Harrison M300 siting

Much as I like it, I have decided my Myford 254S is too small for some work I want to do so I am thinking of changing to a Harrison M300 with a gap bed. I used to have a Colchester Student which was very old. My workshop now has a Bridgeport in it, so space is more restricted and the M300 is a bit smaller than a Student in footprint. .I have two possible positions for the lathe, one end on to the wall, the other end on to the garage doors, but the latter is much poorer for general convenience. That is all very long winded but sets the scene.

What I really want to know is how frequently one really needs access to the end of the headstock. There is the door for the switchgear and a cover for the change wheels. So far as I can see, all the threads one is likely to use are covered by the standard change wheel set and I assume the electrics are only accessed if something nasty has happened. At the tailstock end, one would rarely if ever need to remove the tailstock. I would welcome any thoughts, particularly from M300 owners.

I don't have an M300, but did buy a Warco GH1330 a while ago. On that, the wiring panel is on the rear of the headstock, so I positioned the lathe with that panel over the window ledge.
That means I could access it, albeit inconveniently, from the outside through the window.

Depending on the construction of your garage, and the position of the house, how about adding a door at the other end, which opens outwards?

UPVC external doors are often available second hand, complete with frames.

Bill

Just as food for thought, and especially as access will be needed infrequently, perhaps have a good look at the machine and see if the 'operating mode' of the door and/or cover can be changed to suit the location.

I can only speak for a Chipmaster, but making the door hinge pins removable on that, so that it does not need to swing open 90 degrees for access has freed up a lot of space.

I'd want the option of having a long bar poking out of the rear of the headstock.

Rod

My M300 sits against a wall with the headstock end next to the garage door. I open the gear train once a year for oiling. In 20 years I've never needed to change the gears, and I do a lot of screwcutting. Likewise I've only opened the electrical cabinet a few times to make adjustments. There is about a foot between the end of the lathe and the garage door. So enough room to poke metal through the headstock. If I ever needed to turn something longer than 4 or 5 feet, or properly access the electrics, I can always open the garage door. I don't recall ever having removed the tailstock.

Andrew

It depends what you mean by “long”. I’ve had a couple of feet of material sticking out the back of my hobby lathe without issue. Some thinner stuff has needed extra support though. Speed of course is another issue.

I have to put a bar in the end of an m250 to knock a centre out when turning between centres.

Thank you to all those who have replied. Very helpful indeed. I must admit that I hadn't thought about metal through the headstock, but should have done, nor about changing the door for the electrics. I can never recall removing the tailstock from a lathe either as is mentioned. Altering that garage is not possible for both practical and aesthetic reasons.

I shall now go away and have further thoughts about where to put one. At least no-one has discouraged me from an M300.

In case you need it for dimensions, there is an M300 manual here:

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=13849

With regard to removing the tailstock, a simple modification to the eccentric locking lever, so that it is retained by some other means than the grubscrew-in-a-groove (maybe drill and tap it on the side facing the user and use a countersunk bolt and washer) would allow vertical removal of the tailstock, removing the necessity to slide it off the end of the bed.

Thanks. I had the dimensions, but the copy manual is helpful, as is your tip about the tailstock.

Like Rod, I value the ability on odd occasions, to poke long material through the Headstock.

(The longest was the 18' flex hose from a pressure washer, all round the shop! )

There is JUST enough room if I ever want to remove the Tailstock, but there is room for a couple of feet of 38 mm through the Mandrel, on the rare occasions when such things become necessary.

AND my shop is on a much smaller scale that yours.

Howard

Fat fingers strike again!

Edited By Howard Lewis on 10/07/2021 16:01:54

I have taken the point about metal through the mandrel on board and I should have thought of it.

I know my workshop is quite roomy, but I have some other constraints like access to a door high up which is loft storage above my wife's workroom, a 4inch traction engine I am building and its stand, and enough workbench space for my son to build a prototype robotic arm of a fair size for specialist industrial purposes, plus at the moment everything is pretty well laid out.

Anyway, I now have the information/confirmations that I need. This forum really is very useful.

It,s nice to be able to pass a long length of bar through the headstock, can often save material that way..

Come on, long stock in headstock a problem? Everyone knows you just drill a hole in the workshop wall.

Yes, I'm frequently surprised by how low a priority a large spindle bore is when specifying a lathe.

One of the reasons I want to change lathes is to have a bigger spindle bore. I tend not to have very long lengths of material to machine, but plenty that is more than 1 inch diameter, the limit on the Myford.