Colchester Student Mk1Roundhead lathe

Hi,

Can anyone let me know how I remove the saddle of the colchester Student, I need to clean up under the saddle as the felt wipers have long gone and it would be nice to give a proper clean up before installing new wipers.

I have removed the crosslide so thats about where im at, I notice there are cap bolts on the saddle securing it to the apron if I remove them will the saddle just lift of or will there be any problems with the power cross feed etc

Any help will be greatly received .

Thanks in advance

Richard..

Hi Richard, do you have a manual, because I can send you a pdf if you haven't. I would like to do this on mine too. I gather that you remove the apron first, but I was just going to "go for it"

Phil.

I've done my Mk 1 1/2 student and you have to remove lead and feed screws first... there are bronze keepers on both sides underneath the bed which you can't get at without first removing the feedshaft and leadscrew.

One word of caution...There seem to be a variety of pins and clutchs fitted to the feedshaft. mine was a simple roll pin to drift out, some have a ball bearing and spring overload clutch fitted. The Leadscrew is pretty obvious when you get the top off the feed gearbox.

It was pretty straightforward and especially screwcutting is a world easier without 50 years of crud in the half nut - go for it!

Hi to all,

For Phil yes I have got a pdf manual i only have the pdf from online its got a 46597 serial number at the top of the front page, I dont know if thats what you have Phil.

If you have something different I would love to see it as its not exactly the MK1 that I have as it shows a different power feed arrangement perhaps you will let me know.

For Mark, I didnt want to take the apron off only the saddle to clean and make new wipers, if I remove the cap bolts securing the saddle to the apron am I to understand that it wont just lift off as I was hoping because of these keepers etc?.

From Richard..

Hi Richard, Yes, thats the one.. The Mk1 has two slots on the apron for sliding and surfacing, the "mk1 1/2" uses the mk2 apron with the in out lever and the knurled knob to switch between sliding and surfacing. Is this what you mean or is yours different at the feed /SC box end?

Phil

Hi Phil,

Yes I do have the MK1 roundhead lathe actually its the rarer 1500 2 speed model.

what I meant by mine is different to the manual is that the manual only shows the knock off type of cross feed ie mk2 mine is as you say the sliding lever

One other question is what size of tooling do you use I have the 4 way auto indexing turret and I have done a few measurements and it appears I could fit 20mm indexable insert tooling and then only have to pack up the height by about 40thou to be on center line , im not sure if I should go for 16mm tooling seems more of that about or try the 20mm tooling to maybe give more rigidity?

Best regards

Richard..

Hi Richard, Sounds exactly like mine,, I have the sliding levers and also the two speed motor as well, controlled by a rotary switch just under the drip tray.. Mine is a late 1961/early1962 model, straight bed. If you get the number from the top surface of the bed at the tailstock end, there is a list of serial numbers on www.lathes.co.uk, and you can date it.

As for tooling I would go for the most rigid if you are turning large work or using big cuts, and also lock the carriage if you can, especially when parting off. Smaller work, model making etc, you will be able to get away with using lighter tooling. Remember though if you are using indexable carbide insert type tooling you need the set up as rigid as possible if you are to use the full scope of the carbides ability. For most work you can use HSS and get as good and often better results, carbide is good for roughing castings, aluminium, which tends to ball up and stick to HSS, and also for problem metals like copper. I use HSS most of the time, but I have a good selection of carbide tipped and indexable boring bars, threading tools and the like., If you need any more info just ask, there are many knowlegable people on this forum and we love pictures of lathes, so get your camera out!

Phil.

Hi Phil,

Thanks for that I looked at the lathe serial number and it is the same year as yours, The only difference is mine is the gap bed model (gap still installed from new it sees) I think it can turn 18".

One thing I find strange is the crosslide does not seem to travel much outwards(operator side) but instead seems to go far more inward crossing over the spindle center by a long shot dont know why that would be ( I dont mean a fault but designed that way?), as I am more familiar with Myford lathes.

I looked at the lathe again today and I measured 16mm tooling which fits ok but looks a bit flimsy in the tool post so I think I will get a 20mm indexable holder and try that for a while.

I will remember that we like pics on here and I must take some talking about pics I dont know if your lathe has the original "Gamet Bearing" brass plate on the headstock, mine is missing and I have been looking around to see a pic of it but as yet none, mine has the holes for it and the outline of where it has been, I could probably get a copy made up if anyone has a close up pic of it.

Best Regards

Richard..

Hi Richard, Will get you a close up pic if the Gamet badge today as I am going to the workshop.

Phil.

Hi Richard, I will post the pics you wanted here, but if you send me a pm with your email address I can post them straight to you if you need the files. I did three because I didnt know if you were going to photo etch and needed a good likeness, anyway, here they are.

Phil