Hello from London, Ontario

[gmihovics]

Oh that would be great, thank you very much. I normally come out to our head office in Oakville a few times a year but I don't know if I'll make it out again this year. Kid number two is due next week and I'll be home for a month after that.

I'll definitely let you know if I do get a chance to swing through.

 

[Susquatch]

Hey @gmihovics, post a few pictures of the new baby. (Lathe that is, but miniature humans are ok too.)

What style & size tool holder does it have?

Do you have a grinder of any kind?

Where is your baby gunna live? Is it there yet? Have you levelled it yet? If not, I have a level you can borrow. It is a small precision machinists level, but it comes with this big huge hairy thing that shows you how to use it.

How about way oil and cutting oil?

 

[gmihovics]

Hey @gmihovics, post a few pictures of the new baby. (Lathe that is, but miniature humans are ok too.)

What style & size tool holder does it have?

Do you have a grinder of any kind?

Where is your baby gunna live? Is it there yet? Have you levelled it yet? If not, I have a level you can borrow. It is a small precision machinists level, but it comes with this big huge hairy thing that shows you how to use it.

How about way oil and cutting oil?

So my tool holder is 2.5"x2.5" not sure on the height or name for it but you can see it in the pictures below.

The lathe will sit in my garage but I don't have an official place for it just yet, my garage is being used for storage as I finish the nursery. I'll build a work table for it though, maybe with some wheels so I can move it. it's really heavy haha.

I never even thought about leveling it, seems so obvious now that you mention it. Your help would be greatly appreciated when I get around to it, thank you.

I have no idea on oil, I had assumed 3 in 1 machine oil but if there are better suggestions I would love to hear them.

that last one is a full set of metric gears for the gearbox. I also have a steady rest and a dead center too.

 

[trlvn]

Your tool holder is commonly called a "4-way" holder for obvious reasons. It is really important to shim any cutters so that the cutting edge is at the centre height of your lathe.

Your lathe looks to be in really nice condition overall. However, it appears that the previous owner may have been using grease on the headstock bearings rather than oil. I'm pretty sure your machine has spindle bearings that were designed for light machine oil (likely non-detergent 20 wt). Maybe the picture is fooling me but there appears to be a lot of grease squeezed out inside your headstock. If so, it would be best to disassemble the headstock and clean out all the residue and check the condition of the bearings.

BTW, there is some information available about Myford clones at:

Myford Lathes: Clones and Copies

Myford Lathes - Copies & Clones<br>Myford Clones and Copies<br>Colt, Whitecote, White-Colt, Colt, Minganti, Tiger Turn, Wei Yii, Warco, <br>Mi-Bo, Prakash Atlas, Tafenglon, My-Turn and

www.lathes.co.uk

There is a 'Page 2' that specifically mentions your Colt.

Craig

 

[Susquatch]

Any suggestions for some starter projects?

Although the wife would not know enough to appreciate it, a great early project is a cutting tip height gauge. You can, and maybe even should, do without one for a while, but it will sure make life easier once you get your feet wet. Joe Pieczynski is a skilled machinist who does excellent YouTube videos. Around the net, most people just call him Joe Pi. Joe has a bit of an attitude, but I can overlook that given his skills. Besides, everyone has an attitude about one thing or another - especially me. So, here is a link to the simple gauge that he made and how to use it.

 

[gmihovics]

Your tool holder is commonly called a "4-way" holder for obvious reasons. It is really important to shim any cutters so that the cutting edge is at the centre height of your lathe.

Your lathe looks to be in really nice condition overall. However, it appears that the previous owner may have been using grease on the headstock bearings rather than oil. I'm pretty sure your machine has spindle bearings that were designed for light machine oil (likely non-detergent 20 wt). Maybe the picture is fooling me but there appears to be a lot of grease squeezed out inside your headstock. If so, it would be best to disassemble the headstock and clean out all the residue and check the condition of the bearings.

BTW, there is some information available about Myford clones at:

Myford Lathes: Clones and Copies

Myford Lathes - Copies & Clones<br>Myford Clones and Copies<br>Colt, Whitecote, White-Colt, Colt, Minganti, Tiger Turn, Wei Yii, Warco, <br>Mi-Bo, Prakash Atlas, Tafenglon, My-Turn and

www.lathes.co.uk

There is a 'Page 2' that specifically mentions your Colt.

Craig

It is definitely greased, ill look into taking it apart like you said and give it a once over. I did a quick google on the lather before I messaged the seller and I found the page you linked. It has some interesting information on there and I'm interested to know if my lather is using different bearings than the original myford lathes.

Would gravity feeders work for the oiling? I have seen them on someone else's lathe and that seems like it could be a good idea.

Although the wife would not know enough to appreciate it, a great early project is a cutting tip height gauge. You can, and maybe even should, do without one for a while, but it will sure make life easier once you get your feet wet. Joe Pieczynski is a skilled machinist who does excellent YouTube videos. Around the net, most people just call him Joe Pi. Joe has a bit of an attitude, but I can overlook that given his skills. Besides, everyone has an attitude about one thing or another - especially me. So, here is a link to the simple gauge that he made and how to use it.

I will totally look into that, there are some many good content makers on youtube for metal working its incredible.

 

[Susquatch]

Nice machine! I agree with @trlvn . Best to clean it out, check the bearings, and start using the proper oil.

The oil I was referring to wasn't the head oil though, it was oil for the ways and saddle components, and high sulphur oil to cut with.

