Old newbie getting back in the swarfe manufacturing game

Hello all.

I'm Malcolm, from near Macclesfield, although an exile from North Lancs.

Retired ex power station engineer mainly interested in old motorbikes.

Having down-sized when we moved here I am now looking to get a smallish lathe for light hobby use. Warco/Chester belt drive or small geared drive e.g. BV20.

Any observations/offers greatly accepted.

Welcome along Malcolm from another old bike tinkerer, pre-war bikes for me.

Hi Malcolm worked at a few power stations up and down the country in my younger day's for the CEGB on the coal delivery side. That said welcome to forum

H

Welcome Malcolm. Plenty of friendly, practical advice is here.

Chester & Warco offer a wide range of machines these days and appear to offer good after sales support. The BV20 is pretty basic and quite long in the tooth these days ( I know, as I own one! )

It's going to depend on what you think you will be using it for. With your interest in old m/cycles are you looking to make small parts or something more substantial. This will indicate the size, accuracy & power you need.

Geared head machines tend to be a bit more noisy than belt / electronic drive systems, which can be a consideration in some environments

If you aren't in a rush, keeping an eye on the classifieds may turn up something that would suit at a good price

All the best Mike

Edited By Mike Hurley on 17/08/2023 19:32:26

Thanks for the welcoming words and your views on gear vs belt drives.

I've been sceptical about Chinese gear drives and had a belt drive Chester Craftsman before down-sizing to a garden shed, but have access to a larger Warco gear drive lathe and have found it fine and quiet.

I have been looking at the new Warco WM240B belt drive and may take the plunge on a new one.

If I need to turn something larger I can always use the bigger lathe.

In answer to Chris, I also like prewar bikes and have recently worked on a 1926 BSA L26, a 1928 500 SV and a 1930 500 Sloper, all of which successfully finished the Banbury Run this year. However, I turned down the offer of riding the Sloper as I prefer my bikes to have mirrors!

I did work on a coal fired (PF) station in my apprenticeship with ICI and I vowed never again! Nuclear for me.

all the best to you all and I'll update you on what I eventually buy.

Malcolm.

Good morning Malcolm,

I don't think the WM240B has tee slots in the cross slide. This is likely to be a hindrance if you wish to use a "milling slide", "rear tool post", etc. Having said that, I suspect a little reworking of the cross slide might be possible. But not something you may necessarily want to do on a new machine and invalidate the warranty.

Morning Bo'sun,

The catalogue photo shows two tee slots on the cross slide so, hopefully , the actual production machine should have them. Not a particular fan as the cross slide can tighten up when something is bolted to the cross slide. I know my old Myford certainly did.

I'll keep looking.

Cheers,

Malcolm.

Hi Malcolm,

Have a look a the Warco 9576 Base Plate. The product description implies that the WM240B does not have tee slots.

Hope this helps.

Welcome to the Forum

Always someone on here who can help you. With advice, in person, by making things for you.

Pity that you sold the Craftsman. I have had a lookalike for twenty years, and wouldn't be without it.

A most useful machine.

Youn are going to enjoy yourself!

Howard

Hi Malcolm, my sloper has mirrors. I would not ride without them, done 5 Banbury runs now.