Hi all, newbie with first lathe, rare one i think.

Hi all

Wayne here Thanks for having me

I have been looking here for a time now on and off and now i think it time to join up. You folk now what your on about

I have been sort of sorting out the workshop and at last i am near the end. I plan for the future to start a build of a model steam engine and this is the first big step in the gear i need, well besides the new Axminster band saw and a few old pillar drills. .

I got this lathe recently only as it was great price, i think. I wasnt going to get one until later next year and was willing to pay well over a grand for one but i couldnt say no to this at the price it was, and as its a perfect fit in the workshop.

Its all there and have got a load of gear to go with it aswell which is a bonus.

I dont have a great deal of info on it but for that its a Union Werk AG and thats all but for it came off a German Naval WW2 war ship.

I have yet to make a better stand and base. Also i am thinking on getting a 3ph 1.5kw motor for it, this one is 1ph 55 kw.

Can anybody shed any more light on info on these lathes please

.

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

I assume you have already checked lathes.co?

Thor

Hello Wayne,

This particular lathe is the very one pictured in Tony Griffiths excellent archive website www.lathes.co.uk. Other than confirming it came off a WW2 German warship and having a spindle height of about 7 inches from the bed, he has rather uncharacteristically little do add, except to say the factory produced quality work.

There are no technical details that you can refer to. The view inside the headstock is of a clean machine in good shape.

Enjoy your purchase, it should serve you well

Brian

Hi there, yes thats the one i have.

Welcome to the forum, Wayne, it certainly is an interesting machine. I would personally choose a 1 hp motor, 0.75Kw and a VFD since its quite old and needs a gentle touch. And keep the maximum rpm below 1400.

oh its clean, in all very good condition really but for a bit of damage on the cross slide.

I am trying to find out the oil to use to add to the head stock and oil ways, i want to give a service if needed or not as dont know when it was last done.

I have been wondering why it has a three belt pulley also. any ideas why that is. it looks original

Oh and yes i dont want to blow it up even though its built well i want to be carefull with it.

.

My CVA has 3 v belts from motor gearbox output to the headstock. I guess it’s for torque transmission.

Dave

If it was born with a 3 pulley drive it probably needed it.

You may find the gearbox very lossy and it's got a heck of a bed for a bench top lathe. With a 14" swing it's more like 3hp territory.

I would be looking at a minimum of a two HP motor to drive your lathe ,thats a big headstock to drive,plus cut metal,the multiple drive pulley indicates that it originally had a good size motor.I would not try to get a high spindle speed,if it is ww2 ,a spindle speed would not been much over 750 rpm. In the 1950s a 8inch Wilson lathe i worked on had a top speed of 440 rpm and a 41/2 Boxford was only 1450 rpm.

This is why i am trying to find the origin al specs on this lathe. Its amine field for me all this as in what size motor as folk have said all between 1hp and 3hp and speeds from 500rpm to 1750rpm.

I plan on a 3ph with a VFR, now with a VFR can i make the VFR max out at say 1400rpm ?

all new to me this also, just learned the other day what a VFR does.

I am bidding on a 3ph 1.5kw/2hp 1450rpm motor on ebay. should i leave it and see. dont want to buy the wrong size now.

Its always the way with me, i buy things that need so much research ha ha

Edited By wayne ollerenshaw on 17/10/2021 19:56:25

If the motor looks good, go for it, you don't have to run it at its limits. A decent modern oil of practically any type will be superior to the stuff they had 80 years ago, I would use synthetic motor oil myself.

Hi W.olly, welcome over here.🙂

Get the 2HP motor. Have you checked the threads on any of the bolts and measured the lead screw pitch (travel per rev) yet?

You won’t break it if you are careful. It is built like the proverbial brick bog.

Ipswich is a bit far for me, but I expect there are some nearer, who could give you some practical on-site advice- sort out your accessories and get that indexer working.

The better VFDs can be programmed for all manner of things.

Edited to add: Check the type of bearing on the headstock.  If it is a plain bearing stick to the 1000rpm  limit - well not much more.  If a taper roller bearing, the main spindle could go much faster but the gearbox may not like it.  It would be a shame to push it too hard.  

Edited By not done it yet on 17/10/2021 22:04:10

There's a little info Here; I've linked to the German English translation via Google
https://forum-zerspanungsbude-net.translate.goog/viewtopic.php?t=21272&_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

See Also
https://forum-zerspanungsbude-net.translate.goog/viewtopic.php?t=47614&_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

And Here
https://www-deutsche--digitale--bibliothek-de.translate.goog/item/ODY3L5WC3U7GK7KBLNO7CHE3XMONJ5ZG?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

There may be some archive material available Here
https://www-archiv-sachsen-de.translate.goog/archiv/bestand.jsp?oid=09.08.04&bestandid=31029&syg_id=113361&_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB&_x_tr_pto=nui%2Csc

Good Luck with that lot.

Bill

We all look forward to regular updates on progress with your lathe. Have you measured the spindle threads and fitting? You will probably have to make custom backplates from blanks or solid cast iron for any additional chucks needed.

If you have a look at the second link in my previous post, there is a photo of the brass plate showing spindle speeds.
If I read it correctly selectable up to 1000 max, but 1200 is also mentioned at the bottom of the plate, perhaps for a higher frequency supply.
Note also the photo of the lathe fitted with two different motors at the same time.

Bill

Google has some information from Suffolk Steam on this particular lathe, It is demonstrated in a video

The nose thread is 60 mm O/D, pitch 5.5 mm with a through bore of 40 mm and 5 MT nose taper. From the size of the bearing housing I would guess at a taper roller bearing support at the chuck end and probably a plain roller bearing at the far end of the spindle

Old Mart recommends a decent quality oil in the headstock. I agree with him and used a semi-synthetic 10W-50 oil made by Morris Lubricants in a recent restoration of a Churchill Cub lathe of 1947 vintage. It seems to like it and runs very well at all speeds.

Brian

Well ow do there kida

I won that motor

Think you mistaken though as i am in Manchester and got he lathe from Ipswich, but i do confuse folk much like i confuse myself ll.

I havnt yet counted the leadscrew. ill pop out in a bit and do so though.

I found a couple of them the other night and started to go through them, that lathe though is different from mine. well a little. head stock look similar.

All i can say is thank god for translate