Lathe Project

[pwdrive]

At the back of my mind (dusty and cobwebby in there!), there's a nagging thought - this lathe may have come from the Plymouth Naval Dockyard (Devonport) and that plate "Yard Nr 33, 1955" may be an asset plate. The dockyard workshops were rebuilt sometime after 1957, maybe 1961, and so this lathe may have been surplus around then.

Colin

I've still got a couple of packing crates from the last Plymouth dock yard clear out, my mate had tons of stuff from there, most of that went for scrap.

Lawrence.

[AlanBeckett]

If that was at my place it would get weighed in for scrap.

Heathen!

Alan

[Retired]

Hi,

The weight is hard to judge on these old lathes Luke; depends on casting thickness etc but I reckon it could weigh around 500 KG? For transporting a wooden pallet could be easily made of 1" thick top boards on three 2" x 4" bearers making it a two way pallet then it could be wheeled around on a pallet truck. Depending on leg spacing it might even fit onto a decent euro pallet.

Ideally it needs to go to a good home and have a new owner who appreciates these old machines because generally they are superior to modern tinny machines. Of huge benefit is these old lathes only require a handful of tools to strip them with; the motors are easily changeable and not special in any way in either 3 phase or single phase. It's no longer expensive to convert to 3 phase hooking up to a VFD giving full motor control.

For lathes like this having a counter-shaft and flat pulley's I can state that obtaining correct new leather flat drive belting is a major problem but as seen in the thread covering my Lorch restoration leather belts can be replaced by superior Poly-V belts of the correct width and length and these Poly-V belts are cheap; example Poly-V "J" section 61" long x 1" wide (11 ribs if ordering) for £18 and these Poly-V belts last a long long time and are not prone to stretching; they are run with ribs to the pulley; I obtained this information from Jim on Practical Machinist Forum and having only just installed one of these Poly-V belts into my Lorch I'm very impressed.

Looking at the pictures you supplied Luke this lathe looks pretty much all there with a couple of motors? Price range; without a personal inspection in person I'm sure it must be worth £200 as is? I own a very small Clarke CL300M engineering lathe and these lathes are not a patch on one of these heavy duty lathes; compare quality and longevity;

http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-346100/clark...tAodD1wAhw

Which is the better value? This old lathe that with care will still be going strong doing good work in another 50 years or one of these Clarke's with plastic gears; a 300W DC motor and flimsy circuit board both which go up in a cloud of smoke if a 60 thou cut is engaged? My Clarke expired like this then I spent around £200 upgrading the Clarke to a more powerful servo motor but still dare not engage the power feed unless a scratching cut of maximum 10 thou is applied? I can however hand feed with a decent cut but on the whole these Clarke lathes are just toys? You can't beat cast iron and plenty of it. A personal inspection is preferred to assess the condition of one of these old lathes; my Lorch also looked like scrap but upon a close and detailed inspection I was amazed by lack of wear; it even powered up but was very noisy but having checked the important parts like head-stock; carriage and tail-stock finding these in good but dirty condition I soon owned the Lorch and have never regretted buying it.

Buying this lathe would give endless hours of pleasure just restoring it and once restored it would be a good friend and a joy to own. I'd better not go on because I find such lathes in this condition irresistible and had it been nearer I'd have bought it just for the pleasure of restoring it; a good going over the bright parts using super-fine U-POL pads will bring these up like new then a lick of paint and it will look totally different?

I admit I'm totally biased and addicted to lathes.

I hope Big Al isn't reading this because how's this for a nice old lathe; the face-plate alone is worth the starting price;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dean-Smith-and...erTools_SM&hash=item43c93bbf1d


Kind regards, Col.

[pwdrive]

If that was at my place it would get weighed in for scrap.

Heathen!

Alan

I need the money Alan, I've spent it all on tile adhesive.

Lawrence.

[mendipviews]

I hope Big Al isn't reading this because how's this for a nice old lathe; the face-plate alone is worth the starting price;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dean-Smith-and...erTools_SM&hash=item43c93bbf1d

Wow that is quite a lathe

[pwdrive]

If that was at my place it would get weighed in for scrap.

Heathen!

Alan

I need the money Alan, I've spent it all on tile adhesive.

Lawrence.

Need all the money we can get..

Make of it what you will:

http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Cornwall-off...story.html

Lawrence.

[AlanBeckett]

What I make of it young Lawrence is that the Media, Mathematically illiterate Arts Graduates to a Person (got to be PC), love 'Averages'.
In reality it's Disposable Income that counts, plus what it costs to live - remember Mr. Micawber.

Alan

[pwdrive]

I don't know how some prices of goods etc differ down here compared to further afield, stuff at B&Q, Screwfix etc seems to be the same price where ever folks live, not sure about food shopping at the large supermarkets, that's not my domain, not sure about fuel for vehicles either, I never pay attention to vehicle fuel prices, the car needs fuel..end of story.

Rumour has it we have the highest water charges (including sewer charges) in the country.

The £14,000 pa sounds about right, a lot of part time work also, but that's the way it goes, I always had to work away from home to earn the most money.

Tin mining used to keep Camborne, Redruth, St Just & Pendeen going, all gone now but most of the folks are still living there so they must be earning something.

So is Cornwall the poorest county, who knows, who cares, I've just downed a nice load of fish and chips and found some money for the next bucket of tile adhesive and some more tiles...

Lawrence.