Union Jubilee Clutch.

[Retired]

HI,

Thanks Colin; I hope it will now last at least it won't get a puncture and I've got a spare wheel.

Yes Joe; Farnell do split orders for the reason you give but apart from multiple postage costs to Farnell it works for us customers. This is my first online order from Farnell and so far they are very good. Whenever I've visited their sales counter in Leeds they have always been efficient and whilst I've waited for my order I've browsed the goodies on display being sold off at extremely low prices.

Good point but I don't intend to go off-roading Lawrence with the wheelbarrow. I might fit it with chains for winter though?

It's worth mentioning; the service we received from British Gas today has been the best.

Kind regards, Col.

[Retired]

Hi,

What a disappointment. I had high hopes of repairing the circuit board but this morning I changed the Mosfet's and one of the known problem electrolytics (22uF x 50v) and have just been blowing fuses.

Our friend Harold also posted the original board which arrived this morning. I could persist and eventually get the board sorted but now I don't want to; I'm not sulking in fact far from it but sometimes it pays to try a different approach.

I've now got two blown Clarke circuit boards and the forum previously mentioned indicates just how widespread this board problem is. I want to use a lathe not get a degree in electronics so sorry Clarke lathe you are in for a heart transplant.

Rather than keep throwing money at the lathe knowing it will be only a matter of time before the board blows again should I repair it it's time to junk the board together with all the electrics and do a graft.

My plan now is to upgrade to 3 phase and use a more robust VFD to supply power. I've already taken some measurements and I think a counter-shaft is the way to go. The pulley bore measures only 8mm and browsing the web it appears pillow block bearings start with a 12mm bore so guess what I would need; yes a lathe.

I'm now considering getting stuck into one of the Myford restorations then I'll have a real lathe to play with and it will allow me to upgrade the Clarke and also finish the prototype clutch in peace. I expected too much from the Clarke and as a hobby lathe it is actually very good but I'm used to the big stuff so unless I upgrade the Clarke to give a decent cut I'll keep breaking it; with new circuit boards at around £130 I'm not going to buy one after all Harold has already bought a new board for this lathe and now I could do the same.

Whilst I had the DC motor in my hands I noticed a small lump of plastic on the bench; the motor was feeling rough in a couple of places and at first I thought it to be the fan catching the housing but there could be a number of faults on this lathe just waiting to rack up a big bill?

The pictures below show the Clarke motor housing and head-stock drive arrangement together with the lump of plastic which appeared on the bench.

           

I'm not in a hurry because priority will be to sort out our flood defenses; this afternoon is forecast for heavy rain and so far it remains dry but I just know once I start digging it will pour down although if I don't dig it will remain fine.

Rather than spend ages restoring my Myford's I think I'll strip the carriages and take them over to Halifax to obtain a price for re-grinding; the beds have already been re-ground so a few quid extra won't hurt too much. I had intended to hand scrape but it's very time consuming and a lot of hassle. The Clarke breakdown might have even done me a favour?

Life would be boring if it was easy.

Kind regards, Col.

[Refugee]

It could be one of the type of controller that blows up if the brushes get worn.
That would explain the rough feel of the motor.
The photo of the bit of plastic is a little bit blurred so that it is difficult to identify.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Refugee. Sorry about the blurred picture but now the bit of plastic isn't important. I removed the motor brushes and they are excellent also the comm looks in decent nick.

Bron and I are having a trip over to Halifax tomorrow morning; I've arranged to have the two Myford carriages re-ground so once these are done I'll resume restoring the Myford's. Both beds are re-ground and painted; one already has had extensive work on the head stock with new Tufnol bearings and the mandrel metal sprayed in stainless steel then re-ground to original specification.

Putting the Myford's back together isn't a difficult job but cleaning up and painting does make it a lot longer.

I was going to work on the Myford's this year so I might as well get on with them.

