Colchester Bantam Mk1 1600

[Dieselman 63]

Some paint on the back of the bed. I need to finish filling on two sides then this is done and I can start re-attaching bits to it

 

[Dieselman 63]

Final bit of sanding done on the bed. Really not bad at this end, very few chips, almost no rust, won’t be hard to fill this. You can see the lathe bed was painted green to begin with and sprayed grey afterwards. Colchester must have had beds ready from before the colour scheme changed. The MkII model, despite being boxed off compared to this lovely curvy thing shares the same bed as the MkI.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Well I now have a motor for the lathe. Single phase, one horsepower. I think this thing has lived outside - it’s a real mess, but it works and runs very sweetly. Top quality British engineering.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Top quality British engineering.

So.....old, then.

 

[Pete.]

I should have like to see a bit more powerful motor on it. A Bantam can cope with much more than 1HP and it'll be much nicer to work with the extra oomph.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I should have like to see a bit more powerful motor on it. A Bantam can cope with much more than 1HP and it'll be much nicer to work with the extra oomph.

The original was a two speed 1450/2800 1hp/2hp. It’s not ideal, but it would be nice to at least have it running A 2hp would have been ideal though, you’re right.

 

[Dieselman 63]

So.....old, then.

Pretty much.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I emailed Nobilia as they are self proclaimed Colchester lathe experts - got great help from them, really informative and they know their stuff, so much so that the gearbox is now mated back together again and works perfectly. Big step in the right direction.

I decided to have a go at rebuilding the headstock end as I hadn’t had the gearbox complete in over a year. Great fun putting it all back together, and the new colour scheme looks good too. Happy to have it all clean again.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I would like to find one of the old aluminium cast change gear covers. These plastic ones are horrible and someone has drilled this one a few times. Not sure where I’d find one though. There was one on eBay a while back but he wouldn’t post to NZ mine currently has the changewheel info on it, only one more to go (and it’s not really necessary unless cutting imperial acme).

Spot the university asset sticker still clinging on there.

 

[Dieselman 63]

When reassembling the gearbox it is imperative that you position the lower plug correctly. There are no guides for this, so you just have to do it by trial and error.

The oil reservoir sits over the gearbox end and must be assembled in situ. It is held onto the gearbox with three cap screws which sit hidden behind a gear which also acts as an oil thrower (metric gearbox only). This is held in place with a circlip. The oil feeds into the gearbox via the six bores around the lower shaft.

The top splined shaft protrudes into the reservoir but takes no gearing on this side. There are two screws which secure the entire assembly to the gearbox, and four which clamp the two halves together. You must use a gasket on this piece as it will be full of oil once running.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Almost there on the sanding. The end is now done, just had to do a bit of filling for some nicks.

Around the feet are the most awkward part. Here, the lip under the gearbox is totally non-visible so I don’t have to do it perfectly - a bonus!

Some scale to remove on the rack, a going over with a scotchbrite pad and block soon has it sparkling again.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Finally finished sanding and filling the bed. Wowee what a bore that was but it’s done. Headstock, tailstock and the bracket for the feed rods still need filling so I’m not off the hook just yet...

Time to take the tape off after it has been on there since July last year - has kept the bed in great condition. Looks fantastic with the stuff going back on. The feed shaft is small enough to fit through the headstock of the graduate so I can give it a proper clean. I’ve already used it to sand out some stillson marks when I tried to free it from the gearbox... yes, guilty...

 

[Dieselman 63]

Red paint back onto the undersides of where the gearbox will sit as well as the bracket. The underside of the gearbox got a lick of paint too, seeing as I had it out.

Tomorrow will be painting underneath the bedways on the swarf holes, something which must be done with the bed upside down, then some blue on the front I think.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Well, this looks amazing. It’s about two years since I started this project and if I’d known it would take this long and cost this much I probably wouldn’t have bothered. There have been times I’ve considered bolting it all back together in a half finished state and selling it, however I’m so glad I didn’t. The end is in sight!

The saddle needs painting red, not yellow. This ‘internal’ bit will be visible when the cross slide is wound back, and it’ll look at odds with the bedways. Headstock next, need that painted and the steelwork cleaned so I can bolt it back onto the machine.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Gearbox sealed with Hylomar, back in action now. I need to clean and wire brush the cap screws before I reattach this to the bed

 

[Dieselman 63]

Really wish these clowns weren’t in control of the spares.

An entire carriage is listed on their website at £300. How can the handwheel be £260 alone?

When I asked, they offered me an ex-vat price which I should get anyway given I’m not in Europe...

Rhymes with bankers

 

[slim_boy_fat]

@Dieselkid 63 I notice that quote covers postage to the UK, did you ask for NZ carriage?

 

[Dieselman 63]

@Dieselkid 63 I notice that quote covers postage to the UK, did you ask for NZ carriage?

Yep, dozy blighters.

If I was in the UK I would buy a Bantam and break it for spares.

 

[Farside]

They're in Chancer's Farm; what do you think?

 

[Dieselman 63]

Oops...

Still, new old stock Dicksons QCTP’s don’t ever come up, and three tool holders and both keys!