Colchester Bantam MK1 Help Needed (Shipping Disaster!)

Hi Guys,

I recently bought a Colchester Bantam Mk1 in an auction in France. It was a risky one as it was bought sight unseen but was only standing me €300 and as it was French the chances of it being the metric model that I wanted were greater so I took a punt on it. I unfortunately bought it just before the world went Covid-19 nuts and of course it sat unmoved in a workshop until things could get opened up again. After weeks of hassle and a further €700 to get it packed and loaded onto a truck (by supposed professional machinery movers) it was set to come to me here in Ireland. When it arrived I was apprehensive but when I saw it I was downright disappointed and angry. The ‘packing’ just involved putting it on a pallet, not a single strap or fixing to hold it to the pallet and unfortunately it had fallen over and caused significant damage to the handles and castings (particularly the apron and saddle) as you can see in the pictures not to mention bits are missing. I am going to try fight both the shipping and packing companies tooth and nail to claim some of the money back but I’m now unfortunately left with an unusable lathe. What I’m hoping someone may know or point me in the direction of how best to replace or repair these parts and who might even be selling them (I have found some parts on eBay but I am unsure if metric and imperial model parts are interchangeable). Any help would be greatly appreciated as I’d love to get this old girl restored and working again.

That's a very annoying story, but one which is not unfamiliar to those who have trusted valuable machinery to some of the goons who profess to know what they are doing.

There should be no fight involved, the carrier or packing firm surely are liable and should be paying out.

I hope you can find the necessary parts to restore your purchase, myford spares are plentiful enough so good luck with your fight.

Best regards mick.

Not Myford, sorry but there should be suitable parts out there somewhere.

Best regards Mick

See this thread:

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=133708

and download the comprehensive information provided by Muzzer here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7dYs3wo6x0fcVlxbzdYX3ZEWjg

Study it carefully and you will then know which parts are unique to the metric machine.

Short answer: leadscrew, halfnut, cross-slide screw and nut, both dials, topslide screw and nut are unique. Other parts interchangeable. Bare saddles and fully-populated imperial aprons available on eBay.

Welcome to the forum, Johnathan, sorry to hear of your tale of woe. There should be plenty of people on this forum to help and give encouragement. By the time you get the lathe up and running, you will be an expert on Bantams.

Your photos don't seem to be working. Try looking in "albums" and add selected photos to "add photos". When you have something in the album, you can then access it when you post and clink on the camera icon to transfer it to the post. There are several threads on the forum showing how to do it.

Edited By old mart on 18/06/2020 16:07:26

Hi Johnathan.

Where in Ireland are you. Hardly sell that bantam would ya😉

I always pay for bigger stuff with a credit card if I can

it gives you more protection because the credit card companies won't touch the dodgy guys

Wow! thanks so much! That’s going to be a huge help. I think I have found the aprons that you’re talking about on eBay and I think I might purchase the imperial apron and transfer over my metric parts if possible. Having the associated handles will be a great help as most of mine are unfortunately broken.

Thanks mate, here’s hoping that I’ll be an expert at something by the end of it ! Didn’t realise the photos hadn’t worked until now but thanks for letting me know, I’ll try put up some photos again tonight.

Hi Damien, currently residing in the good ole people’s republic of Cork 😂 I may have some interest in selling it at some point you never know. I’ll have to keep it for another while till my dispute with the packing and shipping crowd is over anyway but as they say “money talks” ! I’ll keep you posted on my situation anyway.

Hi Mick,
It’s such a shame that something that has lasted so long had to be ruined by someone’s negligence and lack of care. I’ll keep the thread updated on what joy I can get out of these crowds.
cheers,

Sorry to hear what happened. It might be an idea to sell it in parts if its metric there harder to come across at least in the UK. I know because I've been hunting a metric Bantam 6mm leadscrew and halfnut for a while now.