Show us your lathe

[FranV8]

Few of mine. It's a 1919/20 Drummond 'B'

It was given to me be a friend, came with the home made drive/countershaft arrangement, I made the bench/cupboard from scratch (all TIG welded).

Nice machines these old lathes, I've not made much yet with it, but glad to have it working and have made some swarf with it!

I also knocked up the toolpost for it, I've got some better packing now but need to sort out a better arrangement than the too long studding that pulls it down onto the compound slide...

 

[MattF]

Lovely machines are those. I'm hoping to get my hands on both a Drummond B or BS and M type someday.

 

[M@tt]

this is my 5" Raglan lathe

not really done anything with it at the moment, but the plan is to give it a strip down clean and repaint. I've just made some feet for it so its sat least sat level on the floor now rather than rocking back and forth as it had done previoulsy

 

[Wedg1e]

What a fantastic idea for a thread

I started with a 1920's Mellor (must have been an early one, its serial number was 103!) when I knew sweet Fanny Adams about machining, then I bought another, later but damaged, for spares but found it was mostly better than the first one so I built one out of the two. Eventually I sold the whole lot to a guy called Mellor who lectured at Bradford (?) University - no relation, he just fancied a lathe with his name on it!

Then I bought a 1972 (Imperial) Boxford AUD; after a year or two I got lathe envy from reading that bloody lathes website so I went on Ebay, bought my 1978 Boxford VSL500 (Metric) and sold the AUD for more than I'd paid. It was fun trying to swap it from the back of my van onto a guy's trailer in the car park at Leicester Forest services

Some folk will undoubtedly recall the thread I started earlier this year on which I took a lot of flak: in the event, as I'd predicted, that lathe was sold before either me or the company bucked our ideas up but by that time I'd got the bug for a Colchester. Of course the internurdle is your bank manager's friend so it took me all of about a week to find a 1970 Mk2 Student not a million miles away (turned out the seller knew my uncle, not that that's relevant).
It was absolutely filthy, covered in some sticky film and with 3" of chips left in the tray
Took me three weeks of nights and weekends; paraffin, diesel, petrol and Gunk engine cleaner to get it tidy and underneath all the cr@p is a flipping nice lathe! It's been reconditioned by a firm in Halifax and seems to have accumulated next to no wear on the bed or leadscrew nuts since. The headstock oil is low so until I lay hands on some I haven't run it under load but can't see any glaring issues. I don't think the faceplate has ever been used and I don't think the 3-jaw had been off in years as it had seized to the spindle taper! The Student has the dual Metric/ Imperial gearbox and the micrometer dials have dual Metric/ Inch scales.

Edit: y'see what looks like a tub of Chinese takeaway rice on the VSL? - it's actually brass swarf!

 

[Feanor]

Here's mine, a Holbrook 13 x 30 from the Royal Ordnance Factory in Eccles in 1989. Taper turning, 3 jaw only (rare D5 camlock) and no faceplates or steadies. I have adapted a threaded-rear 4 jaw on a threaded shaft to be gripped by the 3 jaw. I should make some steadies. It was £750 + VAT @ 15%. It's a 1957 or 58 manufacture.

Arno Vertical mill next, which I only got last year - £800. I don't know much about the age or much else. Details are scarce. Moves like a Swiss watch.

 

[Wedg1e]

Hey Feanor, I'm sure just out of shot to the left of your first pic I can hear Fred Dibnah's voice..."Oh aye, well it were a bit of a bu99er like and that...."

Proper kit that is. There are knobs and levers the purpose of which I can't even guess at.
And that Arno makes my Perrin look like something from Machine Mart...

 

[Wedg1e]

Here's mine. I got a miller at the same time. Between them I am having more fun than is legal. Learning all the time, but managed to make some useful stuff already. Between these, the MIG, plasma and a new press, I should be able to make just about anything. Shame I am limited by my own ability and not my imagination.

FF

There are some quite handy books in the 'Workshop Practice' series that you can get from Amazon/ Ebay that tell you everything you never knew you'd need to know - L.H. Sparey's 'The Amateur's Lathe' is a mine of info (even though it was written in 1948 and keeps pricing things in shillings ).

