Hello form Alton hampshire

Hi I’m new to the forum I have a small work shop with a Chester mini lathe, a Chester w16 mill, metal band saw etc. and a new acquisition a Warco 220 lathe, I know these lathes have been mentioned in the past but if anyone has details on upgrades, issues etc I would be interested. Also the bed of the lathe has some rust and has been damaged at some time in the past and might need at the minimum the top surface re-ground so my second request is can anyone recommend a company that can carry out a regrind. thank you.

Welcome along Ralph,  I have heard of a bed re-grinder in the Midlands but not had to use one.

Edited By Chris Evans 6 on 11/12/2021 09:41:35

Ralph,

I wouldn't be in too much of a rush to have the bed reground if I were you. If the rust is so bad that it needs to be ground, chances are that it's not worth doing. Try an application or two of a de-rusting agent first and see what it looks like afterwards. Some resultant pitting could well be "useful" as lubricant reservoirs on the ways. Maybe post some before and after pictures on here to get some feedback and advice on how to proceed?

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

John

Hi Ralph welcome to the forum. I have a Chester 16VS mill with a few mods, I don't know if that is similar to yours. Also there is a bed grinding company Unislide, http://www.unislidegrinding.co.uk/lathes/ . I don't know them but worth a contact if needed.

I have fitted a 3 axis DRO, a side handwheel to Z axis, changed Z axis leadscrew to a ball screw and fitted a motor to the Z axis for boring power feed.

David

Welcome to the forum Ralph.

I agree with John Hinckley. Don’t be in a rush to regrind the lathe bed.

Depending on the level of rusting it could be easily recovered with a little TLC. Also, depending on what the damage to the bed consists of, it may be able to be ignored, or just a light touch with a hand scraper will correct the issue. MUCH cheaper than a bed regrind. As suggested, some clear photos of the affected areas would help.

There is a tremendous amount of guidance and experience on this forum (I have been helped on several occasions), so do not be afraid to ask.

best regards. Alan

Hi there, Ralph,

I was taught that if you see thirteen thou. of rust, the item has only lost one thou. of metal. So rust often looks worse than it really is.

It is important to get rid of rust because it is abrasive. However, you need to employ a removal process that avoids making the situation worse by removing metal as well!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 12/12/2021 14:17:23

Edited By Swarf, Mostly! on 12/12/2021 14:18:00

Try gently scraping with a Stanley knife blade with a little oil, or oiled steel wool, it is unlikely to have affected the dimensions and it is a lathe not an ornament so slight surface discolouration will not affect accuracy. Avoid abrasive grits or papers.

 Welcome, by the way.

Edited By old mart on 12/12/2021 16:27:02

Welcome Ralph.

As others say don't rush to start pulling the lathe apart for regrinding.. At the end, you may not be able to reassemble it to the same level of precision and accuracy as when it left the factory. Notwithstanding what folk say about Chinese lathes, the factory have more experience than you of building lathes!

Yes, some fine tuning can benefit a machine, but major surgery is for the experienced, skilled and very well equipped.

Rust pitting may not be nice, but unless it really affects the machine performance, is best left alone.. other than possibly treating with phosphoric or citric acid. It might even then be a benefit in holding oil to lubricate the ways and Saddle.

Mods and additions that will improve the mini lathe have been described in MEW by such folk as Alistair Sinclair, and Mike Cox.

Read their work, before you start pulling it apart.. Unless you are highly skilled in precision work, remember " If it ain't badly broke, don't fix it"

You do not want to be in the position of looking for parts, the shape, or number, of which you do not know, have, with their spring, flown into the far dark corners of the workshop. If you find them, will you know how put them back in the right order, and where they should be, IF you found all the parts?

Been there, done it, got the Tee shirts!

Once, I was brought a small ,lathe that some previous owner had "fixed". One of the tappings was now at an angle and pulling the Headstock out of square. Drilling out the offending hole and rebushing it solved the problem so that it once more turned parallel rather than tapered...

Howard

Hello Ralph,

As others have said before me, a bed regrind may well be an expensive mistake to make.

You say the bed has been damaged in the past. There will be raised metal alongside the dents and a perfectly satisfactory fix would be to carefully smooth off the raised metal with a well used flat fine cut file. Just dress off the high spots, bits that move over the top of the residual hollow will still ride over those areas perfectly well without being deflected from their path by having a raised lip to climb over.

Other than looking untidy from the cosmetic point of view, such damage is trivial once flatted off and can be ignored. I have seen an example of a quite superb American Monarch from 1943 that has a great chunk missing from the raised bed vee on the rear of the bed at the chuck end. The lathe still performs to better than 1/2 thou with the carriage riding over the damage.

Regards Brian

Thank you all for your feedback, I’m leaving as is for the moment.

Ralph

Welcome to the party Ralf, there's little I can add to what fellow members have said. Good Luck, Noel.

Welcome!

As others have said, don't rush to regrind the bed. Small rust pits may be unsightly, but can act as reservoirs for oil.

Try painting with something like phosphoric acid (as in most rust removers. ).

Go to back numbers of M E W , for articles by Alistair Sinclair and Mike Cox on mods to the mini lathe.

Find a local Model Engineering Club and join.

Howard