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  1. #1
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    Default Restoring an early 80’s Woodfast Lathe

    I thought that rather than post this at the tail end of the "value of old Woodfast lathes" thread, I'd stick it in its own thread in case it may help others down the track.

    An many will know from the above noted thread, I’ve been on the lookout for an older heavy cast iron lathe for a long time, and last weekend the wait finally paid off. An old (70’s or early 80’s) Woodfast lathe was put up for sale at a great price, and I snapped it up. It appeared to have been left out in the weather in its recent history, so a bit of spit and polish was required, but the bones were in good condition.

    This particular model has been my dream lathe, so to have found one is brilliant. Part of it is that as an old Australian cast iron machine from the days when iron wasn’t economised like now, it is heavy and very solidly built. The other factor, esoteric as it may be, is the styling. There’s just something about them that appeals to me. Particularly the tailstock. It evokes visions of the art deco styled steam trains of the 40’s and 50’s. I think it’s beautiful.

    Locomotive_Pennsylvania-768x535.jpg 20200525_125722-1024x768.jpg

    This is what it looked like when I got it. What you can’t see is that the bed had a good coat of surface rust, as with every bit of unpainted steal too for good measure. This also meant that any moving parts that could be seized were. The bench it came on was very stout, except for the top. Being chipboard, it now resembled my breakfast Vita Brits.

    20200517_163652-1024x768.jpg

    As I picked it up on a Sunday late afternoon, there wasn’t much that I could do on the weekend other than to get it settled into the shed. What followed was a week of afternoons and evenings cleaning it up.

    The first port of call was to strip the whole machine down. This included removing the headstock. The whole bed was cleaned up with copious amounts of RP7 and 1000 grit W&D. Fortunately it came off fairly easily so no heavy force was required. Each evening I would disassemble the bits I could, and apply either oil or more RP7 into a seized part and let it sit till the following evening when it would have loosened up enough for me to work it apart. This proved difficult at times without an exploded diagram. Whilst some bits looked like they should come apart, they were so solidly joined I just had to persevere with nightly oiling until my hunch was proved correct and they finally moved, allowing me to congratulate myself on my deductive powers. I take my victories wherever I can find them.

    20200518_181558-1024x768.jpg 20200518_191739-1024x768.jpg

    Removing the spindle and bearings was a little scary considering the force that was required. Firstly the grub screws in the pully need to be removed, then the spindle knocked, hammered and finally pounded from the headstock toward the tailstock. Despite my penchant for hyperbola, in this case I’m not exaggerating, I really had to lay into it. Going the other way will not work, as the spindle is wider on the tail side. To be clear, you have to hit the spindle so that when ejected it lands on the bed.

    Removing the bearings also required significant effort. They were a pretty tight fit with a bit of rust to hold them in place that little bit more securely. But with several pieces of wood as rams, I got them out. A note on the double bearings. They can both be ejected in either direction. At first I tried ejecting each one out on its side, assuming there was a ridge between them, which there isn’t. In the end I knocked them both through together. For reference, the bearings in mine were sealed 6205 units (the letters afterwards are generally manufacturer specific, so just find sealed units in the 6205 size.

    20200518_191129-768x1024.jpg 20200518_191748-1024x768.jpg 20200518_191751-1024x768.jpg

    With all the parts stripped, they went into a small bucket of vinegar and left overnight to loosen the rust. This is a triumph of chemistry over elbow grease. After a day or two of soaking, the vinegar will have eaten a lot of the rust, but not damaged the iron at all. For pieces with only light rust, I was able to simply wipe it off with a rag. More stubborn parts needed a quick going over with 1000 grit W&D to polish it up.

    20200521_103120-1024x768.jpg 20200521_134652-1024x768.jpg

    Then it was re-assembly time. I did purchase new bearings. At $8 each, it seamed silly not to while I had it all apart. I took some exploded photos of the head and tail stocks in case I needed to service it again in the future, and forgot how it came apart, or for some other poor sap in my position who is trying to figure out what does and doesn’t disassemble. Note the spacer in the headstock which I photographed in the wrong position.

