"YMas" wrote...
Hi Dave,
Thank you for your prompt response. Very much appreciated.
2 Tons diminishes the scale of my task. What are you planning to do
with it?
I've been busy looking through the lathe and trying to figure out how
everything works and what the purpose is of each lever is. The chuck
was jammed, some metal was stuck in the thread, so I have been ironing
out the little issues for the past few days.
I've gone through the list of possibilities and I think for the amount
of space I have, the good old manual method will be the best. I
bought the beer, now to find the helpers!
Many thanks for your advice, I will keep all the points in mind during
the lifting operation.
Regards,
Yousif
========================Hi again Yousif,
Yes, Two Tons... Erk!
It's not strictly for model engineering, I guess, unless one thinks of it as
full-size models? For all the weight, it's not that huge, 6.5" centre
height, 30" between centres, 7 feet long - but about three times the weight
of a similarly-sized Colchester, which helps with rigidity and vibration!
GF and I are very keen on Ferocious Motorbikes (we have a couple each,
would like more) and my hulking son has just bought his first (which Dad
will have to get running, I expect), the Holbrook's mostly for making
one-off parts (it's the little personal touches that set good custom bikes
apart) - SWMBO would like a trike, which will involve a fair bit of
invention and engineering, once I can find a suitable engine/box donor!
Don't suppose anyone has a ratty XS1100 lurking in the shed? An XJ900
Diversion?
I'm hoping to fit a supercharger (ex Mini-Cooper, around £100 on Ebay) to
one of my bikes, which will want some sort of drive and perhaps a 2-speed
gearbox for street and "combat" modes? One can never have enough power...
I think second/third/Nth-hand lathes are often pot luck (my first should
have been melted down to make pots, I think!), I was lucky enough to be able
to see the Holbrook (a "Model C no. 13", not listed on the lathes.co.uk
website?) powered up and check all the functions (quite a few of 'em, being
essentially a toolroom lathe it has quite a few Useful Features, e.g. power
feeds with feed stops/clutches, taper turning attachment, quick-withdraw
cross-slide etc. - I counted 24 levers, wheels and controls and may have
missed some!) and spotted a few things I'll need to sort out once I get it
home - not least a good clean, oil(s) change and polish! It wants some
attention to the apron, as the half-nut/feeds interlock's jammed, the
micrometer stop and a couple of the handles on the handwheels are corroded
to the point of seizure[1], but there are some good online resources showing
other people's rebuilds :) Yahoo groups are quite useful for something,
despite my doubts, and there are a few "vintage machinery" forums on the
www. The rec.crafts.metalworking newsgroup
*can* be useful, but the
signal/noise ratio's pretty poor (being across the pond, they seem more
interested in politics than metalworking, a news filter's essential!).
The biggest issue I ran into (other than shed space and transport) was
actually powering the beast (it has a 3-speed, 4HP 415V motor, with a swap
to 240V I'd only get 4 speeds...) - I'm now the proud owner of a 63 Amp
supply to the shed[2], all in accordance with the wiring reg's, and found an
old ABB inverter[3] I could hack to fool it into thinking it had a 415V
3-phase supply for a good price on Ebay - shame DHL bounced it in transit
and smashed the case and the LCD display! Luckily I'm pretty good with the
electrics and electronics so it's pretty much sorted now (it can work
without the display module), the lathe itself will need a few modifications
to its electrics to interface properly with the inverter (e.g.
forward/reverse switching, inverter cutout for when switching motor
speeds[4], mostly using the original switchgear but not the contactors) -
it's a bit of a project, I suppose, and I like projects!
Anyway, good luck with the lifting (and learning the use of), I'd help for
beer if I was close by!
Dave H.
--
(The engineer formerly known as Homeless)
"Rules are for the obedience of fools, and the guidance of wise men" -
Click to see the full signature.