New z- truck

[Cabinetdesigner]

Well tomarrow I will attempt to put my new z-truck on. I can hardly wait I am having carving withdraws. I am so adicted to this machine and this website it is a wealth of info. It has only been two weeks since I bought my machine and its been down for a week. That a chance I took with a demo machine. If ti hadnt been for that darn tollerance ring falling out I would still be carving. But I only paid $700 for the machine and the new z truck cost me $125 so im still under $1000 so I think im doing good. My question is what is a stamped flat wrench, is the type of wrench used on routers. If so where would I find one 12mm? Now if I could only convince my wife i need a rock chuck moving forward from here. I am so afraid my z-truck will go bad again if I dont go with the rock. I did go and purchase a new bit with a new collet just to be safe. I am trying to stay positve and look at all this as a learninng experience. Wish me luck.
Joe

[fwharris]

Joe,

Ok, good luck!!! There ya got your wish...

Yes the stamped 12mm wrench is like the router or table say wrenches. What I did was took a regular 12mm wrench and ground it down to fit between the z-truck and back plate. Like you I did not now where to get one and did not want to wait on it being sent.

[DocWheeler]

Joe,

I do hope that it works well for you until you become addicted like the rest of us so that repairs are taken lightly. I lucked-out and had a couple of sets of thin wrenches that have worked for me.

You will like the Rock if you get it, just make sure that you do not get too much heat inside the machine. Heating a rod with a bit adapter on it at the bench and then putting it in the QC worked best for me.

Another thing, be careful of lube getting to the spindle bearings. I found that the heavy grease that I use on the flex shaft does not get into the bearing area.

Edit: Floyd, you beat me!

[fwharris]

Ken,

I had nothing to say about the Rock!!

[Cabinetdesigner]

Thanks
You kinda of lost me about the heat in the machine can you explain? Also I have not lube my shaft yet I touched it while it was carving and it was not hot. Is this something I should do while I have it apart.? Do you get the grease from an auto parts store or should I try home depot?

Thanks
Joe

[DocWheeler]

Floyd,

Is THAT what took me so long!:mrgreen:

[DocWheeler]

Joe,

Besides keeping the dust out of things, the flex shaft causes a lot of people problems (use the search feature). Use a molybdenum based lube (the spell check picked that spelling, hope it is right). A chain lube with moly is best for the first few times (make that none gets into the bearings).

Crane cam lube is suggested by ChrisAlb and others, hard to find now. I got MolyGraf (maybe MolyGraph) at Harbor Freight for the heavy stuff. The thinner chain lube came from Home Depot I think.

If you are taking things apart to assure that it will work well, check the bolts that hold the bottom of the four corner posts (make sure that the head is cranked down before tightening those bolts) as they have a habit of not being tightened.

[fwharris]

Floyd,

Is THAT what took me so long!:mrgreen:

Must have been..

See if you beat me on this one..

Flex shaft lube!! If you like to read just do a search "flex shaft"!!

Since you bought a used machine you might not have all of the updated documentation. Click on the Customer Documentation link in my signature. It has just about everything you should know for the machine. Also make sure you download the tips and tricks newsletters.. Great stuff.

Flex shaft lube = Spray Gunk or Liquid Wrench chain lube with Molly as per LHR.
I and others use CraneCam Lube 9000. Hard to find as company was sold out.

Probably a good thing you had problems with the z truck as you might have burned up the flex if the previous owner did not lube it up good..


EDIT: And you did.

[castingman]

Good Morning

I have an update for the crane cam lube, I was at summit raceing a while back looking for crane cam lube when i found out about them being sold.
So i bought a brand they had and it works great!!! 14 hr carve and no heat !

Michael

[fwharris]

Good Morning

I have an update for the crane cam lube, I was at summit raceing a while back looking for crane cam lube when i found out about them being sold.
So i bought a brand they had and it works great!!! 14 hr carve and no heat !

Michael

A little more info please! Can you tell us what the name is?

[castingman]

fwharris

Sorry for the delay, running radio relays from Hati

The stuff is called Comp cams cam and lifter inst. lube


Michael

[mtylerfl]

Good Morning

I have an update for the crane cam lube, I was at summit raceing a while back looking for crane cam lube when i found out about them being sold.
So i bought a brand they had and it works great!!! 14 hr carve and no heat !

Michael

That's great Michael. However, it should be noted that the Gunk Chain Lube with Moly works just fine too. I lubricated my flex shafts with it once (about 3 years ago!), and have never had a flex shaft get more than barely above room temperature on either of my machines. I think the Moly ingredient is the key for whichever product you use.

[Cabinetdesigner]

ztruck is installed flex shaft is lubed. Not as hard as I thought. thanks for the info.

[VonDrevon]

Hey Joe,
Hopefully you took the other guys' advice too and lubed the flex shaft in some moly based lube. I find the easiest way to ensure it is well lubed is to literally soak the flex shaft in the lube. I used a length of tubing and capped it with a bolt and let it soak for a least an hour. Haven't had the flex shaft get warmer than room temperature.

