Member postings for Phil Pemberton

Very nice work, Roger!

Could you please send a copy of the DWG to me at philpem at gmail dot com?

I'd be happy to host it on my website at https://www.philpem.me.uk/machining/md65 with appropriate credit if you'd like.

Sadly I haven't got a drawing but I do have the (unfitted) tumbler mechanism and could take measurements or scans if that'd help. My measuring instruments are limited - I have a micrometer, a set of digital calipers, a Mitutoyo DTI and the usual rulers and so on. No fancy kit like surface plates, sadly.

What I'd really like is a copy of the bits of the instructions which I'm missing - notably the gear ratios. But I expect someone smarter than I could sit down with the drawings, leadscrew pitch (I imagine someone knows that) and scans and figure things out.

If you take a look at the 2 photos I uploaded to my album, they have the two pages of the gear ratios which I have, there's another half-page of additional gear ratios I'm missing.

Of course what I really should do is put all the stuff I posted to the Hobbymat mailing list on my website - that includes a really nice cleaned-up PDF scan of the lathe manual which is very easy to read when blown up to A4 size!

Edited By Phil Pemberton on 08/08/2023 16:58:05

Hi Peter and Roger,

I've uploaded the two images I have into an album. Unfortunately there's a page missing but after some cleanup they're mostly readable.

Hi Peter,

Sadly not. I found a copy of the installation instructions but sadly the change gear list and diagram are unreadable. The gear list seems to be different to the one on the machine.

Cheers,

Phil

Alas, Barrie, it's cost me a couple of good carbide drill bits! Still, she's fixed now.

I did find out why the pin wasn't embedded in the support when I tried to fit the replacement earlier. Looks like the previous owner cracked the support (which is made of plastic, seems to be Bakelite or similar) then "repaired" it with glue, filling the back with it in the process. I drilled out the hole to clean it and the repair gave way...

Regardless, a bit of drilling and some JB Weld later, and the pin is back where it should be!

Wow, this thread went on a bit! Have to confess I stepped back last night to let you get your suggestions in

In no particular order...

Welding - the pin was about 3mm behind the panel so no chance of that. It's a 4mm diameter pin. Also, I don't have a welder (though this is tempting me to buy one!)

Drill - this worked, once I ditched the HSS bit and went for a 4mm carbide bit. I ended up wrecking one of these when the drill skipped. A 4mm endmill split the side of the pin and finished the job, fell right out.

The bar, incidentally, is mild steel, and so are the pins. 4mm dia, 15mm long. I've got some replacements on order.

The pin was in there ludicrously tight, which explains why it wouldn't push out. From the bits of metal which came out, it looks like it had rusted in... which explains why the previous owner left it alone. I'm quite surprised how short it was, only 10mm when it's supposed to be 15. Yet another bodge done to this machine by its previous owner, one of several sadly.

Thanks for all your help!

Edited By Phil Pemberton on 29/01/2019 23:49:25

Sadly not. I've drilled into the support bar behind the pin, but I can't get enough leverage to push it out. If I make the hole any larger, it'll compromise the support bar.

The bar is about 50cm long (haven't measured it), 10mm thick and 20mm wide. Knocking a punch in from behind seems impossible.

One other plan I had considered was to drill a hole in behind the pin at a steep angle - I need to have a think about the practicalities of this and how to repair the bar afterwards.

Hi all,

Some of you might have seen my thread about the Hobbymat MD65 over in "Tools and Tooling". I've got a small problem with a metal dowel pin...

There's a yellow support which the front of the carriage rests on. This is held in place with one dowel pin on the left, and two on the right. Sadly it appears the previous owner has managed to drive the pin into the blind hole deep enough that there's nothing to grab onto... this is making the support a bit unstable.

Does anyone have any good tricks for getting these pins out?

