Help with a new (really old) lathe

[dunamis]

Hi all I just borrowed a mates lathe who inherited it from his dad. I'm trying to turn up some reel seats for fly rod making (similar to pen blanks). I've never used a lathe before but have had a play with this one for a few hours.

It doesn't look like I can put a chuck on this lathe to hold a mandrel though. It appears that the pulleys are mounted onto the shaft for the spur.

I'm thinking about epoxying a 3/8" threaded rod into a block of wood for a mandrel so the spur can turn the blank. I'll get a 60 deg recess into the end of the rod for the tail stock. Would that work?

[Treecycle]

You should be able to unscrew that drive centre off the shaft. It will probably be fairly hard to undo if its been there a while. Have someone hold the drive pulleys to prevent them turning and put a spanner on the drive centre. Give it a couple of hits with a hammer and it will hopefully release it.
From what I recall the thread is a bit of an odd one and I can't recall if they make an insert for a chuck that will fit it.
They are not the sort of lathe you would be wanting to spend a lot of money on to make it functional for what you want to do. If you are only doing light work it will probably be okay.

[brendan stemp]

I think the best and easiest fix is to replace the spindle with one that has an appropriate thread on it. I would go for a M30x 3.5 which is becoming the standard in Aus. I know it would take a little bit of work but in the long run it will be the best option. Perhaps this fix would be more expensive that buying a mimi lathe; something else to consider.

[Jim Carroll]

Most of these lathes came out with 3/4 x 16 or 3/4 x 10 threads.

A vicmarc chuck can be adapted to fit on these lathes

Depends how serious you are about what you want to do with the lathe.

[Gary H]

I started with that lathe's twin brother - my one branded as a Craftmaster. The drive spur definitely unscrews (with a bit of muscle) and I had no trouble getting an insert for that thread (but can't remember what the thread was). My two bob's worth is to use it to see if you enjoy turning and want to continue. But I would only spend money on items that could be used on a later (and better) lathe, be they chisels, chucks or whatever. I would not buy a new spindle, for example, to put on a lathe around 30 years old, of dubious quality, with a square tube bed. Like you, I got mine cheap and what I learned on it was priceless.
And everything I bought (except for the spindle adaptor) is now being used on my newer lathe. So keep it simple, and enjoy what is a great hobby.

[Tangoman]

I too started on one of these, badged "Clark" in the UK. It's thread was 3/4x16.
IMHO, they make excellent boat anchors, don't spend any money it !

cam

[dunamis]

Thanks guys I think I won't bother modifying the lathe in that case. I'll just insert a 3/8 threaded rod into a lump of 2x4 for the spur to bite into and get someone to put an indent in the other end for the tail stock. I'll just use two nuts on the rod to hold my blanks.

[dogcatcher]

You can turn a blank between centers and turn the middle part to the diameter of the hole in your reel seat handle. Then cut that blank in 2 pieces, the should look like this.



Use it like this, in the center would be your reel seat. Use the markings of the spur drive as reference points.

[dogcatcher]

I forgot, you can also drill and tap so that you can screw it on the headstock if you can get the spur drive off.

[ian thorn]

It looks like there is a nut behind the spur that you can put a spanner on I would try to remove the spur then using a piece of hardwood drill a hole to the size of the thread minus a bit then screw the wood on to put the rod in

[dunamis]

You can turn a blank between centers and turn the middle part to the diameter of the hole in your reel seat handle. Then cut that blank in 2 pieces, the should look like this.



Use it like this, in the center would be your reel seat. Use the markings of the spur drive as reference points.

That is really really clever. Love the idea. I've just glued a 10mm thread into a chunk of wood. If that doesn't hold then this is my next option!

[dunamis]

While waiting for the aryldite to go off I made this!

[dogcatcher]

You will be better off if you can get the spur drive off and thread the jig on the lathe. That way it will always be correct when you put it on the lathe.

[dunamis]

Yes that would be even better!

[dunamis]

Thanks for all the help here folks. Finished the first reel seat with CA today, wet sanded with 1500 and buffed with the paper back of some sandpaper. It has ended up being 0.1mm shy of my target diameter. Now to try and destroy it with a fingernail bit routing a mortise into it.