How do I Dismantle a Quill?

[PG-Zac]

Thanks all for your help.

Especially to Dusty - your pictures helped a lot, and Bill Mayo - your offline help was extremely helpful. Without your recommendation, I don't think I would really have had the guts to do it.

As you may gather, the knob is off. Here are a couple of pictures.
On this one you can see the score marks on the shaft that (I think) were the main reason the knob would not come off.


What is this shaped washer supposed to do?


Check the crud inside the housing

[PG-Zac]

In this pic you can see the corrosion I will need to remove, as well as the wonky clip on the housing.


Bill's recommendation (after checking it himself) was to support the housing with the spindle facing up and the spline facing down unsupported, and whack the daylights out of the shaft sending it down out of the housing and bearing at the same time, but ensuring that I don't damage the end of the shaft.

Well Bill, that's why I have "soft" mallets in my arsenal. For this job I used an aluminium mallet. The mallet gets all dinged before it harms steel.

In terms of "whacking tools", here are my favourites shown from left to right in order of force required.
Short handled claw hammer, Rubber mallet, Nylon faced mallet, Aluminium mallet, 4 pound hammer.

[dusty]

Thanks a lot for the preview. Your questions (and pictures) have helped immensely. Now you have the quill apart and a bunch of us have gained some inside knowledge.

The degree of crud that accumulated is hard to believe. By just cleaning everything as you have will make that seem like a new machine. Imagine what a few new bearings, etc and a good lube job will do.

You ask about the top hat washer and I'll be waiting to hear the answer BUT
you do know where it goes I hope. If not, I might not be the only one who pulls things apart with out paying attention or taking pictures.

If you don't know where it goes, reible has posted some quill photos that I think will answer your questions.

[JPG]

Thanks a lot for the preview. Your questions (and pictures) have helped immensely. Now you have the quill apart and a bunch of us have gained some inside knowledge.

The degree of crud that accumulated is hard to believe. By just cleaning everything as you have will make that seem like a new machine. Imagine what a few new bearings, etc and a good lube job will do.

You ask about the top hat washer and I'll be waiting to hear the answer BUT
you do know where it goes I hope. If not, I might not be the only one who pulls things apart with out paying attention or taking pictures.

If you don't know where it goes, reible has posted some quill photos that I think will answer your questions.

I think the purpose of that washer is to position the splined shaft prior to insertion into the nylon connecting sleeve. It holds it in the center of the quill bore.

[PG-Zac]

Fortunately I do know where the washer goes It goes on the spline in approximately the position shown with the "brim" facing outwards.

Fortunately I saw it just before it fell out, and I was able to catch it before it disappeared into the floor mess.

I think this washer is the reason why some people think they have a 2 bearing quill when their long allen wrench can't reach all the way down to the single bearing.

Thanks Red - I think you may be right.

[PG-Zac]

Dusty, I'll wait to complete the job before I claim to be able to reassemble everything correctly.

I often have one or two "spares" left over at the end of a project

[dusty]

[quote="PG-Zac"]Dusty, I'll wait to complete the job before I claim to be able to reassemble everything correctly. ]You are much further along in your quest to tear down and rebuild a headstock than I will likely ever be. I sorta work through these rebuilds vicariously. I don't have an extra one to tear down and I don't have the nerve to tear into the one I use.

Maybe, one day, I'll fall into one of those unbelievable deals and I'll have a refurb of my own.

[wannabewoodworker]

In this pic you can see the corrosion I will need to remove, as well as the wonky clip on the housing.

That "wonky" clip (love the South African slang.... ) is the snap ring that halts the travel of the quill inside the headstock casting. Yours looks to be salvageable. If you remove it and put it in your vice or put it on something real flat you should be able to flatten it out. There is also supposed to be a rubber washer behind it towards the headstock that dampens the impact of the quill if it returns to quickly to the fully retracted position. This I think is very important but you could still use the machine without it. I would try and source a new rubber washer to replace it if it is missing. The quill housing will clean up nicely, mine was looking pretty bad but after some sanding and polishing it looks almost new again.

[JPG]

Can you get 'Evaporust'(or equivalent) in SA? That quill is a great candidate for using it. Electrolysis is also an excellent method for 'fixing' that rust on the outer end of the quill.

The advantage of both those methods over abrasion/naval jelly, is that neither attacks the 'good' metal remaining!

[PG-Zac]

Michael - The rubber washer was on the machine but I tossed it, it was crumpled and brittle. I have some 3mm rubber sheet I'm going to cut for a replacement

Red - No luck with Evaporust, but I hope to set up an electrolysis bath soon for the way tubes. I guess I'll be adding the quill housing to the list of items to be electrocuted.