My Old/New but free lathe

[PeeWee]

Hi All,
Here are a few shots of my Old/New but very free lathe.
 
Main picture, and yes it is sat in a wheelbarrow, as I am not allowed to lift. it appears that it used to be painted black and red, I may reinstate this, or just clean it.




looks like a full set of change wheels and a 4 jaw chuck


First question,
the chucks appear to be secured by 4 bolts onto the lathes spindle, is this good or bad?  As I have not seen this method before, also I am going to have to completely strip the checks to remove years of standing dirt.


second question
the gears on the right are generally disengaged, if I engage them then the chuck appears to lock into place, what is the point of this?  Its controlled by the small lever seen behind the gear


everything seems very solid and well built


final bit,  here is 20 seconds cleaning on the right gear, though the rest will take much longer,

[Darren]

When you operate the leaver and the spindle locks you need to pull a knob/pin on the larger gear on the spindle.

Then you are in back gear which is a lower ratio .... mainly used for threading 

[bogstandard]

Nice pickup Ian.

Here is the page you should be looking at to get a bit of info about it.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/faircut/index.html

Yours is the back geared and screwcutting version.

To sort your questions first. The second one first.

The lever you swung across and locked everything up is the backgear section. To get it to work properly on this type of lathe, you usually have to slacken off the screw that locks the belt pulley cone to the main spindle. The one you can see in the pics nearest the chuck is usually the one. No need to take it all the way out, just so that it lets the cone run free.
This should then allow the spindle to rotate freely without the belts turning, then when back gear is selected, it then brings the big gears into play allowing much slower speeds to be used, mainly for screwcutting or cutting large material. You should not select back gear unless the cone has been released. Some people use the back gear to lock the machine up solid, so they can remove the chuck, but that can be fatal for the gears, and if you see any missing teeth, it is usually caused by that action.

For the chuck, it will require a backplate before it is fitted to your machine. If you look at the 3 jaw, you will see that it is bolted to a plate that screws onto the spindle nose, you will require one of those backplates, as I wouldn't recommend taking apart your three jaw, as not only will you disturb the settings, it is doubtful that the backplate has the same register.
If you read one of my latest posts, it shows what I mean.

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=2304.0

I hope this gets you on your way to understanding it.

Bogs

[PeeWee]

Hi,
Thank you for your replies, the back gear makes total sense, and the good news is that i have checked and all theeth are in perfect condition.

Great thread on the back plate, though i may have a problem here.  the backplate connected to the 3 Jaw appears to be one piece that disapears intop the bearing.  i need to very closely look into this to see if it fixed, though this would be daft.

thats the trouble with not having a manual i suppose, that said i dont want to replace this lathe unless i have to as that would be a waste.

[NickG]

Looks a nice little good quality lathe there Ian. 

[PeeWee]

Hi All,

Finally got the 3jaw and backplate off, took over an hour.  Now I need to find out what thread it uses.  One of the thrust bearings is gone on the main shaft but I intended to replace these anyway as a precaution.

Also ignore previous post ref teeth, when I removed the guard to reveal the back gear horror struck.  Bogs is right, someone has used it for chuck removal as a number are completely  missinng.   See below




regards

[NickG]

That was the same on my myford! You might be able to 'peg them'. Drill and tap and put studs in then file off!

[PeeWee]

A little further into the strip down and I have a couple of questions, but firstly thank you Darren for the ebay thrust bearing link in your thread, mine are identical so will be ordering a couple.

Now for the questions,  from the 2 pictures below you will see scoring on the mandrel where the grub screws connect on flats, I can clean the burs off and the flats, but has this gone too far?

Next, initially I thought the mandrel was solid, this turned out to be dirt that has now been removed. The internal bore is a taper, question is of what type?  Bore chuck end is 0.45” and 0.38” at the back end over a length of 11.5”,  all in old money as that is what the lathe is.





thank you for any assistance

[Darren]

In your last picture is just above the gear it a centre. Does that fit your headstock?

