[ty1295]

I have several Norton Hyprolap used in production here just outside Louisville Kentucky.

They work perferct for our application. The downside is they were built in 1942. Being 60years old some repairs are now being needed.

My maintence guy is excellent, but doesn't have the time, and is stumped on a few items.

Looking for someone that knows these machines, how they operate, etc bringing them in for several days, to a couple weeks to work on some Nortons for us.

Someone should already know what they are if they are reading but here is a picture for reference.



Also if someone knows the working details of the center gear workings, and can't travel but could give some advice that would be of help also.

Currently I have a machine in which the center spins at wheel speed. All new bearings, grease, etc still spins too fast. Sometimes it will slow down, sometimes speed up, sometimes almost stop. We are stumped.

[wizard]

Ok I wasn't even born then! One old machine.

In any event sounds like you need to find a good machine tool rebuilder. A good one should be able to rebuild the machine knowing little about it. That is if there are no special fabrication parts inside that may be hard to reproduce now a days. Don't expect cheap here though, rebuild costs could sky rocket. Hiring a guy to do the rebuild in house might be more feasable if you have more than a few machines and can find nobody producing similar hardware commercially.

As to what is inside I have no idea. But considering the age and the description I'm wondering if there is a bad clutch in there some place. If so just finding a replacement clutch could be an issue.

In any event do you have more information to supply us with?

thanks
Dave

[ty1295]

There are several different designs of these machines. Most were built in 1942 for war efforts. In fact a couple of the machines we have have a plaque stating just that.

This one has a complicated gear mechanism inside that appears an engineer developed wiht lots of spare time at hand and wanted to see how many gears he could pack into one spot.

It is already a known issue that when we work on them, we expect to build our own parts as no spare parts exist. In total company wide we have 9 or so machines. I have yet to find a newer machine that works as well as they do and overall they are VERY reliable.

I have drawings of the inside, somewhat a cross section view from original manuals. Maintence guy has had it fully apart and still doesn't understand how it is suppose to work.

Cost is not a big obstacle here. We are prepared to invest some money into the machines.

Was just hoping there would be an expert around that could work on them.

[wizard]

There are several different designs of these machines. Most were built in 1942 for war efforts. In fact a couple of the machines we have have a plaque stating just that.

It is a bit amazing hw much of that WW2 war tooling has no equivalent today.

This one has a complicated gear mechanism inside that appears an engineer developed wiht lots of spare time at hand and wanted to see how many gears he could pack into one spot.

It would probably be a good idea to figure out if you need all those gears and I'm assuming the drive ratios they provide. One thing to consider is the possibility of replacing some of this hardware with modern technology. If the gear sets ae there for speed selection it might be simpler and chaper to add a large variable speed motor depending on torque needs.

It is already a known issue that when we work on them, we expect to build our own parts as no spare parts exist. In total company wide we have 9 or so machines. I have yet to find a newer machine that works as well as they do and overall they are VERY reliable.

Could you give us an idea about how the machines are used? Obviously lapping seams to be a component of the machines usage but what are we lapping? Optics? Cylinders? Pistons?

I have drawings of the inside, somewhat a cross section view from original manuals. Maintence guy has had it fully apart and still doesn't understand how it is suppose to work.

It is good you have some documentation but I imagine you are missing the crticalo dimensioned drawings. Without these you could end up with sky rocketing costs to duplicate components.

It is not good that your maintenance guy doesn't have a grip on them yet. Not a big deal as these sorts of things take time to develop. What is missing is his ability to provide sound input to help with machine overhaul. This can be an issue because you will likely need to partner with a machine tool rebuilder.

Cost is not a big obstacle here. We are prepared to invest some money into the machines.

While cost might not be an obstacle the "some money" part may be. Depending on what the machines might need you could end up spedning a little or a lot of money.

Was just hoping there would be an expert around that could work on them.

Well it never hurts to look for an expert. But finding one for this age machine may be an issue. TO just rebuild the machine though is approachable via a good machine tool rebuilder. There are a few here in Rochester, though I'm not sure if they would be interested. A good rebuilder should be able to grasp what the machine does and what it needs without much issue. Agian though for something this obscure you really should partner with the rebuilder and define exactly what you need.

Thanks
dave

[ty1295]

I have a guy I have worked with before that came to mind and he has rebuilt several of these machines.

Typically it costs around $45k to do so.

In regards to my maintence guy, I would put him up against any maintence guy in the world. He is good.

Unless you saw the insides of these machines you wouldn't even come close to understanding how they work though, why, etc.

I appreciate the help, but is obvious you have no idea how they work and are used.