Thread: eBay (and other auctions) Metalwork Stuff

Is this the thread you are referring to?

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/lathe-look-similar-lorch-177883

Originally Posted by jmebgo

Is this the thread you are referring to?

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/lathe-look-similar-lorch-177883

Good work. Yes, that's it, but looks like I'm wrong on this one.

Similar bracing, but too old to be an Emco.

Maybe Europeans like that style of bracing - quite distinctive.

Rob

Originally Posted by nearnexus

The V10's have very light alloy gear selectors that fatigue and cause havoc when they break and mingle with the gear sets.

Also the fibre gears are a weak point.

Parts are expensive if you can get them.

Brass gear replacements are the go, as the fibre ones can split in half and also tear up if mistreated.

Rob

The V10 and also the Super 11 (and the mill head) do indeed have "fibre" gears to reduce noise and thereby improve surface finish. The "fibre" is not just cheap plastic - it is high grade and expensive Tufnol (stacks of fabric impregnated with phenolic resin). And it is not just plain Tufnol gears - some are pressed onto compound steel gears, some have oilite bushings. The drive train is essentially made of gear pairs: with one gear being steel precision ground and polished, the other gear Tufnol. The end result is an exceptionally quiet and smooth running headstock (or mill head). A refreshing experience when compared to similar Asian made lathes, whose headstock noises remind one of skeletons having sex on a tin roof.
Here a link to a current British supplier for these spare EMCO V10P Tufnol gears: https://www.emcomachinetools.co.uk/E...CProductNumber

The gear selectors are actually Zinc alloy castings (something similar to Zamak in the US). Many other parts are also made of this same Zinc casting material. And this is the Achilles heel of all light EMCO machines. This Zinc alloy is subject to the dreaded "Zinc Pest". See Wikipedia on Zinc Pest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_pest.
Some few EMCO machines have been known to develop this problem after 20 or 30 years. Nobody knows if it is caused by a fault like embedded Lead residue in the casting, or if it is caused by the specific environment the lathe was stored/used. It can be devastating, see here: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...-parts-253940/
Definitely something to check when buying an older EMCO lathe. Especially if the machine looks pretty much used and worn, with the right leadscrew bracket a different color....(it is a Zinc casting too).

Well today I went down to that place in Bundaberg... It was a large business at one stage employing 67 people..

They had their own foundry and forging facilities.. Semco was the brand name they sold under. They made a lot of rural orientated items... I remember we had a Semco hammer mill at one stage...

Unfortunately everything has gone to ruin... The shed roofs look like someone has been shooting them with a shotgun there are that many holes.... The rubbish on the floor really has to be seen to be believed... The owner passed away from old age but never got anything sorted as he got older, nor seemed to bring the business up to modern times.. I was told in the end he was in his eighties and just him dabbling away in the shed alone.. It was obvious at least the equipment in use was looked after until near the end.. It did not look abused..

There is a reasonable amount of gear there, but not a massive amount...

A large amount of steel stock that is being sold off gradually..

In the machine tool department there was..

A very very very very large slotter, but also very old..

A very very very old DSG lathe

A large Massey power hammer.

Other gear for forging and bending/cutting plate.

A big town radial drill...

Probably the best tool in the shop was a 1955 Asquith OD1 radial drill..

What looked like a 16 or 18" stroke I guess Invicta shaper.. It was covered in stuff so was unable to have a look..

A small slotter unbranded. Had power feeds but was small and old and rusty.

Large Nuttall lathe, they bought it new.. Dated December 1954 on the bed.

A Taiwanese Philips Imperial (mori Seiki clone) lathe about 520 swing or so.

A Stirk vertical borer (Stirk were well known for making planers)

A small Richards Horizontal borer..probably the smallest they made, similar capacity to my G&L 25RT, but the Richards machine looks to be about two tonnes heavier... Possibly in OK condition but ways are rusty.. Old design though, I guess somewhere between WW1 and WW2.

A Fellows gear cutter, A sunderland gear cutter, A Barber coleman gear hobber, and two or three Gleason straight bevel gear cutters...

An assortment of turret lathes

An old planer, about 10ft X 3ft capacity, converted to hydraulic use and converted to a plano-miller... No I did not buy it...

A cinci TC grinder (not in the best condition), plus a Clarkson TC grinder. Never saw much in the way of attachments for either...

A Saimp (spanish) turret mill.... Looked OK maybe.. Had slotting head as well...

Probably some other stuff I have forgotten...

A lot of rubbish, and I mean a lot...

I have a lot of photo's, but was not a good day for photo taking, too overcast..

Some pix would be nice - tool pron is appreciated. Heading north to the sun and land of machine tools now...

