New z- truck

[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