[Syrupmakers] miracles do happen

[G Wilson]

Gene

    If your mill has been setting out for a number of years the cap is probably full of dirt.  Be sure and clean the dirt out before you start with the penetrating oil and heat.

T.C                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        


-----Original Message-----
From: Raymond Weaver
Sent: Saturday, December 9, 2006 6:40 AM
To: syrupmakers at syrupmakers.net
Subject: RE: [Syrupmakers] miracles do happen

         Good suggestions Gene. I used a hydrolic jack on each side 
of the lever cap too.
My lever cap is a"straight" tee rather than angled ( on a #14 
Chattanooga Plow mill ). Getting the lever cap off was the hardest 
part of disassembly. That lever cap really takes a lot of heat. That 
heavy cast iron really soaks it up !
         I would expect to find heavy ware on the journals ( shafts ) 
on the bottom of the rollers. Very often people adjust the top of the 
roller but not the bottom ( maybe because the set-screws are much 
more likely to be stuck ). I have seen the brass bearing worn almost 
completely into at the very bottom of the journal.
         It is very important to have the rollers absolutely 
paralell. Any competent machinist can turn your journals and even 
make new brass ( or nylon ) bearings to custom-fit the new journal 
diameter. ( Or maybe you would prefer to pour new babbit bearings ).
         There are very large non-standard square nuts on the 
set-screws that adjust the rollers. I was not able to find a 
replacement anywhere. I really wanted galvanized nuts but standard 
square nuts like the power company uses are much smaller than what is 
in the mill. I got my machinist to custom make some for me.
         I was able to buy the four long bolts ( galvanized ) that 
hold it together from an electrical industry supply house. You will 
need those oversize nuts for them too. The old bolts were rusted 
almost into just above the threads. The old nuts were hopelessly 
rusted on the bolts.  HAVE FUN !  ! !



At 11:55 PM 12/8/06, you wrote:
>Sam --
>
>By "top flange" do you mean the "lever pole cap"?  If so, we usually use a
>combination of alternating days of "PB Blaster" peneetrating oil and heat.
>We will spray it down with PB Blaster and let it set for a day or two.  Then
>we will use an oxy-acetelene torch to heat the lever cap around where the
>main shaft enters it.  As we heat it, we tap the shaft with a heavy hammer
>(against a block of wood to prevent damage).  Sometimes this works quickly
>and other times it takes MANY cycles of this.  We had one Chattanooga #11
>that took almost a month of this process, executed every other night.
>
>Good luck with the restoration!
>
>-- Gene Crouse
>    Winston-Salem, NC
>
>____________________________________________________
>If you grow sorghum and are not a member of the NSSPPA
>please check us out at: http://www.ca.uky.edu/nssppa/
>Syrupmakers archives are located at:
>http://lists.syrupmakers.net/pipermail/syrupmakers/
>____________________________________________________


____________________________________________________
If you grow sorghum and are not a member of the NSSPPA 
please check us out at: http://www.ca.uky.edu/nssppa/
Syrupmakers archives are located at:
http://lists.syrupmakers.net/pipermail/syrupmakers/
____________________________________________________