The Sieg C6 - AL-60 - G0516 - 10 x 22 class lathe thread

[Jim Ferrous]

A thread to put as much relevant information as possible for future members doing a search on this lathe.

If you buy the QCTP QA-100 from Hare & Forbes, don't be dismayed as I was when you try and fit it.

At the bottom of the QA-100 you'll see a ring of steel in the base. You need to put an easy out in this (just a few turns) and some gentle taps with a soft hammer and this ring of steel will come out. Then the QA-100 will fit straight on your lathe. You just need to add a washer under your tightener. I don't know why there isn't any instructions for this with the QA-100.

Anyway, never owning a QCTP before, I can say - What a great piece of kit they are!!!

All the pulley wheels have been cleaned of the heavy grease and I've stripped down and cleaned and put together other items that I feel comfortable doing.

I removed the safety plexiglass auto chuck stop. It's a personal decision, but for me, this was just going to be a PITA.

I bought the 125mm 4J-60 - 4 Jaw Lathe Chuck and it's a very nice chuck for the price.

I didn't buy the stand for the lathe and this comes with a built in swarf tray. So at the moment I don't have a swarf tray. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be appreciated. Presently I'm just thinking of getting some flat gal with a 15mm lip turned up at the back to just slide underneath.

I'll be adding to this thread as I learn more of the pros and cons of the lathe.

[th62]

I’ve always used coolant on my lathes, the cutting tips seem to last longer between sharpenings. If you do use coolant you’ll need a lip all the way around edge of the tray. On my AL-30G I used gal sheetmetal and folded a continuous 15mm lip all the way around. Front and back are straight forward because they’re strait bends, but the ends need to be folded around a 500mm plus radius to avoid puckering, can’t go much beyond 15mm deep though, it starts to pucker over that. No need to rivet or weld corners using this method and it looks very neat. I used a sheet of ply cut in a 500mm circle and clamped down tight to form the ends.

[mahgnia]

Jim,

Some links to posts I've made regarding mods and improvements to my C6 lathe and X2 mill attachment:

C6:

A thread cutting gear selection calculator and chart (for metric and imperial threads)
lathe thread calculator.xlsxlathe thread calculator.pdf
Extra Low speed pulley setup
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/yo...ml#post1632364
Home made QCTP
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/yo...ml#post1603045
Parting tool holder for QCTP
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/yo...ml#post1603725

X2:

Belt Drive conversion (to remove the noisy and fragile plastic gear train)
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/yo...ml#post1611899
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/yo...ml#post1621200

Andrew

[Oldneweng]

I removed the safety plexiglass auto chuck stop. It's a personal decision, but for me, this was just going to be a PITA.

The only thing these protect against is litigation. I agree it would be a PITA. The guard itself could be useful to protect against coolant and chips providing it does not impede in other ways.

The best safety protection you have is between your ears.

Dean

[Jim Ferrous]

Thanks for the replies.

Next time I go into town I'm going to have a look at these and see what they're like.


SCA Drip Tray - Metal - Supercheap Auto Australia

I might be able to buy two and cut them in 2/3rds and join them together.

[Jim Ferrous]

My lathe 'room' is only tiny, but it works and has worked really well in the past. It's amazing how well organised you get when you have limited space -










Looking out of the lathe 'room' into the main tool shed -




Looking from the door into my tool shed and you can see the lathe 'room' through the back -




I'm lucky because right around the outside of my tool shed I have made the roof 5 metre wide right around it and have a woodworking area on one side with a bench, the other side a metal working area and the other sides general work areas. So there under cover and I don't have to worry about dust and fumes so much because they are open to the air. So a small set up, but one that's pretty user friendly.

[Jim Ferrous]

One hint that I remembered as soon as I saw the little brass oilers on this lathe and remembered the same thing on my old Al-50 was that most oil cans are a PITA to use and you don't know how much if any oil went in.

My solution was to use a suitable sized syringe.


Just take up 2.5mls or 5mls each time and put the syringe on the brass oiler, push the plunger and bingo.....you know that you just put exactly that amount into the oiler.

[th62]

Nice well organized shed. Looking at the number of jars with yellow lids, you must like Vegemite - a lot.

[Ueee]

You'll never find a vegemite jar in my shed. Yuck! (yeah I know, un-australian etc) might be able to do that with peanut butter jars though...

I love your organization, I'm more than a little envious. I reckon that the organization of a shed is inverse to its size. I have a big shed......

Congrats on the new lathe too, New machine day is always good no matter what it is.

Cheers,
Ew

[Jim Ferrous]

Thanks for the replies.....yep everyone knows to keep me their vegemite jars! Peanut butter jars have gone plastic now and aren't as good. The other jars are salsa jars which work great for overhead because they're only a half turn to take on and put back.

Yesterday I did the first mod on the lathe, I took both the carriage and the tail stock handwheels off and put them in a ice cream container with paint stripper for an hour. They look a lot better to me now than black painted as they came.

If you take the hand wheel off one of these lathes, be careful that you don't lose the little spring steel keeper that adds pressure to the calibrated dial, thank heavens for magnetic finders!

[th62]

You don't like Vegemite???? Nothing better than a nice 1" thick slice of bread, toasted or otherwise, with a thick and thin smear of Vegemite. Dam, I'm hungry now!
Those hand wheels look a lot better, always thought the C6 looked odd with black hand wheels - I assumed they were plastic.

[Jim Ferrous]

Yes I reckon the handwheels look a lot better.




Does anyone know what this screw does in the QCTP? I can't work out that it does a thing except -

[pipeclay]

After you set the height of your tool you lock that screw to gain repeatability of your centre height.
If you don't lock the screw every time you replace you tool holder you run the chance of adjusting your centre height.

[bwal74]

HI Jim,

Your workshop looks like Aladdin's Cave! If you have grandchildren I bet they would love it in there, I know I would!

That bolt on top of the tool holder is to secure the set height of the tool holder (once you've set your tool height with the big knurled nut), on my QCTH it's a hex bolt.

Ben

[bwal74]

Hi PC,

You beat me to it and explained it better than I did.

Ben.