Finding a chuck key!

[philf]

AndyF

How about Joseph Gleave, only been there once or twice - but seem to do a lot of stuff.

Russell

Joseph Gleave used to have a showroom on Picadilly Station Approach. They had a couple of Myfords in the showroom that I used to drool over on my way home from college. Unfortunately, I then couldn't even afford the £150 for a brand new ML10.

Chris,

I've probably got the chuck key you need but I also have the tiny chuck to go with it on my watchmakers lathe but if you needed to try one...............

Phil.

[AdeV]

I work Mon - Fri and a family to sort out Saturday but many thanks for your reply.
Chris

Surely you can nip out during one of your free periods? Unless I am mistaken, you work at a secondary school, so I'm sure you have the occasional free period  - or lunchtime? That's what the rest of us working folk have to do...

[Fergus OMore]

Norman, I'd forgotten Cromwells but I wouldn't go there again unless I was desperate.  The chances of getting their cantakerous storemen to produce a selection for Chris to try are slim, even if their stock was actually as extensive as the catalogue ("Can probably get one in for you if you really want, but it will take a few days...").

Andy

I cannot speak for Salford but I do recall a few years( was it a few?) but I'd bought a very cheap and untooled Clarkson  'out of a barn' for £100(?) I put on my best shopping attire( ex Wesley out of Last of the Summer Wine) and leaned on the  Team Valley counter to buy a couple of white wheels  to see whether it sparked and did things with best B & Q 50mm square wood tool holders .  No bother and the guy said 'Trade?' and I said ' Why Aye, ex- N***' and noo retired'.

As they say up here 'Nee bothaa, bonny laad, like, Ye knaa?'

[andyf]

Joseph Gleave used to have a showroom on Piccadilly Station Approach. They had a couple of Myfords in the showroom that I used to drool over on my way home from college. Unfortunately, I then couldn't even afford the £150 for a brand new ML10.

And before that (1970-ish) it was on Deansgate, among all the motorbike shops which are now restaurants etc. I'm not sure if my second-hand Perris lathe originally came from Gleaves, but the fine feed attachment (banjo and gears) seems to have been bought there at a later date.

Sadly, you won't see a lathe (other than for woodwork, perhaps) in their roomy Stretford showroom, though their website does list lathes and millers as items they deal in, along with various other metalworking machines and sundries. So maybe their range is larger than I think.  If I pass by before Chris is sorted, I might drop in and enquire - you never know.

Andy

[raynerd]

Not 100% yet, Jo. I practiced cutting an m14 x 1.5 internal thread last night after our discussion and it went OK. So as you say, changing the headstock might not be the thing to do.

Ade, long gone are "free periods"! They are now Planning periods and must be spent in work! Lunch is 45 mins :-(

Cheers for your offer phil. How is the CNC running?

Andy, thanks also for your offer... I'm sure I'll sort it, tbh, it was only a question based on can the chuck key be calculated so i can order online and although you and others have offered possible methods, it seems like the focus has been on me going in store and finding one suitable trial and error.

So thanks for everyone's advice, however positive , negative or agressive... I'm sure ill get it sorted. All the best