Member postings for Geoff Mathews

Some Flexispeed lathes - but not all - were serial numbered and had a hand finished bed - if your Flexispeed is one of these it might be worth keeping.

To put it another way - I was amazed when a current Cowell saw attachment fitted a lathe made 56 years ago with minimal effort

Thanks for your comments - I am interested in the Flexispeed - Perris - Cowell lineage - I was hoping for thoughts and insight regarding the consonguineous history of these lathes.

It is a Cowell saw bench - I am curious to learn if others have fitted Cowell fittings to earlier lathes.

For some reason it is now working.

The Flexispeed saddle is thicker than the Cowell saddle.

But the Cowell saddle is longer in the direction of the lathe bed resulting in a greater area of contact with the lathe bed and slides. The increase in rigidity is very noticeable.

Edited By Geoff Mathews on 05/01/2022 23:07:43

Just spent 2.5 hours trying to loads two photos

This shows the automatic carriage stop which acts directly on the clutch lever.

This view from above shows the Cowell type saddle to the left and the original Flexispeed saddle to the right.

What is the procedure for posting photographs?

I will take some photos. 

Edited By Geoff Mathews on 01/01/2022 17:28:51

I have replaced the original saddle etc on my Flexispeed lathe with a Perris/Cowell saddle and cross slide. It is considerable more rigid and cuts without judder and the increased cross travel is very useful for milling. Has anyone else been down this path?

James

I like Flexispeed lathes as they are pleasingly rigid and accurate for such a small lathe. My lathe is fitted with a tiny motor with integral 19:1 gearbox which does away with the necessity of a countershaft. The maximum output is 400 watts at 500rpm. The lathe and motor assembly really is light and portable. This is very important to me as I live on a canal boat.

My lathe is the screw cutting version with a hand finished bed. I like the gearing arrangement with allows me to go directly from to screw cutting to very fine automatic feed without the inconvenience of changing any gears and vice versa. The coarse pitch of the lead screw at 8 tpi makes life without a half nut easier as it is only a few turns to get back to where I want to be. The combination of these features leads me to the conclusion that I would not want to exchange it for any other comparable small lathe.

I feel the means of attachment of the top slide in the way it is bolted down on one side only lacks sophistication. That is why I am contemplating a late Perris/Cowell type saddle and slides. I am aware that the centre height on my lathe is ¼ inch higher. A larger cross slide would also present some interesting opportunities. I am hoping that others might have had similar thoughts and ideas regarding transplating such a saddle and slides to a Flexispeed lathe.

Whilst we are on this subject I would like to learn more of the relationship between Brian Perris and Flexispeed. It seems to me that they were competing for the same market. Yet Brian Perris ended up with the Flexispeed design. I have been in touch with Tony Griffiths and I do not think that there is any more information available from that source.

I am dissatisfied with the top slide on my Meteor. I am contemplating fitting a late Perris/Cowell saddle and slides. Has anyone else been down this route?

Edited By Geoff Mathews on 31/03/2021 21:46:07

Will a Cowell die holder fit on a flexispeed meteor tailstock?

I have replaced the Jacobs chucks with an Albrecht Chuck. Mounted on the same arbor in the same lathe the run out is less than 2 thou. I am delighted and astonished!

Thanks very much to those who have understood the question - I appreciate your input.

Thanks for your replies - I am primarily interested on thoughts regarding what would be an acceptable run out rather than a debate on methodology. I understand from the suppliers that I am not alone in my experiences in this matter.

I centred a piece of bar in a 4 jaw Chuck, and mounted the Jacob Chuck by means of the jaws on that bar. The body of the Chuck runs out as before - this eliminates any possible with the 0mt arbor.

I have just received two new Jacob chucks pn 3023 - the run out are 26 thou, and 13 thou. What figure would be acceptable?

I have a couple of images that I would like to post here - how is that done?