New Lathe Tooling

I put a notice board with pins for drawings on the wall behind, then push the splashback as close as possible, but maybe leaving space to clamp a lamp with one of those sprung crocodile clips - though since I screwed a pivot to the back board I don't actually need that any more.

So far (3 1/2 years with my WM250V), I've not lost anything behind it.

Edited By Mick B1 on 20/11/2018 09:21:36

Behind what? The lathe, insulation or ply covering? Nowt behind the lathe as it should be fixed down tightly.

There is a law which states that if it can happen, it will.

Moving the lathe to recover anything that drops behind can be a pita. But all depends on how much space you have to waste - if plenty, leave enough for easy access when something does fall behind it!

Due to underestimating by 6" the space needed to turn an engine crane in my garage, I put the lathe down at right angles to the wall rather than parallel as planned. Fortunately it worked out well for me because it happened to suit the layout of my garage. (Bench under window, wall used to store ladder with shelving above, machine tools positioned to not block doors etc.) The advantage of putting the back of the lathe close to the wall is that it saves floor space when you don't normally need access to the rear of the lathe. But, if something misbehaves and you do need to look inside, the access panel is at the back. It's a right pain if you have to shift a heavy lathe just to tighten a loose terminal, or to see the error code on the VFD. It's unlikely that you will need to look inside but we all know about Sod's Law.

A more important requirement is to leave good access to the left-hand side of the headstock. Don't put that end up against a wall if you can avoid it. Two reasons: you need to be able to swap belts and change gears; also, it's handy to be able to feed long stock through the spindle for example to thread the end of a pipe. (If you feed long rod through the headstock take care to keep the free end under control; it can bend and whip - really scary!)

If you're very tall worth considering lifting the lathe and/or stand to match your stature. Stooping over a lathe soon gets tiring.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 20/11/2018 09:54:47

Thanks again Mick, Not DIY and S O D

I was thinking more about access to the motor or whatever else lurks along the 290's backside. But it sounds like a good idea to stop stuff dropping behind so I'll shove it right back. If worse comes to worst I can always cut an access hatch in the side of the shed and stick hinges on it for future.

I should have a minimum two feet at the left side of it and about the same at the right. I have this vision of a ten foot pole coming in through a cutout in the shed front straight through into the chuck some time! Shed is ten feet wide and it's against one of those sides that I'm sticking the lathe. Interesting comment about working height SOD (sorry, Dave!). I'm not too tall but wouldn't mind avoiding further back trouble. That could mean siting it first and then deciding if I need to raise the thing. I'm sure my heavy squad won't mind doing it all again if necessary.

Can I thank our Moderators who seem to have allowed me to get away with veering slightly off the original topic, doesn't happen in some of my biking forums!

I can pick up the headstock end of my 280 still on the stand enough to walk it out from the wall.

I have about 1/2" gap - just enough for the wire to come out the back and stop the quick blow fuse holder touching.

I find this forum considerably more friendly and helpful than most. I think it's because the moderators don't insist on threads staying rigorously on topic. This encourages conversations: you can start with one question and then move naturally to another. It's more like a chat than a formal meeting, which I think mostly adds value.

Of course, thread drift can be very annoying. Not so good if you ask a serious question about the number of rivets on the buffer beam of an GWR Buffalo and come back 10 minutes later to find the forum arguing about whether or not Thomas the Tank Engine is a confirmed bachelor...

Dave

Hi Jason. I think that physically I may be Olive Oil to your Popeye! And cheers for that Dave, I feel a bit less guilty now, and a touch of humour is worth a thousand criticisms in my book.

If the problem is lifting the lathe onto the stand, and you cannot arrange an overhead lift (Engine crane, pulley block +skyhook, or shearlegs) how about jack and pack?

It will be slow, and you need to take care that both ends rise at very nearly the same rate, to prevent it sliding off, especially onto you!

If you have helpers, who can steady the lathe, it may be possible to get it onto a stout board and lift that with a car scissor jack, (they are usually rated for enough weight to cope with your lathe)

Jacking and packing may be tedious, but it will lift it high enough, if you can obtain enough packing. Am loath to suggest bricks or breeze blocks in case they should crumble (the risk is with old ones, new may well be OK for the short times that they will be subject to the load. This is where your helpers come into play. They steady things so that if there is any risk of slipping they ) steady things, and b) warn you so that you can back off.

Once level with the stand / bench you slide the lathe off the board into place..

Once on the bench / stand, mount one of my hobbyhorses and take any twist out of the bed.

then you are all set for ages of enjoyment.

