Ticking Sound from Headstock on PM3520B Lathe

[Larry Lilly]

The past week I have noticed an on again off again ticking sound on my one year old PM3520B lathe. At first I attributed it to the fact that I had just taken apart my stronghold chuck to clean it and thought the chuck spindle collar was loose. Nope, it was OK. Then I thought it was the chuck not being on tight, as when I would nudge the chuck a scoosh on the lathe the sound would go away but then reappear after a few minutes of turning. Its been doing this on and off. Today it did it when I started it up and thinking it was still the chuck I switched out chuck bodies and jaws but it didnt do anything except delay it only to have it reappear. To rule out chucks, I put on the heavy 6 inch faceplate and heard it again. So it appears to be from the spindle end area. Is it the bearing? I checked the set screws on the spindles inside the headstock, they are all tight, there doesnt seem to be any play, the bearings dont seem to be warm. Its just this clicking sound. I do notice that on the far right of the spindle shaft, to the right of the sheeve, you can see under one of the 2 setscerws what appears to be a key sticking past the sheeve. I assume this is normal, and not a sign that the setscrew loosened, although I checked it for tightness anyway it was tight. Looking online does not appear to offer any fixes. Any ideas on what is the cause, or else do I need to think about the bearing? Is it perhaps the end play collar on the motor end of the spindle shaft? Belt tension appear to be just a bit more than motor weight, its not overtight. Once again I am clueless.

[Steve Mawson]

Mine has been doing that at low speeds for at least a year, might be the nature of the beast.

[James Combs]

This issue has been posted here several times before and if memory serves me right(it seldom does anymore but...) the noise comes from the speed sensor haveing loosened and moved slightly. I haven't been into one myself but I believe there is/are set screw(s) that need tightened up after ensure the proper location of the sensor or sensor rotor.

[Greg Bender]

Larry,
Mine has been doing it occasionally when I have the tail stock up tight with the live center. I thought, maybe I had the ram pushed against the piece too strong. I will have to check the speed sensor. Thanx James, if it is a problem I hope you gave us a simple fix.
Greg

[joe marra]

Greg, mine did the same thing yesterday, when I took pressure off the center the tick stopped. I will be checking mine as well. Thanks all.

[Rick McQuay]

Different brand of lathe but had exactly the same symptoms/noise, turned out to be a loose set screw.

[Dale Gillaspy]

I've got the same issue with my MM, but only at slower speeds. It seems to go away above about 750rpm. It has been doing it for about a year, and I can't find the cause.

[Josh Bowman]

Check the speed sensor, just move it out of the way. I finally using a stethoscope traced mine to a motor bearing. I feel the 3520b's weakness is the long motor shaft and when you tighten the belt it puts a lot of leverage on the motor bearing, since the motor shafts pulley just floats out in the head. The 3520a and the Jet 1642 have short shaft motors and tightening the belt doesn't seem to effect them. Again, not certain why my motor bearing went bad, but I now only let the motors weight tighten the belt.

[Larry Lilly]

What I did late last night (this cancer crap makes you at times avoid sleep) was to pull the belt to one side and run the motor. Silent as the sound of falling snow. So that tells me its not the motor bearings. I reattached the belt, just let the motor weight tighten the belt and ran it forward. Ticking sound with no load. The ticking sound appears to be a tad louder. When I run it in reverse, NO SOUND. I try again to first loosen and then tighten the two set screws on the spindle sheeve, they arent budging in either direction; loosen or tighten. I dont want to break the T wrench, but they are pretty tight and the spindle sheeve does not appear to be loose at all. When I just spin the sheeve by hand, the sound is there, lke something is making contact as the sheeve goes round and round. I will use some inspection mirrors to see if I can see something on the backside or below the sheeve pulley. If I run it at lets say 1000 rpm, it doesnt sound very loud at all. Slower speed makes more sound. I let it run for 5 minutes at 900 rpm, felt the bearing housing on the outside of the headstock, no warmth whatsoever. I cant detect any thrust play left to right. The arbor appears to run true, there isnt wobble in the spindle. I reattached the chuck and the ticking stopped just like before. After several minutes the sound returned just like before. I will call walter meier tomorrow see if they have any ideas. Since my time on the lathe is narrowing down, if nothing gets worse, and walter meier cant offer any help, I will tell my son about it, let it become his problem.

[John Thorson]

I've had a ticking noise in my PW 3520B twice and it has been the speed sensor / spindle locking collar both times. The set screws are hard to reach.

[Bill Hensley]

Josh said "I feel the 3520b's weakness is the long motor shaft and when you tighten the belt it puts a lot of leverage on the motor bearing". I made the same discovery on mine, if I snug and tighten the motor position it ticks. So I don't tighten it, I just let it float. I think leaving it loose also allows the belt to slip when I get too aggressive coring or hollowing.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Check for wood chips in the indexing holes.

[Reed Gray]

Another possible cause, from my old 3520A was a burr on the slot for the spindle lock. Repeated use left a burr on it and filing it off took care of the sound. I did have the pulley work loose a couple of times as well.

robo hippy

[Dan Hintz]

My Robust made an odd noise when I first set it up, more of a "scrch scrch scrch" than a ticking. Loosening the belt and reseating it on the pulley made it go away.

[John Beaver]

There is a similar thread on the AAW forum right now.

This is most likely caused by the sensor on the tachometer. It's a little tight to get to, but if you look behind the speed readout you will see a piece attached to the spindle that sends the rpm to the sensor. This piece is notorious for hitting the and causing a ticking. Remove the four screws that hold the readout, pull it out and you can adjust the sensor. You should also tighten the piece on the spindle at the same time.