On Sat, 06 Jun 2015 13:35:57 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

fired this volley in
:

I know Don. Once the cover is loose the spindle, with the cover and
bearing, slides out.

It only slides out if the inner race of the 'back' bearing (the one on
the end you're trying to push IN) isn't frozen to the spindle.

I've taken the spindles out of some very old lathes. Those with Timken
bearings instead of bushings almost always resist moving that inner race
out to the end... they're corroded-on -- which they would not be if they
had been moved and adjusted for tension occasionally. But most folks
never touch 'spindle tension' once the lathe works once.

There's almost always a ring clamp or some other device to prevent the
spindle from 'migrating' in the inner races. Sometimes it's only a
shoulder on the spindle. Sometimes it's a ring-clamp, set-screw into the
spindle, etc. Remember that just slipping a spindle through two bearings
won't hold it laterally.

By "laterally" do you mean in a direction parallel to or along the
spindle axis?

Keep in mind that 'only' shoulders on the spindle cannot possibly
accommodate bearing wear unless the outer races are somehow adjustable.
And that's not usually the case. It's usually the case that there's a
jam-nut or 'jam bushing' working against the inner race to keep it and
the rollers in intimate contact with the outer race.

This is most often a key-slotted nut that engages only the inner race,
pushing it to close the distance between the two ends.

And THAT means that there must be a thrust device at BOTH ends to keep
the spindle from moving back and fro in the inner races.

Lloyd

Let's see if I understand what you're saying. According to the
drawing, there are tapered roller bearings on each end, with the
tapers facing in opposite directions, much like the axel on a
trailer. The drawing indicates that there is a shoulder on the
spindle that engages the inner race of the chuck-side bearing. The
outer race of that bearing bears against the cast headstock housing.

On the other end of the spindle, the left-hand end from the operator's
perspective, the outer race of that bearing bears against the housing.
The inner race is in contact with a spacer or washer that appears to
be ground on both sides. Behind that is a thrust nut, another spacer,
and another nut that I'm assuming is a jam nut.

The directions of the tapers in the bearings is such that when the
spindle nut is tightened, putting axial force on the inner race of the
left-hand bearing with the spindle in tension, the races press against
the rollers -- so wear could be taken up by adjusting the thrust nut.

Am I reading you right?

I strongly doubt that wear is an issue here. The performance of the
lathe has been and is entirely satisfactory except for the nuisance
oil leak.

I could believe that there might be some corrosion between spindle and
an inner race -- or, it could just be a very snug fit. I would expect
that a very snug fit would be necessary to ensure precision
performance, so the spindle is always, always in radial contact with
the inner races.

A local professional has returned my call on Friday. I missed it, but
I'll try him tomorrow to see what advice he may have. I am extremely
reluctant to pound on anything with a big hammer, but it may be that
the next step must be to see if a bit of hydraulic push might get
things moving without breaking anything.

Meanwhile, I went fishin' today. Caught my supper and a very pleasant
afternoon with an old colleague and friend. He got skunked. Hey, he
should take me fishin' more often, might learn something! That, in
fact, was part of the objective for today's outing. Well, I found and
showed him a "spot" on his lake that he didn't know about, showed him
what works for me, but learning to catch finicky largemouth bass with
a plastic worm isn't done in a day or a week. It requires an
investment of time in the boat. (oh dear!)

When doing my solitary research I use only non-polluting,
conservation-minded, lead-free grenades...