Elliott OMNISPEED lathe

[Smouser]

The paint room is assembled!

It was pretty windy today so I screwed the legs in with 6 concrete bolts. I will need to fix that before the wife notices

I left a side panel off so I can move the lathe through the opening.

Masking needs to be done and the paint needs to arrive, then I will be cooking!

Best case I paint on Thursday!

On Saturday, the paint room needs to be re-located to the patio and re-purposed as BBQ tent and rugby room!

 

[GraemeVW]

The paint room is assembled!

View attachment 406439

View attachment 406440

It was pretty windy today so I screwed the legs in with 6 concrete bolts. I will need to fix that before the wife notices

I left a side panel off so I can move the lathe through the opening.

Masking needs to be done and the paint needs to arrive, then I will be cooking!

Best case I paint on Thursday!

On Saturday, the paint room needs to be re-located to the patio and re-purposed as BBQ tent and rugby room!

How on earth are you going to play rugby in that!?

 

[Smouser]

How on earth are you going to play rugby in that!?

Good point. We will have to settle watching the Boks vs Aus and Nz vs Argentina on a tv

 

[Smouser]

The paint arrived today.

A few photos on the progress.

The move

In position but I had hours more cleaning to do at this stage

All clean and masked up

Primer

Top coat - it was pretty dark by the time I finished and I will have to see how it came out in the morning.

 

[GraemeVW]

The paint arrived today.

A few photos on the progress.

The move
View attachment 406833

In position but I had hours more cleaning to do at this stage
View attachment 406834

All clean and masked up
View attachment 406835

Primer
View attachment 406836

View attachment 406837

Top coat - it was pretty dark by the time I finished and I will have to see how it came out in the morning.

View attachment 406838
View attachment 406839

Brilliant.

 

[Pawcu]

Wow this is looking great! Glad someone else is restoring one of these machines. And damn you're making some fine progress I've been going on my for about a year and still have a long way to go and it's nowhere near your level of finish!
Keep them pics coming

 

[Smouser]

Wow this is looking great! Glad someone else is restoring one of these machines. And damn you're making some fine progress I've been going on my for about a year and still have a long way to go and it's nowhere near your level of finish!
Keep them pics coming

Welcome to the forum and thank you for the kind comments!
If you look at my first post's date I am also approaching a year. These things take time.

Post some photos of your lathe or even better yet, start a forum thread with your machine.

 

[6ply]

Finished today with the grinder.
If time permits, I will set up my gazebo (now called the paint room) and get the lathe in there.

I don't think I have enough paint so I ordered more from Paragon paints. However, from past experience they are not very fast at getting paint to your door. Think on average I waited about 4 working days for the paint to arrive.

View attachment 406214

Looking good. Now you have nearly finished this project would you like me to drop off some more future projects? Passing your way tomorrow morning.

 

[Smouser]

Looking good. Now you have nearly finished this project would you like me to drop off some more future projects? Passing your way tomorrow morning.

Hahaha, not yet, please!

There is actually still plenty to do with the Omnispeed before it is done.
The whole apron assembly is just as I left it on the workbench. It will need cleaning, some parts stripping and paint.

Once all parts have been cleaned I can start to think about re-assembly.

Also, the "paint room" needs re-purposing for the weekend!

 

[Martin Hocking]

Not been on for a a little bit.

Boy you’ve been busy smouser. Really great stuff, I have a love hate relationship with this thread. It’s great to see how you’re getting on with it but i hate how it reminds me I haven’t done anything with my new lathe yet!
What shade of grey is that? That paragon stuff looks good stuff.

I don’t know how hard wearing it is but I’ve used durabuild surface primer on fibreglass moulds before and it’s incredibly high build, it goes on up to 1mm thick, I bet that would make for a decent looking machine. Obviously a bit late to be suggesting it!
Martin

 

[Smouser]

Not been on for a a little bit.

Boy you’ve been busy smouser. Really great stuff, I have a love hate relationship with this thread. It’s great to see how you’re getting on with it but i hate how it reminds me I haven’t done anything with my new lathe yet!
What shade of grey is that? That paragon stuff looks good stuff.

