Clausing lathe?

Great lathes. I have a very old 100 series -- which does not have the variable speed drive. However, I have heard from other Clausing owners that the variable speed drive is problematic. It is entirely a mechanical arrangement. There is, someplace on the net, a Clausing discussion group. Sorry, don't have a current address for it.

Boris

The first lathe is one of the last American made Clausings, and its a good machine- however, it doesn't have a tailstock, and has a turret adapter instead. This machine was probably used in production based on both the turret and its general appearance and it could be worn out. If you're interested in it, take a close look at every part of it for wear, but for me the lack of a tailstock would be a deal killer, and it wouldn't be easy or cheap to find one. Parts support for the American made Clausings is still pretty good through Clausing, and parts prices are ok. If you like this machine, you'll run across one in better shape with a tailstock if you keep looking around for a while.

The second lathe is an older English/Colchester made Clausing. Also a good machine, but parts from Colchester are very expensive, and because of the age of the machine I'd worry about parts availability. If the machine is in very good working condition and doesn't need any rebuilding I'd probably be tempted, but if its needs work and some parts replacement I'd definitely call Clausing first to get some parts quotes before I jumped on it.

If you have the $ (probably $3,000 to $5000 unless you get lucky) to afford a well tooled low miles machine when it appears on the market I'd wait if I were you, and don't be tempted by any of the chinese "lathe kits".

Good luck-

Paul T.

The turret tailstock could be useful or a right PITA depending on what you want to do with it.

OK this is one of the older Colchesters. Really really well made machines but it's got the old threaded chuck mounting system with locking ring. Compared with a camlock mount this is a PITA and given the number of machines around I wouldn't pay the 'buy it now' price unless it was absolutely loaded with tooling including all the chucks I'd think I'd ever need. A friend of mine machined one of those backplates from a cast iron round and IIRC it took him a while.

The machine has probably never seen any real work tho, if it's anything like the machines in our instrument workshops. We have 40 year old machines in mint condition alongside new CNC ones.

Peter Wiley

Paul's comments are exactly correct from my point of view. If you are interested in a a late model Harrison (same company as Colchester)13" x 32" M300 lathe with tracer I can supply it for $4500. fob Costa Mesa, CA. That is not all that far from the Pacific NW. Machine is in original paint and was built in 1989. It came from a local college and has had almost no use as the tracer was way to complicated for college students to operate. Bought a really nice Lagunmatic CNC mill from the same organization and as far as we can tell they never figured out how to turn it on. Came with less then 100 hours on the clock and it was original used at WESTEC. Leigh at MarMachine

Gunners note. JUMP ON IT!!!!! Yes!

"In my humble opinion, the petty carping levied against Bush by the Democrats proves again, it is better to have your eye plucked out by an eagle than to be nibbled to death by ducks." - Norman Liebmann

I'm not familiar with that model but do know that the Clausing 5900-series have a reputation for problems with the varis-speed drive. From my experience with a used 5914, I suspect that the problem is mostly due to lack of maintenance. There's a plastic sleeve/bushing on the two-piece motor pulley that should be periodically replaced, but apparently seldom was. Severe wear on the sleeve can result in self destructionof the pulley. The sleeve costs $25, whereas a new pulley is around $900 from Clausing. Mine works quite well with a new pulley (ouch!).

As others have mentioned the bed turret will turn off a lot of prospective buyers. My 5914 came with a bed turret as well as the standard tailstock and the turret has been useful enogh that I rarely use the tailstock any more. The only significant loss of function is the inability to turn long parts between centers, but I've never needed that.

sure this isnt L0? Mine is and its virtually identical

Gunner

"In my humble opinion, the petty carping levied against Bush by the Democrats proves again, it is better to have your eye plucked out by an eagle than to be nibbled to death by ducks." - Norman Liebmann

Clausings are nice machines, but the variable speed mechanism

*can* have problems. It is usually done by hydraulics, and the mechanism is subject to wear. I'm not sure whether this one is old enough to be having the problems, but it is a problem which is frequent in older Clausings.

I have a belt-change Clausing (12x24"), and am very pleased with it.

The other factor which may contribute to the lack of bids is the fact that this is equipped with a turret instead of a standard tailstock. This makes it very nice for production work from bar, stock fed through the spindle, but awkward for one-off work.

Mine came with a turret and I managed to chase down a standard tailstock for it. I *do* use the turret for some projects, and the tailstock for others.

It looks as though the turret is missing one of the four radial feed rods -- but that should be simple to make a replacement for. Also, Clausing is still in business, and sells many of the parts for the older lathes.

The price might be a bit optimistic in today's market. I paid about half that for my 12x24" Clausing, and this was before the current slump in used machine prices.

I must admit that the low feedback count and short term on eBay would make me nervous, but it looks like some shop selling off their machines which have been superseded by newer (and probably CNC) machines.

At least it has the standard tailstock, making it better for one-off jobs. And the Clausing-Colchester lathes are supposed to be very nice. However, it seems to be rather limited in tooling. I see the 4-jaw chuck, and some unidentified object in the chip pan, but no toolpost, and it appears to have been stripped of the minimal tooling which was supposed to hang on the pegboard afixed to the splash guard behind the lathe bed. Of course, who knows what may be in the drawers in the right pedestal. It looks as though it is also intended to run with flood coolant, and the center door gives access to the coolant tank.

Again -- I think that the price may be a bit high in today's market, which could explain why it has not sold -- but it may still be a good price for you if it is close, so the shipping (and rigging) costs could be kept small.

A bit far from my area (near Washington DC), so I don't know what may be in your area. As for what I know about the lathes, a lot of it is speculation, but there is some that is obvious from the examination of the auction photos.

