Member postings for Chris Gunn

Gavlar, Just asked them to give me an updated price, they will not refund me if they are wrong, as I am not fitting them to a Boxford. As far as I am aware, the D1-3 parts are made to an industry standard, so should fit all D1-3 machines.

Chris Gunn

Gavlar, thanks for that, I need to buy some new camlocks for my Bantam, and Boxford list them at sensible money, but did not know if they were D1-3 or D1-4.

I can go ahead, maybe useful for anyone with D1-3 Camlocks with worn sockets.

Chris Gunn

Can anyone with a Boxford X10 lathe tell me if the chuck mounting is D1-3 mounting please. I have had a good look in all the usual places, including Boxford's own site to no avail.

Chris Gunn

Could it be a trepanning tool?

What Jason says, but bear in mind you should drill clearance holes in the castings to bolt down the bearing blocks, and this will give a little wriggle room to align the bearings.

Chris Gunn

I made wicks from copper wire from an old transformer or charger, and worsted wool for my 4CD, and they work a treat. There is a tube up into the body of the oilers. I found out that worsted wool is combed out more than ordinary wool, so the fibres are all aligned, and presumably syphon better. Lambs wool would naturally be the same, with the fibres in line. I made a loop of copper wire, pulled it into a double strand, then wound the wire round a pencil making a copper coil or spring, and fed the wool down the middle and then tightened the coil around the wool. The wick can be tailored to fit the tube bore.

Chris Gunn

Nick, see if you can find a good Bantam, aside from the gearbox loads of additional good features. I saw a nice one advertised recently but cannot remember where.

Chris Gunn

Gently drill through the existing hole into the bush when it is in position and remove any burrs.

Chris Gunn

Chris, when you have got the machine table running as true as you are happy with, consider drilling a hole in a suitable spot if there is one, through the joint between table and its support. and drill a hole into both halves and ream it for a taper pin, and put a taper pin in. Drill a hole in the big end of the pin and insert a split ring or a roll pin so you can pull the pin out when you want to swivel the table.

In the future after you have moved the table and you want the table square again, just tap in the taper pin in the hole. Many industrial machines have taper pins fitted to hold vertical heads square as well.

Chris Gunn

Howard plus one for Adrian Nutting, or Apple Gears in Wellingborough, Northants.

Chris Gunn

The piece with the tee slots looks like a Myford cross slide, I would go with a taper turning attachment too.

Chris Gunn

Steve, I have a Tom Senior dividing head, which is as compact as any I guess.

Chris Gunn

Ian, I guess you have checked to see if there is an oil groove in the mating slide? I had an Omnimill, and have a vague recollection.

Chris Gunn

Andrew, I am using the original 420v 2 speed 3ph motor as supplied with the original machine. I am using a 3 KW Transwave capacitor type static converter, which I bought when I got the lathe. I fitted a 3ph plug to the original machine lead and plug it in. I use the same converter to run my Bridgeport. I have blown a capacitor a couple of times, and I took it to Transwave who are not too far away, and they repaired it while I waited. They told me my unit predated their numbering system, so it is an old one, but cannot fault it and the service. EmGee gave the motor details in his post. Good luck.

Chris Gunn

Andrew, please do not get disheartened, there are several ways to sort it out, when you do you will have a super machine, that is as good as you can get in the size range, I have had mine for 35 years or more, and a delight to use. It has many features that do not appear on hobby machines that make life easy. If it were mine I would bring it back to original specification, as the apron lever is so handy. As you can see from the other posts, plenty of folk have converted theirs to VFD drive, so could well have original parts available. I have the original switchgear on mine, plus the original 3ph 2 speed motor, and run it from a Transwave converter. This means I can use the original suds pump as well, which I find really handy. I did burn the motor out about 15 years ago, and got the original rewound.

Chris Gunn

JH, you are right, I searched for 3.5 hex head, and mistakenly believed Google took that on board, should have looked closer at the results. I thought it was too easy.

Chris Gunn

BB, Presumably you only have a few to do, so try annealing them, and then bend back the tabs, refit the new wire, and tap the tabs back down again with a punch, and then give them a final nip in the vice. You cannot get more original than that.

Chris Gunn

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Chris Gunn

Bill, thanks for the link to the Peter Marks info on mikes, a fascinating read, where did the morning go?

Chris Gunn

Brian, you may well have sold the engine to Rob Bailey of Rushden, or it found its way into his hands via someone else. He then sold it on to Rahmi Koc.

We were chatting a couple of months back, and Rob mentioned this and sent me a few pictures of the engine. Rob arranged for me to visit Rahmi Koc some years back, and I took a picture of it in the museum.

If you would like these pictures i can email them if you PM me.

Chris Gunn