I recently purchased a Grizzly G0632Z and it was delivered on Thursday. UPS Frieght was a nightmare by the way. But back to the lathe. I set it up Friday evening and powered it up. Immediately it started making aloud tapping noise. When I put my hand on the headstock I could definitely feel something rubbing or hitting and I Immediately turned it off. I called tech support this morning and it appears to be a bad bearing on the spindle. So the headstock has to be shipped back to Grizzly for repair or replacement. The kicker is that I have to build the shipping container to return it. I absolutely don't think that I should have to use my money or resources for this. Also it's obvious that the lathe was not test run at the factory or it was and they shipped it anyways with the bad bearing. After saving for a year to purchase this lathe I am highly disappointed and pissed. Thanks for listening, rant over....
Hi William and welcome to the group. There are a number of things that can result in a knocking or tapping noise. Here are some of the things that I've come across and easily fixed or adjusted on my G0766 (similar to G0732Z) I think: 1. The upper pulley wasn't as tight as it should have been and/or the keyway was not into the pulley far enough. It took over a year of use for this to show up. 2. When turning a slightly out of balance round, the knocking was the result of ME forgetting to tighten the headstock to the bed. Duh! I've also read about one of the magnets in the rpm sensor being out of adjustment (probably hitting the plastic thing next to it). The gap should be about a business card thickness. end part 1
Part 2: Some things that you might do before you start making your crate and shipping back the headstock is to run the motor without the belt to confirm that the sound isn't coming from the motor. While you have the belt off, rotate the spindle by hand and try to detect if there is a rough spot or a spot where a click could be felt. Something that I've successfully used for over 30 years is a mechanics stethoscope. It has a metal rod on one end and a headpiece (goes in your ears) on the other end. You touch various parts with the rod. That way you can isolate whether the noise is coming from one of the bearings or from something else. continuing...
Part 3: I had an early G0766 and had an issue with the spindle and they wanted me to send in my headstock (requiring me to make a crate) for a swap out. I talked them into sending me the replacement headstock in THEIR crate and promised to ship them back the headstock in THEIR crate. So, it is not impossible to talk them into shipping the headstock to you in a crate that you can re-use. BTW, during shipment it is common for things to vibrate loose. Perhaps a bit of loctite at the factory would help. But, many Griz lathe owners have had to tighten a number of things.
Before I went to the trouble of sending the headstock back to Grizzly, I'd take a flashlight and look inside that headstock real good. I'm guessing that something like the speed sensor or an indexing lock is adjusted incorrectly. It would be pretty bad QC for a new lathe to be shipped with a bad spindle bearing. I guess anything is possible but I would check for anything rubbing on the spindle shaft or pulley. My G0766 developed a ticking sound several months ago. I too had instant visions of a bad bearing and heartburn. I eventually tracked it down to a loose set screw in the spindle wheel. It had allowed the spindle wheel to back off slightly and was rattling on the threaded shaft. I'm hoping yours is just a minor adjustment of something that has shifted during shipping.
Thanks Brice for your thoughtful answers. They are good suggestions all. I'm not sure how much experience William may or may not have with lathes, but when I uncrated my lathes, the first thing I did after assembly was to got thru the entire machine and check for any loose screws/bolts, and make sure everything was adjusted correctly. Voyages across the seas on container ships are notorious for inducing vibrations that can affect bolts & parts being tight, etc. I do know that for years before the G0698,G0766 andG0800, the G0632 has been a reliable workhorse of a lathe.
A ticking noise could easily be the pulley loose on the spindle, or spacer disc loose, even the rpm sensor loose.
I have a spare set of bearings. A pair is probably under $20 or $30. I don't think that they are all that tough to replace. But request that Griz. sends you the instructions for replacement.
