Member postings for Pete.

Hi, thanks for the replies, but unfortunately I can't find anything on there that matches the description on lathes.co

Sounds good, look forward to seeing its progress.

I've been searching for some collets for my Portmac miller, Lathes.co describes them as 'standard dead length 1.5" crawford collets' that range in size from 1/8 to 1/2,

I've not managed to find any from this description, am I searching the wrong thing? are these style given an 'F' designation of some description that I need to search, any help much appreciated.

I'm sure I've looked at one in the past to consider buying when I was looking, I'm glad to hear it's nicely made, and you're right, sometimes something is too good to turn down.

Well that's good then, what are your plans? are you repainting it?

If anyone can give more info on this it would be good, I've nearly purchased 'EME' tooling in the past, so knowing more about it would be nice.

They look like really good home machines, I second that I'd like to see more of it as it progresses, the top left of the casting in the first picture, is that damage, a hole? or are my eyes deceiving me?

I'd say you got a bargain there, very nice bit of kit, in great condition too, you probably paid half what a questionable quality import would be, I paid £260 for my 10" Hofmann, also in great condition, the seller had an 8" also, but convinced me the 10" was a better price saving from new compared to the 8" he had, and it was much smoother to use.

Looks very nice, if you don't mind me asking how much did you pick that up for?

Baz, thanks for taking the time to measure that, but a 5mm drill was a bit loose in mine, and 3/16 is showing to be 4.7mm, so mine is clearly a different size to yours unfortunately, I'll just have to turn something down until I get a good tight fit, thanks again.

Plasma, report back with your views on the 2hp motor without speed control and let us know what you think, I have to say, I'm leaning towards just using a non speed controlled version on mine to start, see how it goes.

Thanks John, yes that's very similar to what I have in mind, only using 4" wide belts not 2" and making it use belts 36" to 48" to keep it more compact.

Thanks David, I assumed it would have to be a very tight fit for it to be accurate, which is why I assumed it would be a taper fit, but as you say, might as well clock it for real accuracy, it was bought as a secondary vice for its tilting ability.

JohnF, This post was posted 3 times for some reason, this was the only one that had replies when I saw, so I also replied here, you probably posted on another of the triple thread posts.

Hi Owen, looks like you bought a nice little machine there, when you get it up and running I'd love to see some more of it, looks like it's had minimal use and no abuse.

when I bought my lathe, I knew nothing about them really, just wanted a 'bench top mini lathe' ending up buying what I think is an Emco clone of some description 9x20 with screw cutting gearbox, made in Taiwan, hardened bed, hardly any use, much nicer than the generic Chinese mini lathes, didn't know this when I bought it, just pure luck.

Thanks Baz, after cleaning with a ear bud, it appears you are correct, It's just a bit bigger than 5mm, I assume it's Imperial, but being in my mid 30's, I never work in Imperial and don't own any imperial drill bits to check size, If anyone owns one of these and can measure the pin so I can I can buy some rod to make one, I'd appreciate it.

I was just thinking, those grub screws seemed a bit short, so went and took one out again, and looked in there with a light, and Oily is correct, the hex grub screws are just lock screws, there is a flat head screw below that actually tightens the gib.

Hi Kevin, I've just taken the grub screw out to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, from the picture of mine, you can see it's just a normal grub screw.

On a side note, my tilting vice came without what I've seen looks like a little knurled wheel with what I presume is a tapered pin that locates in that hole for quick leveling of the vice, does anyone know A, where I could buy one, or B, what the Taper is so I could make something.

That's quite a nice little machine, similar to what I want to build, but with the 2 wheels and and backing plate rather than a single contact wheel, did you crown the tracking wheel?

I'm still debating the idea of speed control.

No worries, there's no reason you can't have both, I saw a small Arbour press on Gumtree for £15 not long ago, I picked up my Jones and Shipman for £25 from an old gent shutting up shop for health reasons I think, you can put them away when not in use, and use 2 of these flush fit wood inserts to bolt it to your bench in under a minute when you want to use it,

If a Hydraulic Press is what you really want then that's your choice, I was just trying offer some advice, I own all three kinds, and it's my least favourite, I find it awkward to use for anything small.

But if you're willing to spend some time modifying it, i'm sure you can make it work for what you want, if you have a lathe and milling machine you'll be able to make fixtures to make it do what you need it to do.