Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

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LX Kid
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:33 pm
Location: Tampa, Fl

Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by LX Kid »

Well it took four days to get the old one gone and the new into the shop. Now the real fun begins to get it cleaned up, casting sands gone, gibs polished and everything working smoothly. Spend today cleaning and polishing the ways, cross-feed and lubing. Can't quite figure out how to adjust the horizontal feed to make it smooth. Turning the feed handle is a nightmare! Don't seem to find an adjustment anywhere. If I lift up on the saddle a bit it functions fine when I turn the feed handle. Without a smooth lead screw travel this is pretty much useless. Waiting for my MT4 dead center, which I ordered a couple days ago, to check the tailstock to the headstock alignment. Suggestions always welcomed!

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Last edited by LX Kid on Sun Apr 26, 2015 7:11 pm, edited 3 times in total.
SteveM
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by SteveM »

LX Kid wrote:Waiting for my MT4 dead center, which I ordered a couple days ago, to check the tailstock to the headstock alignment. Suggestions always welcomed!
You can just chuck up a piece of material, set the compound to 60 degrees and cut your own center. It will be dead nuts on as long as you don't remove it. If you do remove it, just turn it again.

Steve
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LX Kid
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by LX Kid »

Just did a dumb dumb! UPS just arrived with my new steady and follow rests that I ordered from Bolton Hardware. I "assumed" their AT750 12" 3-In-One was the same as a Grizzly G9729 12" 3-In-One. "Wrong assumption!" The Bolton rests' are too low. Looks like it's about 2" on the low side. Soooo now I have to return, with 25% restocking fee plus shipping, or see what I can do on eBay. Grizzly doesn't even list them for this lathe.
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LX Kid
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by LX Kid »

SteveM wrote:
LX Kid wrote:Waiting for my MT4 dead center, which I ordered a couple days ago, to check the tailstock to the headstock alignment. Suggestions always welcomed!
You can just chuck up a piece of material, set the compound to 60 degrees and cut your own center. It will be dead nuts on as long as you don't remove it. If you do remove it, just turn it again.

Steve
Too late! It will be here tomorrow or the next day. Also I'm still checking everthing out to make sure it going to be accurate. The cross feed lock is also something that will need attention. It grabs all at once and the lever is "loosy goosey!" A heavy spring on the locking shaft may make it more tolerable/
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LX Kid
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by LX Kid »

What if I removed the "rack," below the lead screw, and ran the teeth on a wire wheel on the grinder? Do you think that would help in the smoothness of the horizontal travel or do you think the gear may be the problem? (It's just as rough as trying to "read brail on a dried out corn cob!") It jumps and there's no way to move it slowly up to facing your work and will gouge it.
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LX Kid
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by LX Kid »

Maybe I should take the whole apron gear box off and clean polish all the gears on a wire wheel. I'll be there is gobs of casting sand and grit down in there. I just put the cross slide back on and it works really smooth and great now. Oh well, gotta do what I gotta do to get this working properly. I sprayed WD-40 down in there, when cross-slide was off, and blew as clean as I could get it with about 40psi. I then sprayed all the gears with white lithium grease.
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LX Kid
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

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I also found out my old quick change post doesn't fit this Grizzly model. ALSO my t-nuts and hold down set don't fit the Grizzly as they are too big. Starting to think this is going to get expensive. Anyone want to swap sets with me. I guess I could make bushings to fit the larger hole in my quick change post. That is "when" I get this darn Grizzly working properly. Maybe the whole swivel base will interchange and I can swap the two. I have to give that a look tomorrow.

(Starting to wonder it I'm on here by myself. Maybe there aren't that many 3-In-One owners on this board. Most of the postings are pretty old.)
Torch
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by Torch »

I'm here, just been busy trying to keep my head above water this afternoon. (Almost literally). Besides, your first post in this thread was just before 4pm!

The lead screw on my machine (different brand, but similar to yours) had a longitudinal groove the length of the shaft. It was milled in after the threads were cut, leaving the edges sharp. I quickly wore out the first half-nut before I realized what was going on. The groove engages the cross-feed drive gear in the apron. I have no idea if this is related to your problem, but when you dismantle things do yourself a favour and ease both edges of each thread where it intersects the groove to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on the half-nut.

