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3 Phase Motor Starters

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RussellT:
We finally got the lathe cutting metal this week for the first time since 1991.  Not for very long and the finish wasn't very good but that was probably something to do with the bar being the first bit of scrap we could find and the tool having sat in the toolpost since 1991.

There are still a few bits to sort out, one of the gear levers is loose, the tailstock ram is seized and the belts need tensioning.  There doesn't appear to be any way of telling how much oil there is in the headstock either - although there's a hole in the filler that looks about the right size for a dipstick.  I couldn't work out what the lever on the back of the cross slide dial is for - some sort of stop I think.  It all needs a good clean too.

Next job - the Bridgeport.

hermetic:
Keep at it Russel, and post more pictures! This old electrical equipment can be a bit recalcitrent if it has been stood a while, but used regularly it is reliable as clockwork, and with servicing, lasts forever!
Good luck

Phil.

RussellT:
I had another go this week.  We took the lid off the headstock gearbox and had a look inside - everything was reasonably clean and it's clear that the problem selecting gears is a loose gear lever - unfortunately it's not as simple as tightening the grub screw so further investigation is needed.  I forgot to take the camera so no pictures I'm afraid.

I also had a look at the Bridgeport's wiring.  That was space age compared to the lathe.  The most difficult part of the job was opening up the hole in the box from 3/4 to 20mm for a new cable gland.  I made the connections and it all came to life.  The work lamp needs a new bulb which is clearly a funny voltage - a 240V bulb is very dim.

I'll try and remember the camera next time. :worthless:

Russell

John Swift:
Hi Russel
Lo Vo lamps I've seen used on various lathes had either
2 pin 50V  B22 baynet cap bulb ( like the 240V bulb) or
3 pin 25V B22 baynet cap bulb


you should have the option of selecting 25V or 50V for lighting

 John

RussellT:
We had another go at getting the Churchill lathe and Bridgeport mill going properly.

Thanks John for the voltage info. :thumbup:  The multimeter confirmed 48V which I had deduced from your bayonet cap diagrams.

Does anybody know whether modern LED bulbs will run on 48V - they have to have a power supply to convert from 240 to whatever needed for the LED.  Will that also work with 48V?

I remembered to take a camera so here are a couple of photos of the lathe.





The two issues on the lathe are the tailstock ram is seized and one of the gear levers doesn't engage properly.  We took the top off the gearbox to see what was going on.  I thought it might be as simple as a loose gear lever as the lever had a grub screw in the side.  No such luck. :( :(  The outer gear lever was held on with a taper pin, and the inner gear lever was keyed to the shaft - the grub screw was to hold it in position on the shaft.

Here's a couple of pictures of the inside of the headstock.  The input is on the bottom left and output on the top right.  Can you spot the difference?  It will be revealed after the second picture.





The difference is that the dog clutch on the second intermediate shaft (bottom centre of picture) has been moved.  The problem with that is that in the first picture the lever engages with the hole on the face of the headstock and in the second picture the lever is pushed beyond the other hole on the face of the headstock.  Engaging the lever with the hole is not sufficient to engage the clutch.

After poking about for a bit we're not much wiser about what the problem is.  The paint marks suggest that someone has dismantled this before - possibly to try and solve this problem.  It seemed to me that the solution was to move the gear along the shaft toward the bottom of the picture so that the dogs didn't have to move as far - but that would mean it didn't line up properly with the gear on the previous shaft.

Does anyone have any useful suggestions.  At the moment I do have a bodge in mind to stop it jumping out of gear but a proper solution would be nice.

We also had a look at the milling machine.



Even with the help of a diagram we couldn't work out how to disengage the hand wheel to use the quill feed lever.  After much headscratching  :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: :scratch: we realised where the lever was missing from.  Once we'd worked that out it was relatively easy.  Does anyone have the dimensions for that lever?  Most of them are quite easy to measure but it would be helpful to know the distance from the pivot to the centre of the ball.

We couldn't release the high/low speed clutch at the top of the machine.  It seems to be quite well stuck.  Does anyone have any tips for that?

We also started looking at a Pollard drilling machine that needs erecting.  It's very heavy with an 11 inch diameter motor on the top that needs to go between floor joists above.  That job needs more thought.

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