I found that even with regular cleanings of vacuuming and blowing, there was quite an accumulation of sawdust mixed with black stuff stuck on the inside of the backside of the headstock. This is on the same side as the inspection hole. This is a place where neither the vacuum attachment nor the blower nozzle will reach. I think the accumulation was part grease and part belt refuse. It was surprising to see the gunk that I didn't know was there!:eek:
Also, as the motor was laying next to the upper headstock on the bench - and exposed (I had removed the lower pan) - I was able to brace the pan in the open position, run the motor and blow it out at the same time. This operation removed a lot of sawdust. A lot more than I would have imagined. This was also an opportunity to hand move the slide of the control sheave assembly and give it a good lubrication. Same thing with the lower (Motor sheave) assembly. Both shafts slid easily and felt firm (no wiggle). The "Short key had square corners and was clean and shiny. This made me happy.
Got a good look at the quill assembly it was clean. I extended the quill and checked the play between the splines of the spindle assembly and the nylon part I think is the drive and ring assembly. Remember when we were discussing the lag (play) in the rotation of the saw blade? What I found was just as I had suspected. There is no lag/play between those two parts through part of a rotation, but there is lag/play on the reverse side of the shaft. Why? I don't know, but as said earlier, until it gets worse (1/8" lag at the edge of the saw blade) I'll let it ride. The only thing I can think of to cause this situation is a minor misalignment of the bearings. Any more thoughts?
The speed control assembly looked almost new when clean except for a slight wiggle between the speed control bracket and the quadrant assembly. There is a little play around the rollpin. Because the teeth on the pork chop piece look excellent I decided to not mess with the present works.
A while back (about 2 years ago) I had replaced the quadrant as the teeth were worn and could have enlarged the seat for the rollpin during that process. At that same time I replaced the Control sheave assembly as the inside of that shaft had worn and the long key had rolled inside the shaft and it looked ugly. This was due to inadequate lubrication and I promised myself that would not happen again.
All is now clean and the belt is still (after 3 years - I think) at 1/2" it was re inserted. Another surprise - when re-assembled there was no need to do a speed adjustment.
I'd recommend this process to anyone who has not done a thorough cleaning in more than a year.
This removing the headstock process allows a cleaning you just cannot do with it on the machine.P.S. Also removed the power switch to see that it was made is U.S.A. Sorry, Darn it! Can't remember the manufacturer. It has a sticky backed foam on the same side as the wire connectors. There are no holes in the switch that will allow dirt to enter. The side of the switch had words to indicate the line side and the power side. So it was easy to get the black wire on the bottom (line) and the blue one on the top (power).
The motor was manufactured by a company in St. Louis and assembled in Mexico. When I lived in South Texas, (1994 - 1999) about 3 miles north of the Rio Grande, there were quite a few of my neighbors that had jobs supervising employees in mexican plants. Even parts of my Pontiac were made in Reynosa, MX. (about 6 mi. from my house)