 

[bigbadbugga]

Here's my Boxford csb.

Looks a little different now as I've fitted a reverse switch and removed all the 3 phase switch gear and boxes.

Hmmmm, can't seem to get the picture to work using the ipad

Here's the link to my album instead, I'll fix the pic on the laptop tomorrow.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/album.php?albumid=973

 

[Feanor]

Hey Feanor, I'm sure just out of shot to the left of your first pic I can hear Fred Dibnah's voice..."Oh aye, well it were a bit of a bu99er like and that...."

Proper kit that is. There are knobs and levers the purpose of which I can't even guess at.
And that Arno makes my Perrin look like something from Machine Mart...

Aye lad. A bit modern for Fred don't you think? It doesn't run on coal.

A bit of a b****r indeed getting it through the front door, it's 40lb shy of 2 tons. We got it forklifted off the Bedford TK (since stolen, sob) and put it on some pipe rollers ......... then shoved it through the doors with the TK bull-bars and a piece of 4 x 4 between them, like a heavy duty clothes prop. At one stage, with an inch or two either side and it teetering on the threshold, the workshop cat ran underneath and then froze there at all the commotion. We had to prod him out with a broom handle, before he became a feline gasket. The things you do when you're young and confident eh?

The levers are well marked and explanatory. To the extreme left (callously marked A & C by me for anti & clockwise) is the direction control for the feeds, both sliding and surfacing. Of course you can reverse the spindle rotation electrically so it turns away from you, so this lever control is then itself reversed.

The next quadrant to the right has 2 levers, relating also to feeds. One is rate of feed 1, 2 and 3. 3 is the slowest rate, 1 the quickest. The other lever is Coarse, Out(of gear) and Fine.

The next quadrant is for the gearing of the spindle. Direct, Free Spindle (safety) and Back Gear (8 to 1 reduction).

The 2 levers below the Holbrook name and upon which my chuck key rests are relating to the quick-change gearbox and have to be positioned in unison. They work on the feed rates but are mainly for screw-cutting when driving through the leadscrew. They are lettered A to K and work from 2 to 120 TPI. Metric threads are also possible by changing gearing in the end of the machine, under the left-hand end cover. 127 tooth gear involved, among others. You could (when new) get all sorts of other gears to do BA pitches and more, but I haven't got them. They were extras even when new. There's a plate to the right of these levers giving all the positions for standard imperial and metric pitches.

The 1st long lever with the black knob is a 3 position speed selector, worked electrically by selecting separate motor windings. You can change position (and so speed) whilst the thing is running and don't need to wait till it stops.

The 2nd long lever with the black knob is the clutch. Fast, neutral (also incorporating a simple brake shoe) and slow.

The horizontal lever with the red knob engages the motor once mains power is on. Downwards for forward spindle rotation and upwards for backwards. The middle position is off but it can be easily knocked into position by a knee or leg, hence free spindle position by gearing.

The rest is easy. Carriage hand-wheel, cross-slide wheel and compound wheel. There are trip levers for engaging either feed (below their respective hand-wheels) and another lever for engaging feed through the lead-screw.

The plate below my dti on the headstock gives surface feet per minute for whole inch diameters and various speeds.

The main power controls are on the built-in stanchion to the far left. ON, and Pump, with a dead stop in the middle.

Spindle speeds are 3 motor windings, times 2 via a clutch, times 2 via direct or back-gear, so 12 speeds in all. In rpm as follows: 22, 29, 43, 94, 125, 172, 188, 230, 345, 750, 1000 and 1500.

I need (or want) to have the headstock cover off and have a look at, and adjust, the main spindle bearings which are a pair of massive bronze affairs with ingenious adjustment devices. There's nothing amiss with them that I know of (no noise or heat) but at about 55 years old they won't be hurt by it. I have all the drawings and some advice via the Holbrook forum but it's reputedly a very tricky job. I need a certain Sunday with the door locked and the phone turned off. I only found the forum last year and got the information. I have some lovely new ISO 32 oil all ready and waiting. This is too thick anyway according to original specs, but safe enough if I adjust to no less than 0.001" (eek). The recommended oil is an ISO 5 which is supposedly about as thin as water ........ which frightens me! I can thin the ISO 32 with paraffin. I think not.