Howard

Thanks for the advice Howard. I think I'll have to rely on brute strength (not mine!) to get it up there as the shed floor won't take jacking with that sort of concentrated weight. I've had to cut the floor where each end of the stand will sit and dig two 2 foot square holes down to clay level (16 inches deep) and fill them with concrete to carry the lathe. I finished insulating, lining and painting the walls around the lathe area today and now a bit impatient to see the thing in real life. Hope the North Sea doesn't freeze over before SS China docks in the UK!

Be very careful doing that Jason. In particular don't twist while lifting. I did something similar in my 30s and damaged my back. Now, in my 70s I'm having to have physio twice a week for back problems.

Russell.

Now I'm really scared! The boat docked last week and today Warco had it presented to me on a platter, er I mean pallet. It just about fit in what's left of my so-called garage. All I can say is Wow! Unfortunately I'm about half way through a flu-like living hell (had my jab so no complaints there) and the last thing I fancy doing is spending time outside in the cold so it will have to wait. At least I can now satisfy my curiosity about the sizes of AXA, BXA and CXA toolposts and potentially order the right one, assuming I measure correctly.

Edited By Terry Kirkup on 11/12/2018 18:23:45

Edited By Terry Kirkup on 11/12/2018 18:24:37

For the moment, I would not worry too much about Q C Toolposts. You can live with the four way. quite well.

You may find a Back Toolpost more useful for Parting Off. If you don't buy one, you could make one. (I made a fourway indexing Back Toolpost for my lathe, just to be difficult)

(Should make for some interesting turning! Hopefully, the deal includes a Four Jaw independent chuck, which will be extremely useful?) That, of course then leads you down the path of buying a clock or two, one a Finger Clock, the other a Plunger Clock, and either a Scribing Block or a Magnetic Base.

You are on the slippery slope already! But the kit will always be useful.

Find and join a Model Engineering Club. You will not only find advice, very likely practical help, and probably someone who will either lend you odd accessory that you need, or come round with theirs.

Riding one of my many hobby horses, do ensure that the bed is free from twist, to avoid inadvertent turning of tapers.

Enjoy yourself!

Howard

Hi Terry, I have a WM250, which I have had since 2005. Although I haven't used it a great deal. Apart from a few niggles it has been quite satisfactory.

As a point of interest I note that on their website Warco state :-

• Every Warco lathe is fully run and tested by a qualified member of our team before leaving our premises, and is supplied with an individual accuracy test report.

So, given that it only arrived at the dock last week, the question is have they taken it first to their premises, fully un-crated it, tested it, re-crated it and then shipped it to you? Unless of course they are referring to premises they may have in the country of manufacture.

I should make it clear that I have absolutely no gripe with Warco and I also have a Warco Mill, I am just curious.

Hope you are feeling better soon and can start using your new machine.

This has been covered before the test report is shipped with the lathe from the factory so the accuracy checks are not done by Warco in the UK.

Hi Jason, sorry for raising an old issue. I have been a subscriber to MEW for about fifteen years, but only recently joined the forum!

No problem, you would have had a job finding that hidden away within an old thread anyway.

Thanks CE, Jenkins does indeed look useful and just up the road.

JB1, thank you too. Warco may well not touch the thing between it arriving in Surrey and ending up in my garage but they have at least seen inside the box as that's where they stuck my milling slide and vise, so it may have had a cursory glance and looks OK to me looking down into its coffin. The Chinese gloop on everyhing smells disgusting and not good to inhale in my present state!

I've managed to hump the two pedestals and bits of shelving up to the shed where I was unpleasantly surprised to discover my concrete pads are 60mm too far apart! That's with trying to guess their positions from measurements I found online somewhere. I suppose I can let that much of the tailstock pedestal stand on a few inches of the flooring which is 20mm tongue & groove with half inch ply on top of that, the rest secure on the concrete.

Also managed to screw an old four foot tubular heater to the wall just above floor level behind the machine position, only 60 watts per foot but I reckon it should keep the Oxide Beast away. It's fed from a thermostat controlled socket.

Jason, if you can swing the heavy end away from the wall does that mean nothing is bolted down in your setup? I glanced at the covered holes in the pedestals and wondered how on earth I'd get easy rawl type fixings in there.

My impression is that Warco open the case and run the lathe, probably very briefly, on the pallet. It would be easy enough to check the main functions are OK (motor starts/reverses, speed control, spindle turns, power traverses works, hand controls etc.) . I'd suggest Terry does similar superficial tests before fully unpacking in the unlikely case there's a problem and it has to go back. I don't think Warco get Dr Schlesinger out of the deep freeze to check all his limits.

Re flooring I strongly recommend supporting the tailstock end properly before installing the machine. The lathe may look like the rock of Gibraltar but the bed is surprisingly bendy when you put a DTI on it. Any twist will effect the accuracy, and vibration will cause poor finish. It's well worth making sure the lathe is properly supported at both ends.

Sorry to hear you have flu! I expect it's a computer virus...

Dave