Also, if you get a rock chuck you really have to be careful when you remove the quick release chuck. The instructions from the Rock Chuck tell you to put a metal rod into the quick release chuck and heat it up with a torch in order to melt the lock-tite on the threads of the screw to release the quick release chuck. The reason you have to melt the lock-tite is because the square bit that comes with the Rock Chuck to remove the quick release is really poor quality and it snaps if you put more than a few pounds of pressure on it.

After getting extremely frustrated with the square bit breaking AFTER heating the rod in the quick release to the point where it started smoking, I tried a #3 square bit which is slightly too small to fit and that stripped the screw. I ended up getting a new machine and used a hex bit with two of the sides grinded down to square it off. The solid metal bit (the square bit that comes with the Rock Chuck seems to be made of pot metal) loosened the screw right up and the quick relase chuck came right off. So I would recommend manufacturing your own square bit that fits snugly in order to remove the quick chuck without having to use fire.

Just my 2 cents.

Adam

[rjustice]

Also, if you get a rock chuck you really have to be careful when you remove the quick release chuck. The instructions from the Rock Chuck tell you to put a metal rod into the quick release chuck and heat it up with a torch in order to melt the lock-tite on the threads of the screw to release the quick release chuck. The reason you have to melt the lock-tite is because the square bit that comes with the Rock Chuck to remove the quick release is really poor quality and it snaps if you put more than a few pounds of pressure on it.

After getting extremely frustrated with the square bit breaking AFTER heating the rod in the quick release to the point where it started smoking, I tried a #3 square bit which is slightly too small to fit and that stripped the screw. I ended up getting a new machine and used a hex bit with two of the sides grinded down to square it off. The solid metal bit (the square bit that comes with the Rock Chuck seems to be made of pot metal) loosened the screw right up and the quick relase chuck came right off. So I would recommend manufacturing your own square bit that fits snugly in order to remove the quick chuck without having to use fire.

Just my 2 cents.

Adam

Hi Adam,
Respectfully i would like to address a couple of your points. The reason for heat is to break down the permanent RED loctite that was used on many machines. Others that have been seen has been green, and yellow, which are not common. I think that the intended threadlocker was Blue, but perhaps due to severe vibration it was found that the blue wouldnt hold. Blue can generally be broke loose without heat.
The square tools are definitely not pot metal, but are made from material very close to Allen wrenches. The material and heat treat combination was tested through many combinations to get to the point of making it as strong as possible without making it brittle... It is a very fine line on something this small.. Especially to be torqued against a 7/8 wrench. I am sorry you had problems with breakage, but this is about as good as it gets. I do want to emphasize that the tools that i make are made to fit near perfectly to size with the square in the spindle, and if they do snap off they will not ruin the "Z" truck. There have been many posts like yours where people have admitted that using a homemade tool ripped the square out of the spindle. It is extremely soft material, and the only way to prevent tearing it out, is to make sure the square hole is fit as tightly as possible.

I do appreciate your business, and report this with all due respect...

Thanks,

Ron

[Digitalwoodshop]

I too have broken the tip off of the square drive bit too. And it was totally my fault.... I did not heat the RED FOREVER lock tite hot enough to break it's grip... It is still sitting in my broken parts box... I changed out the Z Truck with another.

And YES, I torqued on that bit with a big 3/8 inch drive ratchet and pushed it WELL beyond it's intended torque... There are limits to how much torque you can put on a piece of metal about 3/16's square.

Had the QC not been FOREVER RED Lock Titted to death it would have easily come undone.

I can understand that you are sore about the bit breaking... I was too.... and I bought 3 at a time..... On my first machine I used a LHR 90 degree Allen ground to a square and rounded over the inside hole.... Had to send the machine in to be repaired since I was still learning to repair the machine.

I bought a few #3 square Drive bits about 3 inches long and gave Chris some and he carefully ground them down to fit. If you want to make your own, I recommend this method.

If you have broken the bit then you are not using enough heat.... Some have found that a cheap soldering iron stuffed up inside the QC has taken the heat to the source..... And YES... I melted a Z Drive Belt one time too.... So FLAME or even a Hair Driver may not be the best method....

I found for me that the pencil type butane soldering iron/torch works best.... I take the torch and point the flame at the nut of the QC and with the bit in the top, slowly rotate it for about 5 min.... Depending on your flame setting...

Good Luck,

AL

[VonDrevon]

First, I would like to say that the Rock Chuck is probably the greatest add-on for the Carvewright machine that anyone could spend their money on. I would recommend it to anyone who owns the machine as a necessity if they plan on doing any type of quality carving. I think the machine should come with a Rock Chuck pre-installed as an out of box add-on because it is truly impressive. But, I must respectfully disagree with the assessment of the square bit that comes with the Rock Chuck. I have never broken a bit and had it literally 'shatter' into several pieces at the break. So I, personally, recommend manufacturing your own square bit from a hex bit. I do understand that there is a red loctite that is ridiculous to get out, but maybe since you have already figured out how to install the Z-truck it might be easier to pull it back out to remove and install the chucks. Again, the Rock Chuck is amazing. Don't carve without it.

Adam