Torchmate Overhaul

[xavier2nd]

Hello everyone. Lately my TM3 has been cutting really bad, and I mean bad. I've spent the past couple of weeks tracking down the problems and here's what I found.

The cassette is on roller bearings. The bearings catch the dust and moisture and create massive rust seizing the bearings. The bearings are non serviceable so watch out.

I took apart the bearing cassette and greased the bearing, cleaned the cassette and smoothed out the bearings. I have a new cassette on it's way from Parker Origa. I'm trying to get one with serviceable bearings.

[xavier2nd]

Here's the main problem we were having with accuracy. As you can see the spur gears were really worn out. The other two gears were not as worn, however were still allowing for some slack.

I also replaced the bushings. We were getting a lot of slop between the ob longed bushings and worn out spur gears.

I recommend you check, adjust and replace the bushings and spur gears often.

[aicomp]

Hi,
What part number did you order for the cassette, and how much?
Thanks,
Mike

[xavier2nd]

I'll give you that info in a few days. The factory is seeing if they can make a grease able cassette for me. If it's doable, they will create a part number for it.

Price is about $190 for the standard cassette and takes about 10 days to be made.

Is yours bad too?

I think these tables need to be serviced once a week to extend the life of all these pieces. I'm not complaining, we run ours hard most of the day every day.

[aicomp]

Thanks for the reply. Mine is bad also. I appreciate that you will get me the info. I agree that the tables need frequent cleaning. I also check all of my gantry bolts for security about once a week. I had the high side just come loose one day.
Thanks again,
Mike

[Shed Hunter]

Wow, that is one sorry looking spur gear!

[aicomp]

They are cheap assed gears and wear really fast. I have been wondering about heat treating the gears. I believe the racks are a lot harder. I can see the benefit of one,( the gear ), being a little softer, but not that much.

[Mike@Torchmate]

All very good information. Replace the felt wipers often on the cassette to increase its service life, and blow out the gear racks with compressed air (do not oil or grease them! If you do clean and replace the grease often!) Replace the bushings and spur gears when play develops. The cost to replace them is sure to be cheaper than the labor required to remake parts or spending the extra time to clean them up so they look better.

[aicomp]

All very good information. Replace the felt wipers often on the cassette to increase its service life, and blow out the gear racks with compressed air (do not oil or grease them! If you do clean and replace the grease often!) Replace the bushings and spur gears when play develops. The cost to replace them is sure to be cheaper than the labor required to remake parts or spending the extra time to clean them up so they look better.

Where do I get the wipers, spur gears and bushings? How much are they?
Mike

[Mike@Torchmate]

Where do I get the wipers, spur gears and bushings? How much are they?
Mike

You can order them from our parts department, or source them around the internet. Send an email to Parts @ torchmate.com (no spaces) and they can get you a quote.

[aicomp]

You can order them from our parts department, or source them around the internet. Send an email to Parts @ torchmate.com (no spaces) and they can get you a quote

Thanks,
Mike

[xavier2nd]

I forgot to update everyone.

*You can get the cassette from Torchmate (Speak to Brook) or get it from Comoso Santa Fe Springs CA (Speak to Amanda).

*The part number is FDC35HP-00000000

*How does it cut now? We think better than when it was new. That's because we got the newer style arm from Torchmate (Thanks again Mike).

*There are a couple of other worn out parts that we plan to replace in the near future, but for now it works great.

*We plan on adding a couple of shields to the machine. One to keep water off the cassette and the other to keep gunk off the lower track (we've already oval-ed out the spur gear (Grrrr!).

It's so nice to have a well cutting machine, the burrkings were getting tired.