I don’t know how hard wearing it is but I’ve used durabuild surface primer on fibreglass moulds before and it’s incredibly high build, it goes on up to 1mm thick, I bet that would make for a decent looking machine. Obviously a bit late to be suggesting it!
Martin

Haha, progress feels slow to me despite the many hours I have already spent.

Space is a problem, I am forever moving things around and covering the lathe up with sheeting etc. It all takes time.

The paint is Meddings Grey from Paragon. I might try your suggestion of durabuild on the next machine I do. I really just don't have the time or willpower to use filler at all.

Get started on your lathe, the sooner you start, the sooner you will be done!

 

[Pawcu]

Welcome to the forum and thank you for the kind comments!
If you look at my first post's date I am also approaching a year. These things take time.

Post some photos of your lathe or even better yet, start a forum thread with your machine.

Thanks
I dont have a lot of decent photos of it. I try to take photos of progress but don't really manage to do a good job xD
This is when i got the lathe - I dont think it was heavily used but it was kind of neglected and not well taken care of:

My feedbox was pretty seized so i took it all apart and cleaned it - before:

After:

However after looking at your pics I'm noticing that the feed gears on mine are in a different order - I also consulted the manual and they are like how yours are set up. I have a feeling one of the previous owners had a little tinkering with it and never put the gears the right way as I left them in the same order. Which means I have to dismantle the feedbox again Something I'm not really looking forward to do xD

Also the main gears from the drive side of the headstock are slightly worn:

That being said, it still runs, motor runs fine (although I did take it apart and replace the bearings).

Also someone must have crashed it at some point. But all in all I think it will work for what I need it (I'm just a hobbyist)

This was the current progress so far:

I know it's half painted :P But back then I was really happy i had finished the headstock side of things (or so i thought... ) Currently was in the process of dismantling and cleaning the apron. the back side is packed with old grease :/ Previous owner saw a nipple and assumed it was for grease not oil... so I have my work cut out for me....
Anyways I think I will try and plough through and finish the lathe and then dismantle the feedbox again once the rest is ready.
Anyways sorry for hijacking your thread. Goodluck on your build and thanks for all your photos.

 

[Smouser]

Thanks
I dont have a lot of decent photos of it. I try to take photos of progress but don't really manage to do a good job xD
This is when i got the lathe - I dont think it was heavily used but it was kind of neglected and not well taken care of: View attachment 407406

My feedbox was pretty seized so i took it all apart and cleaned it - before:
View attachment 407407

After:
View attachment 407408

However after looking at your pics I'm noticing that the feed gears on mine are in a different order - I also consulted the manual and they are like how yours are set up. I have a feeling one of the previous owners had a little tinkering with it and never put the gears the right way as I left them in the same order. Which means I have to dismantle the feedbox again Something I'm not really looking forward to do xD

Also the main gears from the drive side of the headstock are slightly worn:
View attachment 407415

That being said, it still runs, motor runs fine (although I did take it apart and replace the bearings).

Also someone must have crashed it at some point. But all in all I think it will work for what I need it (I'm just a hobbyist)

This was the current progress so far:
View attachment 407411

I know it's half painted :P But back then I was really happy i had finished the headstock side of things (or so i thought... ) Currently was in the process of dismantling and cleaning the apron. the back side is packed with old grease :/ Previous owner saw a nipple and assumed it was for grease not oil... so I have my work cut out for me....
Anyways I think I will try and plough through and finish the lathe and then dismantle the feedbox again once the rest is ready.
Anyways sorry for hijacking your thread. Goodluck on your build and thanks for all your photos.

You have made very good progress on yours and it looks great, thank you for the photos.
I am immediately jealous of the space you have to work on your lathe!

It seems like my feedbox was in a slightly better condition than yours inside (always hard to tell just from photos).
Some of the other bits on your lathe look to have been in better condition than mine.
It is a shame your feedbox gears are in the wrong position, but, luckily you have spotted it now and it should be a relatively easy (although timely) thing to rectify.
I have not painted the inside of my feedbox in the end. Cleaned it as much as I could and left it at that.
Did you take yours off the lathe or did you leave it in situ?