I'm guessing it's MT1

[PeeWee]

Its the centre out of the tailstock barrel, which is just visible top right, its just abit small for the headstock mandral bore

[sbwhart]

It could be M2

The screw damage on those shafts should clean up OK just go at it gently no need to remove all the marks just enough so the bits fit, its the fit of the shaft in the bearing thats critical.

Have fun

Stew

[PeeWee]

Hi All,
Quick question, what paint should be used on the restoratioon and where can i buy it?

thank you in advance

[andyf]

Hi PeeWee.
This isn't about the paint, but if your tailstock is 1MT, I've just been given a 1/2" chuck with what I think is a 1MT shank.


My tapers are all 0MT, 2MT and 3MT, so I have no use for it and would rather move it on than do nothing with it. Free* to a good home, so if you haven't got one it might get you started. The tang on the end of the shank is missing, as is the chuck key, but the key is a standard size.

If you don't want it, say so, because it might be of use to someone else on here.

Andy

*  If you can pick it up from Sale, Cheshire; otherwise £2.24 postage.

[NickG]

I would usually just use hammerite for something like that but you might need something else if you want an authentic colour!

Nick

[Darren]

I paint my machines with single pack polyurethane floor paint, not only is it cheap it's also designed to cover garage floors.

Consider that you can walk, drive and drop tools, oils and other nasties on it and it's designed to take it.

To get a nice finish use a small decorators roller.

A £20 tin of paint will paint quite a few machines .... 

[PeeWee]

andyf  PM sent

thank you for the options, i will certainly look into them. 

[PeeWee]

I would like to say a thank you to AndyF,  the drill chuck arrived this morning and fits perfectly.   

[andyf]

Don't mention it, Ian. It was given to me, though I didn't really want or need it, and is too scruffy to be of any value, so I was only too happy to move it along to where it might be useful rather than let it rust quietly away. I only hope it holds drills true.

Andy

[PeeWee]

Hi All,

Well after a forced break i am back on the Job.   i have a quick question, on the older lathes the motor normally passes through a free standing pully wheel and shaft before another belt goes to the main lath shaft pullies. 

is this necessary i could i conect the belt direct from the motor to the lathe bypassing the intermeadiate pully.

regards

[lordedmond]

it will be to fast that lathe at a best guess would top out at 600 rpm or so

[madjackghengis]

Hi Peewee, you definitely need the jack shaft to reduce the speed, in addition to speed, you will have no torque, and won't be able to turn anything substantial without the mechanical advantage of speed reduction, not to mention burning up tool bits.  As to teeth on the back gear, one can also saw or machine a slot where the tooth goes, silver solder a piece of steel in the slot, and file it to match all the other teeth, carefully working on all the teeth replaced, while moving the lever into engagement, and going by "feel", as to when you've got the teeth "close enough", it ought to turn with little change from good, present teeth, to the new teeth you file.  Magnifying head piece such as an "Opti-visor" helps a lot in getting the profile of the teeth correct by hand.  Lordedmond is right, you definitely want to be under a thousand on your fastest pulley or you won't be turning steel.  You definitely have one that deserves to be fixed, and done up right for use, as far too many are too far gone to be used, and are only good for parts for others.  Bar bell weights are a good source of a cast iron plate for a backing plate, you just have to get lucky and not get one that's hard like glass.  Once you machine the thread and butt end of the plate to match the spindle, and make sure it is a bit sloppy, so the threads will hold it, and the butt end will register it with repeat accuracy, then and only then, turn the face and the outside diameter and a spigot to match your four jaw.  The back plate is the most important part of the chuck for being able to remove it and replace it with work in it, and have it return to proper position and in alignment.  What you've got is a fine piece of history that will live as long as you want it to, just a matter of care, so it's worth doing right all the way.  My opinion, for what it's worth mad jack

[PeeWee]

Hi All,

I thought i would need the back end pulley system. 

Your right Mad Jack about too many of these old lathes being either stripped or chucked.  Whilst i have not made chips since my apprenticeship and i can afford a new Chinese lathe, which I am very tempted by I keep coming back to this faircut.  and always think that once set up and working would be a far better investment / return on my money.

Call me old fashioned, but then into classic cars as well.