Right now my best plan is to turn a small cylindrical drill bushing from a piece of scrap and use that to guide a drill bit into the pin. Hopefully I can then use "something" (possibly a self tapping screw) to pull the pin out.

Thanks,
Phil.

Just to provide an update on this --

I got the lathe sorted out. The problem was a combination of several -- grease and filth packed deep into the tailstock and carriage, and unevenly worn ways.

Figuring I had nothing to lose, I removed the right side support and leadscrew bushing. Strangely this part feels like machined plastic, there's almost no weight to it.

The carriage needs to have the locking and forcing screws partly removed before it'll move - so the outer two screws (locking) need to be a few millimetres proud of the carriage casting, while the forcing screw in the centre needs to be removed entirely. At that point the tailstock should slide right off. Use the power feed or refit the handle temporarily to drive the leadscrew and remove the carriage.

At this point I gave the whole lot a good clean with WD40. I put a straightedge on the bed and slipped the feeler gauge in... revealing a depression a few inches from the left side. Not deep, just enough to screw up the locking mechanism in the carriage.

I refitted the right bracket to support it, then ran a 400grit oilstone down the ways to take the burrs off and level it out. After about half an hour of work I noticed the wear-marks in the worn section were starting to give way to the more linear pattern of the oilstone, gave it a few more strokes and called it good enough. Washed the ways down with WD40, gave them a good wipe and relubricated everything with 3-in-1 Oil before refitting the carriage and tailstock. "Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly" as they say.

There's still a slight rock over the worn section, but it's infinitely better than it was.

Now onto the next problem, the previous owner drove one of the support pins for the front carriage support into a blind hole! I'm hoping it's made of mild steel or similar and a magnet might persuade it out, otherwise I'll be turning a drill bushing and drilling the bugger out!

Sadly drilling a 1.5mm hole at the end of the blind hole hasn't helped... my assortment of pointy tools just can't apply enough force to push the pin out.

Oh, and then I have to fit the tumbler reverse... and fix the broken snap ring on the dog clutch...

Cheers,
Phil.

Edited By Phil Pemberton on 28/01/2019 02:14:04

I'd never dream of using the carriage to lap the bed! Too much risk of ruining the carriage...

I've sent an email to Essel Engineering, hopefully they have a spare bed.

Honestly I have no idea how to go about making a lapping tool, although I probably have most of what I need on hand (wet-dry paper, Dykem and so on). This probably isn't the project to learn it on...

Thanks for the info, Roger -- I had no idea these machines were still being made! I already knew about Essel, but had no idea they were still around. I might get in touch with Pro Machine Tools if Essel can't help.

Thanks.
Phil

Hi,

I'm doing a bit of maintenance on my MD65 mini-lathe, and I'm having a problem with the "forcing" adjustments on the carriage (the three screws on the back).

If I adjust the three screws with the carriage at the tailstock end, the screws require very little movement and will lock the carriage with light fingertip pressure on an Allen key. If I move the carriage to the headstock/spindle end, the carriage will rock when I apply pressure to it.

If I adjust it at the headstock/spindle end, it takes a little more force via the screws to lock down, but the carriage locks up when I move it beyond about half way along.

I'm suspicious that the ways have worn to the point that it's not possible to get a good "compromise" adjustment across the full travel.

Is there anything I can do to improve the ways (match the wear, I guess) to the point where I can get at least a reasonable compromise adjustment?

Thanks
Phil.

Hi,

Some time ago I picked up a "tumbler gear" (screwcutting reversing gear) kit for my Hobbymat MD65. Unfortunately in the time between "receiving the tumbler" and "receiving everything else I need to refurbish the lathe", the instructions have gone missing!

Does anyone happen to have a copy they could scan or photocopy for me?

I've put some photos of the gear assembly here: https://imgur.com/a/3RsrPxG
I have a poor photo of the first half of the first page of instructions from the ebay listing, but that's it - no installation instructions or cutting guide for the gearbox cover

Thanks,
Phil.