I've just stripped the two carriages down and loaded them into the car ready for tomorrow. Typical though the weather forecast is so far totally wrong; heavy rain forecast for this afternoon but so far without a single drop and I reckon the afternoon is about over? It's been wonderful though to work in the garage this afternoon with the doors wide open with the wind rattling them

Kind regards, Col.

[Retired]

Hi,

What a strange day it's been so far. Got out of bed this morning to be greeted by terrific wind trying to blow our bungalow down

After breakfast it took an hour to drive over to the other side of Halifax. I unwrapped the lathe carriages to be told that no way could they be re-ground at the price quoted in fact it would work out extremely expensive given the amount of time involved in setting the parts up on the grinder; A new quote wasn't given but then I didn't want to cry either so I brought the carriages back home.

The washing machine was leaking water so was pulled out and the offending connector swung on with pipe grips.

Our friend Harold emailed very kindly offering to loan me a variable speed control unit to play around with stating this is AC but might work with a suitable rectifier?

I've never heard of these modules before and this is a Kemo but when I browsed the web a number of sites were selling them but price upon request? Two sizes are available the larger 4,000VA at max 18A.

http://www.kemo-electronic.de/en/Light-S...000-VA.php

I replied to Harold enquiring where he bought his Kemo Module and how much it cost thanking him for his kind offer which I might accept.

Feeling a bit put out about the Halifax trip I was thinking about my four lathes which are out of action and rather than mope around decided to get serious. I asked Bron if she would like a trip out to the craft store in Batley because knew of a sewing machine centre which I wanted to visit to ask for information about the various types and sizes of sewing machine motors; industrial motors in particular.

We've just returned home from Batley so I'm updating the thread before I forget the details.

The guy in the sewing machine store was quite busy dealing with customers but gave me a friendly greeting as I walked in; Bron was comfortable sitting in the car so I wasn't in a panic and waited until the store cleared of customers before explaining I was interested in installing a sewing machine motor onto a small engineering lathe?

I was shown a brand new boxed motor with control but this was much too small at around 80W. I was then taken through into the back and shown a number of clutch motors fitted onto sewing machines and these looked promising as they were much bigger. The guy plugged one in and gave a demonstration and sure enough it looked most impressive but I was a pest and said I'm not fully convinced the clutch is controllable enough for what I need and I'm concerned by how quickly it engages; perhaps I would burn the clutch out if not the motor; I also wanted to be able to adjust the speed leaving the speed set until I wanted to change it not having to keep setting it each time I started the motor?

I expanded a bit more on my dream motor saying I had been browsing eBay and seen new generation sewing machine "Servo Motors" and was he familiar with these?

This struck home because he said I think I've got what you are after but it certainly isn't cheap which cheered me immensely. The guy went into his small stock room and pulled out a box bringing the box onto the counter in the showroom; the box was opened and with the motor sitting on the counter it was plugged in for a demonstration. The motor has a good on/off illuminated mains switch; a lever sets the motor in motion and wonderful it has a variable speed control which will be a pot and the speeds are clearly marked.

Yes I was suitably impressed but how much was this going to hurt my pocket? The box was marked £189 plus VAT. I handed over £160 cash and it was mine. This was the only one of its kind in the store and new stock would possibly cost more. I've seen these motors on eBay but couldn't be bothered trying to save more money; I was happy to have my hands on it and bring it home knowing it to be brand new and fully working.

I had been asking lots of questions and it didn't bother me in the least as I fully inspected the motor and ran it on the counter whilst customers were watching. I mentioned that the lathe is subjected to lots of start/stop cycles but he reassured me that these cycles would be far less than a sewing machine receives in service.

The Clarke motor is rated at 300W but this new motor is rated at 400W. Included in the box is a spare fuse; pulley cover; mounting kit and spare motor brushes.

Hopefully this new servo motor will give years of reliable service and considering a replacement circuit board for the Clarke costs £130 this motor unit is much better value and I won't be wondering if the circuit board was going to pack in again should I have repaired or replaced the board?

