Hello from Hamilton

[YotaBota]

Welcome from Vancouver Island.
I had to lookup your lathe, http://www.lathes.co.uk/churchill-cub/, nice machine, Did you get 3 & 4 jaw chucks with it. I ask because the write up mentions a non-standard camlock.

 

[Rauce]

Welcome from Vancouver Island.
I had to lookup your lathe, http://www.lathes.co.uk/churchill-cub/, nice machine, Did you get 3 & 4 jaw chucks with it. I ask because the write up mentions a non-standard camlock.

I got the original 8” 4-jaw with it but the main body of that chuck is cracked.

It came with a newer 3-jaw with a backplate for it and then I made backplates for plain backed 6” 4-jaw and a 5C collet chucks.

It’s the same short taper design as a D1 camlock but just bolted on. The problem with simply adapting plain back chucks like I have done is that you have to seperate the chucks and backplates in order to change them out. That and worn ways are my two biggest gripes with the machine.

 

[Mcgyver]

welcome, another XLO ower here...great machines!

 

[Rauce]

welcome, another XLO ower here...great machines!

Yes I really do like it compared to the typical Bridgeport clone that we have at work and that I’ve used at school. I just wish the damn Y axis ways weren’t so worn. I only get about 1/2 travel with the gibs adjusted for minimal play. It boggles my mind that whoever had it managed to wear right through the Chrome.

Btw, I’m pretty sure that I purchased some of my first micrometers from you about 4 or 5 years ago. Popped over on my lunch break when I worked in North York.

 

[Mcgyver]

haha, hope they are still serving you well! Too bad about the wear.....live with it, or recondition? I finally put a central oiler on mine....there ought to be a law.

 

[Rauce]

haha, hope they are still serving you well! Too bad about the wear.....live with it, or recondition? I finally put a central oiler on mine....there ought to be a law.

The funny thing is mine had a central oiler, but I guess it couldn’t counteract the 20-30lbs of bronze chips I pulled out of the knee.

I’ve thought about taking a stab at reconditioning the knee, might do it at some point. Fixing the fine feed/power feed on the quill is the lower hanging fruit though.

I’m certain the one mic I bought from you was a starrett 0-1 tube mic, can’t remember what the other one was.

 

[LenVW]

Hey Rauce,
Had any experience with SPECIALIZED HARDROCK ?
I have been riding mine for 16 years with only seasonal maintenance.
Just trying to keep an eye out for what will go as it ages.
I really want to keep it for another 10-15 years.

 

[Rauce]

Hey Rauce,
Had any experience with SPECIALIZED HARDROCK ?
I have been riding mine for 16 years with only seasonal maintenance.
Just trying to keep an eye out for what will go as it ages.
I really want to keep it for another 10-15 years.

Like any machine, regular maintenance like cleaning and lubrication goes a long way. Tires, brake pads, chain, cassette (rear sprockets) and chainrings (front sprockets) are all wear items to keep an eye on. 30 years for a well taken care of bike shouldn’t be an issue.

 

[LenVW]

Thanks,
East Side Cycle in Kitchener has done seasonal maintenance & replaced the chain, sprockets and misc derailer components.
I was more concerned about the structural integrity of the frame and areas that might exhibit deflection due to stress and which welds tend to fail after 1000s of kilometres.

 

[Rauce]

Thanks,
East Side Cycle in Kitchener has done seasonal maintenance & replaced the chain, sprockets and misc derailer components.
I was more concerned about the structural integrity of the frame and areas that might exhibit deflection due to stress and which welds tend to fail after 1000s of kilometres.

Major manufacturers fatigue test frames and components to ISO standards (ISO 4210 for example). I used to work at a bike company and we had a QA department who performed those tests in house as well at the factory and by a third party lab.

It’s hard to predict how long something will last in use though because there are so many variables but I would say if there was a major flaw in your frame you probably would have seen it by now.

Fatigue cracks on welded metal frames are almost always in the heat affected zones. The joints in the bottom bracket area, headtube to down tube joint, and at the seattube area see most of the stress.

The nice thing about metal frames vs. conposites is that fatigue cracks usually take some time to propagate before any kind of failure.

 

[Canadium]

Thanks! I’m in the west end. This machine came from a machine shop just off Woodward Ave. Unfortunately it was in worse shape than I initially thought when I looked at it but I can live with it and I didn’t pay that much.

I had the motor rewound 240v, cleaned it up, shimmed the gibs and had to replace all three leadscrews and two of the leadscrew nuts. Luckily the head and spindle were mostly fine.

This is probably the exact same machine that I had an eye for when it came up. I decided to pass on it because I didn't know how I would get it home and into my garage. Very curious as to how you got it home and unloaded?

 

[Susquatch]

Major manufacturers fatigue test frames and components to ISO standards (ISO 4210 for example). I used to work at a bike company and we had a QA department who performed those tests in house as well at the factory and by a third party lab.

It’s hard to predict how long something will last in use though because there are so many variables but I would say if there was a major flaw in your frame you probably would have seen it by now.

Fatigue cracks on welded metal frames are almost always in the heat affected zones. The joints in the bottom bracket area, headtube to down tube joint, and at the seattube area see most of the stress.

The nice thing about metal frames vs. conposites is that fatigue cracks usually take some time to propagate before any kind of failure.

The problem is that Len wears size 28 XXXXXXWide shoes.

Fatigue failure is prolly the least of the issues. I'd be more worried about the initial load of taking his feet off the ground......

Devil made me say it!

 

[Rauce]

This is probably the exact same machine that I had an eye for when it came up. I decided to pass on it because I didn't know how I would get it home and into my garage. Very curious as to how you got it home and unloaded?

I rented a u haul truck and trailer, the seller had a crane so no issue there. At home I slid it to the back of trailer and used a borrowed engine hoist to pull off the head/ram, then the table, then the rest. Didn’t have the height or capacity with the hoist to do it all in one shot.

Borrowed a pallet jack to move base/knee into the garage and a moving dolly to roll the other bits in.

 

[Gearhead88]

You found the right group . Welcome !