- Thread starter Mike Pinches
- Start date
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
"Yer but No but" the difficulty is needing a working lathe to fix the broken lathe.
( Which is another reason that one lathe is never enough lathes)
This is a dilemma I am currently having. Have been spending far too much time looking on ebay at mills and lathes, though most are beyond my budget. I quite fancy a Denham junior that I saw but don't think I have room for anything that large. And If I buy another old lathe needing work I will have to buy no.3 to get no.2 working. I quite fancy adding a shaper for some reason as well.
Getting a lathe was meant to be an aide to restoring motorbikes, but I'm now thinking it was actually just a gateway drug to acquiring lot's of machine tools instead.
eLuSiVeMiTe
Member
- Messages
- 16,444
- Location
- ......
Do enjoy stripping and rebuilding em.
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
The progress on this restoration is definitely glacial but did get a bit more done this evening. Have removed the tailstock and found that it has been welded and repaired with filler in the past. Definitely a lot worse condition than I hoped, at least it was cheap. Next job will be to figure out how best to remove the main leadsrew and carriage/cross slide.
After that I can start cleaning up and refinishing parts, and source a few replacement parts before reassembly.
After that I can start cleaning up and refinishing parts, and source a few replacement parts before reassembly.
God mode restorations
Member
- Messages
- 8,147
- Location
- uk colchester
That's the fun of restorations.
zx9
Forum Supporter
- Messages
- 5,179
- Location
- South East London
Sorry in a bit of a rush at the moment.
Un do the nut that holds the top of the half nut, then the two bolts that fix the top of the carriage to the front of the carriage, withdraw the front gib screws and the two screws clamping the back of the carriage. It might take a bit of effort but the top of carriage slide off in the direction of the headstock. I will try to post pictures if that was not clear.
I gather the lead screw is retained with a taper pin but I have not removed mine (Drummond M) so not sure of exact procedure.
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
Thanks for that. Will give that a go next time I get to the garage. The lead screw is retained at the hand wheel end by the drive pin for the hand wheel. Not sure is it is a taper or a straight pin. It can only be removed towards the headstock as a shoulder on the leadscrew stops it being removed towards the tailstock.
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
Today I finished disassembling the lathe. The leadscrew actually has a full nut on the B type so I ended up removing the taper pin and winding it through the front casting until I had enough clearance at the tail end to release the full nut from the carriage to drop the lead screw down and then pull it out. The only thing after that to remove was the headstock casting. Once this was off I found that it looks like it has also had a portion broken off and been welded back together, with a piece of shim stock inserted under the repaired section. Not sure how accurate this lathe is ever going to be given all the damage, but I will carry on and see what I can do with it. Think I may invest in a decent straight edge to I can try and measure the wear on the ways and help check alignment.
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
I haven't got much further unfortunately, I seem to have even less time than normal in lockdown. I have got as far as getting some paint from paragon paints, and acquired a new tailstock, top slide and bull gear. I know where I can get a new headstock, but think I will rebuild it using the original and see how true it cuts.
Just need to find time to start cleaning everything up now, and order a step pulley and drive pulley for a countershaft, then I can start the rebuild.
Just need to find time to start cleaning everything up now, and order a step pulley and drive pulley for a countershaft, then I can start the rebuild.
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
My wife decided she no longer wanted the granite worktop saver in the kitchen so I kindly took it to the garage with the hope it could be used as a surface plate. Unfortunately even with the limited equipment I have it was obviously no where near flat enough. Will order a proper surface plate and straight edge later. Whilst out there I cleaned up the ways, before and after shots below. There are some dings where the chuck or work have been dropped and pitting along the length. Using the edge of a steel rule light was visible at numerous points along the ways, though a lot better than the worktop saver. Will have a proper check once I have a straight edge.
Hopefully I will get to start stripping the paint off the gears, banjo arm and other small parts later before giving them a bath in citric acid.
Hopefully I will get to start stripping the paint off the gears, banjo arm and other small parts later before giving them a bath in citric acid.
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
I managed to make a start on stripping the paint off some of the lathe parts today. I used Starchem Synstryp after seeing it recommended on here but wasn't sure what to expect never having had much luck with paint stripper before. It made short work of the paint that was on there, there is just a little bit of cleaning up left to do which I will get with a wire brush. Hopefully I will get a few more parts stripped tomorrow evening and start getting everything in to a citric acid bath as well.
Iain Westland
Member
- Messages
- 1,115
- Location
- Bury
the stripper you used, worth the expense? I've a Colchester Bantam from around the same year i'm starting to renovate to a usable state and the paints quite chipped in places so thinking of stripping it back and reapplying the correct shade. just wondering how you got on with it considering the age of the paint you stripped.
looking good so far. interested to see how you get on
looking good so far. interested to see how you get on
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
I think the stripper was worth the expense, think it cost about £25 off ebay. It was certainly a lot easier than using sand paper and wire wheels, and probably no more expensive really by the time you have got through a couple of wheels and a load of sheets. I started with the gears and by the time I had applied the stripper to the last gear the paint on the first couple was well bubbled up all ready. I saw some advice on line that you can put clingfilm or other covering over it is more effective as the active ingredient doesn't evaporate off so fast. I didn't bother and it still worked quickly. Once bubbled up I just used a cheap scraper and it peeled off.
Iain Westland
Member
- Messages
- 1,115
- Location
- Bury
Thanks Mike. definitely look into it. I,m going for usable rather than restoration but its always nicer when they are painted. need to sort a drip/chip tray out too.
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
Have you got a Drummond as well? My main aim is to get it working as well as I can without going mad. I did contemplate getting some bits reground but I don't think it is worth it as I would eventually like a slightly bigger and newer lathe, once I have got to grips with using this one. I will try either scraping or honing a couple of the dovetails though as there are tight spots towards the end of the movement, so must be quite worn on the most used portion.
I was going to make a stand up similar to @Exuptoy as I liked the design with the storage and drip tray built in. But again mine came on a solid stand made of 50x50 box section so will repair this instead to save some time and money. For a drip tray I have a couple of offcuts of 1.5mm sheet steel which I think are big enough to fold the edges up on to form a basic tray (need to make a sheet metal folder first though).
I was going to make a stand up similar to @Exuptoy as I liked the design with the storage and drip tray built in. But again mine came on a solid stand made of 50x50 box section so will repair this instead to save some time and money. For a drip tray I have a couple of offcuts of 1.5mm sheet steel which I think are big enough to fold the edges up on to form a basic tray (need to make a sheet metal folder first though).
Exuptoy
Member
- Messages
- 2,931
- Location
- Maesteg, South Wales
Cheers @Mike Pinches , nice to get recognition in someone else’s thread.
Mike Pinches
Member
- Messages
- 138
- Location
- North Wales
No problem, it's a well thought out design. Depending what lathe I upgrade to in future and whether it is bench mounted or on it's own stand I may yet copy your design
Exuptoy
Member
- Messages
- 2,931
- Location
- Maesteg, South Wales
