My access plug is just a plain allen screw.

A guy at d.c. morrison told me the same thing - they just throw
in some straight 30 weight before using it. I use light spindle oil.

What I want to know is: what grease corresponds to the description given
in the manual? I forget the exact wording, but it involves 'sponge' and
'soap base', and goes on to say it's not all that important. But it *does*
emphasize not to use too little or too much. Well, yeah, that's always good
advice. And useless, too.

The drawback to the spindle oil is that it ends up running out onto the work.
Since I frequently mill wood, that can be an issue. Hence my interest in
quantifying 'not too little, and not too much, but just the right amount'.

I'm a great believer in empiricism, but not in this instance.





(Dennis van Dam) wrote in message ...
In article , (Donald
Nichols) wrote:

In article ,
Dennis van Dam wrote:
In article , Ned Simmons
wrote:

[ ... ]

Look at McMaster-Carr p/n 10595K14. Does that look like
what you've got? If so, and the fitting is still OK, you'll
need something like p/n 1090K54.

[ ... ]

That's basically what it is only instead of being Style 3 your part number
indicates it would be more like style 1 or style 2 which are round at the
OD instead of hex shaped.

[ ... ]

I could just leave the whole arrangement as is and, as you suggest, get a
special narrow coupler to get lube through the fitting to the spindle
bearings but that won't address removing the plug in the event that I need
to adjust the preload on the spindle bearings.

Accordingly I finally decided to drill the fitting out so that I could get
a hex key in and remove the plug.

Hmm ... one thing which I just thought of -- too late, I know --
was to take an appropriate sized hex key, cut off the bent end, and put
it in the lathe to bore out everything up to a diameter corresponding to
the dimension across the flats. This would give you something which
could slide in the little corners between the cylindrical body and the
hex screw socket. Not good for much torque, but probably enough to
unscrew the device, as the cylindrical part would give some support to
the fingers from collapsing.

[ ... ]

Either that or a predrilled plug was threaded into the quill and then the
flush grease fitting was set all the way in to the predrilled hole in the
plug but since the plug is already installed it doesn't matter that you
can no longer get a hex key in (thus a one way trip unless you drill the
fitting out).

Unless the modified hex key would work.

Good Luck,
DoN.


Don,

While the hex key configuration you describe did not occur to me, I did
realize there where tiny voids between the flush grease fitting OD and the
"points" of the hex socket. I briefly considered that there might be
some scant purchase to be obtained here but dismissed it fairly quickly as
being too tight a space to practically engage.

After I read your post I produced the geometry you describe in a quick CAD
sketch on the computer, just a .3125" circle arranged concentric to a
hexagon .3125" across the flats.

On a vector from any hex point oriented to the center of the hex-circle it
measures .026" from the hex point to the fitting OD........If I end
drilled the hex key sement very carefully and kept the depth of drilling
fairly short, say 1/16 to 1/8...........that *might* have worked. Even
if the drilling operation wasn't perfectly concentric to the hex key
segment and I only came away with 4 or 5 instead of all 6 "hex point
fingers", that might have been enough of a toe hold on the plug to get it
out.

On the other hand if who ever had just taken the time to configure the
plug-grease fitting arrangement such that there would be sufficient hex
socket depth left in the plug above the fitting, I wouldn't yet again be
reminded that Necessity is a real Mother. (-8

Thanks for the reply,

Dennis van Dam