PDW

I went to the Qantas sale inspection day yesterday. Mostly large older CNC lathes/mills, large suface grinders, huge DSG lathe and sundry stuff that I was not really interested in. For me the main show was the Mitsui seiki jig borer. It was love at first site. These machines are amazing (although obsolete in modern machining business) and to me they represent the pinnacle of manual machine production. They operate in the sub tenth world rarely visited by other machines. As much art as machine tool.
The Qantas engineer who was there gave me a great run down on the machine and it was obviously his sentimental favourite as well. The tooling cabinets were full of the most amazing boring heads,drills,end mills, micro boring heads, microscope edge finders etc. I doubt any apprentices entered this temperature controlled world upon threat of death.
So after much discussion with the wife last night about do you really need another machine/will you ever use it/how much did you say it was she relented and I ended up the highest bidder this afternoon. Expensive ( especially compared to the SIP which sold at Newcastle last year over which I still have nightmares but I was OS at the time) but I would have kicked myself if I hadn't bid. So now the rush to sort out how to move 6 tonnes plus extras of precision machine back to the farm.
So pictures later and more discussion in the future no doubt


http://www.graysonline.com/lot/0014-...ing?redirect=0

http://res0.graysonline.com/handlers...90529737670000

Checkout the Return Policy in the Item Description.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bridgepor...item4ad639320e

I see some of those items from Qantas sold for some real money.

Anyway pics from today...

Originally Posted by .RC.

I see some of those items from Qantas sold for some real money.

Anyway pics from today...

That is the exact opposite from Qantas where everything including the floor was spotless and the machines were very well maintained. I suppose that gives people the confidence to bid big on second hand machinery.

By the way Richard there was a rotary table at the qantas sale just right for our horizontal borers. In perfect condition, could tilt 0-90 degress and 800mm across. Oh, and it weighed in at 1100kgs!! The engineer said they LOST it after they sold the borer in the past and FOUND it in a back room.

Originally Posted by .RC.

I see some of those items from Qantas sold for some real money..

Everything I saw went for a small fraction of the replacement value, some things like ovens for scrap value. Last time I saw it, the plasma spraying equipment was virtually being given away if replacement value was considered. Contrast the Qantas sale with the one you posted pictures of. The former were very well cared for tools and machines, run by extremely highly trained and skilled people, that were until recently still producing work of world leading standard in the field. This was never going to be an auction for bottom feeders to get excited about buying some clapped out POS that had been neglected for the past 40 years of its life.

While I purchased some things I'll be the first to admit it was with mixed emotions. Once this stuff is gone it can never realistically be replaced, the cost would be too prohibited. Meanwhile hundreds of very skilled and dedicated employees get given the flick, and their work expertise instead replaced by the lowest bid of the day from Eastern Mongolia. It's a sad day in Australian history I'm afraid, as the engineers were a big part of making Qantas the international icon it was.

Mark you have an eye for quality and I'll be the first to congratulate you on your purchase. That's a VERY nice piece of machinery. I long ago learnt that the satisfaction of having a few things of very high quality far exceeds the pain of surrounding myself with crap, and the price of getting there is soon forgotten. I think that machine will bring a smile to your face every time you use it. Good luck to you.

Pete

Originally Posted by Pete F

Everything I saw went for a small fraction of the replacement value

Well, not all.

Who in their right mind would pay $2009 PLUS rip AND GST for a Waldown toolpost grinder?

I helped keep you employed a bit longer, though, Pete - I made a number of things substantially more expensive before losing interest. Still won a few, though.

PDW

Originally Posted by .RC.

I see some of those items from Qantas sold for some real money.

Anyway pics from today...

I'll take the HBM if you'll deliver it for me. You can have a free Tasmanian holiday at the same time.

PDW

Originally Posted by markgray

I went to the Qantas sale inspection day yesterday. Mostly large older CNC lathes/mills, large suface grinders, huge DSG lathe and sundry stuff that I was not really interested in. For me the main show was the Mitsui seiki jig borer. It was love at first site. These machines are amazing (although obsolete in modern machining business) and to me they represent the pinnacle of manual machine production. They operate in the sub tenth world rarely visited by other machines. As much art as machine tool.
The Qantas engineer who was there gave me a great run down on the machine and it was obviously his sentimental favourite as well. The tooling cabinets were full of the most amazing boring heads,drills,end mills, micro boring heads, microscope edge finders etc. I doubt any apprentices entered this temperature controlled world upon threat of death.
So after much discussion with the wife last night about do you really need another machine/will you ever use it/how much did you say it was she relented and I ended up the highest bidder this afternoon. Expensive ( especially compared to the SIP which sold at Newcastle last year over which I still have nightmares but I was OS at the time) but I would have kicked myself if I hadn't bid. So now the rush to sort out how to move 6 tonnes plus extras of precision machine back to the farm.
So pictures later and more discussion in the future no doubt


http://www.graysonline.com/lot/0014-...ing?redirect=0

http://res0.graysonline.com/handlers...90529737670000

Very nice