Thread: Show us your lathe

Originally Posted by eskimo

It was very very very devious...if i told ya and it got back I'd be cactuuuuuuus...if you know what I mean

Yes I have a finance Minister like that too.
Does any one know of spray on dust and cobwebs product so we can claim."no Dear, Its not new, look at the dust,the cobwebs! "

Ask Eskimo, he seems to know how to hide things and make out they have been there for years.

Thanks for the replies guys. The cross slide doesnt double as a vice, the spanner is just sitting in one of the t slots. The bearings are tapered bronze, tightened by pulling the bearing into the tapered bore in the head, and the rear (LHS) one has a ball thrust race. I have not used the ball turning jig yet but plan to soon to cut a new toolpost handle end. As you may notice, she also has a lever on the compound slide which is on a cam an moves the top slide by 6 or 7mm (its not an "even" figure in either metric or imperial). The only use i can see for it is for repetitive threading, maybe thats what she was used for in her day?

Originally Posted by Dave J

Ask Eskimo, he seems to know how to hide things and make out they have been there for years.

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

Yes I have a finance Minister like that too.
Does any one know of spray on dust and cobwebs product so we can claim."no Dear, Its not new, look at the dust,the cobwebs! "

Don't know about dust and cobwebs, but...........

About 1967 there was a fair sized flood in the NQ town where I was working at the time. This submerged a lot of domestic electrical equipment, and in particular washing machines. Many of these were traded in to the local electrical retailer, who noticed that they were selling much better to bargain hunters than his other second hand machines.

A friend of mine who worked for them spent quite a few hours with a spray gun and a bucket of muddy water putting false floodwater marks on the older machines which had been in dry storage nowhere near the flood water.

Anything for a sale!

Frank.

Thought I`d throw this up.
It`s a Microcut 14/40.
I think it`s early to mid 80`s model , made in Taiwan.
I`ve had it for about 12 years and it has served me well. However its starting to show its age. Sometime soon I will strip it down to replace the gibs, lead screws and nuts in the cross and compond slides. Also the main spindle seal and a few other seals need to be replaced.

You would not think that last week I cleaned it from top to bottom, changed the coolent and topped up the oils. Three nights in the shed and there`s sworf everywhere again.

Nice solid looking lathe, I know what you mean about the swarf, they don't stay clean long. LOL

Dave

Dave suggested putting my lathe thread into this thread over 6 months ago. I then forgot all about it. I looked at it recently when talking about tail stocks and thought that I'd better do something this time, so this link should take you through it it -

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/bi...-lathe-142383/

As for those new (or even old) to the forum, let's see some cast iron please - good, bad or ugly.

Michael

G'day all,

JUst aquired this lathe as a start out into making model steam engines. It looks pretty good, runs OK and came with 3 & 4 jaw chucks, fixed and travelling steadies, quick change tool post with 5 holders, and heaps of cutting tools, boring bars etc.
Only thing is, I can't seem to find much about this model on the net, eg: can I still get spares if needed. There seems to be no discernable wear on the beds, and a headstock alignment was able to achieve accuracy to about a thou. Does anybody know much about this machine, and have any tips, experiences? I should add I am a novice, so all advice greatly appreciated.


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HI,
I have never seen that Model before. Going that the Model Number is AL-900A makes Me think that it is probably a Grandfather Version of the Hafco AL-960B. Seeing that the Headstock top can Lift up and going by the Two Oil Sight Glasses on the Headstock (also thinking of a Lantaine Lathe that I used in My School Days) I would Say that the Headstock is Semi Geared. Being Semi Geared if it is like the Lantaine, You used to have to move the Belt and Push or Pull a Pin? to Engage the Back Gears.
I can't really give You any Tips on the Lathe as such, but Lubrication wise I would be using either Hydraulic ISO 46 or 68 in the Headstock and Saddle Carriage and ISO 68 Slideway Oil on the Bed and Tailstock. If You are after an Owners Manual for it I would be Contacting Hare & Forbes Machinery House for one.
Happy Machining.

Originally Posted by steran50

HI,
I have never seen that Model before. Going that the Model Number is AL-900A makes Me think that it is probably a Grandfather Version of the Hafco AL-960B. Seeing that the Headstock top can Lift up and going by the Two Oil Sight Glasses on the Headstock (also thinking of a Lantaine Lathe that I used in My School Days) I would Say that the Headstock is Semi Geared. Being Semi Geared if it is like the Lantaine, You used to have to move the Belt and Push or Pull a Pin? to Engage the Back Gears.
I can't really give You any Tips on the Lathe as such, but Lubrication wise I would be using either Hydraulic ISO 46 or 68 in the Headstock and Saddle Carriage and ISO 68 Slideway Oil on the Bed and Tailstock. If You are after an Owners Manual for it I would be Contacting Hare & Forbes Machinery House for one.
Happy Machining.

Thanks for the reply Steran
It does have similarities with the AL960B i.e. distance between centres and swing. The spindle speed is changed by different pulley combinations, and back gears achieved by disengaging the bull gear then engaging back gears. It also has two carriage feed methods, one for threading and one for just variable carriage feed speeds. There are also two extra gears to fit for metric threading. I have the rather minimal manual for it, and the only mention of lubrication is to use SAE20 oil and Keystone No. 122 grease in the grease nipple in the gearbox. The data plate shows it was manufactured in 1985. I find it a bit strange that there isn't much other mention of it on the net -maybe there weren't that many of them sold???

G'Day,
It may be just a trick of perspective in the photo, but that looks like one hellaver 4 jaw chuck, glad I don't have to lift it. The lathe would appear to be a generic Taiwanese unit a, search for Lantaine,Honden,McMillan,Frejoth and Repco lathes should turn up a heap of information, I run a similar Honden and use ISO 32 hydraulic oil in the headstock and apron and way oil elsewhere, before someone else jumps in, don't forget the bronze gear behind the apron, my manual is probably no better than yours, but you are welcome to a copy if you want one.
Regards,
Martin
P.S
Forgot to mention a lot of Taiwanese lathes of this vintage had some pretty looney dial scaling, it might be worth checking actual cut before starting an important job.

Hi,
Nice looking machine. I was thinking lantain too, but the ones I have seen are a bit older and a bit different. It may not be of any use now, but in a box somewhere I have some old h&f catalogues, I'll make a mental note to check if your lathe is in the earliest one (probably mid 90's) when I get out of this place and back home. I'm told I won't be able to do much for a few weeks anyway.

Ps, I looked at buying a lantain some time back, the overwhelming thing I found on the net was the half nuts are very soft and wear quickly. I think someone also put a full parts list and exploded diagram online......somewhere.

I was going to say Lantaine too, but the lever on the headstock threw me. If it is a belt change, what does that lever do?