Member postings for Martin Hamilton 1

Neil i think you will find a lot of the various brands of Chinese machines like Warco, Chester, Amadeal etc do not have any adjusting screws on the shear plates. They just have the fixings that attach the shears to the saddle with the exception of the Mini lathes. I dont know if the SC4 has adjusters on the shear plates as i have not looked in that area when i saw an SC4.

Barrie not yet, was just looking as there is so little out there re very good little used Emco's any more.

Yes that was the easiest why i had thought as well, possibly over cut when milling the shear plate then using appropriate shims to fine tune along the shear plates length.

It is lift i am referring to & not any wear on the ways or saddle ( new machines ), most of these machines don't appear to have any shims between the saddle & shear plates to remove or re shim as the shear plates are bolted on with excess clearance to the ways in some cases.

It just seems an area that you cant adjust re any chatter you may get especially on some smaller machines like a Warco WM 180 that dosn't have a lot of weight to the saddle/apron/cross slide/compound assembly. I know even on Mini lathes that do have adjusters some like Steve Jordan on Youtube mod these saddles further still to improve & eliminate movement further.

Why do a lot of the Chinese lathes that we use don't have any way of adjusting the saddle to bed ways, talking about up & down or rocking movement of the saddle. I have seen some lathes that are new that have movement in the saddle but obviously as the lathe wears you get more movement. I know some of the Mini Lathes do have adjusting screws on the shear plates at the front & rear of the saddle to take any up & down movement out from the saddle. How is this addressed on larger lathes for example on the Warco WM 180, 240,250, 280 etc that don't appear to have any way of doing this, look forward to your opinions & thanks Martin.

Some of the castings on old Emco machines can suffer with diecast corrosion problems after a number of years where they start to burst open. I looked at a 1979 Emco compact 8 recently & the leadscrew bearing blocks at either ends of the leadscrew were bursting & splitting open purely with age.

The Holts brake cleaner says on the tin that it does not contain chlorinated solvent, acetone or silicon.

I now get my large 600 ml tins of Holts aerosol brake cleaner from Screwfix for £3.49, Halfords on the other hand want £5.49 for 500 ml tins.

You will soon knock the bearings out milling on a pillar drill, a milling machine is intended to take both side & end loads.

I have used many of the methods mentioned above over the years, i now use disc brake cleaner.

Barrie i have had a few Emco's over the years & liked them, the first one i had was the little Emco Unimat SL around 1969 or 1970. I had an Emco V10 P which i loved using for around 20 + years, this was a pretty good condition 1977 made machine that i got around 1994 until the gears in the headstock decided to explode ! This left quite a mess & not really viable to repair what with the lack of spares available for the V10P these days. I also had a Compact 8 for a short time & liked that as well but it did have some wear on it & the motor would run pretty hot after a fairly short time of use so got rid of it. Also had a couple of Myfords, a new ML10 around 1970 & an old ML7 for a number of years, i must say i am not a big fan of Myfords personally. I just don't like using them.

Martin.

Barrie the 60hz motors i saw were for the US market & 115v, the 220v motors were 50hz. I assume the UK 230v / 240v motors are also 50HZ. Do you often here of any very good condition Emco's up for grabs, either Compact 5 or Compact 8 lathes etc. Thanks Martin.

Thanks for that Barrie, i know that some of the different voltage motors have 50HZ whilst others have 60HZ. Does that make any difference to running a different voltage.

I just wondered why the European Emco has 220v on the spec plate on the motors & the UK models had 240v. I believe some of the later UK versions may have 230v on the plate.

I have noticed there are some very nice Emco Compact 5 lathes for sale @ various times on the Netherlands & German Ebay sites, they do tend to be more expensive than what we see in the UK for used machines. The thing i am not clear on though & perhaps someone can answer this is the Emco Compact 5 machines usable here in the UK that are sold over in Europe as they seem to be 220v motors & capacitors. Can these be used on UK 230v - 240v supply or will this cause problems. Thanks Martin.

Chris just a few questions on your Compact 5 lathe, what sort of condition is it in & does it have extras with it. How much would you be asking for it if you decide to sell it & what part of the country are you. Thanks Martin.

Seeing as it has been nearly 3 years since the start of this thread & over 1 rear since the last posting, has anyone else in this time bought a Wabeco D4000 lathe. If they have did they have any of the experiences that the posters in this thread had with there particular Wabeco D4000 lathes, good or bad ?

There is a huge difference in price between a new Rolls Royce & a new Mini but you still expect the Mini to be 100% usable. Not where you have to dismantle & repair the Mini & repair it before it's fit for the purpose it was sold for, you also wouldn't be to pleased if you had drain all the fluids from the cheaper Mini to get all the grinding paste out of the oil & greased parts of the car.

It does make me laugh when you here the spiel spouted by some on the vendors in the UK that sell Chinese machinery, machines checked by our expert staff. From what i have seen in the past & heard about from other buyers of most Chinese machines the machines don't appear to have been touched at all whilst in its crate prior to being dispatched to the customer. This is just another case that highlights this problem, it seems pot luck if you get a good n or a bad n, hope you get it sorted with a good n. I wonder how many Chinese machines are out there where buyers simply don't realize or cant dismantle there machine to check things out & also clean all the crap out that is in the grease/oil.