Hi – I am noticing new wear on my Vandy #4. A burr is being created at the top and bottom of the metal shown in the picture. You can see the shiny new metal that has been exposed. This is the operator side of the press. I don’t see anything on the other side.
Can anyone give me advice on what I should troubleshoot to find the cause? The wheels are moving freely the whole length of the press bed.
Thanks!
Allison
I’m not sure if Moglice would do the trick. It is intended for sliding surfaces with large contact area, whereas the press rails have rolling contact and a very small area.
That being said, there may be several products under the Moglice brand and I’m only even remotely familiar with one of them.
One treatment that would work (but would cost more) is to have the top and bottom of these rails hard coated. This process uses an oxyacetylene flame to melt metal powder and spray it onto a surface. Once sufficient coating is applied, it must be machined (by grinding) so all 4 rail surfaces (top/bottom and front/back) are straight and parallel.
Metal flakes are evidence that the surface-hardening is gone and that the bearings are rolling on raw cast iron. Wear can be caused by grime buildup becoming grist under pressure of the carriage bearings, long time use of a very overpacked cylinder and/or carriage bearings which has been set too close to the under rails.
A machine shop may be able to repair with a product called Moglice [Mo-gleece]. I have not used it (yet), but understand is a no-slump putty, common material used to repair standard way systems. The manufacturer says it can be applied to vertical or overhead surfaces without running or dripping. The trick would be to apply evenly, then polish. I would suspect it be best to remove the carriage and the bed from the cabinet, and then flip the bed over. Hench the need for a professional machine shop.
Someone may recommend applying Bondo in place, but I don’t know how well this will wear and the challenge to get it right would be the same.