The Shop > Tools
Harrison L5 rescue
micktoon:
I finally got back to doing the lathe today , I had an alloy damaged box I found at the scrapyard ages ago that needed patching up and holes filled in. Its going to be used as the main electrics box housing the transformer for the lo volt light and the main operating switches. An alloy switch box for the emergency switch with a hole that was bigger than my switch that needed filled so I could then drill the right size hole. The alloy shelf that will sit above the electrics box and inverter needed some alloy angle to go around the rim so things will not fall off the shelf. I have just spent an age trying to work out how to get the photos done on the new photo bucket so fingers crossed I have got it right or there may be no photos on this post lol.
The switch box cover with a hole that is too big.
Welded the patch in, welding could be better but will do the job.
Looks ok once ground off then sanded, I will now drill it the right size for the switch I have.
The corner of the alloy angle ready to weld , this will go around the shelf so things can not rattle off the edge.
This is it once welded , ground off and sanded.
The main electrics box was smashed on one side and had various holes drilled in it like these four here.
The four holes welded up, the clamp is holding a block of steel up onto the undersdie of the holes to stop the weld drooping through.
The area once ground off and sanded.
The main damage was on one side of the box , I cut out the badly dented bit and let in some alloy plate the same thickness, I clamped it in place with the steel block under the area to be welded and tack welded it into position.
The joins were then welded up around the patch.
The area patched side once , ground off filed and sanded, by some miracle whatever had damaged the box had missed the lid otherwise it would not have been worth trying to repair.
Well all looks to have posted ok , but scary 15 minutes as Photo bucket as usual locked the computer up right at the end of the post so thought I had lost the lot :bugeye: but lucky the post was still there on restart :thumbup:
Cheers Mick.
Meldonmech:
Hi Mick
Nice welding looks like a new box, did you use a mig welder ? I find restoring machinery very rewarding. The school I
attended had two lathes a Boxford and a Harrison L5. I always tried to use the Harrison, being a much better lathe, with more
facilities. I cut my first square threads both internal and external, for a screw jack, using the L5. Glad to see you making progress.
Cheers David
micktoon:
Thanks David , it was a T.I.G welder set on AC I used to do the welding, its a Migtronic mte220 welder that is very good ( better than me ! ) I dont have a foot pedal control so some bits of alloy welding can bi tricky as heat builds up and suddenly what you are welding becomes a lump of mush :bugeye:, that happened on one bit last night when I was getting tired, I have to work out how to fix it today....... it will involve even more tricky welding :palm:
I have only heard good things about the Harrison L5 so hope all my effort will be worth it in the end :thumbup:
Cheers Mick
trevoratxtal:
"I have only heard good things about the Harrison L5 so hope all my effort will be worth it in the end :thumbup:"
I am sure you will like it, it is a dream hands on machine, that tolerates many mistakes.
I am still following your progress by installments.
Regards
Trev
micktoon:
This is the corner that I melted last night, the shelf part is about 5mm thick and the angle edging about 2-3mm thick so any hesitation or the weld pool not forming straight away and this happens :palm:
I decided a patch was the best way so cut a scrap to fit but this time left it longer so the thinner part had more bulk to soak up the heat and also decided I would weld these similar bits together then weld the rear edging angle to them before attempting to join them near the corners and along the rear to the thicker shelf so again there would be more of the thinner edging to conduct the heat before it would melt away. This is the patch in place and cleaned where it needs welding.
I have now clamped the patch to the main angle edging with the steel block behind to again stop the alloy sagging if it gets too hot.
It welded fine this time , just had to be quick and make sure there was enough weld bead at the ends so when it is dressed up it will still have the straight edge .
After a bit of grinding, filing and sanding and trimmed off to length it looks fine :drool:
I have cut the edging for the rear of the shelf but for some reason the welder has started to trip the garage and house breakers so after three attempts and all the lights going off have gave up for today, I will have to investigate tomorrow :palm:
Cheers Mick
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