J & S 540

[44767]

A few years ago I bought a Jones and Shipman 540 surface grinder second hand. It was made in about 1954. It didn't come with any manuals and more specifically, no lubrication schedule. There is no rapid traverse on the wheel head on this one.

I wonder if any of you ever worked on them and can remember if the rollers for guiding the wheel head are lubricated with grease or oil. They have grease nipples but that doesn't necessarily mean they are for grease.

[Staffordshirechina]

Hi Mike,
According to my manual the bearings are packed for life with grease and need no attention even though they have nipples.
My machine dates to 1961 and is similar.

Photo below is a scan of the lube diagram.
Les

[44767]

Les, Much appreciated. That is exactly what I needed. Right then "back to the grind stone...!"

[spurley]

Careful with your nose Mike! ;D

[44767]

Yeah, I wondered what the smell was! Then it just went away- oh, yeah- no nose!

[44767]

Oh, that was quite a while ago!

My grinder, a Jones and Shipman 540 of around 1954 vintage, certainly is performing very well and I get a beautiful finish. It has a plain spindle bearing which probably accounts for a lot of this. I need a bit more advice now regarding the fastening of the piston rod to the end of the table. I am convinced that mine is not configured correctly. All I have is two lock nuts at each end, one is either side of the plate which bolts to the bracket at the end of the table, underneath. These tend to work loose but if they are tightened they influence detrimentally the travel of the table. So, I wonder, how this should be set up. I have tried to find out online and the closest I found was an exploded view indicating spare parts available for the machine but the image was too poor to glean anything from it. What it did show was a rubber washer which clearly my machine does not have. Can anyone shed light on this please?

[millman]

Bearing in mind I have not used this model of grinder since I retired almost eight years ago, I seem to remember a rubber buffer at the end and there was some slack in the set up.

[44767]

So, I'm thinking that on each end there were two lock nuts to establish a position on the inboard side on the end plate, then there was a rubber buffer/washer and on the outside of the plate there was a nut set (and presumably a locknut) with some clearance which limited the amount the rubber would compress on the opposite end of the table. Does this sound right?

Cheers,
Mike

[millman]

Mike, that sounds about right to me, I imagine you could use a leather washer if you have any to hand, I find an old trouser belt a good source for small washers etc. The buffer is only there to stop the annoying clonk at the end of every table stroke.

[44767]

Thanks for your help millman. While you're there, one thing about the table feed. I have had my j&s nearly thirty years and have never had the requirement to replace seals etc. in the hydraulics. I do notice that there is an audible hum and, if one touches the table lightly, a vibration which can be felt when the table changes direction, especially from left to right. This vibration also is apparent in the surface finish when a very fine finish has been achieved. The sound reminds me of oil passing over a pressure regulating valve and so I wonder what may be causing it. Perhaps it is oil passing the seals, either in the cylinder or the valve block, causing them to vibrate. Is this an indication that I need to change the seals?

Mike

[millman]

Mike, I would imagine it could be leaky seals just going by it’s age but be aware that due to the age of the machine everything will most probably be in imperial sizes, I don’t know how easy it is to get imperial seals where you are. I would certainly want to know before I started the job that a full set of seals were easily obtainable and at what cost. It all depends on how much you use it and how good a finish you require. Try cleaning the piston rod and lightly lubricate it to make sure it is not juddering in the seals.

[44767]

I have done a little more to find the cause of the vibration. It isn't caused by the change in direction as I can set the table travel stops so the working area is towards the rhs of the table and the vibration is not present. This could open up a can of worms! It could be a worn piston rod, worn piston or worn cylinder in that area.

One thing I have found is there's a couple of businesses which supply spare parts for these machines including the seals, piston rods, pistons etc. even valve blocks so maintaning the machine should not be a problem.

I do use it quite a lot and use it especially for finish grinding my little milling vices to size. I have always been one to maintain a machine rather than claim that buying a new(er) one would be a cheaper option so I'll have to look into the supply of these spare parts.

Mike

[44767]

I may have found the cause! There is a valve which is factory set to control the smoothness of the return stroke; a sort of damper. It's under a swiveling flap on the RHS of the apron. I think I adjusted this a while ago trying to smooth out the automatic cross feed, which it doesn't really do. Now that I have it adjusted, I have a much smoother table travel so I'm happy about that. 

All in all, this machine has been very good despite its age. I think it was built around 1954. J & S had an approach of continuous improvement but the fundamentals of the machine stayed the same. For example, mine does not have an interlock between the table feed engage/speed knob and the handle wheel so it's possible to wind the table by hand having tripped the table pause lever. If it's now wound to the direction lever at the other end of the travel, the table shoots off back to the pause position under hydraulic power. 

Now, to get on and finish off those vices!

Cheers,Mike