Member postings for Mike E.

Hi Mark R.

Thanks for the offer on your camel back kit, I'll keep it in mind. It will be awhile before I will be able to strip down and go through the surface grinder. The grinder along with my other machinery resides in our storage unit until I can get my garage/workshop completed and three phase power set up. I am located in South Wales.

Hello John C.

Glad to hear that you are happy with your machine. Thanks for the tip on prepping wheels. The machine I have has calibrations on both the knee and the cross slide hand wheels; there is a thumbscrew on each which allows setting to zero or any value in between.

Hi Robjon,

It's nice to know that your only issue is with the colour, lol. I have a couple of cans of green sign painters paint which I have coveted closely for years. A light coat gives a very smooth and durable finish, as it magically self levels; hence most of my better accessories are painted green. Sorry. Interesting you mention about a universal swivel vice, as I have been looking for a small good quality one at a reasonable price.

Cheers Gentlemen, thanks for the replies.

Hi John,

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd chime in as yours is the only thread about these machines..

I acquired a Herbert Jr. surface grinder recently, and feel fortunate also. I've posted some photos in an album. I believe the model I have is of a later vintage, although not sure what year it was manufactured, It has the larger knee and a built in lubrication system, is in very good condition overall, and the table glides back and forth effortlessly. My thoughts about getting a manually operated machine were that, wear should be minimal compared to those with a table drive.

The magnetic chuck I have, a Walker - Hagou, is larger than the 5" x 10" chuck these grinders came standard with. I'm thinking about having the chuck surface ground professionally, bottom and top, as that should give me a good indication of table accuracy after its mounted.

Have you had favourable results with your machine, and did you find it a worthwhile investment for your shop ?

Thanks, Mike

I just bought one too. New old stock ? Worth a punt for about a fiver with free postage.

Even grown up, the industrial size filers do not appear to take up much floor space. Guess I'll find out this week.

As I understand....... Filers which have a single attachment point, file on the down stroke, and files for this type of machine are designed that way; with straight shanks. The machines which have two attachment points to support the files also file on the down stroke, but could also file on an up stroke if needed. Some filers have an attachments which blow air to clear debris away, and also have adjustable position arms to keep the work from jumping up while being filed.

I can relate to it....... "Took me ages to find one". Your Excel looks like a nice compact machine. It would be interesting to see a close up of how the upper end of the file is supported by the extended arm ?

I've been on the lookout for a filing machine since viewing Tractor Man's thread here quite awhile ago, and have finally located a smaller OPUS - 120 model with a good inventory of accessories, including a sawing attachment. I'm expecting delivery next week, and will post some photos in an album soon.

Although this is an old thread, it would be interesting to compare the differences with Tractor Man's OPUS - 140 and the OPUS - 120 model.

What are you using to drill these small holes with ? If its a drill press without an adjustable stop, adjust the table for depth with the spindle fully down. If its a hand drill, use a common pen, and cut the forward part of the barrel to length, then put a couple of drops of super glue or shrink tube it in place.

Not sure what they are called here in the UK, but overseas we they are known as "Basket Grips". Try googling Greenlee electrical products.

As said previously, I did not intend my reply to Lathejack's album to become a new thread, or general topic and stir up any controversy; but in a way, I'm glad that a problem such as casting sand remaining in the headstock was brought to the attention of everyone here. Sand mixing in with the lubrication system, now there's a comforting thought. If it exists in a higher end import machine, one wonders what the odds of such problems occurring in smaller machines "built to a price point" might be ?

As Dave said, "If you are interested in the hobby, get on with it", and I would agree with him.

For those new to this hobby, I would suggest doing a lot of research before spending your hard earned money. Quality may cost a bit more, but poor quality will cost you a lot. Just the viewpoint of an old dinosaur who doesn't believe in....." If the product isn't right, we'll fix it", but believes that...... "If the product isn't right, it never makes it out of the shop door".

Reference: Album by Lathejack - "Chinese Torture"

Thank you for posting this reality check.

It has been a great informative thread about your nightmare journey, which I'm confident has been experienced by others as well. The rebuild should really be a forum topic to enlighten anyone as to what more than likely can be expected when buying imported equipment; but then, it might not be received well by some forum advertisers, so in all probability will be hidden away in the back corner of forum threads like this.

I commend and appreciate your efforts in rebuilding this lathe, and hope others take the time to read your posts, and also note that old equipment such as your Brown & Sharp lathe has put to shame the newer import lathe.

Cheers, Mike

For those interested, a Myford super 7 long bed lathe with Norton gearbox etc. was just listed on the G&M tools site.

Usual disclaimer, nothing to do with me.

When a faceplate is attached to a lathe, a one time facing cut is taken to make sure it runs true. Are you sure that he plywood attached to your faceplate also runs true ?

Reading these posts I'm wondering if the "plywood" is the problem ? Unlike metal, if an item is attached to plywood it may compress unevenly causing a small unperceived wobble causing you indicating issues, something to consider.

I vaguely remember making one of these marking pens as a project in Electric Shop back when I was in Junior High School. The mechanism is similar to that of a tattoo gun.

Have you removed the guard and put a spanner on the nut to find out ?

That's a superb image of the Horsehead nebula !

Well done Neil !

I was looking for oil for my Mill, and contacted a farm tractor dealer. The dealer only sold what I needed in larger quantities, but phoned a couple of their customers in my area to see if they could help. That worked, an I purchased the small quantity of hydraulic fluid I needed.

Perhaps a supplier could direct you to a machine shop which uses the product you need and you could approach them about the small quantity you need; it might be worth a try ?