Old lathe going NOW!!

[billrule]

This looks good value at <$500

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....m=200248989241

(I have no connection with or knowledge of this itm)

Bill

[Rossluck]

This looks good value at <$500

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....m=200248989241

(I have no connection with or knowledge of this itm)

Bill

Much distance


(looks good Bill)

[.RC.]

Tis well worn...When Nuttall's wear a fair bit the saddle rubs on the bed between the main V and the tailstock flat way..However would be OK for home use...Also I would be wary of the tapered bearing conversion...Spindle design is not something you can just slap a few tapered rollers in...In fact lathe spindles generally don't use tapered roller bearings as they are not suitable for that application...But again they would probably be fine in this job...

[neksmerj]

RC,

Not wishing to take you to task, but, many lathes do use taper roller bearings in the headstock, and are perfect for the job.

For example, Hercus use a large taper roller bearing in the front of the headstock, and a smaller one at the rear. This was an option over the plain bushes and work extremely well.

The advantage of taper roller bearings is that they are self centering, and when nipped up correctly, eliminate end drift.

Ken

[.RC.]

Hi Ken, I originally thought tapered rollers would be ideal as spindle bearings but then after reading this thread it would seem a combination of cylindrical roller, angular and thrust bearings are preferred where they can be fitted... "http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php?t=163580"

[Centauri Prime]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post on this forum, so please go easy :)

I won this lathe, and have just arrived home with it, and will be getting it out of the trailer and putting it together tomorrow.

I would like to find out all I can about this lathe. As you can see from the link in the first message, it's a Nuttall Herbert, 1942 vintage. If anyone can point me in the right direction to find a manual for this beast, I'd appreciate it. The lathe has a mix of oil and grease points, and I'd like to make sure I got them sorted out before I squirt something somewhere it shouldn't go :)

If anyone has any other info they can share, I'd be grateful.

Kind regards
Mark

[.RC.]

. As you can see from the link in the first message, it's a Nuttall Herbert, 1942 vintage. If anyone can point me in the right direction to find a manual for this beast, I'd appreciate it.

You can try here -->> http://www.yellowpages.com.au/bi/nut...w-2700083.html

The lathe has a mix of oil and grease points, and I'd like to make sure I got them sorted out before I squirt something somewhere it shouldn't go

If anyone has any other info they can share, I'd be grateful.

Those grease nipples are not for grease, they are oilling points..I usually just use a plain oil can and stick the end over the little ball and pump..

Nuttall's lathes were made in Sydney until sometime in the 1970's..I am told there are still quite a few in service..I owned one and it was easy to use and quite rigid..

[Centauri Prime]

Hi RC,

Thanks for that. What sort of oil is recommended? I have read "plain old" gearbox oil is suitable, but would like to be sure.

Are all the nipples oil points? I see there are nipples on the main handwheel at the front of the lathe, as well as the gears at the end of the lathe.

How does one know when enough oil has been applied? Watch for it to run out, or is there a better method?

All info very much appreciated.

[.RC.]

I just use common ISO68 hydraulic oil in my equipment, although the purists will scoff and say you must use xxx oil that has been blessed with goats blood on the edge of Mount Vesuvius..

Just give it a squirt when you are using it each day..

[bollie7]

Hi RC,

Thanks for that. What sort of oil is recommended? I have read "plain old" gearbox oil is suitable, but would like to be sure.

Are all the nipples oil points? I see there are nipples on the main handwheel at the front of the lathe, as well as the gears at the end of the lathe.

How does one know when enough oil has been applied? Watch for it to run out, or is there a better method?

All info very much appreciated.

CP. I would think that the old girl has tasted a lot of different flavours of oil over the years. The oil .RC has mentioned should be ok as would ordinary engine oil. (clean) They run a total loss system which is as you asked above. "Watch for it to run out"
As your lathe has been modified it would be a good idea to have a good look at the head bearings to see what has been done as far as oiling. Good idea to question the seller on this as well if you can also see if you can bearing & seal details, numbers etc.
My brother has one of these lathes which my uncle picked up cheap at an auction way back in the mid 1970's. It was cheap because the spindle, with pulley and gears was gone. I was in 3rd year of my apprenticship at the time so we bought a lump of round bar, I set it up in my uncles lathe, and machined a new spindle. We managed to get a new pulley and the large gear but couldn't get the small gear. As it happened I was doing gearing at TAFE at the time so I approached my teacher about making a new gear. Told him the story and he immediately headed into the toolstore and rummaged around in a cupboard and came up with a cutter for the gear shaper the Tafe had, that had been made especially for cutting that gear in the Nuttal lathe. (apparently the Tafe had had these same lathes for years. At the time I was there they had later model Nuttals) Anyway he thought it would be a great thing to use to demo the gear shaper so I turned the blank and he set up the machine and cut the teeth. All good stuff.
Once we had the new spindle in the lathe I finish turned the thread for the chuck. Turned out fine. ( hozat for a pun)
My brother still has the lathe but it doesn't get much use. I don't think he has a book for it but I will ask him.

