Member postings for john evans 13

To be honest I have no idea. Its just a standard type motior to me! There is a hump on the back. I thought I had taken a pic but cant find it just now!

All I know is that it is 1 phase clarke cwl20rv , Half the size of the original, 1460rpm and has a huge spindle length!!

I will take a pic when I can.

Hi. Not posted on here for over a year. My old southbend has an equally ancient motor with a reverse lever in its casing. Not too safe to operate as it sits behind the headstock.

I bought a used clarke 1/3 hp motor from a wood lathe. Only then did I consider whether it would reverse or not..I suspect it wont!! Any theories as to how it can be achieved if it is possible? Thank

Thanks Mark. Nice pics of your machine.Even the original motor! Sorry for the delay responding.The site decided to refuse my password until now! The grey looks fine but as yet I have not chosen a colour for my machine.I suppose it depends what the shop has in stock when I go. No such luck today! Plenty of info on the web and lots of videos but most are superficial rubbish which tell little or nothing.

Edited By john evans 13 on 31/01/2017 22:30:51

Yes Mark..a typo. It is 415.

Interesting to hear they were grey. I suppose it could have been thoroughly cleaned up and repainted in the past..maybe more than once? One tends to assume paint found on inner faces of castings to be original,if so,green was the colour:if not...?

Anyway it is progressing slowly.tailstock and all guards are off. Info plates refurbed and quite a bit of paint scraped off by hand. I am off to the shops tomorrow to chose a colour then buy 500ml which I expect will suffice.

I favour rustolium which I use on outdoor metal posts with success but it depends if they have a suitable colour. I like originality but do not want to go to extremes as it is only cosmetic.

Age? Last nigh I believed it to be 1941 based on serial numbers close to it on an american macinery site.

Today I cleaned up the plates and it appears to be 1940. Catalogue no 413. 40 bed length 3.5. Serial no 116895.

The plate on the back shows

AD.M 1432/18

P.NO 111

116895

NO sign of grrey paint anywhere,just green and cream.

Michael

No I do not want black but I understand your viewpoint. I would like to keep the colour close to original..not that I have with my 1924 royal enfield. My 1963 norton is green but darker than that on the lathe.

Mark

The seller told me the headstock had pb bushes but as I have not stipped the machine I cannot be sure. The serial number seems to put it at 1941,a model c..not a 35 junior as believed. This would fit the wartime use I was told about plus the 1940's purchase date.

The is no discernable play in the bearings and oil was visible in the oilers.In fact the whole machine operates smoothly. Before buying,my own research indicated that beds wore more that headbearings.The bed was rescraped in the past so hopefully it is ok for a few more years.

Are there any things to watch out for on the stripdown. I hear tge spring loaded wicks can be an issue?

Thanks for the feedback

Update as promised

The southbend is now home and I am pleased to report it is better than anticipated. The rust shownn in the sales pics turned out to be a mix of old oil,dust and sawdust. 14 additional change gears were located,3 chucks,one 4 jaw independent, a drill chuck and drills. Thread form tool,tool steel,tool holders and cutters.

It is currently painted white but seems to have been green initially. Any idea what is a close shade of paint?

The motor is quiet but it needs a new drive belt as it is perished and broke at the stitch when I ttied to separate it. All in all a good buy,150 well spent,I even picked up a nice 3a vice for an extra 20.

Happpy bunny. Just have to strip,clean and refurb cosmetically now.

I have a clark 150 mig and over the 20 or so years I have had it can find little to complain about. Even the pinch rollers are original but I now run a steel liner,much more reliable.As others suggest,get a bigger bottle unless you like running out of gas mid way through a job.

I also have a stick/tig invertor. Chinese,Giant make. Cheap as chips,circa 200amp and circa £170. For stick welding it gives good,stable results. I have not tried it as a tig but doubt it will be brilliant.

Well that put a dampener on things. I suspect there will be wear but am reasonably confident the bearings are phosphor bronze as I looked up the original sales documents online. Sadly not the large dia spindle but it is said to be hardened.

As it is only £150 i can take the chance.

Time will tell. I cannot collect until sunday at the earliest so will report on my findings once collected.

The owner says there are other items to take but at present I know nothing more.

I assume having been owned and used by the late owner since the late 40's it must have been good. I am told he gave it much use and had to rescrape the bed due to wear in the centre.

Thanks for the many responses and opinions.

Tonight I bought an old southbend 9" swing 36" bed machine. Unused and neglected for over ten years but owned since the late 40's by a development engineer.

Fingers crossed.It was cheap so if things do not work out it can be sold as spares.

I live near Chesters Hawarden factory warehouse so buy from them.There have been times I have walked out without making a purchase simply because the one salesman,Tony,is too busy to attend to ms.

I generally get annoyed at the waste of my time yet invariable return some other time. They really should do better.

Warco?not been there but have phoned,I was treated like a nuisance by a female staff member so have not bothered

Since.

All business' have their issues and we make our choices based on how we feel about the manner we are treated. Sadly they often forget that!

Thanks John but I want to buy something to use,not throw more money at. I arranged to go to Widnes to see a boxford tomorrow but have recd a text saying it is now sold. According to eBay it was removed due to an error so assume he sold privately and pulled the auction to avoid commission.

Thanks Carl

What I failed to say was that it took 1.5hrs and used a copper alloy. The cut was only .75mm.

This is the cruz of my problem.Cuts have to be shallow and taken in steps. If I use Bms it will take longer and cgatter will occur. Stainless is ok to machine.

Looking at the chester 920 which is a logical upgrade I feel the minimum speed is too high,the 7/8 drop to 50 but are just bigger versions of my tiddler.

I will keep looking. Thanks again.

Yes it is difficult but I honestly have no intention of breaking the budget. I can get by with what I have if need be as it is not as bad as I portray.It can still turn accurately with care and time. In fact I used it today on a 275mm bar. The taper was 0003 end to end.Certainly good enough for what I needed.

I had set my heart on a bigger machine but will not worry if I fail to find one.

Thank you for the advice imparted so far. I can use a lathe etc but do not frequent hobby sites etc so the info on suppliers etc has been invaluable.

Well the owner of the lathe in church stretton got back to me after the auction ended.

Still no idea of its manufacture. Weight approx 1/2 tonne. The major issues are that it does not run without shedding its monster 4"belt. Additionally the drive has been messed about with,plus the machine is 8' long..too big for me.