Thread: Changing of the guard...........

[My only reservation about a duckboard, and it needs to be about 75mm high, is that I could forget I'm standing on a platform, step back and go *ss over t*t.]

You only do it once and the AMRU[ automatic memory retention unit] will come in to play from thence Just fall carefully. I found a bruised arm sufficient to index AMRU Oh yes a bruised toe heading toward lathe triggers AMRU#2. both work well you do get used to it Cheers WWW

Didn't have a lot of time to spend on "the beast" yesterday as we had to go out for most of the afternoon, so only had a few hours in the morning.

That was spent getting all the heavy stuff, bed and legs, out of the trailer. Fortunately I have an old printer trolley that is about the same height as the trailer and I can back the trailer in to the workshop area.

So getting the very heavy bed out of the trailer proved easier than I thought. In fact I managed it on my own by lifting one end and sliding it along the trailer and the lowering it on to the trolley. Old brains beat young brawn once again.

Once I had the bed on the trolley I decided to take GJ's advice and lap the bed with a large carborundum stone and kero. This took away most of the grinding marks and made for a very smooth bed, I also lapped all the outside corner and the inside corners as well.

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That was yesterday morning's task, and it was time well spent.
This morning I fitted some nylon pads to the bottom of the legs, these seem to be supplied with the US and Canadian versions, but not with this one. I could then set the legs upright and roll the bed in to position, adjust the height of the bed to just above the legs with some timber chocks and bolt the bed to the legs. Forgot to take photos of this part of the project, got too involved.
Next step was to rope in SWMBO to lift the heavy head stock and motor out of the boot on to the trolley, wheel it in front of the bed and place it on there. On the Laguna video on Youtube the guy can just slide the tailstock and tool post banjo off after taking off the end stops, it isn't quite that easy, you actually have to remove the nut on all these components, as well as the head stock to be able to slide it on to the bed. As I had already done this at H&F, to get it off, it was just a matter of placing the head stock on the bed, then refitting the locking plate and nut back on the lock down bolt.

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I paid particular attention to how the head stock sat on the bed, as I had a PM from another WL46 owner that his head stock rocked and he had to put shims under one corner. This was not the case with mine, I had already checked this out before disassembling at H&F, but it pays to be sure.

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In fact I was game enough to plug it in and run the motor before I actually put the locking plate and nut underneath the head stock. It is so heavy, and the thing runs so smoothly, that it just sits there, even at full RPM (3380 on the readout)

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Next on the agenda was the tool post banjo, that was a cinch, much lighter than the head stock I can assure you.

There are three threaded holes to take the locking bolt and handle.

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I elected to put it on the right.

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The tool rest supplied is 350mm, with a 25mm post, and is reasonably well finished. Again I had some feed back from another WL46 that he had to draw file the bottom of the banjo because it rocked on the bed, I was lucky I didn't have to do that.

He also had to draw file the top of the tool rest, again not necessary in my case.

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Next came the tail stock, again no adjustments required, sat nice and level on the bed and the centres lined up perfectly.

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The tail stock spindle extension is 110mm, which will come in handy for drilling pen blanks and pepper mills etc.

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envious Fred.

First dust tomorrow

Have you left enough room between the wall and lathe for large swing items at the tail end.

Here is a shot of the bits and pieces and tools supplied with the lathe.

The knockout bar is fairly long, and that length is needed!

The small threaded and tapered pin is a spindle locking and indexing pin.

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After some trial runs and trying out various speeds on the 2 belt settings, it was time to put a live centre in the tail stock and a ER25 collet chuck in the head stock spindle and see how all that would fit and spin, works like a charm. One thing I have to get used to is how quiet (and smooth) this lathe is compared to my old one. I can actually listen to ABC FM with it running at top speed.

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Just in case you think I'm totally biased and can't see anything wrong with my new toy, there is the one draw back with this lathe, it doesn't take a handwheel on the rear of the spindle. Now I never had one on my MC900, it also couldn't take one, but it would have been nice. I took the backplate off to see whether I could fabricate something and I think I can, and keep the spindle hoe clear for the knock out bar. Another owner (William Young) has made up a timber hand wheel with a rubber expanding plug inside the spindle, but that won't work for me as I use the ER25 collet chuck a heck of a lot and need to be able remove that often and quickly.