regards
bollie7

[Centauri Prime]

Hi bollie7,

Thanks for that. It looks like the oil nipples have had grease pumped into them sometime in the past. The gearbox on the front of the lathe is full of grease, as near as I can tell. I took off a couple of the nipples and poked an allen key down into the box, all unplugged, of course Thick grease was the result. I hink I'm going to have to take the box off and clean it out. the top gearbox, off te motor, seems to be full of oil. All other nipples show signs of grease having been used.

If your brother has anything he can share, I'd appreciate it.

Regards
Mark

[bollie7]

Hi bollie7,

Thanks for that. It looks like the oil nipples have had grease pumped into them sometime in the past. The gearbox on the front of the lathe is full of grease, as near as I can tell. I took off a couple of the nipples and poked an allen key down into the box, all unplugged, of course Thick grease was the result. I hink I'm going to have to take the box off and clean it out. the top gearbox, off te motor, seems to be full of oil. All other nipples show signs of grease having been used.

If your brother has anything he can share, I'd appreciate it.

Regards
Mark

Mark
I would think that grease on the shafts of any gears in the apron wouldn't be a bad thing but oil is really required for the gears themselves. The later model Nuttal's (1950's-60's) look like an evolution of yours. In fact the saddle looks indentical. I wouldn't be surprised if parts interchange. They are a good strong machine. NSW Tafe had hundreds of the later models with a real short bed. Now, there is nothing made that is totally student proof, but the old Nuttals were pretty close.

I'll see of my brother has any info.


regards
bollie7

[.RC.]

Yea the apron is pretty much identical on that machine and the early gear headed ones..They are quite a simple design...Nothing like the apron on the machine that turned up at my shed today, after I pulled it off to clean it up I was surprised how complicated it was....Lathe is a New Visby made by Purcell Engineering in Sydney 17" swing 50" centres 3" spindle bore..Well used and worn but still a bit of life left in it for my usage, And came from only a few km away from Bollie7 by the looks of it...

[bollie7]

RC
I had an old Purcell lathe which was sold a couple of months ago. My late father bought it in the early 80's and a year or 2 after that he bought a smaller Mcmillan. I then got the old Purcell off him. When he passed away about 5 years ago I inherited the McMillan so I gave the old Purcell to a mate of mine who had expressed an interest in learning to turn. Anyway that didn't really happen and when he moved he had nowhere to store the lathe so it ended up back in my shed. Another bloke I know mentioned one day that he had a mate who wanted a lathe so the deal was done. They were not able to pick it up for about 10 months though and in that time I found the US home machining etc forums and started to get interested in doing some machining at home again. I wish now that the old Purcell hadn't been sold as it could have been made into a nice machine again with a little bit of work. It was a flat belt, flat bed machine without a quick change box, I'd say pre WWII but there were no dates on it that I could find.
I didn't realise that Purcell made the New Visby. I'd heard of them but didn't make the connection. That looks like it would have been a nice machine when new, probably quite expensive as well. Any idea how old it is?
I've been using the little McMillan at home a bit recently and considering its an early 80's,Taiwanese made machine its not too bad for what it is. I think my Dad might have tuned it up a bit as well. All the time I was on the tools I'd only ever used geared head machines so moving belts to change speeds has got old really fast. So as soon as funds allow I'll start looking for a gear head machine. A mate of mine recently bought a Sheraton Defiance off ebay so as soon as he gets that up and running I'll go down and check it out. It looks like a nice machine.

regards

bollie7

[damian]

Regarding oil:

As said it's a religous war. I don't subscribe to the Mt Vesuvious idea either and I use engine oil on my little hercus. I would offer one piece of advice though. The spindle particularly and the bearings require an oil that's fairly thin. The gears will benifit from an oil that's sticky. Shell and others make an oil that's kind of stringy, hangs on really well. If your saddle or gears run without a sump then this stuff is nice to keep them quiet and happy. If you can get 5 liters of thin stuff and 5 l of the sticky stuff it'll last a long time. Buy a couple of oil cans label them and you'll be apples.

Lathes aren't terribly dangerous, but you can hurt yourself on it. Be careful and have fun. They are incredibly versatile with a bit of creativity.

2c.