Moving a Lathe

Lathes.co.uk states:

"MM525A MURAD BORMILATHE - unfortunately no manual ever seems to have been produced for this ingenious machine but there is an excellent and detailed Technical Sales and Specification Booklet available that has Screwcutting Charts and a full explanation of how the machine and its accessories function. 20 pages. =A330"

So you're somewhat on your own

Charles

Hi Charles, Many thanks for your prompt response. Very much appreciated.

I think I have an Antarctica - and after loads of searching, I wasn't able to find any manuals associated with it.

Ah well, I'll find a way!

Thanks again, Yousif

Hi Yousif,

If you're trying to do it single-handed without lifting gear, I'd suggest calling in a few favours from a few strong friends! Three of us coped OK with an old Challenger of about 1/4 ton, lifting it in and out of a van, lifting onto a bench etc. - easiest if you're all around the same height so the load's spread fairly :) Probably the easiest method would be to use an engine hoist - most of 'em will lift 1/4 ton through a metre or so - and some webbing straps to connect it to the lathe - in the past I've used seat belts for this, (very cheap from the local scrapyard) or sturdy ratchet straps. If there's no room for a hoist, the "Egyptian" method may work, alternately lifting each end an inch or so with a suitable lever and placing packing under it until you get to the required height - be *very* cautious though, lathes are top-heavy and take no prisoners when they fall on people...

I have a lathe to move too, 2 tons of Holbrook heading for my shed - I'll be rolling it into place on scaffold poles, bloody glad I don't have to get

*that* up on a bench!

Dave H.

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 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.