Colchester Bantam Lathe

Hello all,

Apologies for my first post looking for info but im unfortunately on a deadline to move this lathe before i have to return to work.

Essentially ive just acquired this Colchester from my neighbour who sadly passed away recently. I wasnt that interested in it to be honest as i already have a fairly new warco to do my odds and sods and as I definitely fall into the amateur category, my needs are fairly basic. But once i saw it, i knew that it was just in a different league to mine!

Ive stripped it down as much as i thought necessary (including removing the motor), unbolted the bed from the stand, and i still cant lift it! But looking at the headstock, it seems to be two gearboxes stacked ontop of each other and removing the top one (chuck drive) appears to be relatively straight forward. Question is, will i be compromising the setup of the lathe by doing this or is this a necessary evil to shift the lathe?

Thanks in advance.

Although ive no doubt you guys already know what im talking about, heres a picture showing the headstock in question. It looks like two bolts at the front onto the bed and two at the rear. 'Seems' straightforward?

The front gear box, is bolts and dowls, and can be removed, pulls forward. The head stock is bolted to the main bed, (then lifts up) I removed mine the first time I moved it. The bed on its own, remove the saddle as well. it is still very heavy, but managable.

The manual explains how to realinge the head. it is not too difficult

It all depends on how far you need to move the machine. I have the very same lathe and had to move it some distance when I collected it. I used an engine hoist to lift the lathe from the stand and place on a pallet truck. I strapped the lathe well down and with my partner pushing and me pulling was able to move it 200 yards to my trailer. I hated the idea of taking it all apart. I removed the motor, tail stock and crossslide to reduce the weight and try to balance the lathes weight better.

Thanks guys, unfortunately its located in shed quite some distance away from any hard standing so will have to be carried over lawn. I have another neighbour and his teenage sons on stand by for when im ready!

So ill have a go at removing the gearbox tomorrow and report back.

@Neil, the manual is one thing i dont have, do you mind if i PM you as regards a copy? I'll obviously pay for all expenses.

Quick question though, how to remove the saddle? Is that what i would call the carriage?

Fourth post here:

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

Magic! Thanks very much.

Be very careful, I have a Bantam 2000 in my garage that I have been repairing over the years because some so called professional removal firm let it topple over. I bought it for a song from the previous owner who was going to send it to the local scrapyard because he had no idea how to go about repairing it.

I don't know if the older model of the Bantam is similarly top heavy but in any event my advice to you would be to jack it on to a pallet and make sure it is very securely strapped down, the pallet will broaden its base. You can then carefully shift it with a pallet truck and if you are on level solid ground put it onto 25mm steel rollers and pinch bar it into position. I would strongly advise that you bolt or clamp some sturdy temporary outriggers to it because if it is as top heavy as my lathe, if it starts to roll you will never stop it. It would be dangerous to even try.

Very very top heavy, so much so that a professional pallet company dropped mine twice!

If you google the manual, it is available online for free so you can then print it out.

the manual is invaluable to setting the lathe back up when you put it back together.

TE-Bar engineering are rebuilding mine as we speak … & they left the bottom gearbox ON as they said it’s a real pain to reinstall

Thanks guys. I managed to drag the whole thing into the middle of the room but once id unbolted it from the stand it became very apparent just how unstable this thing it. I really cant get over how heavy it is compared to my chinese Warco.

But, as someone has already mentioned, removing the cross slide will help but how difficult is it to remove the whole carriage? It looks like id would have to remove the guide bars and feed shafts to do this. Would this be a step too far?

BTW, you will need an honours degree in the 'Crypton Factor' to figure out the gearing and gearbox, it's not at all like that on my Student which a mentally retarded chimpanzee (me?) can understand, it is so obvious. I managed to get to grips with the Bantam gearing eventually and added copious notes in the margins of the manual which is very unclear, in my copy anyway, where the Imperial instructions end and the Metric instructions begin.

