My Harrison Lathe.....Restoration??

[Darren]

Ah, that prob explains why my last S&B belt didn't last too long then? I have it fairly tight, the new one is not leather though.

Just to clarify a couple of points as it may help decisions, though really I would doubt it. The lathe cones don't seems to be curved like my S&B, they are flat. Sizes for both are 2,3 & 4". The lathe uses a combination of bronze bearing at the back and ball race at the front. So I guess still need to keep the speed down.

With a 400rpm layshaft speeds would be 800, 400, 200, with back gears 112, 56, & 28 rpm
Quite a nice range I would think?
I don't really need high speed from this machine as the S&B goes up to 3,000 rpm and I would use that mainly for small dia work, esp with the collets. Then there is the Mini Lathe.
Feel like a spoilt brat ere 

I have two motors with gearboxes on them. So thinking that I could do away with the layshaft and fix the 3 step pulley directly on the motor I investigated further.

One has a 15/1 ratio, so speeds would be 190, 95, 47, 26.6, 13.3, & a whopping 0.07 rpm. A bit slow methinks 

t'other is on the donkey saw, 28O rpm giving 560, 280, 140, 78.4, 39.2 & 19.6 rpm. Apart from the top being a bit low at 560 that's not too bad is it.
I could almost live with that.

Comments anyone?

Darren

[Darren]

Thinking things over how about this basic idea.

Shorter belt req', mount on steel plate, wood for mock testing. Mount roughly as shown in the picture, both layshaft and motor have adjustment in feet for tension and alignment.The red line relates to a pivot point with the bias position to drop the layshaft under gravitational forces onto simple bolt/nut. The bolt being fitted vertically from the table lower section for the board to rest upon thereby adjusting belt tension.

All to be sited under the table with the lathe above.

[CrewCab]

Darren .......... that's pretty much how the Underdrive system works on my Boxford Lathe ............ and there are thousands of them out there working fine ........ so the system is tried and tested, OK there are a few extra pulley's so variable speed is an option but .........   you can always add that later.  I'm sure there is a wealth of info on't interweb, but ......  if you want a couple of photo's just shout up 

CC

[Darren]

Thanks, I think I'm pretty much sorted, but a pic never hurts does it, just in case 

Darren

[Brass_Machine]

Thanks Darren   

Now I am on the lookout for an old lathe to restore. Not like I have enough projects and ideas to sort through 

J/K around of course. Between you and Rog restoring old machines to better than new... I got the itch!

Eric

[bogstandard]

Eric,

Having restored a couple myself, and used the resulting lathes to their full potential, it is a heartwarming feeling to know you have brought a bit of old iron back to life. Most probably to a better condition than when it was new.

But the machine destined for restoration must be feasible to do. The expense of bed regrinds and white metal bearing replacement can soon make a restored lathe cost a lot more than a new one.

I was lucky with the Atlas because I managed to find a place in the States that supplied good second hand parts very cheaply, and the Myford ML2/3 restoration, I was able to machine broken off cast iron parts in steel and bolt them on, and turn up new bronze head bearings.

I think Darren has dropped in lucky here, and got away with very little more than elbow grease, that could have easily turned into a much bigger and more expensive project.

Do a little homework first (unless of course it is the bargain of a lifetime) and choose your project well, and you will get all the rewards that come with a good restoration.

John

[Darren]

John's right Eric,

I know the original pictures made my lathe look beyond repair due to rust. But what looked like a horrendous amount of rust damage on the lathe was really a little rust in a lot of grease and dirt.

My second stroke of luck was the fact that this lathe has seen hardly any use at all, mostly evident in lack of damage or wear to be found anywhere.

Like John says, all I've really done is clean it up and lap it in a bit.

More luck than skill...more to come soon, a mig followed me home today.....

[Bernd]

More luck than skill...more to come soon, a mig followed me home today.....

What? A Russian jet.  Wow.          

Bernd

P.S. Sorry I couldn't resist that.   

[bogstandard]

Darren,

Just a question.

You started off by machining up little upstands for glass valves.

Over the last couple of months, you have been gathering together copious amounts of engineering machinery.

