Colchester Student Mk1 Won't Start

Thank you, I have read that page before but I don't remember reading that. The belts were supposedly matched but I'll do the chalk test tomorrow. Link belts are a possibility depending on the cost.

Unmatched belts can certainly cause some strange noises/vibrations/patterns in the finish. If you are experiencing any of these effects you could try operating with just a single belt. That is what I have done on both of my Master 2500 lathes and even though I work them hard, I don't spend all day taking huge cuts as would have perhaps been the case in a production environment. As a consequence all belt derived artifacts no longer arise, but a the same time there is no loss of transmitted power at the levels I require.

The removed belt becomes a spare for when it may be needed, although at least 10 years have gone by with no requirement!

Any reason for the white backplate @Phil?

Two reasons really Herman, it reflects the light into areas that would normally be in shadow, and it makes a good background for contrast with the job in the chuck. Also I didnt want to run out of green paint!

Phil

Thanks @Phil, I thought as much. Maybe I must do the same ...

I'm sure my background of a nice brick wall works perfectly too

I've had a very productive day. I finished some jewelry boxes, similar to the one I made for Phil, but with trays and sections. Then some castors arrived in the post so my bandsaw is now free to glide around the garage. Then onto lathe work...

I picked up some m8 bolts from Toolstation so I could work on getting the panel fixed in place properly

Before I could turn the bolts down I had to put the starting lever back onto the lathe, so I took a picture of the back. Tracy finally got back to me today, so I will try to see if she can send me the starting level of her lathe so I have a spare if I mess this one up!

Chalk test, with a gold highlighter as I didn't have any chalk. The belts are not even. Can this be caused by a misaligned motor too?

Anyway, I'm running on 1 belt now and the lathe is much more peaceful. The link belts seemed a bit expensive when I can just use one belt, especially since I just bought these belts, although I do see the attraction.

The bolts were screwed into a piece of aluminium I tapped, then faced, and turned to the dimensions I wanted.

Then I cut the slots just with a hacksaw

Then I prepared to drill and tap the lathe body.

This went surprisingly well

Then I polished the bolts, gave them a brushed finish, then cold blued and oiled them.

Fully installed, I'd say they look rather fitting.

They pull the panel in tight

Then I tried the light and gave the panel a bit of a bang around to see if the light went off.

The light went off again

I've still fixed the stripped threads and improved the panel's fit, which I'd say is productive enough, but It annoyed me that it didn't fix it, so I started testing things

I cleaned the contacts of where the 2 legs for the lighting power leave the brass plug bit, that didn't help

I cleaned the surface of the slide lock fuses, that didn't help

Then I bypassed the switch to see if that made a difference, low and behold it stopped flickering when I banged it, I think. I could be completely wrong once again, I'll replace the switch and see.

I've ordered a toggle switch to replace it with since I found a picture and there should have been a toggle switch there anyway. I ordered it a couple of days ago actually, so this is currently working in my favour until it turns out to not be the issue.

Belt problem could easily be a misaligned motor Richard, and I like those screws so much I am going to make some! I never realised that the hex bolts in mine were not original! For a better screwdriver slot, put two blades in your hacksaw at once, but of course, when you buy your milling machine, you will be able to use a slitting saw! Jewellry box? anyone can see that it is an instrument case!

Phil.

Edited By Phil Whitley on 04/06/2020 19:40:24

I'll have a look at playing with the alignment then, we'll see what happens

Phil, I don't know if they used hex bolts or not originally. I just wanted slot head screws since I could make the head whatever size I wanted. If I had a rotary broach, I would have made hex bolts

Two blades at once sounds like a good idea, although it wouldn't work for a junior hacksaw like I used. I'll definitely try that in the future!

Definitely a toggle switch originally.Can't see if they're hex or slotted

Now you've said it, looks like there are plenty of compartments for various instruments!

I was going on the fact that the control panel has counterbores in it for cheese head screws, or allen bolts, of course, mine may not be the same!

Phil

What do you use to blue the steel? I normally use a mixture of phosphoric acid and copper sulphate. The reaction on the bolts looks similar.

Edited By Herman van der Merwe on 04/06/2020 21:40:16

Mine has 5/16" cap screws installed @Phil.

Agree, read this article on how to get the pulleys aligned.

http://www.lubsys.com/knowledge/knw_align05.htm

What I like about a Nu-T belt is that it never slips, does not have a direction, oil has no effect on it and when a link breaks you simply replace that link. These may be a tad expensive but in the long run they are just so much better in all aspects.

It's just 'Phillips Professional Cold Blue' but it's quite expensive, I'd like to be able to make my own. The web says its made from some sort of selenium dioxide

Phil, I had to look up what cheese head bolts were. But now I know what to search when I need bolts like that. Does your lathe have hex bolts in it? Because that really doesn't sound right?

New sleeved wormbox, new cross-slide screw nut and all new sleeved bushes or replaced bushes for all shafts done.

@Richard, my friend who made the sleeving etc did these mods to his tailstock.

Both our lathe's stop/start arms do not have pins and the arm screws into the shaft.

Very cool Herman, do you think you'll do something similar?

Also, how well did the windshield cleaner work on the sight glasses? I managed to clean mine a bit but they're not as clean as I'd like them to be

Yes, I think that will be one of my first projects once the lathe is turning again. If that spanners falls again ...

It worked very well. I injected it, let it sit for an hour, blew it out with my compressed air (see?) and repeated. After two days, the sight glass is quite clear.

Looks like I'll try some windshield cleaner, but I'll have to blow it out using a straw with lung pressure!

Leaking once again.

The brake seemed to stop working so I thought I'd have a check. Low and behold, it's leaking.

It seems like its leaking from the outside of the seal, not the inside. So I need to take it out and put it back with gasket sealer or something? What do people recommend?

I replaced the bearings and the seals. ( and I seem to remember there is a gasket at the rear too).

However. I did have the entire headstock stripped at the time. Also I was sick and tired of all the oil leaks everywhere

Incidentally, I also bored my wormbox true and bushed it. Action is much more positive now.

Richard, clean the boss out with paint thinners, and use some fine surface car body filler, the one you add hardner to, not the stopper! flat it with fine abrasive paper, and put a smear of gasket cement over it when you fit the seal. silicon RTV will do it. I would recomend Red Hermetite or Hylomar, but under the VOS regs, they have been reformulated, and they are both crap!

Phil