sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Mar 26, 2013 11:55:13 GMT -5
I have a six month old Highland Park 16" slab saw. My carriage, which moves the vise, won't work. It MAY be that the roller bearings don't work because when I touch them with my finger they will spin freely and I don't think they should do that. I can't see any way to adjust them (or remove if necessary) because there are set screws in the way and I'd have to dismantle nearly the whole carriage to get to it. Not to mention that I'm not mechanically inclined. Any suggestions or any other possibilities? I'm dead in the water right now.
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riverbendlapidary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,058
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Post by riverbendlapidary on Mar 26, 2013 12:24:29 GMT -5
clutch spring could be getting weak. clutch dogs could be dirty or the threads could be worn. with the vise in gear, grab it and try to push/pull real hard. If it moves it is one of the above. If not, remove the front gear cover and verify the shaft/worm/star gear is engaging/turning properly.
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Post by catmandewe on Mar 26, 2013 13:21:10 GMT -5
If your carriage bearings are spinning freely you have something wrong, they are supposed to ride on the square tubing.
Tony
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Mar 26, 2013 14:02:09 GMT -5
clutch spring could be getting weak. clutch dogs could be dirty or the threads could be worn. with the vise in gear, grab it and try to push/pull real hard. If it moves it is one of the above. If not, remove the front gear cover and verify the shaft/worm/star gear is engaging/turning properly. Don't know what a clutch dog is but I can push the handle to hold the vise in place and then when I try to move it, it doesn't move. I can see the clutch gear move so that probably isn't the problem. You only live 90 miles from me, wouldn't you like to take a little trip? I came down to buy rocks from you so it's only fair.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Mar 26, 2013 14:03:18 GMT -5
If your carriage bearings are spinning freely you have something wrong, they are supposed to ride on the square tubing. Tony I kinda thought so but I can't see how I can remove them without taking the whole insides out of the saw.
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Post by catmandewe on Mar 26, 2013 14:22:30 GMT -5
If they are the same as the old saws there is only one bolt holding each one in place. I am not real sure on the 16", I have done lots of 18/20" saws. Don't you live real close to John Rowland? That is who I would be showing it to.
Have a great day my friend...........Tony
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 26, 2013 14:28:46 GMT -5
Yes, if it is 6 months old it must be under warranty. Call John and ask him what to do. If under warranty you don't want to start fixing anything until you talk to the manufacturer.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Mar 26, 2013 16:17:13 GMT -5
It turns out that it's probably the gear shaft that drives the vise that is caput. I got a call from Sherman Rowland of HP and we went through the whole problem and he had me do some diagnostic stuff on the saw while we were talking. The gear shaft just spins in my fingers when I twist it and it's not supposed to do that. They're going to try to get in touch with someone from the Austin area to replace the drive and check on the rollers while thery're here. It may take a couple of weeks but it will get fixed. I guess I'm going to have to start sorting out the good slabs from the not so good and get ready to polish. Oh well.
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robsrockshop
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2012
Posts: 715
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Post by robsrockshop on Mar 26, 2013 19:36:30 GMT -5
Just for topics sake i've seen more than one vintage HP saw when the vise was in a particular location one of the roller bearings would spin freely. Of course the way you're talking several of them are and that would be a problem of who knows what. Oh well at least they offered to come fix it.
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 27, 2013 9:00:43 GMT -5
6 months old and parts worn out doesn't sound very impressive to me. I sold my old HP saw at Quartzsite. Probably 60's vintage, all original, and everything still working fine.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Mar 27, 2013 14:33:28 GMT -5
6 months old and parts worn out doesn't sound very impressive to me. I sold my old HP saw at Quartzsite. Probably 60's vintage, all original, and everything still working fine. I don't know enough about it to know whether it has anything worn out. My guess is that perhaps something like a nut or screw has come loose or is defective and it can be repaired easily by someone who knows what they're doing. In other words, not me. I'm just happy that they stand behind their product and will be coming to repair it. FWIW, I have been very happy with the saw and its' performance. Now the BD blade is another topic I've covered before. I just hope that I haven't gone stark, raving mad by the time they get here. ;D
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Post by deb193redux on Mar 27, 2013 17:09:30 GMT -5
The blade is a mystery. But when you 1st posted that the carriage had a problem, I wondered if some incident that took out you blade had not stripped/damaged the threads (or nut) on the gear drive.
