Thread: What's in a reasonable Hercus Tooling Kit

A basic cooling system can be made fairly cheaply with the use of a water feature pump.plastic container,tubing and tap/nozzle.

Originally Posted by pipeclay

A basic cooling system can be made fairly cheaply with the use of a water feature pump.plastic container,tubing and tap/nozzle.

Yep, that's the basis for the design, I'll try to find a way to make it 100% more complicated with a 2% improvement

you look like you all ready have a good live center jacobs chuck and tool post.
do you have a descant grinder for tool sharping. maybe you should think about a drink holder. i all ways needed one until i started to keep my chip try like yours empty. except for a paint brush and drink.
i wouldn't rush in too hard to buy tooling.i think buy a few things first and after you use them buy something else. may be buy or make a scribing block like mentioned else where a dial indercator. you know a clip board is handy for drawings. hung on a stand or on the wall.some where.
how come you have two compound slides?
i think buy a few things first and after you use them buy something else.
have fun.
aaron

Originally Posted by azzrock

you look like you all ready have a good live center jacobs chuck and tool post.

Yeah, I'm happy with those.

do you have a descant grinder for tool sharping. maybe you should think about a drink holder. i all ways needed one until i started to keep my chip try like yours empty. except for a paint brush and drink.

I have 3 grinders, two 8" and one 10". I have 2 white wheels, a Norton blue Max wheel, and a heap of the gray ones. Maybe I need a green wheel?

i wouldn't rush in too hard to buy tooling.i think buy a few things first and after you use them buy something else. may be buy or make a scribing block like mentioned else where a dial indercator.

That sounds sensible - I need to sort the motor out before I do anything else. I have a heap of basic collars and adapters to turn before I get too excited.

you know a clip board is handy for drawings. hung on a stand or on the wall.some where.

Good idea!

how come you have two compound slides?

I dunno, that's just what was in the box of stuff that I picked up with the lathe.

Hi Bob,
You referred to turning between centres in your first post, unless I missed it you don't have the mt3-2 sleeve for the headstock and an mt2 dead centre to go with it(mentioned by PIPECLAY) this combination is the best as it lets you centre up closer to the drive dog. PIPECLAY's suggestion of the chuck mounted centre is the other option.
Although I have sold several, I agree with Ken, the cost of the milling attachment would go a long way towards the cost of a mill or mill/drill which has got to be a better solution.
You could spend 3 or 4 times the cost of your lathe if you try to get "all the goodies".

As for a motor, a 1/2hp is all I use on the 260 and it does very decent depth of cut without problems.
Mal

Azz and his drink holder!! Though I have noticed the absence of the ubiquitous can in his more recent photos. What's happening Azz?


Bob,

Do the serial numbers on the bed and tailstock match? If they don't there is the possibilty that the headstock and tailstock spindles will not align.

A quick way of checking is to place dead centres in both the headstock spindle and the tailstock. Bring them close together and place something like a piece of shim material, razor blade, Stanley trimmer blade etc. carefully between the points of the centres. Advance the tailstock gently so that the shim or blade is just held in place. If the centres are not aligned, the shim or blade will deflect showing the direction of non alignment.

On my '59 Model A, I had to raise the height of the tailstock by about 0.005" with brass shim. The serial numbers did not match.

BT

mine dont match. i wonder does any body here have a lathe with serial no 6254.
thats the no. on my tailstock. my lathe is no. 6257.
the can was shaping up to be a trade mark. some times i just forget.

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Bob,

Do the serial numbers on the bed and tailstock match? If they don't there is the possibilty that the headstock and tailstock spindles will not align.

A quick way of checking is to place dead centres in both the headstock spindle and the tailstock. Bring them close together and place something like a piece of shim material, razor blade, Stanley trimmer blade etc. carefully between the points of the centres. Advance the tailstock gently so that the shim or blade is just held in place. If the centres are not aligned, the shim or blade will deflect showing the direction of non alignment.

