Member postings for Sam Spoons

It's got Sole

I've just opened a can of Martens Pedigree and ,despite it being rebranded as an Amber Ale, it's a good a pint of bitter as you'll get in a tin.

I never noticed that and I'm an HP Fruity Sauce fan

My most missed is relatively recent, Knorr Stir It Up pots for chicken, especially Chinese Five Spice and California Lemon Pepper.

This could be misleading as the Model C has a different mechanism for engaging and driving the back gears. The drive pin is replaced by a sliding bull wheel gear with dogs/pins that engage with the spindle pulleys. This is operated by the lever on the front of the headstock and the mechanism is quite hard to see clearly as it is buried up in the business end of the headstock casting.

But yes you are right, engaging the back gear without releasing the pin would lock the spindle (and Boxford used to recommend it as a way to lock the spindle for chuck removal though it is advised against these days).

I think the OP has stated that the problem is with screw cutting up thread and implied that the back gear 'trick' is not what is happening.

Edited By Sam Spoons on 19/04/2020 10:19:43

double post

Edited By Sam Spoons on 19/04/2020 10:17:44

First pic is forward second is reverse. In the first pic the left hand tumbler gear is not engaged with either the spindle gear or the on on the lower idler gear, they are connected by the RH tumbler. The odd number of gears mean the Layshaft will turning the same direction as the spindle, the second pic the RH tumbler engages with the lower idler gear but to the spindle only via the RH tumbler giving an even number of gears and reversing the direction of the layshaft. Your lathe has an additional gear in there which would reverse the direction (as well as changing the thread pitch) but it shouldn't affect the working if the tumbler gears.

Have a look at Bob Brown's pics above the top pic the LS will turn the opposite way to the the spindle, in the bottom it will turn the same way. The only way this could be otherwise would be if both tumblers are not engaging in the 'down' position but the single tumbler was still engaging with the spindle fully and the top change gear. It's easy enough to check by turning the chuck by hand and watching the gears move.

If you're still stuck tomorrow let me know I'll post a couple of short videos of how my Model C change gear work.

AFAIK the C doesn't have a power cross feed in any of it's versions. But yes, surely reverse feed of the lead screw would cut a LH thread?

Sounds like the tumbler gears are not engaging properly*, on my model C the lead screw turns the same way as the spindle with the lever in the up position (when using it for carriage feed the carriage moves towards the headstock) and 'backwards' with the lever in the down position.

* and possibly there is something else wrong if it is locking up/

As has been said, the red lever reverses the lead screw not the spindle. Like you I'm a novice (not done any lathe work since school days) and my 'numpty moment' was engaging the back gear while the lathe was still in direct drive. The direct drive lever is the one on the front of the headstock close to the chuck, the back gear lever is the grey one between the spindle and the counter shaft pulleys in your pic. I'm guessing this is not the problem you are having but just in case I thought it worth mentioning.

Edited By Sam Spoons on 18/04/2020 16:48:31

Mine may well have been, it came from what was actually a very good school but it's reputation was often less than shining......

Cool, thanks that's what I thought

What is the thread of the handles on the Tailpiece hand wheel knob (and lead screw lever) on my 1961 CSB (school version model C)? All of what I have to hand is metric and these, not surprisingly, are imperial. I'm guessing 5/16" and coarse thread but UNC or Whitworth?

I either need to buy some suitable allen bolts or a die to cut threads on new handles

Thanks

Edited By Sam Spoons on 17/04/2020 18:14:32

Edited By Sam Spoons on 17/04/2020 18:14:58

Some energy would be wasted heating the resistor* but the current draw would also be reduced, put simply a 10 ohm resistor in series with a 10 ohm coil would halve the current drawn. Whether it would still work is another matter though. And yes shortening the 'live' period would be the proper way to do it.

Disclaimer, I know a fair bit about electricity but bu99er all about clocks

* just as some is wasted heating the coils, it's just physics and unavoidable

Just to update my post, I've ordered this QCTP from RDG **LINK**, with the replacement tool post stud I also needed it ended up costing nearly three times the cost of the four way but, as in includes a parting tool and holder which I would have had to buy separately I decided to set fire to the shoestring (in this case at least) and buy what I hope will prove to be the right tool for the job.

Thanks for the advice.

I do have one of these but no mill to make one like yours.....

And no clamp either so I need everything that sits on and attaches to the top slide.

Edited By Sam Spoons on 13/04/2020 13:19:04

Similar question, the four way tool post on my battered old Boxford CSB is warped. If I had a mill I might try to sort it out but I don't so I'm looking for a replacement. The question is is it worth buying a budget QCTP system like this

**LINK**

or better to buy a four way like this

**LINK**

This is a shoestring budget project and will probably only get occasional use so I'm leaning towards the four way but the easier adjustability of the QCTP is undeniably attractive (for occasional use ease of setup and operation is important.

Just a thought WRT concealed flywheels, could you build an additional compartment aft of the engine room to hide a flywheel?

WRT the sliding gear mechanism. It is impossible to get your hand around the bull gear and pulleys to the pin on the mech so reassembly initially looked impossible. Eventually Bazyle's hint about thick grease triggered enough synapses to suggest a solution. I was thinking that you can't stick the shoe to the peg if you can't reach the peg. The answer? Stick the shoe into the slot on the gear and rotate it into position then carefully push the lever mech through the hole in the headstock hoping the pin engages with the hole in the shoe*.

I have not actually ignored the advice not to reverse the shoe but as I don't have a suitable piece of brass I have done so pro-temp until I can make a new one.

The hole in the shaft is in the correct place, not sure why there is a similar hole on the other side but that's another job for later when I'll probably drill and tap the lever in a different place and add a third locating hole in the shaft.

Thanks for the help, more updates as things progress.

* I was unreasonably pleased with myself when this worked first time

Here are a couple of pics of the parts I've extracted from the headstock, the brass shoe is worn as expected, the wear is pretty much all on one side. The hole in the lever shaft that the securing bolt, presumably, locates is somewhat mashed and doesn't look as if it's in the right place, there is another hole on the opposite side of the lever shaft which looks as if a bolt may have broken in a thread causing them to reverse the shaft. Without a decent drawing it's hard to tell whether the peg should be top or bottom.

Is there a trick to reassembling the mechanism or is it just fiddling blind with double jointed wrists and long fingers?

Edited By Sam Spoons on 08/04/2020 19:29:23