Changing nylon gears on a B229

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shepdog
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2006 2:21 pm

Changing nylon gears on a B229

Post by shepdog »

Managed to strip one of the plastic gears inside the headstock, and need to remove it to replace it...can anyone provide me with a sound method/procedure of driving out the shaft upon which it sits? There is a circlip that holds the shaft in place in the housing but beyond that, I can't see anything other than being a press-fit...am I likely to damage something gently tapping it out?
Torch
Posts: 1684
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:58 am
Location: Muskoka

Re: Changing nylon gears on a B229

Post by Torch »

Assuming your B2229 is the same as my HQ800, the shafts are covered by press-in plugs. And yes, the plugs are gently dislodged by tapping -- once all the circlips are removed, gears dislodged, and so forth, of course. IIRC, some of the gears may be secured to the shafts by roll pins and the gear change lever shaft runs through a bushing that is secured in place by a set screw tapped into the casting. Come to think of it, maybe one of the gear shafts is too -- look for a hole in the side of the casting at the same elevation as the shaft. If the hole is there, there's probably a pointed grub screw holding the busing in place. I think the grub screws were all slot heads, but might have been Allen head.

FWIW, I made aluminium gears to replace the nylon ones and documented that adventure with some pictures here:
http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/vie ... 0&p=190027

That was a couple of years ago now, haven't looked back, I highly recommend it. And I did all the work on the lathe with the broken gears. I did have to buy a rotary table and I did have to make my own index plate for it. I also made my own gear cutter out of O1 tool steel. I already had an acetylene torch for hardening the O1.

Now, with the solid gears came the risk of doing serious damage to something else in the event of a crash. So I also made my own copper keys for the change gears and a brass shear pin for the feed screw shaft. As part of the learning process, I did manage to screw up and crash once more, but the copper shear pin did it's job. A new shear pin takes a few minutes to make and install, so it's well worth the effort, IMHO.
shepdog
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2006 2:21 pm

Re: Changing nylon gears on a B229

Post by shepdog »

Excellent, thanks very much Torch! Exactly the feedback I needed.

As for making gears, I can still use the lathe in manual mode, but I'm not sure I'm up to making my own gears. Will definitely take a look at your thread though...cheers!
Torch
Posts: 1684
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:58 am
Location: Muskoka

Re: Changing nylon gears on a B229

Post by Torch »

shepdog wrote:Excellent, thanks very much Torch! Exactly the feedback I needed.

As for making gears, I can still use the lathe in manual mode, but I'm not sure I'm up to making my own gears. Will definitely take a look at your thread though...cheers!
I wasn't up to it either -- I just didn't let that minor detail get in the way. It was a great learning experience.
shepdog
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2006 2:21 pm

Re: Changing nylon gears on a B229

Post by shepdog »

Well, that went way easier than I'd ever dreamed! Hardest part was getting those bloody cir-clips off, a little tap, and out came the shaft...thanks again!
16WhiteColly
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:59 pm

Re: Changing nylon gears on a B229

Post by 16WhiteColly »

Does anyone know if the 9729 has nylon gears in the headstock?
40 year retired machinist.
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