Have you rented out a factory somewhere to set up your own business, or have you caught the model engineering bug, and squeezing it all in a garden shed?

John

[Darren]

Ah yes but Brend, it never overtook me, hows that for driving 

John, just replacing what I once had, but been missing in my life for a while. I've always had the bug to mod....
Bit of a squeeze here too....I've got a lot on my plate here, bought a new place 12mths ago and renovating it as I go along, it's a big job. A garage is also on the cards. Nearly got one wall built. Going slow though 

[John Stevenson]

More luck than skill...more to come soon, a mig followed me home today.....

What? A Russian jet.  Wow.          

Bernd

P.S. Sorry I couldn't resist that.   

Wait until you see the ground cart needed to start it 

.

[Darren]

Decided to have a look at the front head bearing tonight. It feels in great condition and turns freely.
Once the front cover was removed it was nice to see the bearing packed with grease and had not been run dry. Was equally as nice not to see the area full of rust.



It looks old but has not hardened, all the same I decided to replace it. I had no desire to remove the bearing for fear of causing any possible damage. Besides, there was no reason to take it out. On top of the bearing housing is a grease cup for adding lube. For those that may not know the idea is quite simple. you pack the cup with grease and thread it back onto the housing. Only a couple of threads mind you. Over time you tighten it up by a couple of turns every so often. This forces grease right into the bearing itself. When fully tightened down you undo the cap and remove it, fill it with more grease and start the process again. It's quite an effective method.

In my case for this time around, I filled it several times, thereby forcing the old grease out and totally renewing it. I used Lithium Molly grease here as it was all I had to hand. Good enough for car CV joints it'll be great in this application.





Here's a picture of part of the leadscrew dog clutch. This is forced in and out of the mating part to start/stop the leadscrew from turning whilst leaving the lathe itself running if desired.
Whilst quite a crude and brutal method, it's great for threading as there is no need for a thread dial indicator. You will always engage in the correct position with one of these.
But a point to note is the total lack of wear. It's mating part not shown here is in the same condition.



I would have done a bit more today but I've been playing with this. Well I had to test it didn't I..!!



Alas I have no mask, need some wire and it needs a new tip as it's missing. But it seems to work fine and it's had a new gun fitted....hurray..I'll have fun with this 

[Darren]

Tonight I decided to have another look at the Union lathe.

old-biker-uk, (Mark who makes those fascinating coins) was kind enough to offer me a motor mount with built in belt tensioner facilities.
Very generous of you Mark and extremely helpful to the cause. 

The bronze bearings look to be in good condition and accept a 3/4" (19mm) pulley shaft. Here I've fitted a steel bar in my initial sort out of what I'm going to do with this lot.



I need to fit these two pulleys on the shaft, neither has the right sized bore....of course not, why would they....more excuses to turn on the lathe 



For the 3 step cone pulley I decided to make a sleeve, uh, only got a drive shaft to make it from 
But, I'm not going to drill or tap it this time, just reduce the outer diameter and bore it.

Learning from my past mistakes I'm using the abrasive cut-off saw this time around, the bandsaw blades last a wee bit longer this way 



Turned the outer diameter to a little over sized to be finished later.
Here I'm drilling the center out to 19mm to fit the shaft.



Incidentally this is the first time for me to try my new keyless chuck. If you are still using a keyed chuck, do yourself a favour, throw it in the bin and get one of these. They are brill to use, no straining to get it tight enough, it self tightens under the drilling pressure, all you need to do is nip it up by hand first. Very quick to use esp as you don't have to hunt for the key first 


The drilling with a 19mm bit is only possible after doing Bog's tailstock arbour mod along with me fitting the flat car fan belt. Totally transformed this lathe....


Boring out the 6" pulley to 19mm



This is the sleeve on the shaft, I will weld this together tomorrow, hence the chamfers for the weld bead. When that is done I will turn the sleeve to it's final diameter so that it's true to the shaft.



A few shots of the mock set-up

[sbwhart]

That lathes coming on a treat Darren your making good use of that motor mount I think you'll soon have a runner.

 

Stew