Oh, there's 2 other levers upon which that home-made box spanner rests. One is for selecting either Imperial or Metric when screw-cutting. I forgot now what the other is for.

I like talking about my lathe.

 

[Dev]

I think the mods should lock and delete this thread immediately


It's making me want a lathe.

 

[madkayaker]

I carn't claim as mine as there works but never mind

 

[Qwertyco]

Thanks for all the hints and tips on flat drive belts!
I'd thought of an old cambelt, must check with local garage man.
I was brought up in Cramlington, family are still there. I'll send a youngster over there!
Cheers,

Mike Q

 

[rtbcomp]

I think the mods should lock and delete this thread immediately


It's making me want a lathe.

It's staying open as a form of torture

 

[Robotstar5]

I don't use one enough to need one at home but can use the one in our workshop...



A Colchester Triumph 2000, the colour scheme was from when the workshop was re-vamped a few years ago everything was painted the same colour "to make it look nice"

Even the incoming mains gas pipe is blue instead of the proper mustard brown!

 

[Wedg1e]

Thanks for all the hints and tips on flat drive belts!
I'd thought of an old cambelt, must check with local garage man.
I was brought up in Cramlington, family are still there. I'll send a youngster over there!
Cheers,

Mike Q

I used a poly-vee belt (like a washing machine or ancillary drive on many cars nowadays) on my Mellor instead of the flat drive belt: worked a treat. Of course you had to strip the whole headstock down to get it round the spindle pulleys but that was a minor inconvenience. The multiple V's had monster amounts of grip!

 

[Shox Dr]

Oh go on then. I've only owned 3 lathes, a Clarke ML500, that was used in the race truck, and a Warco MT300. Both are pretty poor out the box, but a little bit of fettling and they cut just fine.

My current lathe is a Harrison M300 bought for 400quid, in need of a regrind. That cost me £650. It's now better than new. I did look into buying a recon M300, but soon knocked that on the head when I found out the prices start at £7500 plus VAT

 

[HasBean]

Well I may as well stick my neck out then............




Paul

 

[awemawson]

Colchester Master 2500

Here is my Colchester Master 2500, photos a bit old as it shows my previous workshop. I stripped it right down, had all the slideways reground and turcited so it's quite nice condition. Rather covered in swarf just at the moment though!

 

[madkayaker]

I don't use one enough to need one at home but can use the one in our workshop...

View attachment 27560

A Colchester Triumph 2000, the colour scheme was from when the workshop was re-vamped a few years ago everything was painted the same colour "to make it look nice"

Even the incoming mains gas pipe is blue instead of the proper mustard brown!

Are water pipes not supposed to be blue?

 

[inchpincher]

Blimey, look at your stash of tool holders lovely set up sir.

This is my Southbend heavy 10", bought in a funny five minutes on eBay when we had all the snow the Christmas before last... Took a very speculative blind bid and got it for £192, with all it's original collet set + drawbar, 4 spare Bernard chucks, fixed and traveling steady, live and dead centres, tooling etc. Just about everything is original, it even has all the factory manuals including the 1944/5 signed requisition order from the MOD to Southbend specifying the tooling, bed length etc. This model has a quick change gear box, powered longitudinal and cross feeds, back gears and reverse motor direction, considerng I knew feck all when I bid I think I did alright!

The previous owner was retiring and had only really used it for plastics and wood (for the last 25 years) and the oil fillers were still topped up so I'm hoping it'll fire up good as soon as I call the sparky in to connect the 3 phase. The bed ways have some wear and the bed beneath the chuck has taken a few clunks from spinning work but I still think it was cheap and I can't wait to clean it up and replace the wicks...

Oh and a picture of the 12 machine levelling feet I got on eBay recently for £30! Over 100kgs saved from the scrap man