Thread: He Who Dares To Dream........

Copy of an Emco Compact 8 which wasn't a bad little lathe. Taiwanese stuff is generally pretty good so that might be an OK machine.

It should be more than capable of turning wooden wheels of the size you're wanting. You'll need to experiment with turning tools etc but basically I can't see any problems, it should be able to do that and considerably more.

Also depends on what tooling you got but that's not generally a drama with these small machines - tooling is relatively cheap.

It needs a really good clean and do NOT use anything aggressive on any machined sliding surface. Definitely nothing abrasive, first pass kerosene and rags, a brass hand brush or stiff paintbrush. No powered tools and no Scotchbrite, wet & dry etc. If you don't know what you're doing you can destroy the accuracy of the sliding ways really fast.

PDW

Originally Posted by PDW

It needs a really good clean and do NOT use anything aggressive on any machined sliding surface. Definitely nothing abrasive, first pass kerosene and rags, a brass hand brush or stiff paintbrush. No powered tools and no Scotchbrite, wet & dry etc. If you don't know what you're doing you can destroy the accuracy of the sliding ways really fast.

PDW

Thanks for the advice PDW, she sure needs a good clean up, if old fella was here he'd kick my you know what for letting it get in such a state. Its only been 12 months since he left and man has it started to get pretty crook lookin'. I'm not at all clued up on metal lathes and the cutting tools but if you think its more than capable to do what I'm thinkin' then I guess it'll have to be all systems go. Now the biggest problem, 'who's vehicle goes out side to give me the shed room to work in'?. How silly of me, gotta be mine as the Minister of War and Finance will have a lot to say on how fast this project gets fundin'.

Originally Posted by KJL1951 aka Kev

G'day All,

Take a look at these images and tell me if I'm dreamin'............
Lathe 1.jpgLathe 2.jpgLathe 3.jpgLathe 4.jpgLathe 5.jpgLathe 6.jpg
Obtained this old metal lathe from me mate shortly before he died. Have intentions of doin' it up and want to use it for making 51mm up to 63mm wooden wheels for my toy making. Tell me what ya think and if its just gunna be a waste of time. Yes it comes with a metal stand.

Cheers all
KJL1951 aka Kev.

This is a Taiwanese copy of the Austrian made EMCO Compact8. The EMCO compact 8 (I happen to own one for nearly 30 years) is a simple but very god quality machine. The Taiwanese copy (made in the mid/late 80's) was only about 1/3 the price of the original and not nearly as well made, but still better made than the same copies from mainland China.

That said, judging by the pics your machine is in pretty poor condition. Hard to say how much is dust, and how much is rust. I recommend you give it a good clean to begin with. Given the visual condition, it is probably not suited anymore for precision work in metal.

This is an 8" swing machine, so can turn about 210mm diameter over the bed and about 118mm diameter aver the cross slide and about 450mm between centers. Within these size limits, it will still be excellent and very accurate for your purpose of wooden toy making.

Should you ever need spare parts, it may be god to know that many parts (probably over 70% of all parts) from the Chinese "9x20" lathe as sold in Australia by Hare&Forbes as the "AL50" will fit your machine. The AL50 has headstock and tailsock raised by 12mm, a longer cross slide table, a slightly longer bed, a larger motor, added worm feed by slotted leadscrew, and an added half Norton box instead of change gears. Almost everything else is identical and should be exchangeable.

Originally Posted by cba_melbourne

judging by the pics your machine is in pretty poor condition. Hard to say how much is dust, and how much is rust. I recommend you give it a good clean to begin with. Given the visual condition, it is probably not suited anymore for precision work in metal.

Thanks for the info cba Melbourne, the old mate kept it sprayed with oil out in his shed and it sure collected a heap of dust. I guess since its been in my care our recent cyclone didn't help blowing crud into my shed either. The thin tin end coverings around gears is a little bit rust blistered but that can be fixed with a little sanding and re-paintin'. Again thanks for the info and I'll keep it filed away for when I get stuck into fixin' her all up.

Hooroo
KL1951 aka Kev.

lots of guys have to deal with worse machines than that.you would be suprised what a difference a bit of scrubbing will do.
I think it could turn into a kuta reminder of you mate.
aaron

Originally Posted by azzrock

I think it could turn into a kuta reminder of you mate.
aaron

Thanks your comments azzrock - while I not one who likes gettin' hands dirty with grease etc (rather sawdust) I have restored two things in past few years. A wood lathe and band saw that me old mate sold me, took me quite awhile to do them but I think they presentable and they do work good.
Woodlathe.jpgArthur (4).jpgArthur (6).jpg
When me ole mate sold me the band saw he told me I had to put his name on it to remember him, so I did as requested not that I needed something to remember him by. The serial number makes up his birth date - 18-2-1930 and the model number his death date - 15-1-2014.
I have been in contact with a gentleman in email section of forum who lives in next city North of me and he has been very helpful thus far with information regarding this metal lathe, so I'm eager to get stuck into it when I'm able to. I'll post here from time to time how I progressing - but be fore warned - I'm not very quick at what I do, but I do get things done eventually.
Again thanks for your comment and to all the others for their advice also, is very much appreciated thank you.

