(duplicate of last week's thread, without photos this time to see if it gets posted)


Hi guys(*). My friend Barry gave me a pile of parts from his garage floor – most of a Hercus C lathe!
( bed & gear cover are C7967, tailstock says 6330, can't find any other serial numbers )


There is of course a story. I gave him my Dad's old Hercus about 4 years ago, which he fixed up and gave to his brother.
That old thing had no pinion or feed, and flat belt pulleys. He bought this lathe in a hurry from a school or reseller,
for parts, and then at leisure bought a "new" backgear, apron, et c.


So:


  • Wednesday was unload parts from car.
  • Thursday, heated up a big degreasing tank and soaked most parts, which removed the horrible flaking blue paint.
    Sadly, it also removed most paint from the gear chart. Should have removed the pins and kept that aside
    (and my factory neighbour had a go at the worst of the grooves/nicks on the bed with a file)




  • Saturday, paint some black RustStop paint on bed, headstock, gear cover, and bango+guard.
  • Tuesday, felts and slides off saddle, inspect that, decide to post you guys




To do:

  • Build a base of some sort. Can't afford a real lathe cabinet (even though Hafco has them for $330).
    Thinking about welding up some plates and beams, but given overall state of lathe,
    it will never be super-accurate, so maybe a waste of time & steel.
  • Borrow a good straight-edge, find a wet stone, and finish filing/polishing the bed.
    (saddle seems reasonable, but one flat is C-channel shape - just like the bed Vs were)
  • Spend hours measuring and shimming. I don't have any centres for the tail, so this will be tricky




Questions:

  1. Does anyone have one V felt retainer and bolt (set screw)?
    Yes, I know I can buy a set of 4, but that is overkill.
  2. Looking at the reverse gear setup, I'm wondering if it is worth it.
    A reversing switch on the 3phase motor, and removing the bull gear, seems so much neater?
  3. I can't afford regrinding, but can still try my best.
    Does anyone know if the grinders tension down the middle?
    ( like Hercus factory used to – I assume to counteract future cutting pressure when lathe is used )




* I'm guessing there are no ladies here, although with a name like HERcus maybe there should be


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