One Man and His Lathe Articles Sought

Hello folks, I'm looking for more contributions to this popular series.

Proxxon lathes are often advertised in ME and MEW, but I have not heard any feedback on them from users. With aluminium beds and die-cast zinc cross-slides they are unusual, but the pride themselves on the machines being very well made.

If anyone has experience of using any of their machines, I think it would make an interesting 'One Man and His Lathe' article.

Equally, having covered most of the common workshop lathes, I would be very keen to hear the experiences of people with more unusual machines. Do you have a big Colchester or a Unimat, perhaps you have an Exe a Winfield or even a Rollo Elf?

All that matters is that you really have made some use of the machine rather than it being a 'collectable', so you can describe its pros and cons.

Email me at [email protected] if you are interested, or just add a reply with a few details of your machine.

Thanks

Neil

Hi Neil, I went on a tour of the Whitechapel bell foundry, in London, about 10 years ago. most of the tools were pre war, thats the WW1, In the hand bell polishing room in chap had sat at the same stool for 40 years polishing small handbells on a lathe which I think was built in 1780 or so, " we had a motor put on it in 1924", still in action. They had a very big rotary table about 5 foot diameter mounted on the floor with a motor built in to slowly rotate a large bell with a lathe tool touching it slightly, this was to tune the bell. The bells weigh up to 12 tons, They bought this secondhand in 1908 from a bell foundry in Croydon, still in everyday use. A most interesting place. Perhaps Neil you could find the oldest lathe still in use. In these days of wanting the latest stuff some industries still use good old gear. When I was in the pro photographic trade a was asked to repair an old camera for a pro studio which was pre first war, they were using it every day to shoot catalogue pictures for boots the chemist, it was so old it did not have a shutter, yet to be invented.

Thanks David, those are interesting thoughts that could lead to a fascinating article, but in this instance I specifically want stories of readers and their own lathes, old or new.

Neil

Harrison M300? Better than a Colchester!

Plus there are lots of slightly more unusual accessories available, like high speed threading, large capstans and hydraulic copying.

Andrew

Why not?

Neil

I have a long bed Super 7 with a 30.5mm through capacity and native ER40 spindle nose

- Nick

Hi Neil

I have a Colchester Master 2500 that gets used in my bicycle frame building business. It came out of a College in Glasgow and is in immaculate nick, the four jaw had never been on the machine!!. I have collected a good range of tooling for it and it gets used on every frame I make from just simply facing head tubes to length to scewcutting steering columns and making the odd fitting that is not available from my usual supplier.

Cheers

Dave Yates

Proud owner of a [near mint ] DSG 17T and a Warco GH750 don't make models though.[ never tried ] yet.

That's a very interesting combination. Any chance you could write an article for Neil that covers the pros and cons of the two lathes and what you use them for?

I've had a soft-spot for Dean Smith and Grace since overhearing a chap who owned one slap down a group of raucous Myford fans. About 5 years ago I was in a queue to pay for some bits at the Bristol Exhibition. Three Myford owners were mercilessly ragging a mate about his decision to buy Chinese. Mr DSG turned round and said "I suppose Myfords are OK if you like making toys but the chuck in my Dean Grace and Smith weighs more than your Super..."

I would love to own a Myford in good order but think they are over priced. People buying them just for the bragging rights put me off too!

Dave

Sounds like a good argument for owning a Myford to me

Rod

It's an excellent argument for owning a Myford!

When I eventually got to see an ex-colliery DSG in the flesh I was amazed how big it was. I reckon it would just about fit into an empty single garage, but there wouldn't be enough room to operate it. The chuck was at least 2ft in diameter and looked far too heavy to lift manually. If my memory is right the owner told me the motor took a 15kW 3-phase supply.

I still want one though, just for the bragging rights...

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 22/08/2016 17:03:06

Harrison M300 and a Boxford AUD if thats any good

Three lathes - a Warco WM180, great for small bar work such as pins, bushes and studs. Limited travel on slides, no tee-slotted cross-slide, and, initially, no leadscrew handle / handwheel. Thanks, though, to some brilliant service from the Warco spares departmenf that was soon rectified.

Warco GH1232 - again a very nice lathe, especially with the digital readouts on saddle and cross-slide. Let down only by the relatively high bottom speed of 70 rpm. A bit high for roughing out 9" and 12" diameter cast-iron loco driving wheels? Even with carbide tips? And for screwcutting coarse threads? Some time ago I discussed this matter on another site - I am not at all keen on variable-frequency drives and intend now to machine new pulleys to half the speeds.

'Zyto' - despite its age and the flat-belt drive possibly the most versatile in the workshop. As currently arranged with an ovehead countershaft, screwcutting up to a shoulder is easy -- pull the belt over and stop. Tee-slotted cross-slide allows readily for rear toolpost and other attachments. Only one complaint - 3/8" bore / 1MT mandrel and yet a 2MT tailstock quill?

Two lathes, first is a 1929 Ideal 3-1/2inch short bed Type A inherited from my grandfather, flat belt drive, back gear, screw cutting, handle on leadscrew, t-slotted cross slide and top slide, lever action tailstock lock, 10mm spindle bore, threaded spindle nose, 1MT spindle and tailstock, low speed 25RPM, top speed 900RPM. Maybe not as strong or as accurate as newer machines, and the headstock bearings are now a bit sloppy, but it is very easy to use for a beginner, especially changing speeds or swapping chucks, and very forgiving if the belt tension is kept low enough. I love using it, and not just because of its sentimental value.

Second is a 2015 Sieg C6. In comparison with the Ideal it has very few features (no back gear, no handwheel on leadscrew, no lever tailstock, no t-slots on cross slide or top slide, low speed 125RPM, top speed 2000RPM). It's a pain to change speeds, but tough as guts and great for larger jobs that the Ideal would just faint at.

I started off with a Myford M type which I believe to have been a Drummond design and it served me well when I mastered the art of turning the saddle handle the wrong way.

Next up was a wonderful Henry Milnes toolroom lathe that was being thrown out from work because the wet plate clutch was slipping and no amount of adjustment by the mainenance dept could cure it. I had a wander into the toolroom one lunchtime for a look and realised that the maintenance dept were adjusting it the wrong way. The clutch was operated by a Maxim toggle and needed loosening, no tightening!

I bought the lathe for the company book price of £60 but had to dismantle it to get it home. It was 3 phase so I bought a static converter which served me well until I moved house. The first day of moving in I had a look for where I could run a feed down to the workshop (garage) and was overjoyed to find three 400 amp fuses coming into the electrical cupboard. The lathe had to go when I moved house again. I had to downsize because picking up chucks and vices was a killer!

My present lathe if a Boxford which is ok but I miss the power of the Milnes.

Edited By Brian Hutchings on 05/11/2016 13:42:35