Hercus thread dial gauge?

[neksmerj]

Hi guys, need a little help.

Is there a member out there that would kindly lend me a Hercus thread dial gauge?

I'm happy to pay the postage each way, my intention is to make one as close to the original as possible. This will involve making drawings, and once done, will be made available to all members, gratis.

I reckon this would make a great little project, for us novices.

These items are virtually extinct in Australia, the closest being reproductions of the South Bend lathe version, in the US.

Why bother, when a facsimile can be had for $60 US plus postage?

Simple, it's a good, worthwhile project, one that involves getting something cast in iron, machining and gear cutting, and a good excuse to get away from the missus for a few hours.

Ken

[pipeclay]

ken send me details for postage.

[wannabe]

Can someone tell me if the original Hercus threading dial had a ball oiler in the top of it. I just pulled mine apart to clean it out and the amount of rubbish that was done in this hole was disgusting. There is nothing to stop swarf falling down there. I suspect it once had an oiler in there which has long since disappeared. The cure for the time being has been to stuff a bit of felt down in there.

[pipeclay]

why not take it off when not using,.

ken should post monday.

[wannabe]

why not take it off when not using,.

I do take it off when it's not needed. Can't see the point in leaving it there if it's not being used but I don't think the previous owners had the same view.
I was just curious if the original Hercus ones had a ball oiler as the Southbend ones do.

[neksmerj]

Pipeclay,

You are a gentleman.

Will keep my eye out for the postie.

Many thanks,

Ken

[pipeclay]

I couldnt tell you if it has an oiler or not,but if they originally did it would of been very small,the hole in the centre of the shaft only goes down around 3/8".

Just curious as to what type of swarf was in there,hope it didnt score the shaft.

[pipeclay]

Pipeclay,

You are a gentleman.

Will keep my eye out for the postie.

Many thanks,

Ken

ken posted this morning you should have it by wednesday,only requires to allen keys to dissmantle (imperial)

[wannabe]

I couldnt tell you if it has an oiler or not,but if they originally did it would of been very small,the hole in the centre of the shaft only goes down around 3/8".

Just curious as to what type of swarf was in there,hope it didnt score the shaft.

Sounds like your's doesn't have one either. Maybe the original never did have one.

The best I could describe the rubbish I pulled out of both of the holes is like the grease you would find around a ball joint under a car. Dry,gritty and packed and took a bit to push it out. Initially tried digging it out with a pin but ended up pushing it out with a small ball ended allen key. The cross hole was as bad as the through hole. The shaft still looks ok and doesn't have any scoring.

I'm not sure if my dial is an original but I noticed it is different from the Southbend ones in that it has the grub screw for the shank that holds it to the saddle on the side of the dial where the southbend ones have it at the top.

I'm just wondering if they originally didn't come with an oiler then what I pushed out of there might have been dirty old felt. Either way it needed cleaning out and should last another 50 years now.

[pipeclay]

Dont think it had anything there at all just the small hole in the top to take a drop of oil occasionally, the grub screw on the side sounds right, maybe someone had tried to grease the lube hole at some stage,judgeing by the size of the hole you would probably only get brass shavings down it.

If the build up of gunk in the hole is a concern try and get a small amount of bees wax or something similar to cover the hole ,at least its easy to remove.

[neksmerj]

Pipeclay,

Item arrived ok, sent you a PM.

Ken