|
Post by agatewhisperer on May 30, 2020 22:48:56 GMT -5
Hi Everyone, Recently got a Beacon Star TC-14 slab saw in great shape with what seems like little use. After a few weeks of use, what's happening is that i noticed the carriage is really stiff, like it's binding on the rails or something. I took it all apart, checked if the rails were straight, tried to reassemble it piece by piece so that the carriage slides smoothly and then tightened everything up. Worked pretty good for several cuts but then seems like it got stuck again. Took apart again. Even when things are moving fairly smoothly, it seems like there's some resistance on the rails.
After reassembling, if i move the carriage back and forth a bunch of times by hand, I'll also get to a point where it gets stuck.
A little more info that might help debug this... - Each rod moves freely through the carriage separately. In other words, when i take it apart, each rod moves pretty freely through the holes - The holes for the guide rods in the carriage have very LITTLE slop if any at all. They're sized very close to the guide rods. - The rods do not appear to be moving/ shifting when the carriage goes from moving well to getting stuck. I marked the rods/ends to check this.
I could use some advice if others have had similar issues with this saw and ideas on how to proceed. I don't want to take it apart after every few cuts.
Thanks!
|
|
|
Post by agatewhisperer on Jun 1, 2020 12:08:30 GMT -5
Ok, here's what i tried over the weekend. - Took apart the carriage assembly, put back together several times. Seems very touchy when everything is tightened but i can still get it to a point where it moves relatively freely. - Moved back and forth by hand many times once it's moving 'freely', and it got stuck. Seems like it put a burr in the guide rail when it got stuck, although i'm not sure that happened every time. - Lightly sanded the edges of the guide rail holes in the carriage. Noticed that the inside of these holes aren't exactly smooth... not sure if something needs to be done about that?? Here are some pictures of the full assembly taken off of the saw base to show the setup i'm working with, and then inside of the guide rail holes on the carriage.
|
|
AzRockGeek
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2016
Posts: 634
|
Post by AzRockGeek on Jun 1, 2020 13:26:22 GMT -5
I am not familiar with this exact saw model, I assume that it is an enclosed saw. What are you using for cutting fluid? Do you have enough in the saw that it is keeping everything lubricated? Something is clearly scaring the carriage slide points, did you try using a wire brush in a drill on the slide rails. This would help polish them without removing too much materiel.
|
|
|
Post by agatewhisperer on Jun 1, 2020 14:00:46 GMT -5
I am not familiar with this exact saw model, I assume that it is an enclosed saw. What are you using for cutting fluid? Do you have enough in the saw that it is keeping everything lubricated? Something is clearly scaring the carriage slide points, did you try using a wire brush in a drill on the slide rails. This would help polish them without removing too much materiel. Using mineral oil. When i pop the lid off after cutting a slab, everything including the rails are usually covered with oil. Would that be enough to lubricate them or is there more that needs to be done? Have not tried polishing the rails yet. Would you polish the rails as well as insides of the carriage guide holes? a few more observations... It almost seems like a little side pressure throws it off. Like if i grabbed one of the corners and tried moving the carriage back and forth on the rails it's likely to get stuck. I wouldn't say this thing "freely" moves back and forth as is - even when things are aligned you can feel it rubbing against the rails. Just don't know how much is too much.
|
|
AzRockGeek
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2016
Posts: 634
|
Post by AzRockGeek on Jun 1, 2020 14:26:26 GMT -5
That should be plenty of lubrication. You definitely want to try and smooth out the guide holes without removing too much materiel. Did you verify that the rails are not bent? When you had it apart, did you role them on a flat true surface. I am suspecting you have some burrs/dings on your rails.
|
|
|
Post by agatewhisperer on Jun 1, 2020 15:58:19 GMT -5
That should be plenty of lubrication. You definitely want to try and smooth out the guide holes without removing too much materiel. Did you verify that the rails are not bent? When you had it apart, did you role them on a flat true surface. I am suspecting you have some burrs/dings on your rails. Any recommendation on what to use to smooth out those holes? When I had it apart I tried rolling the rails to see if they were bent. Both had a slight curve so I straightened them as much as i could. They roll better now but will check again when it's apart the next time.
|
|
nik
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2019
Posts: 315
|
Post by nik on Jun 1, 2020 19:05:32 GMT -5
If the guide rails are bent, it would probably be best to replace them. Getting them to be parallel seems problematic. Odds are that they are a standard size, and you should be able to get some precision ground cold rolled bar pretty cheap. At least relative to buying a part from the manufacturer. If the guide holes in the carriage are too worn, any decent machine shop will be able to bore them out and install some bronze bushings, which will work way better than the aluminum casting.
|
|