Turret Mill question (short vid)

[.RC.]

I have been doing some sawing with my Bridgeport clone and am wondering whether this noise it makes is normal for a Bridgeport/clone...

It seems to be coming from the V belt area like the spline is rattling or something...It does not sound to be coming from the tool and no chatter marks are visible on the workpiece...In fact the slitting saw makes the normal cutting noise...

So is it chatter or is it just a quirky noise that bridgeports/clones make due to their design????

19 sec vid of the mill and noise 3.8Mb in size... http://media.putfile.com/Turret-mill

[rockrat]

Is it me or does the whole operation get quiet when the saw is not loaded?

I can hear the saw cutting, I here the motor running, but when the saw does not have a load, is sounds quiet. And ok to me.

In other words, I dont hear anything out of the ordanary. If there is a flapping sound, it might be the belt. Sometimes the belts fray out of normal usage. If the fray is on the outside of the belt (normal), it will make a flapping noise as it runs around.

If the belt is indeed frayed, order another, and be ready to change it out. I did this once when I first got into the biz. Took about 2 hours IIRC. The hard part was removing the motor due to its weight.

Good luck.

rock-

[jkilroy]

There is a steady thumping noise in the background that is hitting right in time with the spindle rotation. That is not going to be belt or pulley related. Its got to be somewhere in the backgear or spindle somewhere.

[.RC.]

You can disregard the thumping noise you hear...It was caused by the slitting saw as it had jammed earlier in the cut(tooo much feed) and the thumping noise disappeared on the next cut...

The mill makes no noise like this when using a face mill or endmills...

[.RC.]

OK I will assume then that real bridgeports make the same noise and it is the splines rattling making the noise...

[wierdscience]

There is one other possibility.The jaw coupling in the spindle drive spline.It's the coupling that allows the shift between low and hi ranges.
That jaw coupling is underneath the front step pulley and is only partially protected from dirt/swarf etc.Sometimes dirt and swarf accumilate in the jaws and the two halves don't mesh as tightly as they once did.A good cleaning with some solvent and a blow gun will most likely cure it.Putting the unit in backgear flushing it with solvent followed by compressed air will do the trick most times.

[This message has been edited by wierdscience (edited 12-12-2005).]