    20200521_133607-1024x768.jpg 20200521_162722_edited-1024x768.jpg

    Of course not everything went to plan on reassembly. See if you can spot the problem below (hint, I wasn’t planning on installing a linked belt). I woke up during the night, and whilst thinking pleasant thoughts about the lathe, had my epiphany.

    20200522_095148-1024x768.jpg

    Because I’m an expert at removing spindles, the next morning I gave it what for, but after a little initial movement, it simply wouldn’t budge. I even pondered if because it was a rather chilly morning the castings had contracted, and compressed the bearings onto the spindle, so let it sit in the sun for an hour or so to warm up (yes, I know, I know). Still no joy. Then with the clarity of hindsight realised that I was knocking it the wrong way. Perhaps now you understand why I take my wins wherever I can find them.

    With the lathe all in one piece again, with the belt now hanging from the pulley, the final job was to fit a new top to the bench and cut the legs down 100 mm. The last owner must have been a giant of a man or woman, or they held the turning chisels in their teeth. Regardless it was far to high for me and my family. Unfortunately the top was nailed and glued down which made for a messy removal. I screwed the new top down in consideration for the next custodian of this lathe.

    20200521_142757-1024x768.jpg 20200521_150654-1024x768.jpg 20200521_154423-1024x768.jpg

    And that was it. All done. I mounted the lathe and finally late last night, almost one week to the hour, I managed to spend 30 minutes turning, (butchering), pieces of scrap. I really need to get my sharpening sorted out now, but that’s a topic for its own post.

    20200525_114507-1024x768.jpg

    In closing, you will notice the cleverly positioned cut outs in the bench top to allow shavings to fall down and slide forward to the floor to aide clean-up. I thought it a rather clever idea from the bench builder so replicated it in my top. I carefully measured the exposed bed areas and cut out just enough, but not too much. Having worked quite late into the evening to mount the top, and apply the first coat of varnish, I slept the satisfied sleep of progress made. Waking up during the night again, my mind drifted to having forgotten to put the belt on the pulley when inserting the spindle, and was having a chuckle as such a silly mistake. And then it hit me. I had forgotten to add a hole in the bench top between the lathe and motor pulleys. Sigh.

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  3. #2
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    Mareeba Far Nth Qld
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    Default

    Hi Lance,

    Very gratifying to see a grand old machine receive such tlc. As a matter of interest, my first Woodfast lathe is a 1981 model, with the square headstock, so your lathe would be pre-1980.

    Jim
    Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important...

  4. #3
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    Default

    Thanks for the clarification Jim,

    I based my date on the stamp on the bed. I, erroneously it seems, interpreted the “81” as the year of manufacture.




    It’s a later model than those with grease nipples, so the real date remains a mystery.

  5. #4
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    Lance Another great story,

    With regards the bearings, in the past I’ve put bearings in the freezer in a bag(to keep the piece) over night.
    They shrink ever so slightly.

    An if possible lightly heat the part they a going into.
    It just makes the going in a bit easier, tho in your application it maybe hard to head the the headstock.
    Actually I wouldn’t recommend heating a headstock

    Hope I’m telling you how to suck eggs tho.

    Cheers Matt..

  6. #5
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    It probably is an '81. Might have been the changeover year. I had two of those lathes (still have one in storage) and they were '76 and '77 I think. Both had grease nipples. You should do a VSD conversion. Makes those old lathes so much better.
    I'm sure I read somewhere that the numbers are the model, week and year of manufacture. I think the tail stock is stamped as well.
    Those were the droids I was looking for.
    https://autoblastgates.com.au

  7. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by NCArcher View Post
    You should do a VSD conversion. Makes those old lathes so much better.
    Funny you should mention that Tony. Over the weekend I thought I should work out the respective RPMs of each pulley combination, which was enlightening. My options are 435, 1120, 2455 and (wait for it), 5985! My four speed lathe has now become a three speed lathe. So really I have speed settings for moderate, fast, very fast and warp factor three.