Toolpost height: here's a mod I did to centre the toolpost on the table. It had the side-effect of raising the tool post and may be useful for you.

Cross-slide locks: If yours are the same as mine was, they are useless. Here's how I fixed mine.

Just remember: you didn't buy a lathe, you bought a lathe kit. :lol:
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LX Kid
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by LX Kid »

Torch wrote:I'm here, just been busy trying to keep my head above water this afternoon. (Almost literally). Besides, your first post in this thread was just before 4pm!

The lead screw on my machine (different brand, but similar to yours) had a longitudinal groove the length of the shaft. It was milled in after the threads were cut, leaving the edges sharp. I quickly wore out the first half-nut before I realized what was going on. The groove engages the cross-feed drive gear in the apron. I have no idea if this is related to your problem, but when you dismantle things do yourself a favour and ease both edges of each thread where it intersects the groove to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on the half-nut.

Toolpost height: here's a mod I did to centre the toolpost on the table. It had the side-effect of raising the tool post and may be useful for you. Cross-slide locks: If yours are the same as mine was, they are useless. Here's how I fixed mine.
Just remember: you didn't buy a lathe, you bought a lathe kit. :lol:
Thanks Torch for chiming in. My problem is not with the lead screw but rather the gear and rack below the lead screw or may actually be casting sand meshing into the gears causing my problem of rough operation and hard cranking. It is a new machine and my two previous other Chinese machines had to be totally disassembled, cleaned and re-assembled.
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LX Kid
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by LX Kid »

Torch wrote:Cross-slide locks: If yours are the same as mine was, they are useless. Here's how I fixed mine.
Just remember: you didn't buy a lathe, you bought a lathe kit. :lol:
My cross-slide locks, aka gib adjusters, are really a bad design idea. Why can't they be adjusted by adding nuts on them and leaving them alone? Why do they have to lock up tight? I really like your ingenuity with what you did to yours. As a novice, right now, something like your design is a little advanced for me.
Torch
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by Torch »

I believe your machine is the same as mine in that the cross-slide gib is a tapered gib. The screws that pinch it are NOT adjusters, just locks. If you were standing at the tailstock looking at the table, there's a large-headed screw on either end (threaded into the apron) that slides the gib "left" and "right". The table dovetail has the opposite taper, so positioning the gib takes up the play.

The table itself has the traditional adjustment screws that pinch that gib. However, there is a second screw of the same thread that is inserted behind the adjustment screw to lock it. A really dumb idea! Virtually impossible to lock the gib screws without moving them. I replaced those screws with long ones that extend out past the casting and added lock nuts so I can hold the end of the adjustment screw while I tighten the locknuts.
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LX Kid
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Re: Getting my new G9729 Grizzly up running! Help

Post by LX Kid »

Torch wrote:I believe your machine is the same as mine in that the cross-slide gib is a tapered gib. The screws that pinch it are NOT adjusters, just locks. If you were standing at the tailstock looking at the table, there's a large-headed screw on either end (threaded into the apron) that slides the gib "left" and "right". The table dovetail has the opposite taper, so positioning the gib takes up the play.

The table itself has the traditional adjustment screws that pinch that gib. However, there is a second screw of the same thread that is inserted behind the adjustment screw to lock it. A really dumb idea! Virtually impossible to lock the gib screws without moving them. I replaced those screws with long ones that extend out past the casting and added lock nuts so I can hold the end of the adjustment screw while I tighten the locknuts.
I "think", and at times dangerous, that my table is different from yours. There are the two large headed screws, front and rear, and two finger adjusters on the table's right side. I didn't notice a tapered gib on mine but I'll check it again. When the front large screw was turned it moved the gib upward to push the table against the base. The rear large screw would lock the gib from movement after adjustment. The two side thumb screws would pull the table towards the right against the table's "left" bevel of the base. My parts diagram shows not other screws associated with table alignment. Polishing the gib and all the mateing surfaces, with 600 paper, made all the difference. My table now moves very smooth along it's full "Y" axis. When I get a chance I'll send you a copy of my illustrated parts breakdown to see if it matches your lathe. By the way what model is yours?

Now I'll probably mess everything up when I disassemble it again to get at those pesky apron gears! LoL
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