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Next I fitted my Nova G3 chuck, had to buy a new adapter for the M30x3.5 thread. I went straight on, measured TIR at approx 1.5 thou, measured on the chuck body. Not bad at all, we're doing woodworking right?

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Spun her up and did some drilling, how easy and smooth is that Did I mention this thing is quiet?

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Went out in the yard and found a thinnish pallet, put it in front of the setup with the rubber comfort mat, just a tad high (100mm), so will make something at a later stage.

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I am extremely impressed with this lathe so far, it is very solid, well put together, smooth and yes, quiet. It would have to be the best value for money big lathe on the market. Let's hope that it will live up to my expectations

Originally Posted by wheelinround

envious Fred.

First dust tomorrow

Have you left enough room between the wall and lathe for large swing items at the tail end.

Actually first dust was yesterday Ray, albeit only from drilling a blank!

No, at present there isn't enough room to swing large items at the tail end. Once I reach that stage of competency I will have to rearrange things.

One of the ideas floating around in my mind is to lower the lathe height by cutting the cast iron legs and fitting industrial nylon castors. This would do away with the duck board/pallet and allow me to swing the lathe around when required.

I will be ordering the outboard turning attachment though.

Time will tell.

I am also considering getting some more WL46 tool rests to cut down for smaller work. The 2 shorter tool rests I have were made for the MC900 and because of the extra swing height on this lathe the posts are a bit on the short side.

The short black one was a new MC900 300mm tool rest cut down to 150mm, the other (round) one was made for me by DJ.

Good report Fred. What is the spindle height from the floor? Mine (Jet 1642) came with screw-in feet/levelers. After laboriously cleaning out the paint and sand with a tap and installing the feet, had to jack it up and remove said feet to get it closer to the floor where I was.

Very tempting, I've been learning on a MC1100 for 12 months and this looks like the

ideal upgrade for me. Thanks for sharing, I'll follow the thread avidly.

Phil

Originally Posted by Texian

Good report Fred. What is the spindle height from the floor? Mine (Jet 1642) came with screw-in feet/levelers. After laboriously cleaning out the paint and sand with a tap and installing the feet, had to jack it up and remove said feet to get it closer to the floor where I was.

The spindle height on this lathe in "bare feet", ie without the nylon pads, is 1130mm. On my old MC900 it was 1050mm.

My 3/8 Whitworth studs on the nylon feet went straight in without any cleaning up required.

In fact I had to do no cleaning of sand etc on any of the castings.

One of the ideas floating around in my mind is to lower the lathe height by cutting the cast iron legs and fitting industrial nylon castor's. This would do away with the duck board/pallet and allow me to swing the lathe around when required.

If you do make sure all the wheels have a lock on them,other wise you'll be doing the Turners Waltz

I am also considering getting some more WL46 tool rests to cut down for smaller work. The 2 shorter tool rests I have were made for the MC900 and because of the extra swing height on this lathe the posts are a bit on the short side.
The short black one was a new MC900 300mm tool rest cut down to 150mm, the other (round) one was made for me by DJ.

[/QUOTE]

Get em made by a tame welder etc save you dollars for other stuff.

Keep up with the tute, I am enjoying it.

Originally Posted by hughie

If you do make sure all the wheels have a lock on them,other wise you'll be doing the Turners Waltz

Get em made by a tame welder etc save you dollars for other stuff.

Keep up with the tute, I am enjoying it.

Sure will get the ones with locks on them Not too good at any waltz, let alone the Turners Waltz.

The smallest one of my tool rests was made by a "tame welder", if I may be allowed to call DJ that. Funnily enough I prefer the cut down MC900 one, something about the shape of that rest appeals more to me than the 25mm bar on the one DJ made.

Excellent write up Fred!!

I must say from the photos the quality is there, especially for the price>

Nice write up
almost makes me wish I had a new lathe so I could join in on the fun of having a new lathe

Fred,
you have had the new lathe for a while now, So what is the verdict. Does it perform well, and is there any regrets.

Cheers Scott