Thread: AL-960B owners needed, herless lathe interchagable parts???

Man hare and forbes have customer service. Been emailing them about replacment parts and they just put in the too hard basket to find out. Ive broken the cast iron gib for the half nut when i tryed to get it off. surly gibs would be a somwhat standard sizeing?

Originally Posted by brendanh

Man hare and forbes have customer service. Been emailing them about replacment parts and they just put in the too hard basket to find out. Ive broken the cast iron gib for the half nut when i tryed to get it off. surly gibs would be a somwhat standard sizeing?

Depends on your definition of 'standard sizing'. But IMO - no. Nearly EVERY moving part on a quality lathe is hand fitted. There are exceptions but as a general rule, if it slides on another surface, it's a precision fit.

H&F customer service is legendary. Half mythical and the other half past history.....

I'm not trying to be insulting here (I can be though...) but you really need to get someone who knows what they're doing around machine tools to help you disassemble and assess the condition of that thing. Every thing you're doing so far is digging a deeper hole. Keep it up and soon it'll really be scrap.

The thing you *have* to keep in mind is, THERE ARE NO SPARE PARTS. What you have is what you have. Break it and if you can't make another (or ask someone to do it for you) then you are SOL getting that machine to work again.

PDW

Originally Posted by PDW

Depends on your definition of 'standard sizing'. But IMO - no. Nearly EVERY moving part on a quality lathe is hand fitted. There are exceptions but as a general rule, if it slides on another surface, it's a precision fit.

H&F customer service is legendary. Half mythical and the other half past history.....

I'm not trying to be insulting here (I can be though...) but you really need to get someone who knows what they're doing around machine tools to help you disassemble and assess the condition of that thing. Every thing you're doing so far is digging a deeper hole. Keep it up and soon it'll really be scrap.

The thing you *have* to keep in mind is, THERE ARE NO SPARE PARTS. What you have is what you have. Break it and if you can't make another (or ask someone to do it for you) then you are SOL getting that machine to work again.

PDW

so far the only damage ive done myself is the gib, but yeah your right i do need to take more care.

bit of an update for those interested.

got the saddle all fixed up, big thanks to Pipeclay. Gearbox went on like a dream, again thanks to pipeclay for the advice on getting it back on. still need to welded up the gear selectors which ill be doing tomorrow, everything is back together ready to cut, just need to get a couple of revolving handles to replace the broken ones, and sort out this lead screw, its a bit to bent to leave it how it is.

any advice or anyone with experience want to try straighten it out for me?

Can you post a picture of it with a straight edge next to it so we can see the extent of the damage?
I could have a go for you as I've straightened some but I am in SA.
What size/ style handles do you need? I have a couple of those lying around too.

Michael

Originally Posted by Michael G

Can you post a picture of it with a straight edge next to it so we can see the extent of the damage?
I could have a go for you as I've straightened some but I am in SA.
What size/ style handles do you need? I have a couple of those lying around too.

Michael

yeah i will pull it out tomorrow and have a look, at a guess from looking before, maybe 3mm?
i only really need the hand peice you crank, not the actual wheel, need 2 m8 ones and an m10 one for another project if you got them.

Originally Posted by brendanh

I only really need the hand peeice you crank, not the actual wheel, need 2 m8 ones and an m10 one for another project if you got them.

I've only got wheels, but if it is just the crank part you need, you (nearly) have a lathe, so why not make them? I had something like I have below on an old drill press for some time (actually, I got to stage 2 and then sold it on).


Start off by using an ordinary bolt. If you want to, file off the corners of the head so it's easier on the hands. First project - make up a sleeve to fit over it. It can be made from just about anything. Once you have that you can then start thinking about improving it some more. I bought a Chinese bit of kit once and that was about the extent of the handles supplied. A decent handle can cost $50 or more if you buy so making your own is not such a bad thing. You can also make them to the size, colour and shape you want - a plus in my opinion. If you search around I think there is a thread on making swivel handles somewhere here.

Michael
(I think the software is going a little funny - the picture was not that size when scannned)

Looks easy enough make one. Can get them for about $20 bucks each. Supose i have a go at making one and see if i like it. Thanks for that.

Originally Posted by Michael G

Just had another look at these two photos -

The dial says a full revolution is 0.196" - which is 4.9784mm (or 5mm to us non-purists). If the leadscrew were a tenth of an inch I would expect it to be a multiple of 0.1". The thread gauge is showing 2.5mm pitch, so it looks like it is a 2 start M14x5mm thread. Anyone else agree with that?

Michael

got the dial indicator on the cross slide. 1 full turn moves he cross slide 2.474mm, taking off 4.948 of material when turning.