Just seemed simpler that one event caused both damages, rather than the coincidence that 1st you have a defective blade and then shortly later you have a defective carriage drive.
But coincidences do happen. I did wonder though ....
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Mar 27, 2013 18:32:43 GMT -5
The blade is a mystery. But when you 1st posted that the carriage had a problem, I wondered if some incident that took out you blade had not stripped/damaged the threads (or nut) on the gear drive. Just seemed simpler that one event caused both damages, rather than the coincidence that 1st you have a defective blade and then shortly later you have a defective carriage drive. But coincidences do happen. I did wonder though .... I'll try to remember to ask when they come to fix it. Of course, it's been over a month between incidences, so who knows. I've not had any problems with the new blade but I have to admit I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall. Maybe this was it.
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riverbendlapidary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,058
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Post by riverbendlapidary on Mar 28, 2013 15:32:08 GMT -5
that little worm is held on by a pin or cotter key. probably just fell out or was never installed. worm either moved on the shaft or fell into grease cover. can't imagine it wore out in 6 months.
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Post by sandsman1 on Mar 28, 2013 16:12:23 GMT -5
yea id say that's too new to be wearing out steal parts already I'm bettin something came lose on or connected to the drive shaft and its gonna be a ah-haaa when the guy gets there and fixed in prob 10 Min's haha
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2013 17:24:39 GMT -5
I bet the set screw in the ring gear cam loose and it is just spinning on the feed screw. If this is the case, make sure that the feed screw is not all scarred up from the set screw spinning on it. If it is, make them replace it.
Tim
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Mar 28, 2013 18:24:23 GMT -5
I sure hope y'all are right. One thing's for sure. If it was a pin or screw and it fell out, I'll never find it as I drained the saw after this happened and I don't plan to go "fishing" in rock snot to find anything!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2013 18:36:47 GMT -5
The screw or pin will be inside the cover in the front of your saw. See pic. You should be able to manually turn the pulley on the left of your saw and peek inside your cover to see if the ring gear is turning.(The big gear in the center of the pic) If this gear is turning and the feed screw inside your saw is not turning then the set screw came loose.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Apr 5, 2013 18:24:30 GMT -5
I just wanted to follow up on my last post on this subject and wanted to give a shout out to HP for sending one of their guys to my house to repair my saw. As it turns out, it wasn't anything major. A set screw had come loose and wasn't engaging the gear drive. While here, he also exchanged the spring on the split nut carriage drive with one that isn't so rigid. I have to wait 24 hours before using it because he had to remove the cover to the drive gear box to fix it and I will put 80 weight oil in there after the seal sets firmly.
I always appreciate a company that stands behind its products after the sale and HP has with me.
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Post by deb193redux on Apr 6, 2013 11:22:49 GMT -5
It sounds like they did stand up for you. Glad it is fixed. This case had the extra dimension of the saw being less than 6 months old. Maybe set screws should not come use for a few years, or maybe something like loctite should be used to make loose set screws very rare.
In general I think there is a special term for companies that make free house calls to do minor adjustments and fix lose set screws, or loose pulleys, or loose belts. The term is "bankrupt."
That would be like a car company sending someone to your house to do periodic oil filter changes. No way the business model would support it.
Maybe in a world where more saws got sold, they could sell onsite service contracts, and give the 1st year free with purchase.
Anyway, glad you will soon be cutting again. What do you plan to cut 1st?
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