Another Jones & Shipman 540P Surface grinder post

[Smouser]

Took some more photos of the dust collector:
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Not much to see on that - seems to have a bag of some sort inside and and impellor with a 0.5Hp brooks gryphon motor:
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And some more photos of the coolant tank - this is the back side (back panel is off because I was trying to see how it was wired up)
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The coolant tank has the J&S tag (albeit very faded and worn out):
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Front side:
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This is going to require some deep cleaning - not really looking forward to this... most probably will keep it for last
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How does that coolant tank work exactly?

I assume the 'compartments' are used as 'settling ponds' to keep the coolant as grit free as possible.

I need to make something up so I can run coolant on my SG.

I am pretty sure I have a coolant tank from a lathe (possibly Colchester) which I am planning to use on my SG as I can't seem to get good results grinding dry.

Besides, everything I have read so far suggests that coolant is the best wat forward on a SG. It keeps the dust down, removes the problem of parts getting hot while grinding and produces a much better surface finish. Some people even suggests that coolant makes a lot less mess compared to grinding dry...

 

[Pawcu]

How does that coolant tank work exactly?

I assume the 'compartments' are used as 'settling ponds' to keep the coolant as grit free as possible.

I need to make something up so I can run coolant on my SG.

I am pretty sure I have a coolant tank from a lathe (possibly Colchester) which I am planning to use on my SG as I can't seem to get good results grinding dry.

Besides, everything I have read so far suggests that coolant is the best wat forward on a SG. It keeps the dust down, removes the problem of parts getting hot while grinding and produces a much better surface finish. Some people even suggests that coolant makes a lot less mess compared to grinding dry...

Good question and hopefully someone will be able to better answer xD but like you said it has a lot of fins and settling areas for the grit to settle on and then you can clean them? I haven't gotten around to cleaning it and painting it yet so I don't have full knowledge of how it works

 

[awemawson]

I’m struggling to see your post with the coolant tank, but if it’s the standard J&S one the returning coolant flows into the top drawer and flows from section to section making its way eventually to the bottom drawer where the. Coolant and pump are housed. The fluid flows slowly enough that the particles have time to settle out.
Fun to clean out, ask me how I know!

 

[Smouser]

Thanks.

This was the photo I was referring to.

My coolant tank will be much much less fancy.

I am thinking of just putting in two baffles in a 'normal' lathe rectangular tank. Cleaner coolant will overflow the baffles until they reach the pump again.

I don't use my SG much so hopefully that will be sufficient.

 

[Brad93]

Thanks.

This was the photo I was referring to.

View attachment 478412

My coolant tank will be much much less fancy.

I am thinking of just putting in two baffles in a 'normal' lathe rectangular tank. Cleaner coolant will overflow the baffles until they reach the pump again.

I don't use my SG much so hopefully that will be sufficient.

Cleaning them is a flipping nightmare.

The filter paper method is much better although does have a consumable cost.

Other method is to get a very fine sieve mesh, and make a sieve where the coolant flows over a weir, and onto the sieve mesh angled at say 30° from vertical.

This would take out all particles over say 40-50 microns. Magnets in a tube will remove a lot of the ferrous material.
You can then use the 10" water filters with a mesh filter first, then progressively finer filters.
Again a consumable cost.

 

[Pawcu]

I’m struggling to see your post with the coolant tank, but if it’s the standard J&S one the returning coolant flows into the top drawer and flows from section to section making its way eventually to the bottom drawer where the. Coolant and pump are housed. The fluid flows slowly enough that the particles have time to settle out.
Fun to clean out, ask me how I know!

Cleaning them is a flipping nightmare.

The filter paper method is much better although does have a consumable cost.

Other method is to get a very fine sieve mesh, and make a sieve where the coolant flows over a weir, and onto the sieve mesh angled at say 30° from vertical.

This would take out all particles over say 40-50 microns. Magnets in a tube will remove a lot of the ferrous material.
You can then use the 10" water filters with a mesh filter first, then progressively finer filters.
Again a consumable cost.

Wow really sounds like it going to be a fun process to clean mine out then xD
Considering this is for hobby use, do you think it is worth it replacing it with water filter system like @Brad93 mentioned?

 

[awemawson]

I’ve got the Weir version like yours on my 540 and the paper roll style on my 1300 EUIR J&S cylindrical grinder. The later is more convenient. The roll of filter material advances across a mesh of steel that effectively weighs what its caught, and if enough to clog the filter it presses on a microswitch that again advances the mesh conveyor belt dumping the used filter material into a bin.

If I had to completely clean out the Weir one again it would get trundled outside and attacked by my steam cleaner

 

[Pawcu]

The paper filter one does sound more convenient. Do you really need to clean the weir one frequently? Considering that this is for hobby use I think I have a bigger problem with the coolant going bad rather than having to clean the tank because of the grit...

 

[Pawcu]

I had some time over the Christmas holidays to continue working on this (albeit not as much as I had hoped - got sick and couldn't find the energy to go down to the garage)
I first sorted out the items needing paint:

I know I said I wasn't going to paint the head guards ... I guess I lied

That's how far I decided to paint them. Was tempted to give them a black top coat but the matte finish will look weird with the shiny blue finish of the machine (I think and that's what I'm telling myself)

I managed to somehow get main frame clean (or at least as clean as possible) - to be honest this doesn't need to be exceptionally clean as the oil that gets on this is not recycled but rather drained:

I decided that this did not need any painting so I left it as is.

Dumped the leadscrew nut in the USC and it came out shiny

The only other items that needed removing were the column rise and file wheel assembly and switches and the electronic enclosure boxes - decades worth of caked oil and griding dust:

 

[Pawcu]

The hand wheel did have some rust and was a bit stiff:

I took it all apart and cleaned the individual items in the USC:

I also cleaned the switches and housing for the power rise and fall (unfortunately cannot seem to find individual photos of them cleaned but this is how they were):

Once these were cleaned, all that was left was to continue cleaning the rest of the machine. I tried cleaning it as best as I can while leaving the rise and fall shafts in place. I think I got it pretty well but not going to lie it's not squeaky clean. There are a couple of corners that there might still be some old grime that didn't want to come off and there are certain hard to reach areas which either are not that visible or won't have any impact on the functionality of the machine where I left them as is. Not going to lie, it does bother me a bit and I feel like I'm half assing it to be honest but I guess it's better this way if I ever want to get this up and running ASAP.

 

[Pawcu]

With the machine as clean as it's ever going to get, it was finally time to start the assembly. Below are a couple of pics of the majority of the parts (I took this pic after some of the assembly that I have done xD) that need to go back in the machine... my whole workbench is used up:

I put some caulking on a gap between the bottom piece of the machine and the column - I will then cover it with RTV as well for extra protection - not sure if it's really necessary but hopefully that will last longer:

Head rise and fall was first to get put back together:

Followed by the motor for the power rise and fall:

I was supposed to get the main spindle motor installed (got my friend all over and what not) but as soon as we started trying to put it in, one of the mounts snapped So no will have to source 4 new ones (might as well replace all 4) and try again.
That's it for now Will try and keep assembling some small items in the meantime till I get the mounts and get my friend to come over again
Happy new Year all