A few questions about restoring a Mark V
Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 1:08 pm
Hi everyone I recently purchased a Mark V 500 and am in the process of doing a functional restoration. It was in a fire and didn't experience direct damage or extreme heat but got coated pretty heavily in smoke which has left a film on many parts and cause getting it apart to be harder than it should be. The good news is that otherwise it is in good shape (still ran ok before I took the headstock apart) and I think hadn't seen a ton of miles.
Still, being about 45 years old and never having been maintained as far as I can tell, I am rebuilding the headstock, doing a lot of general cleanup, and fixing up a few other things. If anyone can help me out with a few questions I would really appreciate it.
(1) For cleaning all bare metal surfaces (a little surface rust and some smoke film) I'm planning on scrubbing with green scotch bright (~600 grit I think) and WD-40, then clean up with mineral spirits, then wax/graphite/lube as appropriate. Does this seem like a decent approach?
(2) I'm also replacing quill bearing (I have the single bearing quill) plus both drive shaft bearings, and the entire idler bearing/shaft which I purchased new on Ebay (the old single bearing version). For the bearings that require being pulled/pressed on/off, my plan is to use a regular bearing puller to get them off then carefully tap the new ones back on using a section pipe that can fit right down against the inner bearing surface. Again, does this approach seem safe? I'd rather not have to send these pieces out to be pressed on or buy a hydraulic press myself but will do one of those if people think my DIY approach is a terrible idea.
(3) On that note, one side of the drive shaft has a plastic part that prevents me from either taking off or replacing the bearing on that side. What is the best way to remove that plastic piece to get at the bearing? I was hesitant to pull very hard on it but I could fit the puller jaws around it if needed. Just didn't know if there was another trick to avoid breaking that part. (4) The way tubes, where they attach to the pivot side, are surprisingly wobbly which makes me worry accurately adjusting the lathe tailstock would be difficult or the tailstock would wobble while turning. They tubes wouldn't come out but I also couldn't locate a set screw for how to remove them (or just tighten them up to prevent the wobble. Is there a trick to this and/or is that kind of wobble actually ok?
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=s5HhTVH5pfg[/youtube]
(5) Because of the smoke film (which maybe I should have cleaned better first) taking the collar off the quill was really hard and I end up marking up the quill collar pretty badly since the metal is quite soft. I think it is still fine (just cosmetic) and I could clean it up a bit, but it looks bad. I couldn't find anywhere to buy just this part online and none are on Ebay right now - any thoughts on where to find one of these or if I should actually be worried about how beat up it got when removing it? Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions!
Still, being about 45 years old and never having been maintained as far as I can tell, I am rebuilding the headstock, doing a lot of general cleanup, and fixing up a few other things. If anyone can help me out with a few questions I would really appreciate it.
(1) For cleaning all bare metal surfaces (a little surface rust and some smoke film) I'm planning on scrubbing with green scotch bright (~600 grit I think) and WD-40, then clean up with mineral spirits, then wax/graphite/lube as appropriate. Does this seem like a decent approach?
(2) I'm also replacing quill bearing (I have the single bearing quill) plus both drive shaft bearings, and the entire idler bearing/shaft which I purchased new on Ebay (the old single bearing version). For the bearings that require being pulled/pressed on/off, my plan is to use a regular bearing puller to get them off then carefully tap the new ones back on using a section pipe that can fit right down against the inner bearing surface. Again, does this approach seem safe? I'd rather not have to send these pieces out to be pressed on or buy a hydraulic press myself but will do one of those if people think my DIY approach is a terrible idea.
(3) On that note, one side of the drive shaft has a plastic part that prevents me from either taking off or replacing the bearing on that side. What is the best way to remove that plastic piece to get at the bearing? I was hesitant to pull very hard on it but I could fit the puller jaws around it if needed. Just didn't know if there was another trick to avoid breaking that part. (4) The way tubes, where they attach to the pivot side, are surprisingly wobbly which makes me worry accurately adjusting the lathe tailstock would be difficult or the tailstock would wobble while turning. They tubes wouldn't come out but I also couldn't locate a set screw for how to remove them (or just tighten them up to prevent the wobble. Is there a trick to this and/or is that kind of wobble actually ok?
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=s5HhTVH5pfg[/youtube]
(5) Because of the smoke film (which maybe I should have cleaned better first) taking the collar off the quill was really hard and I end up marking up the quill collar pretty badly since the metal is quite soft. I think it is still fine (just cosmetic) and I could clean it up a bit, but it looks bad. I couldn't find anywhere to buy just this part online and none are on Ebay right now - any thoughts on where to find one of these or if I should actually be worried about how beat up it got when removing it? Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions!