Thanks for posting that Tom. The Colchester is in splendid condition, but the poor Empire has definitely seen better days.
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Standard Modern 11" Series 2000 Lathe Spindle Issue
- Thread starter Crosche
- Start date
Thanks for posting that Tom. The Colchester is in splendid condition, but the poor Empire has definitely seen better days.
Tom Kitta
Ultra Member
I scare pp with the condition of the front of the ways. When almost locked at front the saddle goes only half way through. Despite so much wear and general abuse especially small parts come up not too bad - actually you can get some good results. With some tweaking you can even get longer parts OK.
Main difference between worn out machine and in great shape machine is that with worn out machine you have to account for the wear and things may not come out bang on the very first time - this is a bit frustrating at times. With tight machine you can concentrate on just the part - with worn out you have to deal with the machine far more. You need less skill / time to make a good part on a tight machine. This is for parts where tolerances that are "tight" matter - for 90% of home shop stuff tolerances are loose. For example if you are cutting off some metal to make space for a weld - you don't care - you use lathe b/c its faster then a grinder. Or when making a handle for another machine - its not critical it is .75 inch. Or my recent project making an adapter for a die (so smaller die 2" can fit in 2.5" handle) - my actual result worries me I made it too exact - the 2.5" handle has at least .020 slop - I made it around .010 smaller - even total beater without any effort should be able to do it.
Hence why some pp make their own lathe on YouTube and claim they can make good parts - for many things they are right.
Good video Tom. I'm going to have to get myself set up on YouTube one day.
On your good lathe, is that original spindle assembly or did you do some bearing work yourself?
I was going to ask how your back face (lateral in & out run out) compared but I'll bet a beer its dead nuts.
Goes to show, don't judge a machine by chipped or new paint! LOL
On your good lathe, is that original spindle assembly or did you do some bearing work yourself?
I was going to ask how your back face (lateral in & out run out) compared but I'll bet a beer its dead nuts.
Goes to show, don't judge a machine by chipped or new paint! LOL