Stone failure

[dlistiak]

I bought my Tormek 2000 in 1999 at the Houston TX show.  The stone has worn down to 7 1/4" but was still usable.  A couple of weeks ago I noticed a radial crack in the stone about 1/16" wide across the width.  I obtained a new stone and when I went to change the stone, the old stone  broke in half.  Also the washers, and shaft had lost their protective coating and were corroded and pitted.  The inner washer was siezed onto the shaft.  I have ordered a new shaft, bearings, washers etc. to rebuid the machine.  My question is - What can I do to prevent this from occuring again?  The manual makes no mention of any maintenance needed except for bearing lube.  I have a metal lathe and was considering making a stainless steel shaft with either stainless steel or brass washers and nut. Do you see any problems with this "upgrade"?

Thanks,
D. Listiak

[epw314]

When I put mine together I used silicone on the shaft washers,and nuts.I just took it apart to see if there was any damage. There wasn't any.My Tormek is almost 1 year old, used almost every day. If you can make it out of stainless go ahead,but silicone on a new shaft is alot cheaper!
Ed

[Jeff Farris]

The replacement shaft you ordered is stainless, as are the washers and nuts.  The change was made about a year ago.