Barn Find Lathe

[mfletch]

A mate of mine told me of a old lathe in a barn and its for sale so went and had a look and yes am having that as my next project,

After some research its a old Colchester built in 1919 here is some pictures

After some TLC

Hope you liked the pictures just got to sort out a 2HP 1450RPM motor now

 

[rory1]

A "4 pole" single phase motor generally runs at 1400-1500 rpm, that's what I've just bought for my 13" harrison

 

[Cobbs]

Lucky b**ger!

Lovely bit of kit...

 

[Bill Edwards]

Very nice, now why don't I get any chances like that!

 

[mfletch]

It also had some tooling a face plate and a 3 jaw chuck

 

[Shox Dr]

Very nice, it always amazes me how well old stuff cleans up. I like how you have just cleaned it and not painted it.

If you really need it to be moveable, make it so the wheels are either removable or drop down.

 

[Richiew]

That is fantastic. How do you get everything looking so shiney and polished?

 

[mfletch]

That is fantastic. How do you get everything looking so shiney and polished?

I used a soft wire wheel then coated everything with EP90 gear oil

 

[zx9]

Very nice, I bet you can't wait to get a motor set up. Looking for the 'green with envy' emoticon.

 

[mfletch]

Only thing is it says the pulley speed is 300RPM and that is the max at the chuck! I wanted just the motor at the back but looks like some type of pulley system is needed, I want to keep everything looking old

 

[Pete.]

You'll need a countershaft to run a rear-mounted motor. The lathe was possibly powered by overhead shaft originally. Do you know what type of bearings are in the headstock? If they are bronze bush that might explain the low rpm.

Nice big flat ways and they look in good condition too. Looks like you can see some scraping which means very little wear.

 

[MattF]

Nice find and nicely done on cleaning it up.

Nice big flat ways and they look in good condition too. Looks like you can see some scraping which means very little wear.

I'm not the only one who looks for things like that then.

 

[mfletch]

Yes it is bronze bushing on the main input shaft and the overhead drive was what I was thinking

Going to build a counter shaft tomorrow but I only have a few pulleys to use,

The lathe was built before they gave them names like Bantam/Student/Master its been in the barn for 20 years

 

[Parm]

Very cool

 

[lchris21]

nice job

 

[Rig Pig]

Very nice, my sort of toy!

 

[ukracer]

I used a soft wire wheel then coated everything with EP90 gear oil

Whats a soft wire wheel mate??

 

[doubleboost]

Very nice
It has cleaned up really well

 

[MattF]

Whats a soft wire wheel mate??

Finer bristles than standard bristles, hence a lot gentler on the piece being cleaned. Made from brass, stainless etc.

 

[ukracer]

Finer bristles than standard bristles, hence a lot gentler on the piece being cleaned. Made from brass, stainless etc.

I did a search on ebay but could not seem to find soft wire wheel . I will try again for fine bristle wire wheel thanks.