Thread: Lathe identification and help

I would be contacting a woodturning club and finding out how to turn as a first step.


https://www.bluemtnswoodturners.org.au/

Looks like a good quality old lathe so you have most of what you need to get started.
Regards
John

Clean the rust off on the end of the bed ,behind the tailstock you should find model number and a date stamp. My old woodfast had them. john.

Originally Posted by orraloon

I would be contacting a woodturning club and finding out how to turn as a first step.
John

Thank you for your suggestion! That sounds like a good way to get started, and the linked club is only 25 minutes from me

Originally Posted by nine fingers

Clean the rust off on the end of the bed ,behind the tailstock you should find model number and a date stamp. My old woodfast had them. john.

Thanks John! Would the stamp be between the tracks? I'm heading out to clean it a bit now!

EDIT: Found it where you meant - it is a VSL-424-70. I presume made in 1970? Awesome!

Does anyone have a manual or know anything of this model?

Also, does Woodfast have any email to contact to see if I can get more information on my new lathe? I can't seem to find one online.

Originally Posted by Forrester

Picture 4 - Diamic tools. As I have never touched a lathe before, I don't know what each one is.

These are cheap tools, but aren't bad.
Left to Right:
1. If this is a round rod with a simple bevel on the end, then it's a scraper.
2. Bowl Gouge
3. Not sure from the pic, but if the 'bevel' is grooved, then it's a parting tool of good design.
4. Skew Chisel
5. Roughing Gouge

Picture 5 - more turning tools - no brand on them that I can see, no idea what each one is.

These are cheap'n'nasty tools in every way. Mind you, they're good to learn sharpening on... and for making 'special, one-off' tools out of. I wouldn't rely on them to hold an edge beyond first touch to the timber though. Do yourself a favour and practise sharpening on these, but buy another, better quality set for any serious attempts at turning. (They're like trying to cut wood on a table-saw with a $5 tinfoil blade. It works... sort of. But there's not much fun in the process.)

Left to Right:
1. Spindle Gouge
2. Spindle gouge, unless made from flat stock in which case it's a round nosed scraper. (Hard to tell from pix)
3. Skew chisel
4. Diamond parting tool
5. Skew Chisel (unless it only has one bevel, in which case it's an angled scraper)
6. Scraper
7. Round nosed scraper
8. Spindle gouge, flat roughing gouge.

Picture 6 - Luna branded tools.

LH: scraper, great for undercutting inside rims of bowls, etc. Probably sold as a specialist item but I don't recognise it myself. RH: ??? Need better pix.

Picture 7 - Indexing plates? Wouldn't know how to use them. One has LH written behind, the other has RH.

These are faceplates. One has LH thread inside, one has RH thread. One should screw onto the threaded part of the headstock spindle over the bed - once you've removed the drive spur - the other should screw onto the headstock from the 'outboard' side so you can turn items larger then the inboard side will handle.

However, from the pix I can't tell if the spindle actually protrudes through the outboard side... so these faceplates may not actually be for this lathe. The threads don't look to be the right size for thet lathe either, but I'm only going from the pix so...

Picture 8 - 4 Jaw chuck down the bottom? Some chuck bottom right? Not sure what top pieces are.

A 4-jaw chuck, yes. Looks to be independant jaw adjustment and not self-centering. I have one and love it, it's great for off-centre turning, although I'd seriously recommend a beginner to buy a more modern self-centering chuck to start with, as independants can lead to a world of hurt if not used correctly.
Bottom right is a jacob's chuck.
Top right looks to be a bearing mounted on a morse taper, which would probably take different tail spurs. I suspect the 3 odd doo-hickeys in the bottom right of the next pic (with the S-rest) fit into this.

Picture 9 - S curve tool rest and other pieces I'm unsure of.

clockwise from Top
1. S-Rest
2. Looks like a home-made centre/depth punch. I'd use it for that, anyway.
3. 3 Tail spurs, I think.
4. Breaker bar. These usually fit into a hole drilled into either the headstock spindle or a chuck, acting as a spanner. Always make sure you've removed these before turning on the lathe!!!

Picture 10 - Other pieces new to me - I presume the top piece maybe loosens a chuck or collar?

Top to bottom:
1. yep. That's a spanner. Looks to be too large to fit the spindle and too small to fit the chuck. May be used in conjunction with the aforementioned breaker bar to remove a chuck/faceplate from the spindle.
2. Chuck Jaws. They don't appear to belong to the chuck that you have though.
3. Long-hole boring bar. For drilling holes for electrical flex through lamp stands, etc. May be used with a jacob's chuck but are better used with a hollow tail spur and fed in from the RH side of the tailstock. IF one of those 3 tail spurs is hollow all the way through AND the morse taper with the bearing is also hollow all the way through (AND the tails spur does fit the bearing ) AND the tail shaft is also hollow all the way through, THEN the boring bar can be used this way.)

