The Craftmans Shop > New from Old
Reviving a Britan Lathe.
dvbydt:
I had been looking for the later version of this lathe for a while. Originally they were first made during WW2 and most that survive are the blue painted 3/4" versions. Nearly all of them have lead a hard life, producing maybe 3-400 turned parts a day for years. The one I purchased is from the early 1970's and is the squared off version painted light green.
Electrically all Britans had a three phase two speed reversing motor and stepped pulleys to give a reasonable speed range. Later ones incorporated a long lever at the front left which was a high/low mechanical speed clutch.
The motor on this one had been replaced by a standard single speed three phase one and the speed switch with a rotary fwd/off/rev switch. A geared auxiliary motor drives the compressor for the bar feed, the hydraulic pump for power feed and the coolant pump.
The lathe itself was in rather a mess but showed little sign of any hard wear and had been stood idle for a while.
Some of the things I learned may be of use in general repair and renovation. Attached are a couple of pictures.
Ian
RobWilson:
Hi Ian
Interesting lathe , you going into mass production ?
Rob
dvbydt:
Rob, thanks for taking an interest. No, not mass production, though that is what it is meant for. It is so quick and easy to set up that making above ten off is far quicker than on the lathe. I do occasionally need to such work for my customers. Additionally it can, if you wish, complete up to about 15 turning drilling, chamfering, tapping, threading and parting off operations on one setting.
Next post will be mastering a VFD for the main motor.
Ian
Anzaniste:
I've fanced one of these ever since I saw one in a machine tool dealers 20 odd years ago. Sadly at the time I had no place for it. Still haven't really but they're supe little bits Of kit..
Enjoy :clap:
Pete W.:
Hi there, Ian,
Please forgive me if you are already aware of this but have a look at http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=71997 .
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