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!

[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!

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?