatchWesWork]

Through the magic of video, I can edit out the parts where I forgot what goes where...

[@spirittomczyk2174]

Back in them olden days we also had permatex number 1

[@tomkrause62]

I keep a bottle of form a gasket around just because I like the smell for nostalgia reasons. My father used it a lot.

[@georgewocosky]

I subbed to you about a month ago - & have watched nearly all of your videos ! My machining background goes back to the late 60's, when machinery was not only cheaper; but could be had for less than scrap prices quite often . . . * sadly I had no room nor money at the time to take advantage. :( I did prototype & experimental work through much of the latter 70's , when CNC was taking root. Much of the work I was involved with was under government contract, which meant looking for new work when the contracts were done. Being a 'machine whisperer' ( :p ) . . . you doubtlessly have to raise your voice on occasion. . . ' sweet talk' parts into submission ! Thanks for putting out such great content !

[@WatchWesWork]

Well thanks for watching. I hope it helps someone.

[@woodscreekworkshop9939]

Wes, what clearance did you use on the counter shaft? Normal clearance or C3? I am rebuilding mine now and there isn’t much info out there. Thanks.

[@michaelscarbrough6118]

great job

[@markgrevatt4867]

Oh man I really feel for you. On the price on those bearings $1200 wow that's not cheap. But you know she will pay you back two fold. Ounce she's up and running. And no doubt restoring and completely stripped down at least you know it's going to be running perfectly. Besides you can feel confident that you done a great job restoring. All new bearings. Plus all the experience you have gained and all the pleasure in knowing that you did this all yourself . Nothing better than self satisfaction and accomplishment. I'm sure she going to be a great running lathe. I'm in the exact same process as yours and pls let me tell you my lathe is in pretty rough shape considering she was built in 1939. The previous owner didn't take care of her at all. And covered the awful welds. With what looks like tar. To hide all the bad welding. Talk about a tragedy. But I've decided to do a complete restoration. But you know I'm totally having fun restoring her. And I'm sure you are too. My only worry is I don't find anymore bad welds Keep up the great work your doing a fabulous job. 👍👍👍👍

[@WatchWesWork]

You are right, the cost of the bearings is an investment in the machine and I know it will pay me back.

[@titofernandezmeirino9832]

Very interesting video, you have done a fantastic job. May I ask you which viscosity of oil did you use for the gear box? Thank you very much.

[@KevinMichaelMichael]

Great video, thx!

[@johnlewis7736]

Thank you!

[@douglaslodge8580]

Good Job.

[@tmurray1972]

Well done.👌🏻👏🏻

[@CarlyG18]

Wes, when ever I buy bearings, I look for EMQ grade, they are Electric Motor Quality, they run smoother, quieter and longer.Here is an example of the brand I like best and the price is around 6 bucks. 6203-ZZE C3 Nachi Bearing EMQ 17X40X12mm 6203ZZ DOUBLE SHIELD I know most of the bearings used in the Norton MCs, I work on are C-2 fits, and they are hard to find and pricey if you can. The C-2 has a tighter internal clearance, so the the parts don't rock or have run out in use. A new C-3 fit bearing will feel worn out compared to the used OEM C-2 . In the clutch drum hub center and rear one piece brake drum/ sprocket it is particularly important.

[@djosbun]

This is not completely true as you're not taking into account operating temperature and thermal expansion. Standard bearings for industrial use are C3 clearance. Once you make the move to a high precision bearing, you're jumping up a considerable amount in price. It all depends on the intended application (you'd be surprised at how many engineers know very little about bearings). Also, nobody would install a 6xxx series deep groove bearing in a spindle. Spindle bearings are always matched pairs of angular contact bearings (but you have to know your contact angle if it's an older machine with a worn/missing/unknown bearing number.

[@davedook3959]

At 14.00 i sorta cringed seeing how close you were to almost stepping on the oil feeder lines😆 nice job wes.

[@danaitch3880]

Watching this four years later - @31:42 - "500 subscribers..." Looking above, it's now at 153K ! 👍 Dang, that headstock housing is cavernous compared to a 1440.

[@tomskaggs7918]

How do you remember how to put all the gears back in the correct spot? Did you film the disassembly?

[@zipzit2go]

Great, really great video. One question. I'm assuming that the test piece shown at the very end of the video is super smooth. Wasn't that the entire point of the entire gear system rebuild, to obtain chatter free smooth results? (Cause -- Effect) I'm assuming the wear on the slides only affects the ability to create perfect diameter cuts along the entire length of the workpiece. Is that right? And thanks for sharing the tools and materials used. You've given me more confidence in my abilities to fix difficult problems. Many thanx.

[@WatchWesWork]

We will do some more testing in a follow up video. Yes, the finish is improved. There is still a lot of work to be done to fix the the other worn areas of the machine.

