Boxford Lathe advise

[timeone]

Hi to all
Im hoping one of you guys would be able to give me some information regarding a lathe ive got my eyes on.
The make is a Boxford MODEL 9inch
it seems quite a small compact machine with the motor being mounted behind the gearbox, its also 3 phase is this easy to convert to 240v.
Im not sure what the lathe weighs maybe you guys know im planning to disasemble and load into an estate car do you think this is possible
Is this lathe going to be man enough to take reasonable cuts as ive only ever used a Chester mini lathe and that was hard work as every time i cut to deep it jammed or blew a fuse. maybe im a bit heavy handed hence wanting a machine more upto the job. I don't really plan to cut much more than aluminium and stainless steel with diameters not exceeding 3-4 inches 
Ive only had a quick look at the lathe and plan to see it again is there anything i should ask or look for on my next visit
appreciate advice for you guys as you seem to know what's what

[dickda1]

Boxford and South Bend lathes are close cousins are far as I know.  A ton of South Bends were made over here during the war and many found good homes in hobbiest shops .  Does the spindle of this lathe have ball bearings or is it bushings?  Both are quite accurate, but the bushing type must be run at lower speeds - might matter if you run carbide tooling on small parts.  You can buy a VFD drive to run the 3 phase motor and it should be a sweet setup.
-Dick

[BillTodd]

My brother has a nice little Boxford BUD (10") a really good and useful lathe.

it seems quite a small compact machine with the motor being mounted behind the gearbox, its also 3 phase is this easy to convert to 240v.

If the motor is dual voltage (many are), and in working condition, then wire it as 240v and use a VFD (inverter) to drive the motor. You should be able to find a cheap VFD for less than £100 on ebay, they are not difficult to wire and will make the lathe even better to use.

Bill

[timeone]

Thanks for the info guys
Well i bought it the deal was too good not to have it its got several manuals which is an added bonus
The lathe hadnt done much hard work and was owned from new and was looked after apart from a bit of paint missing ehere and ther it looks in good shape. Its in bit sat in the back of my car as i speak so over the week-end ill get her assembled
The added bonus id i already have a mill running of an inverter so im planning to use the lathe on the same one as they would never be running at the same time

[jgroom]

I started with a mini-lathe before I picked up my 9" South Bend.  The difference is night and day.  I think you'll be very pleased with your Boxford. 

Cheers

Jeff

[timeone]

Was quite pleased to see that the lathe came with receipts from Boxford for anything it needed including a complete overhaul in 1985 including the bed reground and tapered bearing fitted to the headstock not sure if the model was made with the bushes but at least its running in bearings now
It was interesting to read the regrind cost £75 then

the motor is the original a 0.5 hp made by crompton parkinson
it states volts 380/440
volts 220/250
so id imagine this is a dual voltage motor ?

the lathe number is A30341  does this date the lathe

[joegib]

so id imagine this is a dual voltage motor ?

Yup, the two voltage ranges mentioned indicate that the motor can be reconfigured to run off a 220V domestic supply via an inverter. If it was previously run from a 440V supply the terminals will be set for 'Star' connection. For your 220V supply you need to re-arrange the metal straps across the motor terminals for 'Delta' connection. This is simply done by opening the terminal box exposing 2 rows of 3 terminals, unscrewing the nuts securing the straps and re-arranging them as shown in the attached PDF:

http://www.drivesdirect.co.uk/Downloads/InvertertoMotorWiring.pdf

Joe

[HS93]

If you need an inverter i may be able to help I bought it two months ago and it is still in the box it came in, I was about to put it up for sale on the cork bord with some other bits, let me know if you are interested, Have you got a picture of the motor or do you know the HP of it.
I have just converted my lath (ml10) to 3 phase and it is nice to use  forward revers any speed and it keeps the torque at low speed, jog .nice smooth start and stop

Peter

I can put a picture on hear if you want

[timeone]

Thanks for the offer Peter but think im ok
My plan is to run it of my mill inverter as you can only use one at a time. If i connect each machine to a 4 pin plug and have a socket attacted to the inverter is this the way to go.

If i connect to an inverter what position should i put the drive belt on the pulley
id sooner have more torque
so whats best option
Appreciate advice form you guys as your a wealth of information

[Jonny]

Is it a plug and play inverter?

[HS93]

it's one of these, http://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&view=show_ad&adid=7672&catid=2

Peter

[PekkaNF]

To my knowledge inverters don't like motor to be disconnected while running. Also inverted controls needs to be connected to the machine. Therefore you would need least two cables and plugs of correct gender...you don't want power the pins of the three phase plugs accidently. I'm nor sure what electric installation code would say with this kind of system. I would think that inverter could be permanently wired trough contactors to both machines and HW interlocks made to make operation foolproof. These interlocks should not only provide run/stop/reversal/E-STOP commands, but also and start only from one location at the time and not to disconnect while runnin etc...) Not sure if it would be cheaper anymore.

I considered this and came to conclusion that each machine needs it's own inverter.

If someone can prove me wrong I would be happy.

Pekka

[timeone]

Here is some info i found while searching the web. it explains everything



Getting the best from an inverter

The good news is that you can get around most of the Inverter's shortcomings. All of my Inverters are wall mounted and connected for output to a Lewden plug socket designed for 3 phase output. All of my machines have a suitable Lewden plug fitted on the end of their supply cable so I can switch them around or connect other machines at a later date. As long as the Inverter's output is greater than the maximum requirement of the motor then you can run any motor or any amount of motors (one at a time of course) from one single Inverter. It is not necessary to change the settings on an inverter, even if the last motor it ran was 1/2 HP and the next to be run is 3 HP. The existing settings will give similar results for any motor up to the maximum rated power of the Inverter.

The inverter's remote control box can be a huge bonus. It can be connected by cable long enough for the box to drop into a suitable place and control whatever machine you are working on at the time (say a bracket of some kind) and move it on to another machine with ease. In this way you only need one control box to run any number of machines from one inverter (one at a time). The wiring connecting the control box to the Inverter is very low voltage and presents no significant safety risk, save the ordinary care required where cables and rotating machine spindles are concerned.

[HS93]

what I cannot understand is why only have one inverter , they are not expensive they are very small , for the type of machines you are talking about theyare about  6" X 3" X 9" If you only have one and you have problems with one  the shop is closed, it is going to cost you half the price of a inverter for all the 4 pin plugs and sockets.

Peter

I have some one interested in my inverter so wont be putting on the cork board as yet