If I am not mistaken, your lathe is a slightly longer version than mine?

Don't worry about 'hijacking' the thread, it is all good information!

*edit* What motor have you got in yours? It looks like you are running it via VFD, three-phase or single-phase?

 

[Pawcu]

You have made very good progress on yours and it looks great, thank you for the photos.
I am immediately jealous of the space you have to work on your lathe!

It seems like my feedbox was in a slightly better condition than yours inside (always hard to tell just from photos).
Some of the other bits on your lathe look to have been in better condition than mine.
It is a shame your feedbox gears are in the wrong position, but, luckily you have spotted it now and it should be a relatively easy (although timely) thing to rectify.
I have not painted the inside of my feedbox in the end. Cleaned it as much as I could and left it at that.
Did you take yours off the lathe or did you leave it in situ?

If I am not mistaken, your lathe is a slightly longer version than mine?

Don't worry about 'hijacking' the thread, it is all good information!

*edit* What motor have you got in yours? It looks like you are running it via VFD, three-phase or single-phase?

I lucky to have some space but it's diminishing as I kept taking parts off to work on it
Yeah the feedbox was a bit messed up... I painted mine because it had started to rust as well but looking at yours, it's still holding up pretty well. Yeah I took it completely apart and then took it off... Still not sure how you managed to remove it and the pump without dismantling the gears xD
I also had to drill small holes in the shafts and thread them so I could take them out with a puller as they're were really stuck there.
Did you create your own gaskets btw when you assembled it back?
What I'm really regretting is having to do new gaskets and cleaning the old ones off (I used gasket shellac as I was paranoid of it leaking again).
And I'm not sure about having items in better conditions xD mine was pretty rusted and was leaking oil everywhere. I think you got a good find as well as I only got a 3 jaw with it and no other accessories (apart from a 4 jaw which I need to work a back plate for it).
I also have a lot of missing parts (like the cross slide lock, the feed selector plungers and no additional change gears) which is annoying but they're all things which I think I will be able to machine slowly.
Yes I think it's a bit longer (it's also the 16" swing). Speeds are a bit different (20 - 1650rpm)
The motor is a 4.5hp 3phase Brook motor - beefy thing which caused me to pull a muscle trying to take it out the first time . Yeah it's running off a single phase to 3 phase vfd which also bumps the voltage to 380V as the single phase power here is 230V. I put the vfd in the control box. I managed to get the wiring working with the current setup and also added a safety switch with the brake so it turns the motor off when you press it instead of just slowing it down.

 

[Smouser]

Did you create your own gaskets btw when you assembled it back?

I have not yet assembled mine properly yet. The two bits of plates were just held in by two of the bolts while I painted it. Because the mounting bolts are on the inside of the casing, I need to refit the feedbox to the lathe before it can be sealed up.

The gaskets are pretty big and it will be a bit of a pain to make new ones. I was thinking I will clean the old ones and then use rtv sealant on both sides when I re-assemble the box. I am not sure if it will work. Sometimes old gaskets get oil in them and they then weep.

If the gaskets are in a too a bad condition, I could try to use only rtv sealant gasket maker. Worst case, I will need to buy a big sheet of gasket paper and make new gaskets.

The motor is a 4.5hp 3phase Brook motor - beefy thing which caused me to pull a muscle trying to take it out the first time . Yeah it's running off a single phase to 3 phase vfd which also bumps the voltage to 380V as the single phase power here is 230V. I put the vfd in the control box. I managed to get the wiring working with the current setup and also added a safety switch with the brake so it turns the motor off when you press it instead of just slowing it down.

I like some of your ideas with the electrical side of things. I was wondering how I will incorporate the brake into my setup and your idea seems pretty good. However, I am not 100% sure yet what I want to achieve and how I want to wire mine up.

My motor is a 6hp 400v/440v motor. It is already wired in mesh/Delta so I will also need a pretty beefy 230v to 380v VFD if I want to to use the original motor. In theory I will also need a big amperage supply (I think 16amp 230v might not be enough).

I do have a 3kw (4hp) motor which I was thinking of installing. I am sure it will be powerful enough for my needs.