At first glance, a lot of that stuff just doesn't really go with the lathe... but bits'n'pieces may go together for making lamp-stands, etc. If you can get a relatively experienced turner to look at it all in situ they should be able to tell you what goes with which in relatively short order.

Looks like a nice buy! Good luck with it, may you get it up and making curlies with no great drama.

A very comprehensive and helpful post fro Skew.

Hours of fun in that lot. Suggest you get a self centering chuck, as suggested by Skew.

Apart from joining your local club get onto the net where there are plenty of great - and not so great - videos.
In particular videos by Brendan Stemp, an Aus. wood turner and member here, are excellent.

Forrester,

You have a good lathe, made when makers had the attitude of making a good product at a reasonable price. They were not afraid to put some cast iron in the mold, and the cabinets were made of a decent thickness of steel.

I have resurrected a slightly newer lathe than yours. The below is what I did for mine. Do not be offended if you know how to do what I describe, I don't want to leave anything to chance.


PART ONE



Wood lathe parts: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...20465520981650


The variable speed is by a Reeves Drive: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=is...ueKs15tvv4NxM:

The handwheel on the front of the lathe moves halves of one pulley together or apart causing a V-belt to ride in or out of the pulley. On the other end of the V-belt a spring causes the pulley halves to go in or out in response to the tightening or loosening of the belt. The system mostly works well. If the pulleys do not move freely or the adjusting mechanism gets stiff from lack of lubrication it does not work well.


Unplug the machine, remove the L shaped panel on the left of the cabinet and the cover on the left of the headstock. That should expose the motor, V-belts, and pulleys. If there is rust or corrosion on the running surface of the pulleys get some 320 or 400 grit sandpaper and sand everything you can reach. The Reeves drive pulleys will have one fairly well exposed and the other covered by the V-belt. Wipe off the inside of the pulleys and the belt with a damp cloth.

The Reeves pulleys will also have a place where they slide back and forth on the shaft.
Shine that up with the sandpaper and wipe with dry cloth. Put a couple of drops of sewing machine oil, electric motor oil, 4 in one oil, or 5-20 auto oil on that area and rub around with your finger. We want lube there but not on the inside of the pulleys or on the belt.


Put a couple drops of oil on every place the Reeves drive mechanism rotates or slides


Look at the condition of the V-belt. If it has a set from setting in one position for many years it will be noisy in running and may or may not work that out.


With the covers off plug in the machine and turn it on with a finger on the stop switch in case of expensive noises, or magic smoke coming out. If start up is OK let it run for a minute or two and look at the belt or belts to see how they are running. We want reasonably smooth, not flopping around or chunks flying off.


After running another few minutes gently turn the speed control toward fast, pause a bit and go further, pause again further, until you are running at full speed.


If it goes up to full speed OK, shut down, unplug and check condition of the pulley halves uncovered by going to full speed. Sand and wipe as needed. Sand, wipe, and lube the shaft uncovered with the speed in the fast position.


Plug in, turn on the lathe and run it slowly fast to slow several times, and at medium speed 5 - 10 minutes. If all works well, shut down, unplug and put covers back on.


Reeves drive lube discussion:

https://www.google.com/search?client...utf-8&oe=utf-8

Forrester,


PART TWO


The drive center in the headstock and tail center in the tailstock are likely rusted in place. Get or use your favorite "Mouse Milk", WD-40, Kroil, PB Blaster, etc.


Liberally apply MM to where the centers go into the headstock spindle and tailstock. Also liberally squirt into the hollow spindle and tail stock barrel. Run out the barrel of the tailstock and apply mouse milk to that. Remove the L shaped locking screw on top of the tailstock and apply MM in the hole. Let everything soak.


Remove or slide the tailstock and the banjo that holds the tool post to one end of the bed. Oil up the bed with MM and with a single edge razor blade scoop the rust off the bed. There is a stamped metal tool available here that holds a utility blade for scraping paint that looks exactly like a single edge razor blade. Move tailstock and banjo and do the rest of the bed. Ignore any dings into the bed. Remove any raised up places beside any gouges with a flat stone or sandpaper backed with something smooth and hard. More MM and slide banjo and tailstock back and forth the length of the bed. Wipe with paper towel or rag, more MM slide, wipe, until they glide end to end and minimal rust is picked up. Oil with 20 weight, slide back and forth a few times, wipe off, done.


Get a steel rod slightly smaller than the holes through the headstock spindle and the tailstock barrel. This is called a knockout bar. Apply more MM to the head and tail centers and get a stick of hardwood or a light - 4 oz - brass hammer and tap, tap, tap, the centers, turning the spindle and barrel to get taps all around. Keep well juiced with MM. Let set overnight. Next day more MM and with heat gun, hair dryer, or carefully with a Propane torch, warm the spindle the center. Put a rag over the drive center and stick the steel rod into the spindle hole, do a final warm and strike the end of the rod a fast, sharp blow with a 8 - 12 oz hammer. We want a shock rather than a heavy thud. If it comes the rag will catch it. If it doesn't, more MM, heat, and hit. If it doesn't come it is not ready. Try the tail center the same way.