    On a separate matter, I was getting a fairly strong vibration coming through the bench, so set about investigating. Minor adjustments to the belt tension made a massive difference. In my case reducing the belt tension a fair bit has it now purring like a kitten. I should probably have put a new belt on when I had the head stock apart, but with so much else to think about at the time, I didn't.

  8. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by NCArcher View Post
    It probably is an '81. Might have been the changeover year.
    I would agree that, that is most likely. I understood the middle number was the production sequence number, could be wrong there though.

    Jim
    Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important...

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by LanceC View Post
    F
    I should probably have put a new belt on when I had the head stock apart, but with so much else to think about at the time, I didn't.
    Buy a link belt and cut the old one off. The link belt will make it run even quieter.
    Sending you a PM re VSD control.
    Those were the droids I was looking for.
    https://autoblastgates.com.au

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by LanceC View Post
    My options are 435, 1120, 2455 and (wait for it), 5985! My four speed lathe has now become a three speed lathe.
    That sounds like someone may have replaced a four pole motor with a two pole motor at some stage in its last. Dropping the motor speed by half would give you a decent spread of speeds, from slow enough for an unbalance log to fast enough For small spindles.

  11. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by NCArcher
    Buy a link belt and cut the old one off. The link belt will make it run even quieter.
    I did look at them initially. While I can buy a regular belt for $12 with overnight shipping, the best price I could find for a link belt was $130 (@ $80/m) plus shipping. I'm already an old hat at removing the spindle, so will go down that route.

    Quote Originally Posted by Colin62
    That sounds like someone may have replaced a four pole motor with a two pole motor at some stage in its last.
    No, it's an old 1425 RPM motor.

    20200521_154507.jpg 20200521_152405.jpg

    Feel free to check my maths though.

    Annotation 2020-06-02 074759.png

  12. #11
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    Well, that’s my theory blown out the water. )

    Your calculations look 100% correct to me.

  13. #12
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    I just picked an older one up (the ones with grease nipples and different spindle set up).

    Since you have taken it apart... i am having trouble with the tailstock quill lock.

    it didn't come with the lock handle/bolt.

    i can use a screw to tighten it but not to sure how to loosen it?

    and i can't figure out how to take the hand wheel off the tail stock either haha

    i feel like the biggest newbie hahaha

    could anyone please give me some pointers? i have it sitting in mineral turps as we speak, hopefully that loosens some stuff up lol

  14. #13
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    Hi Tom,

    The hand wheel is not keyed to the shaft at all, just a friction fit, with the nut to hold it in place.

    20200625_085705.jpg

    I took a bunch of photos trying to demonstrate how the components of the quill lock work, but in the end I thought it would simply be easier so show how it fits together, then you can dismantle as required. Interactive drawing at Fusion. Essentially the screw simply pushes the "cam" down on the quill to lock it. Releasing the screw releases pressure on the cam and the quill can move again. If yours is anything like mine was, it's not releasing due to corrosion not allowing the cam to move. The cam just drops into the hole in the tailstock, it's not secured in any way. This was the part that required the most oil soaking and repeated jiggling and pulling with a wire hook over several days to get it to become free. There is a little hole below the cam to allow fluids to drain out. I plugged this from the outside to ensure the oil wasn't all leaking out during the soaking stage.

    Annotation 2020-06-25 100643.png

  15. #14
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    Lance, Try your speed calculations using this: How to Calculate the Speed of Two Different Pulleys | Sciencing

    Nice job on the lathe.
    So much timber, so little time.

    Paul

  16. #15
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    Thank you so much Lance! Especially drawing it up in fusion

    i thought that so dunked in vinegar last night (gonna be painting it anyway). i'm thinking of putting a light spring under it if i can without interfering with the hole.

    that hand wheel is just a friction fit? so you take the handwheel and spindle bolt out all as one? i thought maybe it needed c spanner or something (came to me in bed haha) i think mine was made in the 60's lol

    thank you so much again for all the help, champion!

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