Chester Conquest Lathe.....

[Stilldrillin]

Four years ago, I bought a Chester Conquest lathe...... Cleared a little workbench space & made a few turnings.

It was so tiny & lightweight, compared with anything I had experience of! 




All ok, BUT..... 

The hole for the toolpost screw had been tapped at an angle, so the toolpost would not sit down squarely.

I drilled out the 10mm threaded hole in 1/2mm increments to 10mm, then counterdrilled the underside 10.5mm x 5mm deep.
I then reduced the head of a 10mm caphead screw to a press fit in the recess.
This produced a nice rigid fitting, square toolpost!

The thing rocked on it`s rubber feet, so I made outrigger supports from 1" square tube.



Also there was a rythmic SKWARK! from the machine at increased revs... Polishing etc.
It sounded as though the leadscrew bearings were very dry. (They weren`t).....

I tried many times to cure the noise... But it could only be from inside the headstock.

Prompted by Boggy/ Darren`s posting, I finally bit the bullet & stripped it down the other day.



Headstock. Waxy dry grease.....

I sprayed liquid grease into the bearing recesses & waited for it to seep through to the outside of the bearings.





After 2 days, back together again, quiet, with no change in accuracy...... 1thou variation from chuck to tailstock!




I`m a bit pleased...... Again! 

David.

[bogstandard]

Nice one David.

Good fix on the toolpost, and those crappy, shake about, rubber feet.

I am just building up Darren's lathe. I will be using some very sticky non-sling gear grease in the head, hoping it will stop it going dry like yours had.

Then I have to try and realign the head, as I had to remove the setting screws when I machined up the casting. I think it is going to be a bit of a puzzler because not only do you have to get it turning parallel, it also has to line up with the tailstock as well, and they are both done using the same setting screws. Parallel first, tailstock later.

John

[Stilldrillin]

Hi John!
Thanks for your positive comments.

But..... Setting screws?

I didn`t see any setting screws....... Only the motor pivot / belt tension screws! 

Incidentally....... I have now glued 3/4" tap washers under the outriggers, as anti slip feet.

They`ve made it much quieter still! 

David.

[bogstandard]

David,

When I took the lathe apart, the two shown screws were tight up against the bottom of the head casting and locked up. I can only assume they are for very fine adjustment of the head.
It does seem feasable, because if you alter the pressure between the two, you should be able to straighten up a tapered cut by kicking the nose up or down, and if you keep the same pressure on the two, you should be able to tweak the head to get it aligned with the tailstock.

We are not talking massive amounts, maybe a few thou.


John

[bogstandard]

David,

I had a quick check on the web, and it seems that not all these lathes have adjusting screws, as people are shimming the heads and tailstocks up to get them level.

http://www.gadgetbuilder.com/Lathe_Align.html


John

[Stilldrillin]

John,

Those 2 screws on my machine protrude inside the headstock! You can see the shadow in this shot.
I guessed they were for motor positioning........




Thanks for the Gadgetbuilder link. 

I`m afraid that`s all a bit too much faffing for me.

The lathe was very accurate straight out of the box, even the tailstock alignment.......

I usually chuck a piece of 5/8" x 12" brass, protruding 1" from jaws.
Skim o/d with knife tool, & check the dial reading.

Centre drill.

Then set bar to 3" protrusion. Check skim dial reading.

Set bar between centres. Check skim reading at tailstock end, centre, & chuck end......

Quite accurate enough for trolley tokens & "widgets" ! 

David.

[Darren]

Ah yes, arn't they for adjusting the motor belt tension?