Boxford bolt-down

Does anyone happen to have the layout of the floor-bolt pattern for a Boxford under drive type cabinet? I'm assuming that they are all the same........though that might be wishful thinking. I do not have the means to be able to lift my VSL LOO lathe high enough to see underneath nor tip it upsidedown! The motor/variator obscures the holes in the left hand end of the floor rail and prevents access to drill through from the top.

If no-one else answers I will measure mine ( it might be in the handbook) and get back to you later today.

Brian

Hi Trevor. I have a Boxford AUD. My cabinet has no holes in the frame for bolting down. I drew a line around the frame on the inside of the end cabinets. I pulled the lathe away from the wall and drilled holes for the Rawlbolts. Slid the lathe back in position and knocked in the Rawlbolts and girder clamps to hold it down. I only used 4 clamps, 2 at each end. I did not graunch the nuts down so as not to distort the cabinet. The cabinet is supposed to be rigid enough that the lathe bed is properly supported by the cabinet to prevent twist. It is easy enough to knock in a few wedges to level the cabinet if needed.

Hope this helps.

regards

Edited By Oldiron on 07/03/2018 09:36:24

Thanks Oldiron, I did wonder if the drilling might be a bit of an ad hoc affair! Girder clamps on the edge of the base angle might be an easier way to go and less precision needed.

Thank you Brian

I would recommend taking your own measurements as I suspect there may be variation between cabinets. On my VSL the socket for mounting feet are closer together at the front of the cabinet than those at the rear. The sockets are a shade over 40mm square with slightly radiuses inside corners.

I mounted my VSL on short stubs to obtain a more comfortable working height and to enable swarf and crud to be removed from under the machine.

After considerable research I didn't bolt my Boxford CUD to the floor but used adjustable feet from Axminster. This would save you moving the lathe as you could either rock it to put the feet on or crow bar it up.

I also placed the feet on to two pre-stressed concrete lintels (about 100mm high) to raise it to a very comfortable working height.

Hope this helps,

Nick.

Edited By Nick Thorpe on 07/03/2018 11:49:33

This used to be on G and M's website until they 'updated' it.

I'm sure they won't mind a free advertisement!

Mine is also on machine feet.

I would be very careful rocking it to get feet in. They are rather top heavy so fall over easily! Either borrow an engine crane if you have room or pry it up onto timbers front to back to get your clearance.

Edited By Old Elan on 07/03/2018 14:30:48

Thanks to everyone!

Bearing in mind what John said about dimensional variation, I levered my lathe onto a piece of 1/2" ply and with a flexible drive welded to a suitably sized wood bit I was able to get around the motor and drive system and bore down through the crud filled holes into the ply.The resulting template was used to drill holes in the concrete for Rawlbolts. The spacing is as per the drawing posted by Ol Elan

I have spread some Cempolay self levelling compound to even up the surface of my gnarly concrete and when that's set can slide the lathe back, jiggle it about to line up the holes and drop some anchor bolts in and shim the footpads as required to get it level.

I found that this lathe does indeed feel quite top heavy and would not want to tip it too far without top restraint.

Nick ​why do you prefer adjustable feet? I can understand a tall person's need to raise the machine for comfortable working, but as an untrained machinist I thought that a lathe was supposed to ​be set level and anchored.

Trevor, I've had a look at the Boxford manual and I'm afraid that it doesn't help much. It says to level the lathe with wedges and fit Rawlbolts.

Anyway, it sounds as if you know the way ahead so all the best, Brian

Trevor. Others may disagree but I went through this loop about three years ago when I was installing my CUD. I tried to find the thread but it's disappeared or I have changed my log-in.

The basic advice was that I didn’t need to bolt it to the floor. I don't pretend to be anything other than an advanced novice but I don't seem to have any problems. It seems to me that as long as the bed is level long ways and side to side you are pretty much there.

Sorry to be a bit vague! PM me if you wish and I will give you my phone number.

Nick

Edited By Nick Thorpe on 07/03/2018 20:31:39

My AUD sits on a concrete floor, a couple of steel wedges to finally level it and a nice cement fillet all around the outside of the base. I poured some self levelling cement around the the wedges to stop them moving and that was 10 years or so ago. No rawlbolts and it hasn't moved in spite of some grewling work it has done.
BobH

Cabinet mounted Boxfords can be bolted or mounted on machine mounts as shown in Know your Lathe. The pages either side of this one are in my album for reference.

Edited By Old Elan on 08/03/2018 14:55:32

Sorry Old Elan but I get an error on that link.

Brian

Don't remember posting a link!

What can't you see?

All three pages of the Know Your Lathe are in my photos Boxford AUD

Edited By Old Elan on 08/03/2018 15:53:23

Many thanks to everyone for their input and sharing their personal preferences, I have managed to drill my holes into flint- laden concrete and will secure the cabinet to the ground when it's in place and levelled, manly because it does seem quite top heavy on a relatively narrow footprint.