Slippage in the flex shaft.

[734 Lumber]

Hey everyone,

I had this problem before but was fixed when i sent the machine in for some repairs. Now I just got my machine back from repairs again, only ran about 4 projects on it and im having that same problem again. I was running a sign off and when down to check it out and the flex shaft was half melted. yes the full middle of the shaft was melted down to the wires. my poor codeing. i havent a clue if its slipping in the motor or in that part on the top of the z truck.

anyone else have this mishap??? if so what was your way to fix??

Thank you all so much

Andrew

[Jeff_Birt]

This sounds like a lack of lubrication to me. Have you ever lubricated it?

[734 Lumber]

I havent yet and just got off the phone with tech support. im going to give it a lube job and a good look over. ill have to order a new shaft but ill worry about that once i get these two plaques done up.

when i got it back they said it was lubed up and ready to go. so i new it was good. didnt put to many hours on it ither. I was told every 5 cut hours to lube it up. that sound right to you???

Andrew

[bizbiki]

You might need to check the flexshaft every so often for heat build up. I bought an IR thermometer at Harbour Frieght for about 10 dollars and when my shaft shows 115 or high on its hotest spot is when I re lube it.

Lubing the flex shaft is very important, make sure that you use chain lube with moly. I got mine a home depot for about 5 dollars a can, and am still on my first can. And dont nessarily trust that LHR has lubed the shaft properly as my machine came from the factory bone dry.

Dont make the same mistake that I did when I lubed my shaft which was to lay the shaft and the spring down on a piece on particle board and spray the heck out of it with the chain lube, let it sit overnight and then respray it and put it in the machine. The first couple of times this seemed to work and then becasue I was reusing the same piece of particle board (hey I was on to something!) I didn't realize that every time I did this some very small fibers were coming up out of the particle board and into my flexshaft making it part steel and part wood.

It melted nicely one cold saturday afternoon.


So make sure that you use a closed container of some (non pourous) matreial ie., pvc tube that you can seal, especailly in a dusty work shop.

[LittleRedWoodshop]

I have heard of some of us buying extra shafts, from what I understand they are just over twenty bucks. That way you can have one soaking in a plastic bag while the other is working in the machine. Just a thought.

My Process, works for me: I monitor temp. with my hand, checking the flex shaft occasionally (if it is hot to the touch it is time to lube it) or it is lubed every 20 hours of cut time (every 5 hours seems a bit much). I have yet to MELT anything on my machine.

And as much as I hate to say this don't ever trust anything that LHR says about the condition of a machine that was shipped back to you, always go over it just like it was new out of the box, same process.

[734 Lumber]

Thanks all. i got my self some of that lube with moly and to everything lubed and put back together. lets now all pray that the nightmares with this thing will stop and i can finally get some work done on it. ill have to take a peak though the harbor freight mag and see if i can pick up one of them thermoters.

thanks again everyone.

andrew

[oldjoe]

One word of caution is I like to let my flex shaft hang and drain before I put it into the machine although the lube is good for the shaft it is not good on the bearing in the chuck.

[mtylerfl]

Thanks all. i got my self some of that lube with moly and to everything lubed and put back together. lets now all pray that the nightmares with this thing will stop and i can finally get some work done on it. ill have to take a peak though the harbor freight mag and see if i can pick up one of them thermoters.

thanks again everyone.

andrew

Hello Andrew,

I have two machines that I have only lubed the flexshafts once with the moly. Since then, neither flexshaft gets hot at all - in fact they might feel slightly warm after say a 4 or 5 hour carve!

I do monitor the flexshafts (simply by feeling them during a carve), but neither shows any sign of needing lube again yet after over a year on the first machine and about 9 months on the second.

Prior to lubing with moly, the first machine flexshaft would get very warm, but not what I would call "hot". I think it might have been on it's way to a meltdown if the hint about moly lube had not come along from LHR.