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This Years Winter Project

Kelly McLaughlin

Kelly McLaughlin

Super User
Hi Folks! This one has kept me busy for a while. built the bench in November and started on the lathe in December but only got a few days in there. I added some upgrades like the brass half nuts and the oil channels on the compound and cross slide that are lubed by ball oilers I have a couple of small details like a switch plate and the carriage wiper felts but pretty much there. The bench has a cam mechanism to lower it on to the levelers or raise it on the casters to move it around for cleaning or repositioning.
 

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VERY VERY NICE!!!!

What's the tin vessle in the background of the lathe image that looks like a still?
 
Looks awesome! What are you using to power the lathe? Is that a reversing switch on top?

Craig
 
Looks awesome!! Where do you get the felt for the wipers from? I am looking to replace the wipers on my lathe.
 
Hi Craig. It's a 3/4 hp 110 motor and yes thats a reversing switch, I'm having a face plate made because the supplied one had REV to the front and thats just wrong : ) They came with an on off but offered a reversing switch as an option. I think it should have been standard. It was disconnected on my Standard Modern and it made me crazy : ) so I made it function on mine some time ago and I wouldn't be without it. people seem to be leary of the threaded spindle but with reasonable care it isn't an issue.

I made the wipers from bulk felt I got from a fabric store along with the 1/2 inch felt wicks in the Headstock oilers, the rubber wipers that go in the same plate need to be modified, the way Atlas assembled them, at least the ones on this lathe, the rubber wiper blocks the oil port so the felt can't get any oil. Cut a small notch in the wiper directly below the port so the oil can travel to the felt. Don't over tighten them as well as it crushes the felt to the point it where it can't wick oil to the bed, as with so many things I found on this lathe the designers had some simple elegant solutions but in production things got messed up or the bean counters were responsible, I'll never know.
 
Did the reversing switch come with the lathe or did you buy it somewhere. I'm toying with the idea of enabling my mill to run in reverse but it is a 1.5 HP motor. I think there are suitably-rated drum switches but they seem to be pretty expensive. Especially for a function that I think I'd only use infrequently.

Craig
 
Hi Craig! I got it from princess auto it's rated for 15A. I didn't want the vertical switch with the lever because of where i wanted to mount it. so I looked till I found this one, it is nicely made and was around 35.00.
 
Some nice ideas there, Kelly! I like your drawer system too, good utilization of space & swarf proof. I try to keep minimal tools in my chip tray area, things like chuck keys, wrenches for tool post etc. But the downside is everything else, especially measuring devices & tooling accessories is 'somewhere else' a few steps away. Under my lathe is basically dead air space. I keep looking at mechanics drawer toolboxes but they aren't exactly cheap & basically you have to work with whatever drawer sizes & unit dimensions they come in.

Similarly, my cheapo 1990 vintage Ikea cabinet bases under my work bench are seriously falling part. I guess they were never intended to carry 60 pounds of pliers & screwdrivers with the proverbial 1 hex key assembly insert. I went looking at some pre-fab cabinet bases/kits at big box stores & cabinet suppliers & was rather shocked at the cost of entry level units these days. But OTOH a sheet of plywood & building supplies seems to be on the same price trend & probably represents 1/2 the cost in material alone. I wont do anything till summertime but maybe a solution like yours is the way to go.
 
Hi Craig, yes thats correct. I wired it so forward was to the right and had a new switch plate made for it.
Hi Peter! I adopted Tom Liptons' chuck key holder, a tube mounted on the headstock so it's not laying loose. The work surface, the top left drawer was to keep mic's drill bits etc away rom the rotating tool area during a job. Most of the ideas came from a need, I tend to work quickly and like things to be solid yet at hand. like the Indicator stand, there's a 1/8th plate on the shelf for the mag base so the indicators can't fall. There's a lengthy explanation in the Kijiji Ad which explains a lot of the mods if you're interested.
 
Kelly McLaughlin said:
Hi Folks! This one has kept me busy for a while. built the bench in November and started on the lathe in December but only got a few days in there. I added some upgrades like the brass half nuts and the oil channels on the compound and cross slide that are lubed by ball oilers I have a couple of small details like a switch plate and the carriage wiper felts but pretty much there. The bench has a cam mechanism to lower it on to the levelers or raise it on the casters to move it around for cleaning or repositioning.
Click to expand...
Very nice Good job
 
The cam wheel lift is very interesting. I don't quite follow what the springs do? keep the wheels up off the floor when the feet are engaged? How are you keeping the cams from slipping on the shaft when lifting the wheels? Did you weld the lift bolt to the shaft? How hard is turning the nut to lift the wheels? Is the cam greased? Nice Kelly - really nice.
 
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