Thread: Help me buy my dad a lathe?

Originally Posted by Paul39

All those above were turned start to finish with one fixing without a tailstock.

BUT!!

Those were made by experienced people. A 16 - 18 inch X 2 inch table top or plate with lots of #10 screws is probably within your father's ability. It would be good for him to have some tuition by an experienced turner before trying heavier pieces.

When mounting my chain sawed blanks, split logs with the corners cut off, I mount with 2 screws, spin by hand several times, and if it stops in the same place remount so it is more balanced, putting screws in all the holes. I then turn on the lathe at the slowest speed standing away from the piece with my hand on the stop switch. If it runs OK we proceed.

A few thoughts over lunch: Assuming the faceplate fits snugly on the outboard spindle, the best solution is to have it and the chuck sent to Axminster to have the chuck drilled and threaded. Next would be send them both and let them measure the faceplate and return it so they will have the specifications to drill the chuck in due course.

Another solution would be to take the chuck and face plate to a local machine shop / engineers shop and have it done. That will be far more expensive than Axminster doing it as the local shop would have to start from scratch, where A. is set up to do that all day long.

The edition of the Peter Child book has the photo shown here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...=used&qid=&sr=

The revised edition by his son does not have the "obsolete" techniques.

Peter's writing style made me chuckle many times, as an old geezer, I appreciate his wit.

Edit, Proserpine Big Bow, on a faceplate start to finish:



And:

Fascinating, thank you again Paul! I'm waiting to hear back from a local shop I found for him to see if they could do the threading work, just so I can lay out all his choices.

The chuck that he does have will have to go back, as it's already threaded, and I don't think that part of the chuck is removable. But yes, I agree with what you say in principle, about sending the original faceplate to Axminster so they can see themselves.

I just watched this short video, which is MUCH larger than he'd attempt but does show the principle of it. She just mounts it briefly with the faceplate to make a flat side, then reverses it and does all the work from the one side, with the one faceplate.

I think he has plenty of options but to be honest, I think he can start now with the right guidance, and wait for this chuck until next year (or have it done locally).

Thanks again for your help, sincerely appreciated!

Rather than the expense of guessing, do you have a local nuts and bolts engineering outlet? Take whatever you have that fits the lathe and get them to find the right bolt that fits it.

If you don't have an existing faceplate, get them to sell/give/loan you a few nuts that are close. Take them home and test them. Return them with some beers as thank you.

Alternatively, You can make a rubbing of the thread with a piece of paper and pencil. Wrap the paper around tightly and make a negative with the pencil. The engineering shop should be able to match it and give you a sample nut.

This will let you know which chuck to order.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Rather than the expense of guessing, do you have a local nuts and bolts engineering outlet? Take whatever you have that fits the lathe and get them to find the right bolt that fits it.

If you don't have an existing faceplate, get them to sell/give/loan you a few nuts that are close. Take them home and test them. Return them with some beers as thank you.

Alternatively, You can make a rubbing of the thread with a piece of paper and pencil. Wrap the paper around tightly and make a negative with the pencil. The engineering shop should be able to match it and give you a sample nut.

This will let you know which chuck to order.

The actual thread is still a bit of a mystery to be honest. I measured it as well as I also made it 1" x 8tip LHT, which is also what was linked in a Canadian woodturning forum back on page 4 of this thread. But that's what he ordered and it didn't fit, so I don't know, I feel like it needs an expert. Sending the original faceplate is what we'll likely do.

I don't know about an engineering outlet but I can look into it for him. Are they likely to stock all sorts of LH threads from times gone by?

Of course, I'll update when the thread IS known...

Just putting it out there, a thread gauge costs around AU$10 on ebay (probably as much in pounds pretty soon) and would probably tell you everything you need to know about the pitch. It's also a very handy tool (even if it's not used often) to have around the shed.

I should probably say that as has been mentioned before, a thread gauge is only as good as the profiles it's made for. It's possible that the thread on the lathe is not a 60º thread. If it's whitworth and is a 55º thread, then it could cause the problem that you're talking about. Measures fine, but the UNC thread and the BSW start trying to eat each other once some serious engagement occurs

You mentioned that your thread is 1'' x 8tpi (Whit) there are 2 different threads in this size being a difference in the thread angle. Both will measure 8tpi with a thread gauge. We had a the same problem between 2 different lathes Nova Mercury and Vl100 Vicmarc,.If I can recall the Nova face plate will screw onto both lathes bit not the other way . It would start for a thread or so then, would not screw any more. I tested both face plates with a 1 '' whit. tap and the the results were the same.