If they don't come with two hits, heat up until MM sizzles, apply more MM, tap, tap, tap, leave overnight. Keep this up until they come out. We do not want to beat on the rod as it will damage the bearing in the headstock.


After you get the centers out you will see they are tapered. This is called a Morse taper, most likely #2 size, 2MT. Squirt MM into the MT hole and on the male part and ease it into the hole and rotate. Best to use the tail center in the spindle and drive center in the tail barrel. We want to use the center in the hole with lots of MM to grind out the rust but not grind the hole off center. Rotate center, remove, wipe off rust from center, wipe out rust from inside taper, juice up, grind, repeat until center goes into hole and snugs tight and needs to be driven out with a light tap on the KO bar. Oil up with 20 weight, done.


All the rusty bits that don't have bearings in them can be soaked in warm or hot white vinegar for hours or days, scrubbed with an old tooth brush until they come gray or black, then put in boiling hot water for a rinse, removed, quickly dried and liberally oiled with 20 weight.


In photo 8 the top middle is a tail center holder for the bits in lower right of photo 9. You could dip the tapered part in white vinegar and rinse in hot water then wipe with a rag and oil. Later that can be put in the spindle and run at slow speed and 22o grit sandpaper and MM applied to the rotating outside, then oiled. The inside can be carefully cleaned with a rag and MM.


The piece on the right is a drill chuck on MT2 for mounting in the tailstock and drilling a hole in a vase, etc. That could be soaked in vinegar, then rinsed in hot water, then held under running water as hot as you can stand run in and out a couple times then dried and flooded with MM and run in and out, more MM, in and out, drained and oiled liberally.


If the vinegar is not removed and oil applied, steel will rust again quickly.


Anything with a MT can be put in the headstock and rotated. A little oil or MM on 400 grit paper applied will make the part shine like new.


The threads on the spindle nose can be scrubbed with oil and a wire brush, then wiped with an oiled rag. The flat behind the threads is the register for anything mounted on the spindle, so that should be clean and smooth.


The faceplate threads should be brushed out with a tooth brush, MM applied and run onto and off the spindle several times, wiped off and oiled. The register that contacts the spindle register should be clean and smooth.

My Woodfast below, it looked much like yours when I got it.

Firstly, thank you so much for a wealth of information, I greatly appreciate this!

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

1. If this is a round rod with a simple bevel on the end, then it's a scraper.

It has the same profile as the bowl gouge just smaller -- would this basically be a smaller bowl gauge?

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

3. Not sure from the pic, but if the 'bevel' is grooved, then it's a parting tool of good design.

Here's a photo of it!

20180307_191049_HDR.jpg

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

LH: scraper, great for undercutting inside rims of bowls, etc. Probably sold as a specialist item but I don't recognise it myself. RH: ??? Need better pix.

Here's some close ups The cylindrical one literally just has thread cut on the tip.

20180307_191401_HDR.jpg20180307_191413_HDR.jpg

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Looks like a home-made centre/depth punch. I'd use it for that, anyway.

Works for me haha!

I'm really looking forward to learning with this lathe!

Originally Posted by artme

Apart from joining your local club get onto the net where there are plenty of great - and not so great - videos.
In particular videos by Brendan Stemp, an Aus. wood turner and member here, are excellent.

A lovely suggestion, i'll be sure to do this!

Originally Posted by Paul39

Forrester,

You have a good lathe, made when makers had the attitude of making a good product at a reasonable price. They were not afraid to put some cast iron in the mold, and the cabinets were made of a decent thickness of steel.

Wow, I don't know where to start! Such incredible information. Thank you for taking the time to write this and help out!

Your instructions are awesome, i'll be sure to follow through them - I refurbished a drill press a few years ago that will definitely help me in refurbishing this beauty!

Further to the previous photos, I thought I might also add these - my lathe also came with a platform attachment for the outboard and a giant sanding disc attached to a faceplate.

The lathe doesn't have a headstock handwheel - it's threaded to take things on the outboard. I feel like this may become my favourite machine (currently my favourite machine is an 8sn waldown drill press).

20180307_185631_HDR.jpg20180307_185935_HDR.jpg20180307_185947_HDR.jpg20180307_190341_HDR.jpg

Thank you to everyone so far for their comments!

Originally Posted by Forrester

It has the same profile as the bowl gouge just smaller -- would this basically be a smaller bowl gauge?

Yes. And the parting tool looks to be a parting tool.

Here's some close ups The cylindrical one literally just has thread cut on the tip.

I suspect that's something that has been mistakenly bundled with the lathe. Obviously something screws onto the end but I can't believe it's a cutting tool... in use the thing would constantly tighten and loosen itself in an unsafe manner.