I have got a pretty busy 2 week period now and will not really have any time to work on the lathe. The international rugby season which started does not help either. Glued to the tv for long periods on Saturdays

 

[Pawcu]

I have not yet assembled mine properly yet. The two bits of plates were just held in by two of the bolts while I painted it. Because the mounting bolts are on the inside of the casing, I need to refit the feedbox to the lathe before it can be sealed up.

The gaskets are pretty big and it will be a bit of a pain to make new ones. I was thinking I will clean the old ones and then use rtv sealant on both sides when I re-assemble the box. I am not sure if it will work. Sometimes old gaskets get oil in them and they then weep.

If the gaskets are in a too a bad condition, I could try to use only rtv sealant. Worst case, I will need to buy a big sheet of gasket paper and make new gaskets.

Ah I see. Yeah mine didn't even have gaskets... Hence why it was bone dry and everything rusted. I did end up buying gasket paper and making my own. Those held well with the gasket shellac albeit for just a short lived period I heard that rtv sometimes starts seeping so I went with this route.

I like some of your ideas with the electrical side of things. I was wondering how I will incorporate the brake into my setup and your idea seems pretty good. However, I am not 100% sure yet what I want to achieve and how I want to wire mine up.

My motor is a 6hp 400v/440v motor. It is already wired in mesh/Delta so I will also need a pretty beefy 230v to 380v VFD if I want to to use the original motor. In theory I will also need a big amperage supply (I think 16amp 230v might not be enough).

I do have a 3kw (4hp) motor which I was thinking of installing. I am sure it will be powerful enough for my needs.

I have got a pretty busy 2 week period now and will not really have any time to work on the lathe. The international rugby season which started does not help either. Glued to the tv for long periods on Saturdays

If you want I do have a crude schematic of the wiring I used. Its a bit over engineered because I wanted to be able to turn it off and on using the current handles as well as having a nc push switch for the brake which I mounted inside near the pivot.
And wow that is a really big motor hehe if you're still interested in using that, try this store on AliExpress (hopefully I'm not breaking any rules posting the link here)

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Discover the wide range of products from AliExpress Top Seller zhuokeda Store. Enjoy ✓Free Shipping Worldwide! ✓Limited Time Sale ✓Easy Return.

a.aliexpress.com

They should have a 5.5kw 220V to 380V vfd but it's not on the cheap side. I cannot seem to find it again but they used to have it. But like you said 4hp should be plenty enough as well hehe
Hehe no worries these things take time! Maybe take the TV with you outside and do both hehe XD

 

[pressbrake1]

I’m too ashamed to post a picture of my old gal
Funny, I’ve two monarch, two dsg a Holbrook, a Lang and several more and the little omnispeed is my go to machine unless there’s loads of meat to pull off then it’s dsg time!

 

[Smouser]

I’m too ashamed to post a picture of my old gal
Funny, I’ve two monarch, two dsg a Holbrook, a Lang and several more and the little omnispeed is my go to machine unless there’s loads of meat to pull off then it’s dsg time!

Get them photos up @pressbrake1 !

You currently have a very significant advantage over me and @Pawcu , yours is actually working!

If it is your go to machine with all those others available too it must be a very nice lathe to use. I can't wait to try mine!

 

[pressbrake1]

Get them photos up @pressbrake1 !

You currently have a very significant advantage over me and @Pawcu , yours is actually working!

If it is your go to machine with all those others available too it must be a very nice lathe to use. I can't wait to try mine!

Small so light to use, a big machine has a heavy tailstock which can be fatiguing when drilling multiple holes all day and you have to lean over to see what your doing .
Small machines weren’t just to save money it was to save unnecessary misery!

 

[Pawcu]

I’m too ashamed to post a picture of my old gal
Funny, I’ve two monarch, two dsg a Holbrook, a Lang and several more and the little omnispeed is my go to machine unless there’s loads of meat to pull off then it’s dsg time!

Glad to hear that it is your go to machine. Not going to lie, I heard some bad things about the Elliott lathes soon after I got it, which threw me a bit off but seeing you say that, and also Smouser with his progress and effort on it, gives me a bit more hope to finish it