[@rksmiths4782]

great. really good video

[@saneemp]

Nice job, why you painted red on the casting floor. Is it any type of sealing.

[@Michael-he7xn]

Cool. Thanks!

[@wxfield]

WoW. I'm seeing this video for the first time 2 years after it was posted and 3 months after rebuilding my headstock; I'm aghast that ~60k people watched a video on rebuilding a lathe headstock.

[@WatchWesWork]

Pretty wild. I still can't believe that anyone watches any of these videos.

[@wxfield]

@@WatchWesWork From my perspective; great content with a smart guy..you can't beat that. It won't be long before you're saying "I can't believe I'm at 100k++ subscribers".

[@WatchWesWork]

@@wxfield I don't know. I guess it's possible. I had 10,000 6 weeks ago.

[@wxfield]

@@WatchWesWork Yep. In a previous video you remarked that you had been just making videos for your Mom. Maybe keep doing that..you have a natural talent for content and editing and people seem to be really relating. Anyway..all this to say; Great job and I hope you can continue w/o it impacting your personal business development.

[@erik_dk842]

@@WatchWesWork And now you have 142,000

[@maxgroceman1501]

When installing the bearings into the headstock bores. 1st heat the area to around 150F with a heat or halogen lamp. Then U won’t need a hammer, it will slip in the bore with around .0005/.0008 clearance.

[@Rolingmetal]

Wow 1200! You buy a half decent little chines lathe for that. This machine looks a bit bigger though. At some point I will need to take my little Chinese lathe apart. The spindle makes more noise than I like. But I'm afraid I won't get it back together. :) Thanks for showing us how it' done.

[@WatchWesWork]

It's better than $2,400 retail.These are big bearings. The fronts are 150mm diameter.

[@JB-kw4ug]

Thanks for the video, I may have forgotten since the first part, what brand and size is that lathe? Besides my classing, I picked up an Acra Turn 1340, which appears to be a clone of a Harrison 300. The headstock looks familiar even though the controls are arranged differently. Thanks again, JB San Diego

[@bmlennox]

did you measure runout before and after spindle bearing replacement?

[@user-ii6hd7lv2w]

Very good

[@bryanlykkebak4093]

Did you add the oil pump to this machine? Mine does not have an oil pump and had a bearing failure from what appears to be a lack of lubrication. I’m considering adding one.

[@spnynorman5519]

Wow, you did a lot of grinding to get all those teeth ... Good job getting everything back together. It did look overwhelming.

[@WatchWesWork]

Yes. It took around 6 hours to manually point the teeth. I'm glad I did it, but it was not much fun.

[@joshua43214]

Nice vid. You have a nice touch, people don't realize how difficult it is to finesse with a hammer. As a former Euro-car tech, I do have one criticism though. The bearing race punch weighs enough on it's own to drive in the bearings. You should guide the punch with your fingers and just tap the race with the punch. Not only does the job go much faster since it is easier to tap around the race, you wont have the punch dive into the balls like what kept happening to you. There was also a few times you where working the inner race with the punch and it kept slipping. Add a set of cheap 1/2"drive 12point sockets to your kit for doing this.

[@WatchWesWork]

The real issue, and you may not be able to see in the video, is that the bores for the various shafts do not go all the way through the headstock. So, I have to come in from an angle to drive in the bearings. That makes things very tricky. It's a poorly designed gear box.

[@SteveSummers]

Nice video Wes, lot of clips to tie together. My dad used form a gasket forever and so do I, it is good stuff . Yes, I cringed with the punch on the bearings:) What did you seal the bottom of the gear box with? Keep up the good work, I always enjoy seeing what you are up to. SteveSummers

[@WatchWesWork]

It's just Rustoleum paint. I chipped off all the loose paint first and cleaned everything as well as I could. I should have painted the whole thing, but no one will ever see it... I think there are around 50 different segments edited together to make the video. It's really hard to get a view of the top of the headstock, the camera is always blocked by my fat head.

[@SteveSummers]

You done a very nice job tying all together, not as easy as people think, that's for sure.

[@sopanaiwale4893]

SUCH GREAT ,JOB AND CRITICAL JOB HOW THEY NO WHERE THIS PEACE AT WRIGHT PLACE

[@Maxi-hs5nk]

Thanks for sharing Wes, I'm curious when you where installing the bearings why you would use the snap on drift and only knock one side at a time instead of using a bearing driver with the right size end on it? As you know they come with different size ends. you could fit the bearing driver shaft through the hole in the casting then put on the appropriate end to knock in the bearing. Keep up the great content!

[@WatchWesWork]

That would be better. I was just too lazy to make a proper driver.

[@Jutilaje]

RIP the bearings, getting hammered on so much 😳😂

[@kevinchildress6569]

Wes did u paint the inside of the gearbox with Glyptol?