Good Luck, DoN.

Note that the wear distribution on a machine used as a turret machine is rather different from that on a standard tailstock machine. Based on my experience with a 12x24" Clausing which came with matching serial number on the bed turret, here are my observations:

1) Cross-feed leadscrew and nut were badly worn Backlash was about 0.070" in the middle of the travel. It had been used regularly for parting off workpieces fed through the headstock spindle. 2) But -- the wear on the bed was minimal, as the carriage had spent most of its time sitting in one place parting off, with all of the other work being done by the turret's ram. 3) Since threading on a turret machine is typically done with Geometric style die heads, the leadscrew had seen very little use in threading -- so little that the threading dial was still resting in one of the pedestal drawers -- never mounted on the machine. It *had* been used to drive the cross-feed, however, but that puts very little wear on the leadscrew, as the power take-off is via a keyway running the length of the leadscrew, driving a worm gear in the apron. The threads on the leadscrew were essentially unused.

Note that machines built from the ground up as turret machines are likely to not have a thread-cutting leadscrew, and no quick change gearbox. This one, however, appears to have both, since the turret is a bed turret (which can simply be slid off and replaced by a standard tailstock), so the machine can be converted to normal operation by finding the replacement tailstock -- and was built to handle either. (It took me a while to find the right tailstock for my machine, but I got a lighter duty one which fit and used it while waiting. (MT-2 ram instead of MT-3.)

So -- it is a tradeoff. Obviously, a machine with a tailstock still in good shape would be better for you, but this one may serve your needs. Cross-feed leadscrews are relatively inexpensive to replace compared to the threading leadscrew.

Good Luck, DoN.

Thanks Leigh. Harder to consider a machine that is that far away from me since it would be quite a trip to see it in person. Also, with shipping, it could be near $6000 by the time it gets in my garage, and unless it has a lot of tooling included, that would be stretching things.

I did a search for an M300 and saw a few pics. It sorta looks like what the Chinese have been copying for Jet, Enco, etc. I have heard the import machines criticized for their low mass...but I don't really know if 1500 lbs should be considered low mass?

Also, I am not really sure what a tracer is...well, I have heard of a tracer hydraulic mill...does the lathe work something like that, and if so, can it be used manually as well?

Thanks,

Rick

Thanks Don. Lol, $2500 seemed reasonable to me for so much metal. All the better to learn that we are in a slump in machinery prices. The reply I got from the person (company) selling this 14" clausing seemed to indicate that it was 100% ready to be put to work and they needed the money. Kinda makes me feel a bit sorry for them unless they were pulling my leg. Not sorry enough to overpay though. :-)

Rick

As I know Leigh, and trust his judgement on machines 100%, if he gives it his seal of approval, Id have to say from personal experience, that there is no need to go look at it. Shrug. Shipping can be handled for less than $1500.

The Harrison is the lathe all the others copy. Its the real deal, no bullhockey

Gunner

"In my humble opinion, the petty carping levied against Bush by the Democrats proves again, it is better to have your eye plucked out by an eagle than to be nibbled to death by ducks." - Norman Liebmann

I have the 15" version, the 1501. (the one I turned over a couple weeks ago). Its one hell of a lathe, though top heavy. Its not made as well in some of the small details as a Colchester (no way lube pump for example), but its still a nice lathe.

If somone has a turret to fit, Id be interested in swapping something for it.

Gunner

"In my humble opinion, the petty carping levied against Bush by the Democrats proves again, it is better to have your eye plucked out by an eagle than to be nibbled to death by ducks." - Norman Liebmann

Might consider this one...

"In my humble opinion, the petty carping levied against Bush by the Democrats proves again, it is better to have your eye plucked out by an eagle than to be nibbled to death by ducks." - Norman Liebmann

I sold a 14"x40" Clausing on ebay last month for $1,500. It was like new. Keep looking. Between the risk, and the shipping, you need to stay at a lower bid level when buying on ebay. Harrison/Colchester are as good as any lathe made, and nice to use. Lathes are like motorcycles, they handle different, some you like, some you don't. Paul

Total newbie question!!! Can't you simply place a live center into a turret and pretend you have a tailstock? What's the down side.

Thanks for all replies,

Ivan Vegvary

Well, one downside is that turret stations usually have a straight bore so you'd most likely need a live center with a straight arbor. I don't if those are readily available or not. Another is that at least some bed turret turrets can't be locked down.

Correct for both. I've not tried comparing the forces available from a tailstock vs rack gear feed for the turret attachment, but I suspect that you can get a lot more drilling force for larger bits from the tailstock. (And I did need to replace the pinion gear on my turret, as it had one tooth broken off.) Luckily, Clausing still had it in stock. I think that somebody was trying to push it as hard as a tailstock -- possibly with a big drill bit mounted.

And there are adaptors from the cylindrical bore of the turret to the Morse taper of the live center, so that could be worked around that way.

One of our newsgroup members (Harold Vrodos) had mentioned a mod to a bed turret which will allow it to be locked at a given position, so you could perhaps use the turret as a tailstock. I'm not sure whether it could apply as much center force as a tailstock would.

Most of the turrets do *not* have the ablity to offset to allow you to turn a taper as most tailstocks have, so that would be rather inconvenient.

Enjoy, DoN.

You can buy a 1 inch straight shank to MT adapter so I don't see that as a big problem.

I think the biggest disadvantage is you do not have any adjustement on the turret. If you put a center in one station and its a little bit off center, you will turn a taper. If you are off center by 1 thou, you will turn a 2 thou taper.

And on the off chance you actually want to turn a taper, you have no way to offset the tailstock.

chuck