Not the best of days today and no one to blame but myself. The threaded rod on my blade tensioner locked up in the block that is bolted to the adjustable band wheel mounting plate. No amount of grease and cussing would loosen the thing and the further I turned it (with wrench and cheater pipe) the worse it got. Had to cut the threaded rod with an angle grinder. Took it (the T-handle) and the block (with piece of rod still in it) to a local machine shop and had them weld a new threaded rod to the handle and drill out and re-tap the block. Four hours later and $60 poorer, we were back to sawing. All because I didn't keep the threads greased. :-[ DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU...GREASE YOUR BLADE TENSIONER!
TK recommends lithium grease for this application. Anyone know why?
On the bright side, the weather was absolutely gorgeous and I was only 25 minutes from home. :)
I tend to favor White Grease on Acme threads, etc. White grease is very sticky and for me, works better. It is also very difficult to wash off of your hands. I use Liquid Wrench brand white grease.
I had the same problem with my 2000 TK. It only had about 50 hrs on it when I couldnt turn the handle anymore. It looked like the threads in the block that the threaded rod threads through was a soft steel and it stripped out. I called Timberking and they had one here in 2 days for free. They were aware of the problem. You might want to call them and see what they could do for you. I fixed the other one so now I have one for backup. So far that's the only problem I've had.
All I can say is Lith, is a good grease for pressure situations, as is moly, white grease is just by appearance cleaner, I might add that a good dose of copper coat, seize protectant might be good too. And even though I ran a PM program for years, it is easy to get just a bit lazy or forgetful or whatever you might call it on lube, AT fluid, any penetrant spray is also helpful in the meanwhile, not that you did not try,( I bet you did) coatings on some threads make a tighter fit, and manufacturing processes and threads can lead to severe interference issues also. I would take it apart wire brush the whole thing, run a tap through the mating hole, and just give it a good clean up, Then lube when you lube everything else. Just for the fun of it.
White grease is known for it's ability to cling and stay put, but as was mentioned, neglect is the real culprit. :-\
Quote from: Sawdust Lover on November 08, 2012, 07:36:24 PM
I had the same problem with my 2000 TK. It only had about 50 hrs on it when I couldnt turn the handle anymore. It looked like the threads in the block that the threaded rod threads through was a soft steel and it stripped out. I called Timberking and they had one here in 2 days for free. They were aware of the problem. You might want to call them and see what they could do for you. I fixed the other one so now I have one for backup. So far that's the only problem I've had.
I did call TK and since my mill is out of warranty, they wanted $60 plus $20 for 2-3 day ground shipping for the parts. So did the replacement they sent look any different than original?
Moly grease is very good for threaded things and anything that slides or metal to metal. It gives a very good shear protection. bg
Mind has been sticky for 6 months now but it was a little stiff from the get go. I've been keeping it greased. I think the problem is the thread design and poor steel. It should have been an acme thread. I bought some acme all thread from MSC and plan to re-engineer when it goes.
You're the second person to tell me that today.
I should make a retrofit kit and start production. :D
I've really been holding off a bit to do a bit more figuring. I got some new 1 - 1/2" bands to try, but the TK spring isn't stout enough to tension a 1 – 1/2" band properly. I've been hunting for a new spring to make a one shot conversion.
Larry what makes you think the spring is not strong enough. I would think 1200 to 1400 psi would work fine.s
Paul,
Thanks for bringing this up. I've had my mill since June and I've never greased the blade tension screw. I have some spray lithium grease that I'll use tomorrow before I crank up the mill...
Use some emri cloth 400 sand paper and polish and ease the sharp edges of the threads that will help the grease stay even you should be able to spin the T handle into the block with one finger. Keep it clean and greased. Blade breakage also is hard on the threads.
Lubriplate makes a open gear/chain lube with moly. X357 is the name.
After reading this topic, I am thinking greasing these threads might be making the problem worse. Heres why, If the threads are already tight in the block, grease will take up space in the threads and make them tighter, add some sawdust sticking to the grease and you have a real problem. If it were mine I would keep the threads as clean as possible and apply WD-40 or equivalent as needed.
My 2 cents.
Kevin
I wonder why they don't grease them at the factory. I checked in the manual and it never said anything about greasing. I'm with rockman, I think the sawdust would stick to it. When I called Timberking and told them mine had failed they never said anything about grease.