pos lathe project

have bits from old lathe of unknown origin that were getting binned at club due to damage.

bed isn't damaged just rusty one of housings that hold spindle is broken off.

got few other bits like leadscrew and pair of flat belt pulley's with it.

also got mt1 tailstock for it.

thinking long term here as no workshop at min but plan is to machine of housings and make new ones and build from there.

worth doing?

any suggestions or ideas welcome.

Photos would be nice. I can relate to the no workshop situation at present, as I'm also thinking long term about projects and have been adding to my tool collection; some of them projects in themselves. I would suggest that a project is only worth doing if necessary, or it gives you enjoyment, this is a hobby after all.

just realised i forgot pic

posted i was putting up pic.

looking as learning project to learn milling etc

Edited By naughtyboy on 30/10/2016 15:17:06

Having built vintage motorbikes from parts of about the same condition and quantity, I have only one thing to say: don't. You will spend more time and money, much more, than the machine is worth. Chasing down each individual bit and reconditioning it goes on and on more than you would ever expect at the outset. It is far better to start out with the complete set of parts, even if they are clapped out.

Ancient lathes like that, but complete and running but maybe a bit rough, or maybe not, and with a good box full of accessories such as chucks, change gears, faceplates, tool holders etc etc come up all the time on eBay UK and sell for way less than it will cost you to fix up that boat anchor. And there is still plenty of tinkering to do on a complete old lathe to get it up to " as new" snuff, if you feel a need to scratch that particular itch.

Edited By Hopper on 31/10/2016 07:45:22

Have to concur with Hopper on this one.

I carted a Sphere lathe around for donkeys years, always with the idea I would, one day, restore it to it's former glory, (if it ever had one).

When I finally got it built up to a stage where I could try and make some swarf, I discovered that it was only any good at turning random sized eggs.

As I'm a total novice, it became clear that it was impeding my learning. Best thing I did was to finally bin it, and bought myself a nice, shiny new Warco.

Perhaps, after much more experience has been gained, it may have been worth tackling as a lost time restoration project. But, then, I would have needed a decent lathe to do that

Just my tuppence worth; but I would say "leave alone".

All the best

Daniel

Neil could chain it to his Super Adept and double the weight of his boat anchor

Yes, I very much agree with Daniel and Hopper. Lathes of that vintage and design are always going to be lacking in rigidity and hence accuracy. With a broken headstock it would not be easy to restore without reducing accuracy still further.

However, if restoring lathes is your particular hobby, then enjoy.

The lathe itself isn't usually the most expensive bit - it's all the tooling that goes with it that costs if it isn't there. (I know this because I've tried it.)

You might be bettor off using the bed to make two straight edges, the spindle perhaps the basis of a toolpost grinder, and other bits of cast iron will have their uses.

Depends on what YOU want to do. If you treat the bed as a spart-machined casting and build up things like a cross-slide from steel section and can borrow a lathe to make the spindle etc. you will learn an awful lot and be proud of what you achieve at the end. As you are in a club there should be no insurmountable problems, the bed looks solid enough so if it's big enough for your needs and you get decent bearings in the headstock (plenty of meat for small taper rollers if you keep what metal you have) or do what I've done with the adept taper bronze bushe at front, straight at back, and a thrust bearing either side of the rear bearing pillar.

If your objective is to get your workshop up and running though, there are easier ways.

Neil

it is simply going to be a learning project to learn new skills.

once i can rest of bits out of storage will list what i have for it.

Edited By naughtyboy on 31/10/2016 15:49:58

There are PsOS aplenty. I think I would keep looking for a smaller POS than that, as a learner.

POS is actually the brand name? I thought it was referring to Piece Of Something-or-other in common internet parlance. Silly me.

Good god. It looks scarily like my Portass model "S", even down to the broken headstock casting.

.

With my polite upbringing, I thought "pos" in the title was just an abbreviation for "possible".

MichaelG.

Point of Sale

Piece of Sh*t

Piece Of Serendipity

What ever it is, if it's a bin job, it's not, it's a supply of cast iron.

Ian S C