Next job will be to install this new motor onto the lathe which should prove interesting; Once its installed then I can think about remotely mounting the speed control pot; the actuating lever should be easy to sort out.

I won't bother trying again to have the Myford carriages re-ground instead I'll have a go at hand scraping; I can use the newly ground bed as references.

I find if I stick with something; after everything which could go wrong has gone wrong then things start to turn in my favour?

Here are pictures of the new servo motor and it sure weighs a lot more than the original Clarke motor. I'm feeling much happier.

Kind regards, Col.

               

[Retired]

Hi,

Last week ended well. I needed to reduce the end of the new counter-shaft from 5/8" dia down to 8mm and had considered rigging up a temporary drive to the Clarke lathe using the new servo motor but running the "A" belt directly around the chuck in the headstock. Unusual but for light cuts I'm sure it would have worked and would have got me out of a problem; after all there is usually a number of ways to complete a job with a bit of thinking.

Joe had very kindly offered me the use of his lathe so as the sun was shining yesterday after dinner I asked Bron if she would like a trip out in the car to visit Joe? I phoned Joe to confirm it would be convenient to visit him and sure enough Joe was happy to help out.

Our lives are never dull; we were surprised by the amount of traffic and whilst parked at another red light near Joe's we saw two cars almost kiss each other; a guy had obviously become lost and tried to turn into the oncoming vehicles as the lights changed; no damage but on the pavement to our nearside just by Bron was two coloured guys and having seen what happened they both started shouting obscenities at the top of their voices to the poor guy who had made an honest mistake; it was rather bizarre to hear these guys behaving like football louts even though they were not in any way involved. A couple of minutes later we arrived at Joe's.

Joe as usual put the kettle on and was making a brew as I carried kit in from the car. Whilst Bron was made comfortable in the front room I got cracking on the lathe. I installed a tipped cutter and chucked the first blank. Joe's lathe at around 80 years old is one of the old type lathes which I like so much; basic with no frills and certainly no electronics to blow up at the most inopportune moment; I was quite amused to find the saddle traverses in the opposite direction to what I expected so I would need to be careful not to run the tool into the work rather than out.

With everything set up which must have taken at least five minutes I was roughing down finding the limits of the lathe as it talked to me chattering away if I put on too deep a cut. As this was an impulse visit I had only grabbed basic tooling together with my digital vernier calliper; I hadn't realized Joe had an identical calliper which Joe had put out ready for my use.

I'm unfamiliar with using the calliper in metric whilst turning but I thought I would give it a go; it was most strange because the lathe is set up for imperial and I had fun applying the fishing cuts. The first blank was roughed down and finished to 7.83mm dia and I had taken the precaution of very slightly undercutting as the actual size required was 7.86mm dia. By the time I was roughing down the second blank I was getting the hang of the lathe and knew just what cut to apply to avoid chatter; this second blank was finished bang on size with a nice smooth cut. The first was undercut because I wanted to be absolutely sure the small plastic toothed pulley would go home without forcing as it's an hours drive over to Joe's should the diameter be slightly over size.

A miracle occurred because the sun was beaming in through the glass and I had removed my anorak and was actually working with sleeves rolled up; what a delightful set up Joe has got with the lathe where it is; brilliant sunshine allowing easy reading of the calliper and being able to see exactly where the tool was cutting. It was truly delightful and I could get used to working in such pleasant conditions. The lathe was running very well indeed and on top of this small job; the flat belt was clicking merrily away as I turned and I was in a world of my own. What a difference to working in my workshop at the rear of our bungalow where it cold the year round and plenty of lighting needs switching on.

Joe and Bron were having a good natter whilst I was turning and when I had finished Joe said never mind tidying up do you fancy another brew. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon; thank you so much Joe you made us both feel very much at home and we look forward to our next trip over to see you in the near future.

