LeBlond Carriage Dead

[Sparks]

Hello

We have a LeBlond Regal 13C3 lathe that is a 196? model. Someone must have jammed the carriage during operation and broke something in the drive because it will not feed automatically now. The Feed Rod is turning but the carriage will not move when engaged. I see by looking underneath that the Feed Rod goes through a Pinion gear on the back of the carriage. I figure that maybe a key is broken inside the pinion. Do I need to remove the whole carriage by sliding it off the end of the machine, or is there an easier way to repair this ? Your expert opinion can probably save a whole lot of unnecessary work. Oh Yeah, My book shows that the Feed Rod is a splined rod with 6 grooves, but our machine has a smooth rod with a keyway cut the entire length. It also dosen't have the Safety clutch to prevent accidents from breaking something.

Thanks

[Jim Caudill]

Well, the Leblond is one of the easiest lathes to take the front apron off of. 4 bolts from the saddle down into the apron and remove 2 bolts that hold the leadscrew support. I didn't have the "remote handle" on the carriage, so you may to deal with a third shaft. Let me know what you need, as I have an old, worn out apron that is destined for the scrap heap.

[lynnl]

I have an older LeBlond Regal (13"), and had a similar problem several years ago. Like Jim said, you don't even have to remove the saddle. Just take out those 4 bolts that hold the apron on to the saddle. Remove the bearing block bolted on to the tailstock end of the bed that supports the feed rod and leadscrew.

Then while supporting everything with two of your hands, use your other hands to slide the apron off the feed rod & leadscrew. (I don't remember just how I supported everything ...probably with wood blocks.)

In my case, what I found was that bevel pinion was slipping out of it's bore (bored in a raised boss on the backside of the apron casting), whenever the carriage was traversed either forward or backward - don't recall which.

Despite much study and pondering, I could never understand just what should've been holding the bevel pinion in its bore in the first place, when traveled in that particular direction. There wasn't anything broken that I could ever see, nor that differed from the exploded diagram in my operator's book.

What I ended up doing was cutting a groove in the back end of the pinion, e.g. for a retaining clip, and screwing a thin metal clip on the back side of that bore to engage the groove. Actually I might have had to do that on the front side of the bore and pinion, because the logical thing would've been to just use a C clip if the pinion was long enough to protrude thru the bore completely.

I guess I should've taken a picture or drawn a diagram of my fix, because I can no longer remember just exactly how I designed it. But I do clearly remember the whole issue was that pinion slipping out of the bore while going in one direction.

[Sparks]

Thanks Gentlemen, I'll try this and see what falls out. I believe that there is some kind of square keystock inside the pinion that sheared. The pinion stays in place in the housing, it just turns on the Feed Rod.

[lane]

Their is a key in the worm that the shaft runs through. Usually held in place with a small pin. Get it apart if you need more help call back. are PM me.

[rdfeil]

Sparks,

It is like Lane said or at least very close. My Regal is a 17 inch model and the worm is driven from the lead screw with a key in the worm. I have had mine apart and I don't remember any pins holding the key but something has to be holding it The easiest way I have found to remove the apron is to first remove the lead screw. This is easily done by removing the support block at the tail stock end then pulling the lead screw out toward the tail stock. On my lathe the lead screw is held into a gearbox with a tapered pin, drive out the pin and pull out the lead. My machine is a sliding gap so the lead screw is driven by an intermediate gearbox, yours will be driven directly from the quick change box. After the lead is out you can support the apron and remove the top screws and the apron will be free to drop straight down off the pins in the carriage. I have found that a floor jack and a block of wood works great to support the apron. Be careful, the apron is quite heavy and unruly when supported on a floor jack.

Hope this helps.
Robin

[lynnl]

Thanks Gentlemen, I'll try this and see what falls out. I believe that there is some kind of square keystock inside the pinion that sheared. The pinion stays in place in the housing, it just turns on the Feed Rod.

Yes, that's what mine was doing. The bevel pinion was turning, with the rotation of the feed rod, but because it had slipped out of its proper position in the bore, it was no longer in mesh with the bevel gear it was supposed to be driving.

I don't remember if my pinion had a separate piece of keystock engaging the keyway of the feed rod, or it was an integral part of the pinion. It kinda seems like it was all one piece.

Regardless, once you remove that apron I'm sure you'll quickly see what the problem is.

[rebel54]

Check and make sure there is not a shear pin located at the exit of the gear box. It may be located under a collar, one of my lathes has a pin in that location.

[Sparks]

Okay Guys, Got the apron off and the pinion gear out. It has a key that goes through the wall of the pinion gear bearing sleeve. The key was worn down to nothing inside where it rides in the keway on the feed shaft and let the pinion freewheel. We will make a new key Monday and reassemble it. I want to thank you all for the help in this, and i'll try to help anyone else that needs it.

Thanks, Doug

[quasi]

It is amazing how much the keys on a powerfeed shaft wear. If your key is worn that much, the bushings that the powerfeed rod go through in the carriage are probably heavily worn. They sure are on my Harrison rebuild.