G. Boley watchmaker lathe

Edited By Jens Eirik Skogstad on 19/01/2018 10:15:11

Well, it isn't that smart, it can't spell

Hi, Many people seem to use that kind of motor on these small lathes. As long as a motor is in the correct HP and speed range it should be OK. Sorry I have no personal experience with them so cannot give a definitive answer.

May be a Moderator can alter the title to the correct spelling for you.

regards

I believe the plain bearings of watchmakers lathes can be used up to 4000 RPM if lubricated correctly. Using this figure you might work out what motor and pulley combination would be suitable.

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Any light 'high speed spindle' oil should be fine

... Many watchmakers, I suspect, just use a drop of whatever happens to be on the bench.

The bearings are typically double-cone [one steep taper, one shallow] each end, and 'glass-hard' steel.

The running-clearances are very small, so the lubrication can probably be considered hydrostatic.

MichaelG.

Hi Jens Erik,

Congratulations with your "new" lathe. As Michael says for lubricating the spindle use a "high speed spindle oil" - ISO viscosity 22 (like Mobile Velocite No.10) or may be even thinner if you intend to run your lathe very fast (over 6000 rpm).

Thor

6000 rpm sounds insane. Only there is no heat in the bearings of high speeds and the workpiece is being thrown away somewhere I never find.

I'll try to get a motor from sewing machine with a foot pedal to adjust the speed at which it works best on the right diameter depending on the material.

When I look at various tools and accessories for the G. Boley Lathe, I think they are so small that I had to be able to use tweezers and microscopes.

Hi Jens Erik,

Yes, 6000 RPM is very fast to me, but for a 1mm drill in brass you need a high speed. I guess one of these might be useful for small work, and yes I use tweezers now and then.

Thor

HI Jens & Thor, This link may be of interest regarding speed, one pertinent point is that the original watch & clock makers turns were powered by a bow thus speeds were quite slow. Somewhat contrary to "modern" thinking where speeds for the small diameters would have very high recommended/suggested/theoretical speeds.

John.

**LINK**

https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/7396-sewing-machine-motor-to-drive-watchmaker-lathe/?page=2&tab=comments#comment-73022

PS found another link on same site--may be worth a search on this site ?

Edited By JohnF on 19/01/2018 18:38:51

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Agreed, John !!

I was intending to post a similar comment, but got distracted by the joys of submitting my tax return.

Don't over think it. Just get a standard cheep sewing machine motor which will have a foot switch speed control off ebay. It you find you need more power later you can upgrade but as it sounds like you are not in the middle of building a watch already you will have a bit of learning at slower speeds anyway.
You will also need a foot of 3 or 4mm drive band. The green stuff that can be heat welded.

Thor, i has microscope for industrial use

Lathe powered by bow.. thinking about the watchmaker Peter Henlein (1485-1542) created the first portable watch, all parts was made of iron. Really hard life to be watchmaker without electrical equipments. Then it's said the japanese watchmaker created the lantern clock with saw and file only.

Edited By Jens Eirik Skogstad on 19/01/2018 20:00:14

Was familiar with monocular and binocular but when I followed Thor's link was surprised to see trinocular microscopes. Any concerns about the strange physiognomy of some microscope users were allayed when Google informed me that the third 'ocular' was for camera usage.
DaveD

6000 rpm is not strictly necessary to drill into brass with 1 mm drill.

A long time since when i was young, when i had the Sabb 5-9 semidiesel engine. I created the new nozzle for injector, the old nozzle was made of brass and the hole was enlarged by abration. I used 0,3 mm drill at 4000 rpm when i drilled into the new nozzle at Emco Unimat 3.

Yes Jens Erik, you can drill brass at much lower speeds, just takes a bit more time. John's "powered by a bow" seems more like the speeds I tend to use, my milling machine won't go faster than 2500 rpm and that speed works for small drills.

Thor

I started off with a sewing m/c motor but found it didn't have sufficient power. Speed was not a problem though. I eventually found a 1/10 Hp motor which drives my watch maker's lathe fine. Also my motor can be reversed which I also find of benefit.
BobH

1/10 hp,..it will say 75 watt motor?

I use a 6mm lathe so a bit smaller. I found sewing machine motors have an annoying high pitch whine, so I use a small (1/20th HP) induction motor about 1500rpm. This has a 2 step pulley - about 75mm dia and 30mm dia. Add a bit of cotton string and the 3 pulley settings on the lathe and I find that works well without that awful noise.

Motor sits on a heavy baseboard and lathe has a heavy iron base, so it is easy to adjust the maximum torque by pulling or pushing on the base. The same arrangement using a length of cotton and a clamp-on pulley works for my home-brew turns.