Yesterday I rang the supplier of my lathe. They haven't continued this model for some time and the manufacturer in China has shut shop. They still have some spares but not in the way of bearings.
I've managed to locate some tapered roller bearings from the local bearing supplier as well as getting the rest of the headstock bearings quoted up.
Also I've fitted a rare earth magnet to the headstock sump to catch any metal moving through the oil. I got it from Jaycar.
The lathe service manager told me to tighten right up the preload on the spindle bearings to get me by for the time being. So that was done and some spirited running at 1500rpm for a while indicated yes they get warm but not hot. It's made a difference.
A check was made again in the headstock to see if the preload on the spindle had tightened up any of the other shafts. While at it I checked the rare earth magnet and it had done some good work picking up some metal. So hopefully we shouldn't be getting any such metal moving through the bearings again.
A series of test cuts were done and have satisfied myself enough for the present time.
So work turned again to the Pansy safety valve for a little while.
Happy steaming!
Nigel
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