Mill spline racket

[JoeLee]

Thanks guys for the replies and ideas. There is about 0.010" to 0.011" backlash in the spline. I'll see if I can remove the cone pulley, clean and glue strips of shim to one wall of each groove. Plan B could be Yondering's suggestion of nylon tipped set screws.

Not a practical approach. The shims will never stay put.

JL..........

[machinist60]

Thanks guys for the replies and ideas. There is about 0.010" to 0.011" backlash in the spline. I'll see if I can remove the cone pulley, clean and glue strips of shim to one wall of each groove. Plan B could be Yondering's suggestion of nylon tipped set screws.

[bob_s]

How much clearance?

Brass shim stock jacket inside the cone pulley.

[Yondering]

Machinist60, my Grizzly mill was the same way. Since the spline section slid up and down with the spindle, there wasn't a nut or anything like that to tighten it up. The best I came up with was to drip some heavy way oil down the splines (and move the spindle up and down to work it in). That helped some, but it was always noisy when using a face mill or fly cutter.

If yours has a splined drive pulley on top (the part that is noisy against the spindle splines) like mine did, maybe you could drill and tap at an angle into the pulley to use nylon tipped set screws to preload the slack side of the splines. You'd have to fiddle with the tension to balance between quiet and able to move up and down. I didn't do this on mine but thought about it.

[MattiJ]

Dab of extra thick grease?

My bench drill spline wont rattle any more after I put a slight twist on the splined shaft.

[Bob La Londe]

Does it have a nut on top? Is it loose?

Might be time to take it apart...

If it has a locking quill clamp lock the quill when milling. Sometimes a quill is loose in its sleeve on cheap machines. You have to lock them. A good idea anyway, as it could self feed if you don't.

[machinist60]

I have a Chinese lathe/mill/drill Busy Bee Craftex B2229. The mill/drill spindle spline is loose in the drive cone pulley and makes a considerable racket when making any interrupted cuts.
Does anyone have any nifty ideas on how to remove the backlash and shut it up?
Thanks, John.