Originally Posted by themage21

Just putting it out there, a thread gauge costs around AU$10 on ebay (probably as much in pounds pretty soon) and would probably tell you everything you need to know about the pitch. It's also a very handy tool (even if it's not used often) to have around the shed.

I should probably say that as has been mentioned before, a thread gauge is only as good as the profiles it's made for. It's possible that the thread on the lathe is not a 60º thread. If it's whitworth and is a 55º thread, then it could cause the problem that you're talking about. Measures fine, but the UNC thread and the BSW start trying to eat each other once some serious engagement occurs

Originally Posted by chucky

You mentioned that your thread is 1'' x 8tpi (Whit) there are 2 different threads in this size being a difference in the thread angle. Both will measure 8tpi with a thread gauge. We had a the same problem between 2 different lathes Nova Mercury and Vl100 Vicmarc,.If I can recall the Nova face plate will screw onto both lathes bit not the other way . It would start for a thread or so then, would not screw any more. I tested both face plates with a 1 '' whit. tap and the the results were the same.

Well, I wondered whether the thread may be a BSW thread but found no reference for this. Indeed, that Canadian forum discussion brought it up but it seemed to suggest it was NOT a BSW. Yet… it doesn’t seem to be metric on ours. I re-measured several times and it came out as 1” and 8TPI everytime, so it is a bit confusing – this is why we want an expert to look at the faceplate thread and see what they make of it. Yet you’d think if the difference is 60 degrees vs 55 degrees it would still “bite” on and start turning, but eat away at it. With this, it just won’t start at all.

We do actually have a thread gauge, as I’ve done a tiny bit of machining myself in the past.

Unfortunately I’ve had no luck with the workshops I’ve contacted. I think the “professional” ones are all on an industrial scale, so probably aren’t interested. I’ve tried signing up to a engineering forum in the UK – hopefully that’ll bring some results.

Asking around an engineering forum, they seem to think given the age and location a BSW thread seems probable. Perhaps that Canadian one was metric because it was in Canada?

To test this, I may buy a set of 1x8LH taps and run it through some scrap aluminium.

Reading into the axminster thread more, it's definitely a 60 degree metric thread. Which is also shallower than the BSW thread, which would explain the hard stop it came to when trying to mate.

The chap on the engineering forum seems to think we could run a set of taps through the metric axminster thread without needing to remove much material at all, and could create a BSW thread.

Will let you know how it goes...

Just a short update... after extensive research from you guys and another friendly forum, including a guy who actually owned and used the same lathe, we managed to work out it was the BSW thread and Axminster had cut an UNC thread. So we bought a tap and it just needed to be ran through once. Instead, my dad took it and gave it to some chap at work who got rather confused and he didn't get it back for another month... But, he now has it back, and it works fine.

Note to all - the threads on the BZL are indeed BSW. But there seems to be some variation on the spindles, so always best to check what yours actually is in terms of diameter and pitch.

Thanks for the update good to hear all sorted

DaveTTC

Turning Wood into Art

Looking at those photos of your Dad suggests to me that the lathe needs to be raised higher.

Originally Posted by Chrism3

Looking at those photos of your Dad suggests to me that the lathe needs to be raised higher.

Yes, someone mentioned this on the metal working forum I went to. Apparently the center axis should be level with your elbow, more or less.
My dad is due to have a complete tear down of his “workshop” (garage). 95% of the stuff in there is rubbish and there is zero organization. It’s so dangerous! He’s going to do this when that ‘big clear up’ happens.

Originally Posted by Chrism3

Looking at those photos of your Dad suggests to me that the lathe needs to be raised higher.

I find as a mostly bowl turner that it is more comfortable to have the spindle higher than elbow hight. Easier to see into the bowl when hollowing, and not much difference when doing the outside.

When it is time to set up the lathe, block up the lathe temporarily to find what is comfortable, then make the the blocking solid. I have my Woodfast screwed to 6 X 6 inch timbers plus another 2 inch slab. This also stabilizes it front to back because it is tall and thin.

There is enough weight in the lathe and cabinet to keep it stable. When I first brought it home in pieces, I put it together in the yard and put a hunk of out of balance stump on it. At slow speed it gently rocked back and forth until I had cut off enough to make it balance.

I expect your dad's lathe will do even better. No substitute for several hundred pounds of cast iron.