# Vertex CS8 Super Spacer overhaul



## John Conroy (Nov 8, 2017)

I bought this Vertex 8" "Super Spacer" used on Kijiji a few years ago. I paid $200 which I thought was pretty high until I looked at the price of a new one which sell for about $1000 USD without the chuck. It was pretty abused and pretty rusty and crusty on the inside. I completely disassembled it and assessed the damage. The worm gear was pretty worn and the thrust bearing on the input shaft was screwed. I bought a new bearing at a local bearing supply house for about $20 but had no luck finding a new worm gear at the time so I just re-assembled it after cleaning and lubing everything and it turned out to work very well even with all the wear on the worm gear because the backlash is adjustable.

After disassembly and cleaning the main body and table look very nice.

















The cast iron brake shoes and hardware were very rusty but after bead blasting are perfectly usable. The tapered shape of the brake mechanism pulls the table back into hard contact with the body to stop rotation and remove any clearance between the table and the body.

















Here you can see just how badly the worm gear is worn, although I don't have a picture the appears to be not worn at all. There are 3 teeth that are very badly worn.





The rest are pretty worn but not completely screwed. It worked very smoothly like this and only had a small amount of backlash in the area with the 3 really bad teeth. As I said, I used it like this for about 3 years with good results.

The thrust bearing looked like this when I took it out but a new one was easily obtainable locally.





Lots of grease hid the wear well!





With new bearings on the input/pinion shaft I assembled all the cleaned up components.

































I checked the run-out with various rounds clamped in the chuck and it consistently show .001" or less.


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## John Conroy (Nov 8, 2017)

A couple of months ago while surfing on ebay I found a listing for a new worm gear and a set of dividing plates. I bid on them and won the auction. I didn't know just how badly that worm gear was worn until I saw the new one.









With the new gear installed it now has consistently no backlash everywhere.





I wasn't really looking for a set of diving plates but they were listed together with the gear, I got all this stuff for $175 USD plust $38 for shipping which I thought was pretty reasonable.









The plates are drilled on both sides for just about very possible combination of holes in a circle.





























I'm pretty happy with my purchase, my super spacer is like new again for less than 1/2 the cost of a new one.


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## PeterT (Nov 8, 2017)

Good score(s) & good restoration. I've always wondered what was inside those. So your new gear acquisition - was it a 2-gear combo set (worm gear + worm wheel) or just the worm wheel? Dos that particular RT have anti-backlash mechanism in there? I would have never imagined gear wear like that on something 'light duty', but maybe extended side force milling?


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## John Conroy (Nov 8, 2017)

Yeah it's hard to say how that much wear occurred except there was no lube in it except rusty coolant. I only got the worm wheel but the other gear is in good shape. The pinion is on  an eccentric so it can be rotated so it is completely out of mesh and also can be rotated to allow some backlash or none at all by simply turning the knurled handle on the input and locking it in place with a set screw.

There is also a set of notched plates available that would engage with the spring loaded tapered pin in the body that would allow it to be used as a simple indexer. I have one 12 notch plate but have never installed it.


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## buckbrush (Dec 14, 2018)

is that not a Rotary Table?


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## John Conroy (Dec 14, 2018)

A super spacer is just a rotary table with a chuck, not a table.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/ACER-CS-8-S...2a83742f5c:g:tAgAAOxygPtS6Z~Y&redirect=mobile


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## buckbrush (Dec 15, 2018)

your ebay example is a super spacer, it has the plates that mount in the unit that convert it to a rapid indexer (3,4,5 or more depending on the plate), when you put the table in freewheel.


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## John Conroy (Dec 15, 2018)

Mine has one 12 position "masking" plate that mounts inside bolted to the worm wheel. It uses the same plates as the Acer brand. The Acer and my Vertex look identical ànd parts appear to be interchangable. I already have a shop built simple indexer so i don't use the masking plate. I'll  post some pics later


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## buckbrush (Dec 15, 2018)

well with that plate it probably is a super spacer. Nice piece of kit anyhow.


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