NB. Just seen your latest post regarding removing the cross-slide etc. The lead-screw, feed-shaft and control-shaft will just slide out if you remove the end support bracket. Don't lose, or replace, the thrust bearings when you take the shafts out. You can then drop the apron off the saddle and, after removing the rear shear guide, you can then simply lift off the saddle, if I remember correctly. I had to do this to replace the cross-feed screw which had a lovely sine-wave bend in it after the cretins had dropped the machine. Fortunately, the saddle hand-wheel had taken the brunt of the impact, shattering in the process, but the apron remained firm and the shafts and lead-screw were not bent, otherwise it really would have been a total loss, except for spares.

Edited By Chris Crew on 09/08/2021 09:18:35

"I've been down this road and agree about the instability of a "Bantam" on the move and I thought the controls a little too low for comfort so I fitted these rollers when restoring mine. They are 50mm box section with 22mm bearings as wheels.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the info. Ive just tried to do this and im afraid youve lost me a bit with the terminology. Ive removed the shafts and end bracket and also the guide plate underneath the rear side of the saddle. Is that what you call a shear guide?

As for the 'apron' im afraid that stumped me!

Thanks Rob, i'll definitely bear that in mind when i come to relocating the lathe, i had a trial play today before removing the shafts and yes, a couple of inches would make it more comfortable. My garage is still in the process of being built so i may just make a concrete plinth for it to sit on.

So is this the 'rear shear guide'

And this is as far as i could get today. Not sure what i need to remove next to take the saddle off:

Gaz, The 'apron' is the lower front part of the saddle which is held in place with four Allen screws. It contains the feed gearbox and half-nuts, plus associated levers and carries the saddle hand-wheel. The rear-shear guide, as I termed it although it is probably more properly called the rear-gib plate or strip, is the part under the rear of the saddle which prevents the rear of the saddle lifting. You will find some shims between it and the base of the saddle. It's all very easy to strip down and re-assemble, as you are probably finding.

When I had my garage/workshop built, I had the floor smooth finished [the builder thought I was mad, maybe he was right ], cost a bit more, not a lot, but it makes moving stuff around so easy !

Rough floors--heavy machines= A-P-I-T-A.

Smooth floors+ rollers =a simple op., Even so, take care, if she tips over, dont try to stop her, you wont, just stay out of the line of fire !

Nice machine, never had one, had to settle for Chinese junk, still going 20+ years on.

Have fun !

One way of getting it across a lawn, or other rough surface, is to lay temporary track of hefty boards (1" thick plywood).

Difficult to advise on moving heavy unbalanced equipment because there's a certain amount of skill in it, and skills are best learned bu doing easy moves first. Worst case is a bunch of over-confident enthusiastic amateurs crushing someone under the machine. If it topples, it's natural to try and stop it: bad move - wrong! Top priority is to get out of the way! That said plenty of big machines are moved successfully, with simple equipment: rollers, levers, ropes, and a small team of fit blokes.

As they are taught in the Army 'Prior Preparation Prevents Piss-poor Performance'. Assemble a team and choose a leader; this shouldn't be the most gung-ho person available; be suspicious of anyone who wants the job. Drum into everyone they do what the leader says, when he says it. This is because teamwork is essential: lift together put down together. Plan the route, and rehearse it, paying special attention to awkward bits: doorways, steps, slopes, tight corners, and obstacles. How much planning depends on the geography. My workshop has a concrete garage door, accessed from a flat tarmac drive with a short ramp over the public pavement down to the road. The main danger is the tarmac, because it's surprisingly soft, otherwise rolling a big lathe would be 'easy'. My garden shed is far more difficult: steps to garden from road. Sunken path with steps to shed, or lift lathe 300mm from patio to soft lawn and then manoeuvrer machine across grass past goldfish pond and somehow swing past a tree surrounded by a low stone wall, and through a narrow shed door. Lathe in shed needs a lot more thought than lathe in garage.

Be good if you could take photos of the move and share your experiences. Interesting problem, but if it went in it can come out!

Dave

Hi Dave,

Yes, twice now ive helped clear out neighbours workshop's and it never ceases to amaze me how these things were fitted in the first place. But, I think im there now, with the promise of beer and burgers i have 3 friends coming round to help shift the bed onto my trailer and then off and into my garage. For now, until the garage/workshop is finished, the lathe will be stored safely until im ready to fit it back together. Im hoping 4 of us should be enough to lift and shift: