ROY FROM WIGAN NEW MEMBER

Hi All. Just bought my first lathe a Clarke cl500m with many additional bits from a lovely elderly gent but one thing is missing that's the stand.I have seen one on here don't know if its still available I can only find out when I have made several posts I will try and find one in between.I am picking it up from Carlisle on Thursday its about 120mile from me in Wigan and thought this website would be a good place to start and find out all there is to owning and using one of these machines.

I have a mechanical background served my time as a Motor mechanic 1974 to 1979 then joined the Ambulance service for 25yrs before retiring a few years ago. I have a converted garage in my garden as a workshop and 2 sheds all full so will be doing a clear out in the coming weeks got lots of new shelving this week to put up and hope to start that next Monday.

I am a lifelong engine nut and like to restore small engines Briggs,Suffolk etc I have 10 now and counting (I also have a very understanding wife lol) I also have a restored Lister D stationary engine and a Lister LR1 running & ready for restoring.The lathe and milling machine will i am sure be a big help with this I am looking forward to learning the basics first as its a long time ago since I last had my hand on a lathe. And hopefully find some local to me members as well.

Kind Regards......Roy

Hi Roy! Welcome

I'm always fascinated by the old stationary engines, but would love to own a hit and miss

I'm about the same place as you, but with a Chester DB7 and a Warco Wm14 mill. Shed number 1 moved to shed 2 and shed 1 having a refit and conversion into a workshop

Lots to learn.

Welcome to the Forum.

LOTS of help and vice, and other's experiences on here.

Do you need the original stand? It may be cheaper, and possibly stronger, if you buy some angle iron, and make your own. If you do not have welding facilities, it can be bolted together.

Also, as a custom made stand, you can incorporate shelves or drawers, to suit your purposes. Also, by doing thia the framework is likely to be more rigid.

It may be worth including levelling screws, so that the stand does not rock.

Howard

Welcome to the forum Roy, and to a very expensive hobby. Well worth the expense though as long as the wife can turn a blind eye.

Welcome Roy; my first machine was a CL500, fairly heavy machine so careful on manoeuvring it, I had mine stood on a sturdy woodworker bench for years so not to worry over a table for it as mentioned build your own. Don't expect the milling head to do any decent milling, too top heavy & the axial / radial forces will want to move the head, I did use mine for milling but only very, very light cuts. I would only use the head for drilling if I were you. Anyways, again,welcome to the world of Model engineering

George.

Welcome Roy, in respect of the stand for your lathe I found the specific stands were very flimsy and too low, caused me bad backache so I ditched it and went for the double workstation bench sold by Axminster. I am well pleased with it, no more backache and really useful storage in the drawers and shelves plus as solid as a rock, suggest you look around and see what suits you best.

Dave W

Welcome to the Forum, Roy,

Neil

Hello Roy,

You have WAY more experience than me then. Wigan is a nice spot.

I hope you get the lathe collected and installed easily enough. I'm very jealous of your new setup and it seems you are going to have a nice little workshop when you are finished.

D

Hi Everyone.Thank you all for your kind welcome messages and your first class advice.We made it back with the lathe and I also got a lot of extras, cutters, boring tools,drill bit sets a DTI gauge and lots more as well.My wife will be going into hospital soon,its not serious but it will take quite some time before she can get out and about again so It will take me a while longer to get everything just as i want it but it will be worth the effort and the time and should improve my health as well.

I like to read and watch instructional DVDs on my interests, Can anyone suggest any for beginners, always the best place to start, and where I can get hold of them any suggestions would be appreciated. Are there are any members who are local to the Wigan area? please drop me a line.

Kind Regards....Roy

… I like to read and watch instructional DVDs on my interests, Can anyone suggest any for beginners, always the best place to start, and where I can get hold of them.

Look on YouTube there are hundreds of instructional videos... Doubleboost; Ades workshop, Mrpete222, Keith Appleton, Steve Jordan to name but a few especially for beginners.

Enjoy

George.