Colchester student lathe

[God mode restorations]

Bit harsh ... Yes was running when I brought it...with the intention of putting any problems right...

 

[Hood]

I think your main problem is you do not know how good/bad the wear is, I would certainly be rebuilding it enough so you can at least check the beds with a clock on the saddle. If OK then maybe, as has been said, it might be the best option even if bearings are expensive.

 

[WorkshopChris]

Might be worth a drive over to maldon to talk to the guy at Essex Bearings and Transmission.
http://www.essexbearings.co.uk/
Have used them for years, always good service, at one time they had a shop in thundersley it was only a 3 min walk for me so very handy.

 

[God mode restorations]

The spindle bearings are made by a company called gammet. That just happen to be based 10 minutes down the road from me..so I will give them a look this week

 

[God mode restorations]

Might be worth a drive over to maldon to talk to the guy at Essex Bearings and Transmission.
http://www.essexbearings.co.uk/
Have used them for years, always good service, at one time they had a shop in thundersley it was only a 3 min walk for me so very handy.

Cheers Chris. If I don't get any joy this end then I will give em a look..

 

[rory1]

It wasn't a personal dig at you spencer427, just something I've noticed over the years at attempts to rebuild things that maybe don't need rebuilding.

I'm not saying that your lathe didn't need rebuilding as I don't know the condition of it before hand.

 

[Richard.]

surely your as much of an "absolutely faffing tosser" as the man who damaged the bearings originally

That's a bit harsh.
It might of been working before the refurb but he didn't know nor could he of predicted such things.
It's an attitude like that, that suggests refurbishment and preventative maintenance is a bad idea.

 

[rory1]

Apologies if it sounded a bit harsh, I didn't intend it to, I used the OP's terms not my own

 

[God mode restorations]

It wasn't a personal dig at you spencer427, just something I've noticed over the years at attempts to rebuild things that maybe don't need rebuilding.

I'm not saying that your lathe didn't need rebuilding as I don't know the condition of it before hand.

Yes the machine worked. I did buget for some parts and possible small refurbishment of a few bits.
What I didn't no was that a previous had taken it apart before and obviously trashed some parts in the process. ..

 

[God mode restorations]

It's cool guys. It's all part of second had machines that are pushing 60 plus years of age... I will fix it.
Have fixed worse lol

 

[Hood]

My Triumph lathe couldn't be tested as it was in a farm steading with no power but it looked in good nick so I decided to take the risk.
Turns out the headstock was knackered, all the gears looked ok but I found a few gear teeth in there so I checked every single gear and all were intact, so someone had replaced them but it was still noisy. I stripped it down and found lots of the shaft bearings were knackered and also a couple of shafts were worn where the seized bearings had spun on them. I got the shafts hard chromed and ground back, it was poorly done but it was at least fine for the new bearing to seat on. Built it all back up and it was a bit quieter but still deafeningly loud. Ended up putting a servo on the spindle direct and bypassing the headstock gearing.
If the spindle bearings had been goosed I would have junked it though as I didn't have huge money in it and I would have been better buying another lathe than spending more on it as the newer Colchesters are junk compared to the older ones.

 

[rory1]

I commend you for restoring something that you enjoy and I well know how much work goes into a project.

Sometimes when I write I can't get my point across as elequently as I'd like to !

 

[WorkshopChris]

It's cool guys. It's all part of second had machines that are pushing 60 plus years of age... I will fix it.
Have fixed worse lol

Thats the way i look at older kit, you can always either repair or rebuild with modified components.
To keep a good solid machine running, if you have a solid lump to work with you stand a chance.
Try doing that with a modern machine built by an accountant to a price.

 

[God mode restorations]

I commend you for restoring something that you enjoy and I well know how much work goes into a project.

Sometimes when I write I can't get my point across as elequently as I'd like to !

It's cool Rory.

 

[rory1]

It's cool guys. It's all part of second had machines that are pushing 60 plus years of age... I will fix it.
Have fixed worse lol

I know the feeling, I have a radial arm drill from the 30's, a surface grinder and a smaller lathe from the 60's, two mills from the 70s and a load of gear from the 80's and 90's.

Some days it's a wonder that I get antmything done in between breakdowns and tweaking

 

[brightspark]

I commend you for restoring something that you enjoy and I well know how much work goes into a project.

Sometimes when I write I can't get my point across as elequently as I'd like to !

no tact

 

[Dieselman 63]

Uh oh, taper roller Gamet bearings, eject, eject!

 

[God mode restorations]

Uh oh, taper roller Gamet bearings, eject, eject!

Unfortunately yes...will pop down there this week and find a price

 

[penfold]

Gamet super-precision are eye-bleedingly expensive, I'd find a decent used set from another lathe being broken for spares if possible.

 

[God mode restorations]

Gamet super-precision are eye-bleedingly expensive, I'd find a decent used set from another lathe being broken for spares if possible.

Yes. Colchester lathes spares are braking three student lathes and most parts are available. Will pop up there and see what's what. Gamet bearings range from £800 to £4700 depending on diamiter