Grizzly 9729 - "Y" axis gib adjustment

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HiramAbiff
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2008 12:30 am
Location: Pine, CO

Grizzly 9729 - "Y" axis gib adjustment

Post by HiramAbiff »

Ok, I gotta question--or an issue with Grizzly t/s, unless of course I missed a really big gap.
It lays out like this. I have had this machine for a tad over a year and its mostly sat there. I am clearly new to the world of machining and need all of the help I can get.
I decided I needed to tighten things up--add some drag to the gibs and such.
The Griz manual CLEARLY states that the gib adjustment for the "Y" axis is adjusted with the two fly screws on the side of the table--these screws are also supposed to double as a table lock. I called Griz t/s and they told me the same. I was not thrilled with this design to say the least.
Then a friend told me to look under the table at the apron for a large flat head screw. Turns out that there are two such screws at the front and back of the table. He told me that these screws are what is supposed to be used to tighten the gib properly and that the fly screws really are just there to lock the table.
Of course, nothing about this in the doc. Well, I tried his method and darned if he was not right on the money. Now the gib is properly tightened with the right amount of drag/tension and it will not need to be re-adjusted each time I try to lock the table in place.
This, then leads me to wondering if it would not be a good idea to get rid of the cheap fly screws which get in the way, and replace with something which maybe takes a hex wrench (the "standard 5mm which most of the gib adjustment bolts seem to like) and/or, if that works out well, maybe welding on some nice little handles/levers which would make things ever quicker AND allow me to get the end-stock a bit closer to the table than it can now with the fly screws.
Really, what I am looking for is either agreement that my friend has properly directed me and my ideas for the future are appropriate, OR, there is some hidden reason why the manual would have you adjust your gib tension with the gib locks, which means re-adjusting each time? Finally, if I am now headed in the right direction, why is it that the t/s guy at Griz. who told me he has been there for 16+ years and is the head machinist, unaware of the proper way to adjust this stuff. Or, again, am I way off base in all of this?
Thanks in advance for any input.
HiramAbiff
DENedbalek
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:12 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Post by DENedbalek »

Hiram,

I looked through your manual for G9729 and agree with your assessment of both the accuracy (or lack of in this case) of the instructions and the proper method of adjusting the gibs for the crossfeed carriage as indicated by your friend.

It appears that you have tapered gibs that are adjusted by the screw on the end of the carriage, and not by the carriage locks on the side. In answer to your thoughts on revising the handles of the lock down screws, I believe you could put whatever suits you there. If you don't often lock the carriage, then put set screws there. If you use it fairly often, I'd think you would want to be able to lock the carraige without having to use hand tools, but that's just me. It will require a bit of torque or pressure to lock up the carriage.

As far as the T/S guy at Grizzly goes, I can tell you I've found them them to be well informed and very helpful. Maybe you got one who isn't. This question of yours is fairly clear to me just from looking at the parts breakdown on page 66 of your manual.

Dwayne
HiramAbiff
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2008 12:30 am
Location: Pine, CO

9729 Gibs

Post by HiramAbiff »

Thanks for the verification. Much appreciated.
Remember when we all used to laugh when somebody said; "Did you read the manual?"
Here's one for our side!

Best,
Hiram
sailingamerican

Re: Grizzly 9729 - "Y" axis gib adjustment

Post by sailingamerican »

HiramAbiff wrote:Ok, I gotta question--or an issue with Grizzly t/s, unless of course I missed a really big gap.
It lays out like this. I have had this machine for a tad over a year and its mostly sat there. I am clearly new to the world of machining and need all of the help I can get.
I decided I needed to tighten things up--add some drag to the gibs and such.
The Griz manual CLEARLY states that the gib adjustment for the "Y" axis is adjusted with the two fly screws on the side of the table--these screws are also supposed to double as a table lock. I called Griz t/s and they told me the same. I was not thrilled with this design to say the least.
Then a friend told me to look under the table at the apron for a large flat head screw. Turns out that there are two such screws at the front and back of the table. He told me that these screws are what is supposed to be used to tighten the gib properly and that the fly screws really are just there to lock the table.
Of course, nothing about this in the doc. Well, I tried his method and darned if he was not right on the money. Now the gib is properly tightened with the right amount of drag/tension and it will not need to be re-adjusted each time I try to lock the table in place.
This, then leads me to wondering if it would not be a good idea to get rid of the cheap fly screws which get in the way, and replace with something which maybe takes a hex wrench (the "standard 5mm which most of the gib adjustment bolts seem to like) and/or, if that works out well, maybe welding on some nice little handles/levers which would make things ever quicker AND allow me to get the end-stock a bit closer to the table than it can now with the fly screws.
Really, what I am looking for is either agreement that my friend has properly directed me and my ideas for the future are appropriate, OR, there is some hidden reason why the manual would have you adjust your gib tension with the gib locks, which means re-adjusting each time? Finally, if I am now headed in the right direction, why is it that the t/s guy at Griz. who told me he has been there for 16+ years and is the head machinist, unaware of the proper way to adjust this stuff. Or, again, am I way off base in all of this?
Thanks in advance for any input.
HiramAbiff
I have had the model for 6 year. I did not know there were screws on the bottom. Thanks for the info. I think the machine is junk. The instructions are the pits. They drawings were done in part by hand and the writing is so poor that if you did not know how to run the machine you would never learn from the manual. I would love to sell they 3 in one
sch
Posts: 277
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 7:51 pm

Post by sch »

The manuals at worse are computer printouts from chinglish translations of the original, then very badly printed. FWIW the manuals I received with my HF 12x36 had such lousy diagrams that I downloaded the same from Griz and got a much superior manual for the same lathe. Info content not much better but intelligible. The manuals I received with my Van Norman mill were not much more help than the HF in learning how to use the machine.

In my pre community college adult machining class days, I recall spending about 2 hrs trying to figure out how to turn on the @#$ lathe before the function of the lever on the apron became apparent. DOH!!!. But there was no explicit statement in the manual about it. My Shoptask just had a pushbutton, like a lite switch. The 12x36 had several interlocking pushbuttons and contactors. Some things are best learned with mentors as there are so many assumptions of prior knowledge.
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