Lathes are an oil consumption center. I have a whole shelf dedicated to the oils and oil cans that I use with it. Different oils for different materials and different oils for lubrication of the lathe itself.

You can certainly put wheels on it, but make sure they are the kind that can be lifted so it stands on proper machine feet. Best to bolt it to the floor. Lathes vibrate a fair bit, especially the smaller ones and a solid mount really makes a huge difference. If I were you, I'd make it moveable for a while just until I had a sense for where it works best. Then I'd either bolt it to the concrete or at a minimum put it on machine pads.

Yes, levelling a lathe is very very important. Much more so than most users realize. If you have the installation manual for that one, use it. If not, download the manual for a similar one. You will find that the first thing on the setup list is precision levelling!

Duh..... I can be really dumb sometimes...... I was struggling with the TY720G model of your lathe until I saw your photo. Now I know that it's a Colt TY - 7" x 20" G. Funny how closed my mind can be at times! It's no wonder my bride calls me a Dodo so often.

 

[trlvn]

Interesting. There is another Colt in Ontario (Windsor at last report):

Myford Clone

Check out my Myford Clone lathe that came with Faceplate, 3 and 4 jaw, fixed and travel rests and an extra set of change gears for cuting threads which include the metric set :-) Works awesome!

www.hobby-machinist.com

This one is set up with a big cup oiler on the inboard bearing. Hard to see but it may be an oil zerk on the other side. Or a smaller 'snap cap' oiler (aka Gits).

I believe the bearings just want a small, steady supply of oil. As it works through, it flushes out grit, swarf and other contaminants. My little Atlas has snap-cap oilers and I just put in a squirt before the start of every session.

HTH,

Craig

 

[gmihovics]

The oil I was referring to wasn't the head oil though, it was oil for the ways and saddle components, and high sulphur oil to cut with.

I didnt even think about the fact that there would be different oils for the different parts. I honestly assumed grease was the right way to go until seeing some other examples of this lather. Now you and @trlvn have confirmed that it should indeed be oil so I guess I should start looking for the manual.

You can certainly put wheels on it, but make sure they are the kind that can be lifted so it stands on proper machine feet. Best to bolt it to the floor. Lathes vibrate a fair bit, especially the smaller ones and a solid mount really makes a huge difference. If I were you, I'd make it moveable for a while just until I had a sense for where it works best. Then I'd either bolt it to the concrete or at a minimum put it on machine pads.

That was kind of the plan, I wasnt sure if I would build the wheel base or buy something like I have on my table saw. It would come down to cost I'm sure. I like having the ability to move my tools around makes it a little easier to manage my narrow workspace.

Duh..... I can be really dumb sometimes...... I was struggling with the TY720G model of your lathe until I saw your photo. Now I know that it's a Colt TY - 7" x 20" G. Funny how closed my mind can be at times! It's no wonder my bride calls me a Dodo so often.

I got so used to typing TY720G into google I didnt even think that everyone else would have no idea what I was talking about, sorry about that. It's unfortunate but there really isnt a whole lot of information about these, or at least not that I've been able to find yet.

 

[gmihovics]

Interesting. There is another Colt in Ontario (Windsor at last report):

View attachment 17871

Myford Clone

Check out my Myford Clone lathe that came with Faceplate, 3 and 4 jaw, fixed and travel rests and an extra set of change gears for cuting threads which include the metric set :-) Works awesome!

www.hobby-machinist.com

This one is set up with a big cup oiler on the inboard bearing. Hard to see but it may be an oil zerk on the other side. Or a smaller 'snap cap' oiler (aka Gits).

I believe the bearings just want a small, steady supply of oil. As it works through, it flushes out grit, swarf and other contaminants. My little Atlas has snap-cap oilers and I just put in a squirt before the start of every session.

HTH,

Craig

Cup oiler, that was what I meant when I said gravity oiler in my previous post. I've seen that on some super 7s too like i said so it might be how i go.

There is some kind of attachment on his that is missing on mine. If you look at the motor pulley section at the top left, there is some kind of shaft or something

 

[gmihovics]

Oh figured it out, they mention it in the thread

 

[Crosche]

Welcome to the forum from Calgary.

Beauty lathe! Looks to be in great shape. Same manufacturer of my small mill.

Cheers,

Chad

 

[gmihovics]

Welcome to the forum from Calgary.

Beauty lathe! Looks to be in great shape. Same manufacturer of my small mill.

Cheers,

Chad

Thank you! Any pictures around here of your mill?

 

[Crosche]

Thank you! Any pictures around here if your mill?

 

[gmihovics]

That's a nice "little" mill. is it a clone of another machine like mine?

 

[Crosche]

Yes, I believe that this model of mill has many versions. Busy Bee and Grizzly both sell identical mills.

 

[gmihovics]

oh ok nice. something like that might be my next purchase.

how do you like it?

 

[Tomc938]

Welcome from Vancouver Island!

 

[Crosche]

oh ok nice. something like that might be my next purchase.

how do you like it?

It is a good compromise between a less expensive round column mill and a Bridgeport if you can find one for a good price. I certainly would not pay the $6400 that Busy Bee is currently charging for the mill new. At that price point there are probably far better options. One complaint that I have with the mill is that there isn't enough space between the table and the headstock; although I think that is a common complaint will almost every milling machine.

 

[gmihovics]

I've seen a few of the column mills in the last month but I've heard the accuracy can suffer because the head can spin on the column even when locked. are they worth buying or am I best to stay away?