[RussMachine]

I was running the 770 today, and the Z motor sounded a little 'different'.
So I thought that maybe the Gibs were too tight, since I'd fiddled with them a couple of months ago.
I felt the Z motor, and it was HOT!
Uh Oh.
So I tried to loosen the Z Gib a little, but the lower adjusting screw wouldn't budge!
I first loosened the top screw about 3 turns, but the lower Gib screw wouldn't budge either way. Tighten or Loosen.
Damn.
Is it stuck?
The Z movement appears normal, and there's way oil on the Z ways.
Why would the Gib screw be stuck?

[keen]

Hi - After you have backed off the top gib screw, traverse the Z in the direction that would slacken off the gib, you may need to tap the bottom gib screw head with soft brass or alum drift - that might loosen it enough to unscrew. Cheers Cliff

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Hate to tell you, but the temperature of a stepper motor has NOTHING to do with how hard the motor is working. Stepper motors run a MAX power ALL the time, whether they are pushing a heavy load, or no load at all. When NO motion is being commanded, any decent motor driver will reduce current to reduce motor heating, but other than that, it makes no difference whatsoever whether the motor is only spinning itself, or has its shaft locked. And, they pretty much ALWAYS run hot. For most steppers anything up to 85C/185F is "normal".

If the gib is stuck, you have to break it free. The gib is tapered - one end is thicker than the other. In most cases, the thicker end will be at the bottom, but it varies from machine to machine, and I don't know which way they are on a Tormach. You can figure it out by just looking at both ends - one will be considerably thicker than the other. You can use a strip of ~1/4" aluminum or brass as a drift to whack the gib free, after completely removing BOTH adjusting screws. To loosen the gib adjustment, slightly loosen (~1/8" turn) the screw at the "fat" end, then securely tighten the screw at the "skinny" end. To tighten the gib adjustment, slightly loosen the screw at the skinny end, then securely tighten the screw on the fat end. Iterate doing small adjustments until it's right.

Regards,
Ray L.

[RussMachine]

temperature of a stepper motor has NOTHING to do with how hard the motor is working

WHEW!!
Well, that's good news!
I was afraid I was overloading it, or it was straining under a too-tight Gib load.
I ran the mill all day today without issue.
Thanks for the knowledge.

[popspipes]

WHEW!!
Well, that's good news!
I was afraid I was overloading it, or it was straining under a too-tight Gib load.
I ran the mill all day today without issue.
Thanks for the knowledge.

Russ, did you get the lower gib screw loosened up?

[RussMachine]

Russ, did you get the lower gib screw loosened up?

No, I just left it alone.
There's a thin film of way oil on the ways, and It hasn't stalled or overloaded the motor, so I just snugged the top retaining screw, and left it.

[eltejano]

I was cleaning the mill the other day and touched the x motor and was surprised at how hot it was. Good to now it was nothing.