Ryan, I agree with you and I'd like to add some comments.
Concerning the use of tapered bearings, my lathe came with them
and I didn't touch them until I decided to get rid off a bad
surface aspect. A little bit rough with a ghost wave of the same
pitch as the lead screw. I slightly improved this situation but I
can't manage to tighten the spindle nut enough to go further.
Hence this thread.
On to the other hand, I'm not looking at a thou but 1/100mm and a
good surface aspect and ... the very last 1/100 are extremely
harder to reach !
Concerning a wheel hub, make the experience to put the car on a jack
and twist the wheel. You will be surprised, the clearance is
probably pretty greater than a thou.
On a mini lathe, the tapered bearings are there more for reducing
the stray movements than to withstand loads. The sole difference I
noticed is that on a wheel hub, the adjustment is very easy because
the inner ring is not pressed in but slipping on the spindle. I
found an explanation for that, please, read my other post.
On 08.02.25 07:05, Ryan H via groups.io
wrote:
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My tapered rollers have been in for 10 years. I haven't
touched them in 3 1/2 years since I installed my els. I pulled
the rear when I had the nuts off to install some parts for
that and in the prior 6 1/2 years hadn't done a thing. They're
fine and still as smooth as the day I installed them and maybe
even smoother. ?The preload has never needed adjustment after
a couple days of getting it set and my lathe will hold less
than .001" over 12 inches. We're talking about bearings meant
for vehicle use. Carrying 2 tons and absorbing constant
impacts and lasting tens of thousands of miles. I packed mine
with synthetic bearing grease. It's still there. Our little
lathes turn a couple thousand rpm tops and how often are you
running it wide open? ?And how long are you running it? ?We're
not talking the equivalent of a hundred plus mile a day, five
day a week commute here. We're maybe covering the same as a
hundred miles a year, maybe. ?And at a lot less load. The
angular contact are probably easier to install from what I've
read as there's no need to sand the spindle for the slip fit
tapered rollers require but either will last a lifetime with
extremely minimal if any required maintenance if property
installed.?
