I got a lathe!

[Alaks McGREGORE]

Hi, you may remember me from a few weeks ago asking all the anoying questions about lathes, well I have some more for you, because of how confused I was about the lathe I went down to hare and forbes with the intent of buying a al-50g but when I got there all became clear, the al-50g was flimsy and small so I stepped up a size, to the al-320g, :doh: well lets just say the budget was blown out of preposition and now I need to move it, :no: but it will suet me a lot better.

So, I have an al-320g and have no idea how to clean the gear box witch, as I have seen a lot on here, is filled with sand and iron filings. :C
What do I do?!?
Any other tips on cleaning the lathe or getting it ready for use will be a big help, I would also love it if someone directed me to some good beginner sources for me about grinding tools and lathe brake in, I am determend (how do you spell that word?) to get this thing working for her maiden voyage.

Thanks so much for all your help. :U

[azzrock]

hi mate ive seen one of these i think. not bad. it had a 40mm spindle bore

what are you going to do with it?
aaron.

[scottyd]

The hercus text book of turning (an old copy is kicking around these forums somewhere) is still almost entirely relevant to your machine and it has some excellent info for tool grinding, shapes and cutting speeds. Its an exceptionally handy book.

Congrats on the new machine!

[rodweb]

Congratulations! You will have it for a long time I am sure.

There is no need to clean it out H&F is very fussy about quality so you won't find any sand in there. That was the advice I got when I bought my 320G lathe in January and everything I saw confirmed this was correct.

Grab yourself some kerosene and some rags, a paint brush and an ice cream container to pour the kero into, pull the tailstock apart, remove the crossslide and clean it all up and then oil it. H&F will sell you a 5 litre bottle of oil. I also disassembled the 3 jaw chuck to clean it. I had to do a bit of work on one of the jaws on the 4 jaw chuck as one was binding.

[morrisman]

Well done

When I was your age, I was sticking plastic kits together LOL

Mike

[Jekyll and Hyde]

the gear box witch

So THAT's where all the sand and various other shrapnel comes from... :D Sorry, I just cracked up when I read that, and I couldn't resist...



There is no need to clean it out H&F is very fussy about quality so you won't find any sand in there. That was the advice I got when I bought my 320G lathe in January and everything I saw confirmed this was correct.

I'm not quite sure if this is sarcasm or not, but I can assure you my H&F AL335 had a good dose of grits right through it. The oils in the thing also appeared to be crude oil scraped straight up off the ground, which in hindsight would probably explain the grit...

Certainly worth a look in any new lathe out of China - to paraphrase Forest Gump, they're like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Certain models do seem to better than others though...

[Alaks McGREGORE]

So THAT's where all the sand and various other shrapnel comes from... :D Sorry, I just cracked up when I read that, and I couldn't resist...



I'm not quite sure if this is sarcasm or not, but I can assure you my H&F AL335 had a good dose of grits right through it. The oils in the thing also appeared to be crude oil scraped straight up off the ground, which in hindsight would probably explain the grit...

Certainly worth a look in any new lathe out of China - to paraphrase Forest Gump, they're like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Certain models do seem to better than others though...
Oh yes! Be carefull of that gearbox witch, she is a pain.
Btw I have a link for the lathe text book would you like me to post it?

[scottyd]

I dont personally need it, ive got a set of ten sitting above my desk at work. Post it though, itll make looking for it easier for anybody else looking for some good info to start from. :2tsup:

[Alaks McGREGORE]

http://www.bbssystem.com/manuals/Lathe-Tutorial.pdf
Tell me if this doesn't work.

[toolman49]

G'Day Young Fella,
RE : pulling the tailstock to bits, by all means remove the barrel to clean the threads, but bear in mind dismantling the side to side adjustment slides will require realigning the tailstock, which can be a bitch of a job for experienced players and could induce premature baldness in a newcomer.
Regards,
Martin

[Alaks McGREGORE]

G'Day Young Fella,
RE : pulling the tailstock to bits, by all means remove the barrel to clean the threads, but bear in mind dismantling the side to side adjustment slides will require realigning the tailstock, which can be a bitch of a job for experienced players and could induce premature baldness in a newcomer.
Regards,
Martin
Lol, I wwould like to keep my hair so I will leave the tailstock alone.

Does anyone know how to get the casting sand out of the gear box, I will do this tomorrow.

[Gavin Newman]

Obviously the lathe must be unplugged......

If there is sand in the gearbox (and there was none in my AL320G gearbox which was quite clean) then you need to drain the oil out (the drain plug is on the left of the gearbox, in the belt area) then take the top cover off. From memory you need to take the switch box off the top of the cover, leaving the wiring connected.

Once you have the top off you should be able to clean out the inside of the gearbox with rags and kerosene. Perhaps flush a bit of oil through the gearbox while the top is off to do the final cleanup. Use hydraulic oil, 32 or 46 weight.

When you put the top back on you might want to replace the gasket with liquid gasket rather than re-use the poor excuse for a gasket that comes with the lathe and seal the screw holes where the switch box is fixed to the top lid.

Finally, refill the gearbox to the level on the sight glass and check for leaks from the top cover once the lathe is restarted.