The automatic spindle brake on a Schaublin 135 is typically a Warner Electric PB-825. Attached to the back side of the main motor, it works well for braking... but can be noisy as the least bit of wear on the plastic bushings that move on three "bolts" and the heavy armature plate will move laterally, causing a knocking noise....especially noticable at slow speed.
But I found out today, that Warner makes a "Heavy Duty" version of the same PB-825, that uses a spline center rather than the 3 bolts, which seems like an infinitely better way to go. With "seems" the operative word, wondering if any of you have retrofitted this ?
Btw, the heavy duty version uses the same magnet assembly, so all that would need to be switched out would be the armature assembly...i.e. no wiring involved, no new expensive electromagnet needed. Only possible problem I see is Warner might not supply metric shaft diameter bushings but obviously that can be made or the closest inch version bored to fit. (of course for all I know the Schaublin motor shaft is inch already, but that would seem unlikely)
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As an aside, when I bought my 135 years ago, it had some annoying "knocking" sounds that turned out to be the brake. So I bought a retrofit kit and "rebuilt" the brake, which improved matters a lot. It still wasn't completely noise free, but I presumed that was the spindle gearing or the vari drive somehow.
Fast forward a decade or so, and the brake noise is back. This time I removed the brake and ran the lathe with no brake at all... just to see how much noise was brake and how much was everything else.
I was astounded at the difference....with no brake, the lathe is unbelievebly quiet....no gear noise, no vari drive noise...just the swish of air from the turning chuck !! So it turns out all these years I've been putting up with noise that was 99% from that stupid Warner brake !
Now I'm determined to get the brake to a noiseless situation, or I'll just go "brakeless" and leave the damn thing off ! But hopefully the "heavy duty" alternative will get the best of both worlds. So, I ask again, has anyone else done this already ?
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FWIW, for folks that have never delved into their Schaublin brake... if you are of average size or smaller*, it is possible to remove the brake without removing the motor. If your lathe has a coolant tank there should be enough extra electrical conduit to slide the tank out, lay down a blanket or whatever, and wiggle your body (with tiny flashlight in mouth) into the body of the lathe, where you can get to the brake that way. It's not easy, but doable...and a lot easier than removing that huge motor.
*actually your shoulder width is a determining factor as well. I think if my shoulders were an inch wider I couldn't have done it. I wonder if the 150 base interior is exactly the same ?
But I found out today, that Warner makes a "Heavy Duty" version of the same PB-825, that uses a spline center rather than the 3 bolts, which seems like an infinitely better way to go. With "seems" the operative word, wondering if any of you have retrofitted this ?
Btw, the heavy duty version uses the same magnet assembly, so all that would need to be switched out would be the armature assembly...i.e. no wiring involved, no new expensive electromagnet needed. Only possible problem I see is Warner might not supply metric shaft diameter bushings but obviously that can be made or the closest inch version bored to fit. (of course for all I know the Schaublin motor shaft is inch already, but that would seem unlikely)
==================================================
As an aside, when I bought my 135 years ago, it had some annoying "knocking" sounds that turned out to be the brake. So I bought a retrofit kit and "rebuilt" the brake, which improved matters a lot. It still wasn't completely noise free, but I presumed that was the spindle gearing or the vari drive somehow.
Fast forward a decade or so, and the brake noise is back. This time I removed the brake and ran the lathe with no brake at all... just to see how much noise was brake and how much was everything else.
I was astounded at the difference....with no brake, the lathe is unbelievebly quiet....no gear noise, no vari drive noise...just the swish of air from the turning chuck !! So it turns out all these years I've been putting up with noise that was 99% from that stupid Warner brake !
Now I'm determined to get the brake to a noiseless situation, or I'll just go "brakeless" and leave the damn thing off ! But hopefully the "heavy duty" alternative will get the best of both worlds. So, I ask again, has anyone else done this already ?
=================================
FWIW, for folks that have never delved into their Schaublin brake... if you are of average size or smaller*, it is possible to remove the brake without removing the motor. If your lathe has a coolant tank there should be enough extra electrical conduit to slide the tank out, lay down a blanket or whatever, and wiggle your body (with tiny flashlight in mouth) into the body of the lathe, where you can get to the brake that way. It's not easy, but doable...and a lot easier than removing that huge motor.
*actually your shoulder width is a determining factor as well. I think if my shoulders were an inch wider I couldn't have done it. I wonder if the 150 base interior is exactly the same ?