I had taken along the new Servo motor to demonstrate to Joe and now I'm a bit nearer to installing it onto the Clarke; both shafts will need a keyway cutting which is another challenge but at least they are to the correct diameters. The new pillow block bearing will arrive this week then I can really start to make positive progress; I'm keen to see how this servo motor behaves on the Clarke.

So far I'm resisting the temptation to buy lathe #6 because I know our local postmaster has an old lathe for sale.

Joe's lathe will still be capable of excellent work when brand new Clarke lathes which have not yet been manufactured will have been scrapped. The Clarke is a nice small lathe but let down by modern electronics; give me stepped pulleys or better still a gearbox any day and let me work the lathe manually; I can play for hours on a lathe.

I was sorry to leave part of my personal black cloud with Joe but most of it accompanied us home; it follows me everywhere.

Kind regards, Col.


   

[Retired]

Hi,

Problem after problem with my lathes. This morning the new pillow block bearings arrived at last so I was keen to get cracking and pulled the car out. I had ordered 5/8" bore so my luck being what it is 15mm bore were supplied. Bearings stop play for the time being.

It's been a black hole all afternoon here; summer; bah humbug.

Kind regards, Col.

[Retired]

Hi,

At last I've stopped moaning about the weather and spent some quality time in the garage today for a change.

Needing to cut a key-way into the new counter-shaft I didn't fancy grinding up a lathe tool and using the carriage to slowly cut the key-way; instead I ordered a new 3mm end mill which arrived yesterday but I then needed a lathe so today I've temporarily installed the new Servo Motor onto the Clarke. It's a case of lathe heal thyself.

It's not easy rigging up a remote motor onto one of these small lathes but I've just successfully done it and now hopefully I'll be able to cut both a key-way and circlip groove?

First job was to measure the bore of the head-stock mandrel finding this to be 0.802". Using the Record Power woodturning lathe I then turned a hardwood bush with an outer diameter of 0.806" and through bored it at 10mm to accept a threaded rod. I had an old aluminium pulley in stock which I could press into service.

The hardwood bush at 4" long was drawn into the mandrel using threaded rod with washers and nuts ensuring a very tight fit. Also pressed into service was a Rawlplug type insert; the short taper was removed and this was attached to the threaded rod then the threaded rod was tightened nipping the pulley which should suffice for light cutting; at least the lathe is running once again. The motor was attached using original holes in the lathe head-stock casting ensuring it was safe and secure; the belt and odds and ends I had in stock.

Once the key-way and circlip groove is cut then I can proceed to install the new counter-shaft and make a permanent job of mounting the motor. As expected the Servo motor is spinning the chuck without problem so I'm keen to see how it performs once fully installed.

Kind regards, Col.

           

[Joe]

I like that, Col. "Where there's a will..."

- Joe

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Joe; in fact where there's a will there's a Col. If I bang my head hard and long enough against a wall the wall usually disappears; it's been a thick wall for quite a while though.

Today I'm on a roll; I've not only got the Clarke running again but I've now cut key-ways in the counter-shafts leaving just the circlip grooves to cut tomorrow. Using the key-way jig I copied from "YouTube" it was a doddle to cut these two at 3mm wide; it pays to go steady with such a small end mill/slotting cutter as they are quite fragile but taking cuts of five thou it didn't take too long and now I have a spare counter-shaft.

The new Servo Motor really is good; it ran for quite a while whilst key-way cutting but didn't warm up in the slightest and it was being run on lowest speed at 350rpm.

As I say I'm on a roll; Bron came down to the garage to say I had a phone call so I knocked off and it was a friend of ours tipping me off about a large quantity of hardwood veneers up for sale in another forum; of course I'm buying them so I can look forward to increasing my veneer stock shortly and hopefully next winter I can do some veneering projects?

It's been a black hole today but for once I'm happy; I'm sorry for the poor picture of the key-ways but at least the lathe set up came out OK; the light in the garage is poor most of the year but I'll try to take a better picture. What a wonderful day.

Kind regards, Col.