Mill Quill Removal

Done on a Warco WMT300/2
Similar to the Clarke
Similar to the Grizzly 4015z
Similar to the Smithy 1220 

I wanted to drill some holes in the mill head casting, so I had to remove the quill. It is straightforward.

a.
The rack of the quill is connected to the pinion gear of the down feed assembly.
b.
The quill is prevented from exiting the bottom of the mill head casting by the down feed assembly pinion gear.
c.
The down feed assembly is connected to the quill return spring.
d.
To remove the quill, disconnect the down feed assembly from the return spring. 
This will allow you to remove the down feed assembly. 
Once the down feed assembly is removed the quill is free.

Disassembly:

1.
Retract the quill to the top of its' stroke.

2.
Get some wood blocks and build a tower on top of the cross slide.
The top of the tower should be just under the nose of the quill, to prevent it falling any great distance. 
Make sure the nose of the quill is prevented from dropping down too far.

3.
Remove the M8 quill lock grub screw.

4.
Work on disconnecting the return spring first.
Give the spring every respect, it can do a lot of damage.
Saying that, the design allows the spring to be untensioned and retensioned in a safe manner.
I wore a full face shield until I realised what was going on.

5.
Make sure the plastic cover is screwed onto the return spring housing. 
Now to untension the return spring. 
Look under the mill head casting and see the two vertical m8 hex grub screws.
One screw secures the bearing surface of the down feed assembly pinion gear shaft. 
The other screw secures the return spring housing. 
Carefully undo the screw on the return spring housing and keep clear as you slacken the screw. 
When the screw is sufficiently slackened the return spring housing will be released and will 'quickly' rotate 
a few turns and will untension the spring. 
Just keep clear of everything (quill, downfeed levers, spring housing etc) as you slacken the screw !!

6.
The spring should now be untensioned. 
The quill may have dropped because of this. 
Remember the quill is not held up by spring tension any more!

6b.
Undo the plastic cover on the return spring housing. 
Ensure that the spring does not look like it can pop out and make sure you keep the spring in its' housing.

7.
There is a screw on the end of the down feed assembly gear shaft.
The return spring is hooked onto the screw. 
Use thin nose pliers and unhook the return spring off the screw on the down feed assembly gear shaft.
Remove the screw from the down feed assembly gear shaft.
Carefully withdraw the return spring housing from off the down feed assembly gear shaft.

8.
Remove the return spring housing, and note how it works. Do not remove the spring from its' housing.

9.
Now proceed to remove the down feed assembly.

10.
Remove the 'cone knob that is on the front of the down feed assembly.
The cone knob is the knob that engages and disengages the fine feed knob.

11.
Remove the two grub screws that are in the 'handle seat'.
One grub screw presses a spring against a ball detent.
Remove the grub screw and then retain the spring. 
The ball detent will remain in its' shaft.
The other grub screw secures a keyway key. 
Remove the grub screw.

12. 
Slide the 'handle seat' off its' shaft. 
It may be a stiff fit and may need joggling to remove it.

13.
Retain the keyway key and note which way round it goes. 

14.
Remove the vertical grub screw on the under side of the casting that secures the down feed assembly pinion shaft.

15.
Remove the 3 hex head bolts that secure the down feed assembly casting to the mill head casting.

16.
Remove the down feed assembly.

17.
The quill can now be removed from the bottom of the mill head casting.

Inspection (remember, I'm no expert).

Inspect the down feed assembly and tidy up all the bad finishing if you have a mind to.
Ensure the oil port delivers oil into the down feed assembly housing. 
The oil port on my assembly was blocked by filler and paint. 
As a result the worm gear and brass gear were completely dry and the brass gear had wear. 
I had to drill out and destroy the 8mm oil port in order to remove the blockage. 
Also there were a few brass chippings in the housing.

Inspect the outside of the quill taper bearings for debris.
Remove any swarf and apply a light coat of suitable bearing grease if it needs it. 
Clean the outside of the quill. Apply a film of grease (or oil?).
Clean the quill bore that is in the casting. Apply a film of grease (or oil?).

Reassembly.

1.
Insert the quill in the casting and sit it on top of the wood tower to prevent it falling.
Keep the bearings clean.

1a. 
Refit the M8 quill lock grub screw.

2.
Insert the down feed assembly into the mill head casting.
Secure the assembly using the 3 hex head bolts.

3.
Refit all the  'handle seat' components.
The long grub screw secures the keyway key.
The short grub screw secures the spring on the ball detent.

4.
Refit the vertical M8 grub screw that secures the down feed assembly pinion gear shaft.

5.
Refit the return spring housing into the casting.
Do not fully insert the vertical M8 grub screw for this just yet.
Be careful the gear shaft does not push the spring out of its' housing as you offer up the housing.

6.
Refit the small screw to the spring end of the down feed assembly pinion shaft.
Hook the return spring over the screw and make sure it is properly seated to the screw head.

7.
Refit and lightly tighten the plastic cover on the return spring housing.

8.
Lightly insert the vertical grub screw that secures the return spring housing. Don't tighten it yet.

9.
Grasp the plastic cover on the return spring housing and turn the housing clockwise and put tension on the housing
and spring.
When you have twisted as far as you can, lightly tighten the grub screw to prevent the housing unwinding.
The grub screw will seat into one of the holes in the hub of the housing.
Regrasp the housing again, maintain a hold on the housing, so it does not unwind, and slacken the grub screw.
Then turn the housing clockwise again. 
When you have gone as far you can, again, lightly tighten the grub screw to prevent the housing unwinding. 
Continue doing this until it becomes difficult to turn the housing by hand.
You do not need to put a ton of tension on, hand tight seems good enough. 
I went through this turning/tightening sequence about 3 or 4 times until I ran out of strength.

10.
Fully tighten the grub screw to retain the return spring housing.
Make sure the grub screw locates properly in one of the hub holes.

11.
Test the movement of the quill.
Test the spring retraction of the quill.

microstoc@hotmail.com

Steven Vine October 2009