Clarke CL430 Metal Lathe

In your first post when you say that "you can move the saddle / carriage manualy" do you mean by pushing it or by turning the manual feed handle ? (Item 23 on the picture on page 14 of the manual.) If you don't have the manual you can download it from the Machine mart website. If the leadscrew is turning the the only thing that can prevent the saddle moving is the engagement of the half nut with the leadscrew.

Les.

I can move the saddle/carriage by using manual feed handle ,I’m at a loss here because there is no reason why it won’t move auto as it should that I can see but I don’t know what I am looking at ,going to see if I can get a service engineer out if possible

When auto feed is set to on and the spindle is rotating does the leadscrew and manual feed handle rotate ?

Les.

When the auto feed is set to on the lead screw and the manual feed handle does rotate but the saddle moves slowly ,if I turn auto feed off and turn the handle myself the saddle moves fast if I turn it fast and slow if I turn handle slow

If you turn the manual feed handle at about the same speed as it rotated when set to auto does the saddle move at about the same speed as it was moving in auto ?

Les.

Hi Les, yes it does go about same speed

Brian

With the lathe set to auto feed rotate the chuck exactly 10 turns by hand and measure how far the saddle has moved. Check that it moves the amount expected from the tables on page 21 of the manual for the way you have the chagewheels set up. If it is less than the expected movement from the tables then a gear is probably slipping on a shaft. (Possibly the gearing controlled by the two speed lever. Item 30 on page 14 of the manual.) If it moves the amount expected from the table then there is nothing wrong with your lathe.

Les.

Hi , I have put new belts on set to what I think is slowest speed then done a speed travel test it took 45 seconds to travel 3 inches it also traveled under load , it seems ok but fingers crossed

it does move slower in auto.

is it geared for standard use?

mine always did never had prob with it.

where are you?

Edited By mick70 on 24/07/2018 09:46:09

Hi Mick I’m in Pontefract West Yorkshire

Brian,

Dont forget that the lever half way up the headstock increases or decreases by half the feed rate of the leadscrew.

Martin P

Mick could I ask a favour ,I have removed the belt pulley of the motor and like nob I have forgot which way it go back on ,could you send me a picture of yours please ,I have got it going now ,I tested it on full speed and the saddle fly over from tail to head stock in a flash but I’m struggling get it back to run at slowest speed I have 2 sets of belts 1 set is new but it’s as if the belts are to small but they are genuine belts

Thanks Brian ( should have said in early posts that I have had this lathe quite a while but never used it but now I would like to learn ,I have learnt a lot in the last few days )

hi mine is in storage since events meant i lost workshop so can't do pic.

but on the pulley is a small one behind the big one that faces motor.

have you got right manual for it?

a lot were sold with wrong pulley diagrams.

if you still stuck could come over but not this week.

i'm at jct26 m62

Thanks Mick I can work from that , we have had a big clear out at Home and I can’t find manual anywhere but I have a downloaded one and assuming I have the right one ,thanks again mate

Thanks for the offer mate I’m at junction 31 or 32 m62 ,I will let you know how it goes

no probs

Well I have fixed it and it runs perfectly ,don’t ask me what was wrong with it cos I don’t know ,I took the advise of a chap on here and strip it down every screw nut bolt I could find cleaned and put it back together eventually ,if nothing else comes out of this I have learnt a lot about my lathe it’s workings ect and it’s had a good clean ,all I need to do now is replace the oil level sight glass but that had to be ordered 10 day delivery and make a pin for the collar on lead screw ,now I think it’s about time I started to use the lathe to make things instead of repairs for other things ,thanks for all the help tips and advise

Brian

Whoopee!

Good experience, and confidence building.

Maybe something in the drive train was slack

Now you can really start to enjoy yourself and reap a LOAD of satisfaction from what you can now make, mend or improve.

You may well gain lots of new friends "Can you just?". Again, the pleasure of turning a basket case into something that works, and will probably be more durable and reliable than the original.

Stating the blindingly obvious, the set up of the belts or change gears will alter the rate of auto travel.

Go for it!

Howard

A big whoopee, would have loved to seen the smile on my face when I put it all back together and it worked , every nut bolt cog belt etc removed clean and put back ,new belts on, now I know how my lathe is built and understand how it works ,it’s now back to how it was as it left the factory ,don’t really know what was up with it maybe something was slack out of adjustment or stuck but I now know how to deal with it in future , I have not touched set up for screw cutting YET ,just got to replace oil when new sight glass arrives , now I will start on a few simple projects and as I have not used the screw set up yet I think 1st project will be a fancy die holder with morse taper

Brian