Thoughts on the Emco Lathe & Millier

I would appreciate any comments on the useability of the Emco Unimat lathe / Mill combination - good bad or indifferent, and pitfalls, best model etc!
Principally the rig will be for clock repair and restoration for spring wound mantle types such as Smiths Westminsters, up to 30 hour & 8day English longcase, plus French Comtoise movements, so the biggest diameters it will probably need to handle, are mainspring barrels and gut/chain driven great wheels which need bushes makiing and fitting.

My predicament!, I'm wanting to rationalise all the gear I carry with me to France and back, (Twice a year,) and as my wife keeps rminding me, I'm not getting any younger, and would like to simplify the job a bit.

I'm currently using a Boley 8mm watchmakers lathe with compound top slide etc for my smaller watch and clock related repairs, and use a larger modelling lathe for the bigger clock stuff,
In addition, I have a Clarke CMD10 for any milling work, of which I've done so little, it's a virtual wasted chunk of money sitting on my bench.

My Boley stays put, but the thought is to get rid of the larger lathe and Clarke mill, and get a combined outfit like the Emco, which would appear to be capable of all I need for bigger stuff with availability of a milling fuction, and crucially, a lot less bulk and weight to heave around, plus less bench clutter.
Gear cutting doesn't need to be considered, I just buy 'one off' clock wheels from a BHI pro' when needed, and any milling work is more likely to be small repair jobs.

So in short, is the Emco worth the money they go for, are spares plentiful, and are they reliable?

Many thanks,

John.

Hmmm, looks like I can edit my post but not the typo on the header, grrrrrrrrrrrr ...............

Edited By RJW on 03/04/2012 14:05:00

I don't know where in France you go but this looks to be an absolute snip!  On the other hand I'd be careful in case it's a scam.

Russell.

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 03/04/2012 14:31:40

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 03/04/2012 14:34:10

Thanks Russel, a bit too far for me, it's down near Toulouse, but methinks there's a '0' missing there somewhere.

John

John

I had a Unimat 3 combo and was very pleased with it except that I thought the motor was a bit weak at 120 watt and also it was only intermittently rated.

The motor had to be taken from the headstock and mounted to the milling column, but this was a case of just taking off and tightening two bolts. You could of course get a second motor, but if not much milling is envisaged, then hold on to your cash. The U4, which I believe is Far Eastern made, has a more powerful and continuously rated motor. Apart from that the two models look the same to me, although no doubt there are detail differences.

If you get a U3 or 4, which are much more rigid than the original SL (which only had a 90 watt motor), get hold of the books 'Making the Most of the Unimat' by Rex Tingey and also the book by Bob Loader, the name of which escapes me at the moment. Both give details of useful improvements and accessories that can easily be made.

Dave

The Emerald Isle

Its not a bad little lathe/mill combo, I started off with one and made a Stuart 10V on it amoungst other things. I had two motors so could drill and turn without altering anything and to mill just needed to swap the toolpost for the milling table or whatever I was using to hold the work.

J

Thanks Dave, especially for the tip on the motors, sounds good,
I don't do much milling but it is conforting to have the facility to hand if I need it, and having an attachment tucked away in a box is better for me than lugging a weighty machine around and it clogging up bench space.

I don't really need continuous rated motors for the stuff i do, so the standard fitments should be ok, I've been running the Boley with an old sewing machine motor and treadle for the last 3 years, and it doesn't even break into a sweat.
My main concern with these machines if I have one, is electronic circuits going belly up.

I'm watching a few Emco's on eBay at the moment, so the tip about the SL model is appreciated.

John.

Thanks Jason, looks like being my next purchase!
I did cast an eye over the separate milling heads, think they were around £150 ish, not sure I'd have enough work to justify one just yet, but if I finally get my 'R's into gear on some model engineering I might take the plunge (no pun) !

Anyone wanna buy an almost unused Clarke CMD10 .............

John