Correct about the chuck key I'm properly obsessed about that.
a usable Colchester Chipmaster
I just had to let one of these go and I cried,
boom , due to a transfer to international contract ive been punted out the company share scheme i was in and had my last years payments refunded ..... its almost like someones telling me something.
A lathe i feel would be a better investment than some shares in the company i work for ......
where do the masses stand on "converted" lathes.
ie 3phase designed converted to 240v.
Im a little unsure in that i know the lathe in question came with a 3phase 5hp motor and i know that domestic singlephase is limited to 3hp pretty much. Will that make much odds to the sorts of things i'm likely to be doing ?
I have a Harrison M250 which runs off a Transwave converter and it seems fine for general use. The motor rattles a bit on start until the phases are all in and obviously doesn't have the full grunt of the original 3 phase but it's a convenient way of using an unmodified lathe. The Transwave converter is a bit pricey but has been reliable but to be honest it's not been thrashed exactly.
What size lathe would you need to turn a hub?
Hubs are small really, you could manage fine on a 7*12 hobby lathe.
5hp is a huge amount of power, I'm guessing that's a pretty big lathe. I run my 2hp 3 phase lathe with an inverter drive, I don't bother with the variable freq as I have a variator but both my mill and cold saw use the variable freq and within limits it works well. If you want to run on a simple 230v 3 phase you will have to wire the motor delta, my saw has a 2 speed motor and will only run on 440 v which complicates the installation and requires a step up transformer.
You dont need a huge amount of power on a lathe if you are willing to moderate how hard you use it, I would have thought 3 hp would be more than adequate for a 6" lathe in a domestic setting.
irelanst - Member
Hubs are small really, you could manage fine on a 7*12 hobby lathe.
Thanks. That's what I was hoping.
Keep an eye out on local selling pages, Facebook etc ... I'd always fancied one and just happened to spot one locally, a guys father had passed away and was having to clear out his house / garage, he was just wanting shot of things.
I paid £550 for a Myford Super 7 with a base, loads of attachments, tools, spares, ally / steel / nylon bar, original receipts / manuals, even loads of hand written notes / photos. I don't know what half the things are to be fair, but its a cracking machine and its nice to know that some proper old boy has tinkered on with it for years.
Good look in finding something, there are some bargains out there.
Myford ml7 -basic one not the gear box or the long bed) which is the size I want
In good original condition with the stand doesn't appear to have e seen alot of use imo.
Fixed and moving steady - faceplate and 3 jaw Chuck and quick change toolpost and some tooling.
850 quid.
Any thoughts. Reading up I would need to buy gears and manually change them to do screw cutting how ever for the number of screws I'd want to cut- that's unlikely to be an issue.
Sounds similar to what my dad and I have.
Worth checking for slop. Take a bit of stock and tooling and get a test cut done. I say take some stock and tooling so there is no excuse for not running the machine.
P.s. re threading. I have a to do project where by I add an encoder to the headstock and servo to the power feed to do away with the need for change gears. Should be simple to do. Allow and thread pitch plus allow for power feed when cutting.
I'd recommend dropping this ebay seller a line and tell him what you're looking for. He might not have it but he can look out for it for you
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/campbell4550/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
They (father and son) have a few nice bits of machinery that they fettle and sort and sell on but also have an ear to the ground as to what coming up. They also run about in their own HIAB so get and move on machines that other people would have to pass on. Because the do machinery moving for other people they also know whats sitting in the corners of other people's workshops
Cam can talk through! So make sure you're got the afternoon free if you give him a bell!
aye ive seen those projects linked to on model engineer .
I think it would do what i want and if it doesnt i think it would sell on easy.
Will see if its up to any good.
Off to look at the Myford ml7 on Monday.
Whilst I'm led to believe the myfords are over valued and this ones on the high side Its bed is immaculate and it's had a strip down refurb from current owner whos owned it for many years downsizing his workshop and moving.
Equally a friend of a friend I know paid 500 for a ml7 with 3 and 4 jaw chucks and not alot else in a probate sale. No stand or any of the other shit that comes eith the one I'm looking at so possibly not too over priced and negotiations will bring it to where I want.
The hired muscle in form of rustymac can provide some balanced opinion.
Can't add anything other than - you lucky bastard.
I need a lathe in my life.
Mick got your advice for spotting a decent one/banjod one via rusty Mac. Cheers for that lot very useful pointers. Thanks for that.