On my '59 Model A, I had to raise the height of the tailstock by about 0.005" with brass shim. The serial numbers did not match.

BT

OK - I'll check it out, but I will need a couple of dead centre's first.

After further consideration I have decided to go the VFD/VSD route.

Does anyone know anything about the SAJ units like these?
SAJ 0.75KW VSD VFD inverter 240V variable speed drive | eBay

Originally Posted by allterrain50

Hi Bob,
You referred to turning between centres in your first post, unless I missed it you don't have the mt3-2 sleeve for the headstock and an mt2 dead centre to go with it(mentioned by PIPECLAY) this combination is the best as it lets you centre up closer to the drive dog. PIPECLAY's suggestion of the chuck mounted centre is the other option.

Good point - also If I get a mt3-2 sleeve that will give me the ability to "borrow" from the large mt3 stuff from work.

Although I have sold several, I agree with Ken, the cost of the milling attachment would go a long way towards the cost of a mill or mill/drill which has got to be a better solution.

I am definitely on the look out for a small mill. I was "this close" to picking up a small hercus mill last year from a job lot but the price was out of my range.

You could spend 3 or 4 times the cost of your lathe if you try to get "all the goodies".

That's interesting, seeing as my lathe cost me nothing - tooling could be quite cheap Maybe I'll start with a couple of dead centres and countersinks.

As for a motor, a 1/2hp is all I use on the 260 and it does very decent depth of cut without problems.

Thanks for the info

So you end up with a trail of rusty rings on all your gear, something out of Hansel and Gretel

There was an auction over here last year of a bunch of ex TAFE Hercus 260s. Of the 6 lathes, only one had matching serial numbers. My Schaubin mill has different body and vertical head numbers suggesting mix and match occurs at all levels.

BT

Good point - also If I get a mt3-2 sleeve that will give me the ability to "borrow" from the large mt3 stuff from work.

You can borrow from your work now. The headstock spindle bore is 3 Morse. The idea of increasing the capacity of the tailstock from 2 to 3 will undoubtedly introduce what has previously been referred to as the Zyto effect or Zytoism. ( the amplification of errors resulting from the addition of adapters) A seach in this forum will reveal all.

BT

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Good point - also If I get a mt3-2 sleeve that will give me the ability to "borrow" from the large mt3 stuff from work. You can borrow from your work now. The headstock spindle bore is 3 Morse.

sorry I meant to say "the large array of mt 2 stuff from work".

Does anyone know anything about the SAJ units like these?
SAJ 0.75KW VSD VFD inverter 240V variable speed drive | eBay[/QUOTE]

The good is that it is very reasonably priced, and that it is a modern "sensorless vector" thechnology drive. Meaning it should maintain a good torque down to very low rpm's, thus needing less belt changes when using.

It is a newer Chinese drive maker. Meaning the product is not yet proven to be or not to be reliable. And it is not yet established as a worldwide supplier, meaning you may find it difficult to find any online literature about this drive or its maker (written in another language than Chinese). With the exception of the user manual offered by the Australian importer, and this manual looks well made to me. It may or not be easy to get a warranty replacement if found faulty, therefore it would be definitely an advantage if you can visit the AU importer for a chat to get a feel before buying. If he just imported a small batch to see how they sell and how they last, you may be paying good money to essentially do the testing.

Yo can find top brand name VFD's in this price range if you have time to study the market and wait for a bargain. Small VFD's are nowdays very much like consumer electronics, designed to last some 5 to 10 years and definitely not repaireable. A major failure source are the filter capacitors. They always and on purpose have a special size so you will not find a replacement to fit. I would expect top brand name VSD's to use the better and higher rated industrial quality components. All things to consider. Yes I know, sometimes it is just so convenient and irresistibly cheap, like that TV from Aldi....

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

.
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Do the serial numbers on the bed and tailstock match? If they don't there is the possibilty that the headstock and tailstock spindles will not align.
.
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I finally checked yesterday and yes they are the same number. Can't check the alignment though until I get my dead centres.