Help offered cheap lathe but....

[pressbrake1]

I’m half thinking about this swift and it’s twice the price!View attachment 285700

Pal has got this running

 

[Fastdruid]

On my L5 & Milling machine I used a razor blade to take the surface rust off then a very light rub over with oiled steel wool. Admittedly the L5 (despite being gummed solid) wasn't actually that rusty.

But the milling machine was rather rustier.

And after.

I then tried some evaporust on them.

Before

And after

 

[minimutly]

If you take as long with this as you have to buy it this project will never be finished.....

 

[dieselsamurai]

If you take as long with this as you have to buy it this project will never be finished.....

yeah I was half hoping he had forgotten about it but called me yesterday to say its out in the open now so you'd better have it now or its gonna get worse. Ive just finished building a 120ft garden wall and need to render it , got a v8 diesel to rebuild as a friend wants it asap , a dumper to graft a forklift onto (needed now) and a Argocat that 95% restored plus about 50 other mini projects on the go.
A bigger lathe is something ive always needed but didnt really want another "project" but its so cheap for such a well made thing I couldnt say no

 

[dieselsamurai]

Oh and my mill needs a DRO, 3phase + VFD etc I need to retire so I can get on with the important stuff this working malarky gets in the way !

 

[Pete.]

That machine is an old shagger the way it is just hit everything with scotchbrite and wd40 then set it to work.

 

[MattF]

That machine is an old shagger the way it is just hit everything with scotchbrite and wd40 then set it to work.

Subtle.

 

[Richiew]

Pint of Old Shagger please barman.

 

[minimutly]

That machine is an old shagger the way it is just hit everything with scotchbrite and wd40 then set it to work.

This is exactly what my £200 Triumph was, worn out and rusty. Scotchbright and work did the trick, and I love it. If it had been a pristeen modern thing I would spend more time cleaning it than using it...
So clean the ways, twice maybe, change the gearbox oil, stick a motor on it and away to go.

 

[minimutly]

yeah I was half hoping he had forgotten about it but called me yesterday to say its out in the open now so you'd better have it now or its gonna get worse. Ive just finished building a 120ft garden wall and need to render it , got a v8 diesel to rebuild as a friend wants it asap , a dumper to graft a forklift onto (needed now) and a Argocat that 95% restored plus about 50 other mini projects on the go.
A bigger lathe is something ive always needed but didnt really want another "project" but its so cheap for such a well made thing I couldnt say no

Oh, then sell your small lathe, you won't need it.

 

[Screwdriver]

I did experiment with electrolysis a few years back but tends to be line of sight to the anode so citric acid worked better for me , I have a spare battery charger and can give it a go again. What about the chucks ? I tried one a few years back for my raglan Lathe and using citric it dissolved some of the surface of the main body the jaws were fine and it is accurate but looks terrible

The effect is subtle and the "line of sight" very diffuse. I have only experienced that issue with large flat surfaces where it was difficult to place an anode above the submerged workpiece. I suspect (i.e. I don't know!) that if you had just a small anode next to a larger flat surface, you would actually see a contouring effect with the effect being more pronounced where the parts are closest.

For less awkward shaped parts you really just need to surround the workpiece with anode material. In the world of electroplating, I believe they use wire baskets to "surround" the work. During electrolysis, my gut feeling is you also want the sacrifical anode to have a larger surface area than the workpiece or at least to be of a similar size. No need to skimp on the easy bit.

 

[RobCox]

Oh, then sell your small lathe, you won't need it.

If only. I still have my minilathe, keep intending to sell it as it never gets used and it takes up space... 5 years after I got my M300!

 

[dieselsamurai]

This is exactly what my £200 Triumph was, worn out and rusty. Scotchbright and work did the trick, and I love it. If it had been a pristeen modern thing I would spend more time cleaning it than using it...
So clean the ways, twice maybe, change the gearbox oil, stick a motor on it and away to go.

Thats the plan , im famous for taking stuff apart and spreading it round my workshop for years but this needs to be working asap. It will have a 3ph + vfd eventually but I have a 3hp 240v i can chuck on it to test

 

[dieselsamurai]

Oh, then sell your small lathe, you won't need it.

Its where this has to live so I really dont have much choice

 

[dieselsamurai]

The effect is subtle and the "line of sight" very diffuse. I have only experienced that issue with large flat surfaces where it was difficult to place an anode above the submerged workpiece. I suspect (i.e. I don't know!) that if you had just a small anode next to a larger flat surface, you would actually see a contouring effect with the effect being more pronounced where the parts are closest.

For less awkward shaped parts you really just need to surround the workpiece with anode material. In the world of electroplating, I believe they use wire baskets to "surround" the work. During electrolysis, my gut feeling is you also want the sacrifical anode to have a larger surface area than the workpiece or at least to be of a similar size. No need to skimp on the easy bit.

I think I will give it a go on the chucks , do you reckon a circle of expanded mesh sheet would work ?

 

[dieselsamurai]

If only. I still have my minilathe, keep intending to sell it as it never gets used and it takes up space... 5 years after I got my M300!

Trouble is the Raglan mounted on its bench takes up almost as much room... a mini lath hmm food for thought

 

[Screwdriver]

I think I will give it a go on the chucks , do you reckon a circle of expanded mesh sheet would work ?

Yes but it won't last long!

You will lose any precision flat surface. The "shiny" metal surfaces are where the surface itself is exposing planes of a metal lattice, those parts are pretty much aligned at the atomic level, certainly within the wavelength of light. Citric will etch the surface which at the macroscopic level will be just as flat but leave a dull rough surface you'll need to lap or polish.

 

[MattF]

I think I will give it a go on the chucks , do you reckon a circle of expanded mesh sheet would work ?

You're overthinking this. All I used to use were 4 pieces of metal around the perimeter of the vat. The line of sight thing is bunkum too. If the water can get to all surfaces, it'll derust.

If you have some cast iron scrap, (I found old sash weights a good option), that stuff makes a good anode. Seems to far outlast steel.

 

[dieselsamurai]

You're overthinking this. All I used to use were 4 pieces of metal around the perimeter of the vat. The line of sight thing is bunkum too. If the water can get to all surfaces, it'll derust.

If you have some cast iron scrap, (I found old sash weights a good option), that stuff makes a good anode. Seems to far outlast steel.

I'll dig out some bits from the scrap bin , I just seem to remember from before it didnt seem to work as well on internal surfaces

 

[dieselsamurai]

Yes but it won't last long!

You will lose any precision flat surface. The "shiny" metal surfaces are where the surface itself is exposing planes of a metal lattice, those parts are pretty much aligned at the atomic level, certainly within the wavelength of light. Citric will etch the surface which at the macroscopic level will be just as flat but leave a dull rough surface you'll need to lap or polish.

What do you think the best way to clean the chucks would be ? I have a tank of citric and phosphoric + can set up a electrolysis tank . Hopefully its not as bad as it looks

I'll probably get away with scraping the bedways carefully and wire wool after , its never gonna look like new again but at least it looks well built to begin with