Thread: New Metal Lathe

What do you call a "saddle clamp" If it what I assume you mean a clamp to lock the saddle, all the modern ones I have used just have a cap head bolt you put an allen key in to lock the saddle.

Further to what RC said, on your model it looks they may have used a normal bolt instead of the capscrew most got. The bolt just behind the plate showing the feed directions appears to operate a black clamp under the front way from this photo on the H&F website.

With regard to the belt tension, I can't find a photo of the belt arrangement on your lathe, but on my AL335 it's adjusted by moving the motor itself, I would be surprised if yours was any different...

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Originally Posted by Jekyll and Hyde

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What a bastard that lever is! I've lost count of the number of times I've finished a run and flicked the lever to 'off', just to see it start to cut at right angles into the workpiece because the lever has gone too far!
Yeah, the belt is tensioned by moving the motor. Lots of problems with the motor too, starter capacitor keeps blowing.
You get what you pay for.

BB, can you tap a couple of holes in the top of the apron and use a threaded stud to act as a stop so that the lever can not be "over flicked"? I would expect a lever like that to have a detent (ball & spring). Perhaps it is a matter of beefing up the spring a bit.

Michael

On my lathe, a smaller one than yours, the saddle clamp was a socket head recessed in to the saddle.

Any time you wanted to use it with an Allen key it would be full of swarf, great design, NOT.

So I took a bit of 12mm hex, threaded one end with the same thread as the socket head, now it sits on top of the saddle, no swarf and I use a spanner on it. Really should drill one side and put a bit of bar in to eliminate the spanner, one day.

Oh and I think you meant to say AL320G.

Originally Posted by Michael G

BB, can you tap a couple of holes in the top of the apron and use a threaded stud to act as a stop so that the lever can not be "over flicked"? I would expect a lever like that to have a detent (ball & spring). Perhaps it is a matter of beefing up the spring a bit.

Michael

Yeah, the neutral position is very indeterminate, and putting in a stop has certainly crossed my mind.

I have done a number of mods to my AL320G.
1. replaced the circlips on the change gears with plates and wing nuts, makes for quick and easy gear changes.
2. replaced the saddle lock bolt with a bolt with a T head, which can be tightened without the use of tools.
3. installed stops on "that" lever, this is somewhat inconvenient so I will be doing something different when it irritates enough.
4. made and installed a belt tensioner/idler, so it is much easier to change the belt to the other pulley.

All these were simple mods. but they have made the machine much more pleasant to use.

Thanks guys for all your help.
Found the hex head screw that should lock the saddle, however it's pretty inefective, so some adjustment required.
I didn't realize the motor mount had a slot in the top so the motor can pivot, and hence the tension adjustment.

I'm sure there will be more questions as time goes by and it's great have folk such as yourself willing to help, so thanks once again
George

Hi George and welcome.
Congrats on the new lathe, nothing like the feeling of new machine day

The was an article in mew (model engineers workshop) a little while back about making an over center idler for the belt tension on a machine like yours, I'll try and find it.

My AL320G's top slide came with lots of casting sand

Ken

Kens comment reminded me you may want to read this thread....https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/shoulda-known-153541/

The MEW i was looking for is No.186. It is on a 960b and its actually an over center quick release for the motor mount. I'll PM you George when i get a spare moment.

UEEE
Thanks for the info. Funny you have mentioned about the cleanup, as I had already intended to do just that. I thought for sure this thing is going to be full of grit, you could tell by the grime over it in general. So I think the first job will be to flush the gunk out and refil with new oil.
Their seems to be a lot of different opinion as to the best oil to use, a service gent at H&F said they run faily quite (better than normal) using car diff oil. What would your thoughts be on that suggestion?

George

I'm not sure on diff oil, but (and this seems to come up a lot) engine and gearbox oils are designed to keep any metal/grit particals in suspension so they are carried to the filter and filtered out. As all the machines we use don't have filters, the last thing you want is the crap recirculating through the gearbox and bearings. Hydraulic oil does not keep stuff in suspension, so it is a better choice for machines. I use nulon ISO 34 in my mill, but that's probably on the thin side for your lathe, and it will be a bit noisier. Let's face it a mill that was 70,000 franc or so in the 70's is going to have way better made gears than your lathe. You would be better with ISO 68, whether its from supercheap or a product like vactra or hyspin.

Most purchasers of lathes such as mine get free foundry etc, not me, I get FREE GORILLA SNOT over the gears and splines. A putty like substance that I assume was meant to seal the cover, has liberally been applied to many of the other components. Glad I decided (with the good advice of other) to clean the darn thing up.



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