Hooroo KJL1951 aka Kev.

Judging by the look of the 2 you have restored , the metal lathe will look a treat when your finished with it.
Take all the time you need, it will be well worth it.

Originally Posted by rwbuild

Take all the time you need, it will be well worth it.

Thanks rwbuild - gunna start today on the metal stand for it, nothing major there to worry about so wont need to take too many images of that so I can put it back together.

Hooroo
KJL1951 aka Kev.

Gentlemen your help would be appreciated - on parts of the lathe the Glass Fiber Filler is cracked and parting company with the metal.
What would you use/have used for filling in the small holes and grinder marks on the cast metal that came about when the lathe was manufactured. I've been looking at 'David's ISOPON P40 Polyester Glass Fiber Filler', like all manufactures they claim their product is the best around for this type of work. So what have you chaps ever used and what did you think of it?.

Hooroo
KJL1951 aka Kev.

Originally Posted by KJL1951 aka Kev

Gentlemen your help would be appreciated - on parts of the lathe the Glass Fiber Filler is cracked and parting company with the metal.
What would you use/have used for filling in the small holes and grinder marks on the cast metal that came about when the lathe was manufactured. I've been looking at 'David's ISOPON P40 Polyester Glass Fiber Filler', like all manufactures they claim their product is the best around for this type of work. So what have you chaps ever used and what did you think of it?.

Hooroo
KJL1951 aka Kev.

This is a low cost Taiwan lathe. They do not use expensive fancy fillers under two pack epoxy paint. They just used the cheapest putty under the cheapest paint. Think of something more like window putty. Else it would not crack and come off already.

Warning: do NOT use paint stripper. If you do, you need to remove ALL of the putty too. Otherwise the stripper soaks into the cheap putty, and any new paint will forever keep peeling off it.

If you just want to patch up the existing putty where it comes off, a car body filler may do the job. To coat, tractor paint does not cost a fortune, and is a very good quality choice for a machine tool.

Originally Posted by cba_melbourne

This is a low cost Taiwan lathe. They do not use expensive fancy fillers under two pack epoxy paint. They just used the cheapest putty under the cheapest paint. Think of something more like window putty. Else it would not crack and come off already.

Warning: do NOT use paint stripper. If you do, you need to remove ALL of the putty too. Otherwise the stripper soaks into the cheap putty, and any new paint will forever keep peeling off it.

If you just want to patch up the existing putty where it comes off, a car body filler may do the job. To coat, tractor paint does not cost a fortune, and is a very good quality choice for a machine tool.

Again thank you cba melbourne for your comments and please don't take my response personally - So far its all been grease remover and a paint brush to get things cleaned up thus far - I never use Paint Stripper on any project.
Maybe when made in Taiwan they used cheap filler methods but for this restoration I'm prepared to do a little extra and use a good quality filler. If when restored it does all that I wanna do with it then I'll know that I did a pretty good job on it. If it doesn't do what I intend doing with it then when I come to sell it I'll be able to proudly say that I did go that little extra mile for appearance sake. Sure the little extra wont make it any more valuable but it will help in its sale if it appears in good condition.

Again thanks for you comment is very much appreciated.

Hooroo
KJL1951 aka Kev.

Originally Posted by KJL1951 aka Kev

- on parts of the lathe the Glass Fiber Filler is cracked and parting company with the metal.
What would you use/have used for filling in the small holes and grinder marks on the cast metal that came about when the lathe was manufactured?

Kev, car body filler is probably the weapon of choice here either as a spray putty or trowel on variety. Any of the modern 2 part mixes will probably work well for you.
A paint system that I find has worked well for me in the past is the Wattyl 'Kilrust' range as once dry it is not affected by oil and is reasonably tough.

Michael

Originally Posted by Michael G

Kev, car body filler is probably the weapon of choice here either as a spray putty or trowel on variety. Any of the modern 2 part mixes will probably work well for you.
A paint system that I find has worked well for me in the past is the Wattyl 'Kilrust' range as once dry it is not affected by oil and is reasonably tough.

Michael

Thanks for your comment Michael G - I'll certainly do some research into your suggestions. I'm not much into metal work so is a good learning curve for me.

Hooroo
KJL1951 aka Kev.

Well taken a few days to sand down small metal lathe stand and toss a rattle can of primer on it. Currently its of a height for some one to stand at but I'll be eventually cutting it down to construct a table suited for a chair with wheels on. Will build a metal table a little wider than the current stand so will be easier to get a wheeled chair around.
Stand 1.jpgstand 2.jpg I did a small design on what's in me head for table, find if I do when in me head then I don't forget .
Currently working on the chuck cleaning and soaking it in de-greaser, should have it finished today so post image shortly.

Hooroo
KJL1951 aka Kev.