Today I acquired...........

[Arc Tourist]

Today I acquired ownership of a 5" Metric Boxford VSL 500 lathe. I've had a 4 1/2" Boxford Imperial lathe for a few years now, and its suited me well for my hobby use.
The VSL 500 is the most recent version, and comes with a large compliment of accessories, which is a real bonus if you've tried to find any older related lathe tooling nowadays.
Now I have to make room where I don't have any in my garage. As they say in middle of Aldi or Lidl isle's, ....... " When its gone, its gone " ; so, I didn't hesitate when the
opportunity presented itself. Got some work to do in shifting things around before my road trip for collection, but hey, Happy Day.

Road trip organized with a friend. Van emptied today and finally found my old camera , so here are a couple of screen shots from the listing.
.

 

[Dapph2]

Yesterday I got this.
It will never be in competition with a stihl but I was quite impressed with it.
Done a bit of stealth logging on my way home from work yesterday and got three nights worth of logs in five minutes…..

Whoops mis read the 6th & 20th word & wondered how it got past the censors

 

[ukracer]

Sorry no pics only info...bought one of the Dewalt saw blades they have out for my 18V saw that can also rip through nails without harming the tips...used it yesterday and they are a game changer, pretty expensive at £18 but well worth the money. Think its a 225mm

You got away lite. Those blades are 25 notes in screwfix.

 

[Beeezer]

Whoops mis read the 6th & 20th word & wondered how it got past the censors

??

 

[plewlandsbob]

??

Instead of logging, he read ,dogging. "Stealth dogging on way home".
Cannot figure out 6th word though.

 

[Brad93]

£5 for 5L ain't half bad, normally £18
View attachment 515718

That's made in Romford - well blended there from stock oils

 

[jmp49]

Road trip organized with a friend. Van emptied today and finally found my old camera , so here are a couple of screen shots from the listing.
.View attachment 515785View attachment 515787

Thats very very clean. Nice. Is it L00 fitment on the chuck?
For L00 There's some chinese options if you want a budget friendly 6 jaw in future and sometimes bernard multifix collet chucks appear secondhand state side in l00 fitment, you can also get l00 blank backplates now, I have one with a cheap generic ER32 collet chuck mounted onto for small work but mostly I tend use a large 4 jaw that I just dial everything into.
Also might be worth 3d printing or having someone do one for you a L00 nose protector for when the pictured collet and drawbar is in the spindle as the spindles mating surface of the l00 is exposed to damage otherwise. The models are on thingiverse for free to download:

L00 Lathe Spindle Protector by danb35

This is a spindle/thread protector for a lathe with a L00-type spindle, something that can be useful if you're using centers, a collet closer, or something else that doesn't have a chuck or faceplate fixed in place. It's tested to fit on my Clausing 5418 lathe, but should work with anything...

www.thingiverse.com

There's also various boxford change gears, but no idea if they fit your model or not. I run a 3d printed nylon as the intermediate change gear on my harrison, and if I crash the leadscrew somehow and it gets wrecked, its not a big thing to print another one off, same as the sacraficial fibre gears they originally came with & your not dealing with broken leadscrew drivetrain's.

 

[Bki26]

Almost like what droopsnout wrote,
I'd started to reply to you about the vice yesterday, but then sent you a pm in a new window as it ended up being a bit long and about cam software, cnc milling machines and z axis touchoffs and collisions when using clamps.
Today I quoted bki's post and the original reply to you appeared also as a multiquote so I deleted just that part, but it was logged by the forum software as a reply to you also.


@Bk, I get you on the orientation, I was considering using the forklift to run the splitter at first, except its got warehouse solid tyres and gets stuck easy but something like this would suit that well made with fork slots to make it easy to pick up quick. Maybe if I ever end up with a rough terrain forklift... Also worth pondering attachment methods & if you have a qd hitch on your digger or skidsteer making it use them, because its a shame to dedicate a multipurpose machine to just do one job
I have the jcb one mounted so I can knock the two bucket pins out and take it off after detaching hydraulic lines, same as swapping rear buckets or a hydraulic hammer.
A lot of the machine attachment wood processing rigs round here have forestry winches mounted on them so they can drag the log into a easy workarea rather than trying to get into tight places to grab it.

On your reinforcement, I did similar after the first time I had problems with the foot starting to break off, so I added the triangle gussets at the rear and also at the lower edge to stop the foot being pried off or going out of square in both dimensions, and it helped a LOT with strength. Once the foot was attached and braced well, I then found the next weak point, the already mentioned strength of the main ipn the original builders had used. It was smaller than the one you have pictured and just a commercial 8t vertical splitter adapted and you are bracing the anvil section with the plate that mounts the framehead, so hopefully you wont have similar. Their original foot attachment design lasted about 10 minutes...
The postmortem suggested the splitting head had worked pretty loose on the flanges and bent its bolts holding it together after about 10hrs of heavy work and started to be forced out of parallel to the beam in use and also the foot still flexing a bit on really solid rounds caused a twisting motion leading to lateral torsional buckling of the beam which their rating is lower for.
I'm contemplating the spare jcb jackleg I have as a basis for the next iteration, big thickwall square tubes that telescope inside each other, sized to support a 8t machine and the ram itself living completely inside out of harms way with the foremost hydraulic connection piped inside alongside the ram away from danger. Plus I have a spare one torched off a dead machine already...

It's not gonna be permanent attached to the skid steer I'm using the U channel to make up a simple frame that interfaces with the bobcat quick tach system like so.

I plan to put the cylinder at a slight angle towards the beam so it's always pushing again it rather than parallel as if you hit a knot with a parallel setup it can provide enough of a twist to bend the ram/break the bolts holding the sliding section on the beam. Cylinder end is gonna be a pusher plate with the blade fixed on the beam end as that also helps reduce the change of bending the rod.

 

[Bki26]

That's made in Romford - well blended there from stock oils

It's a nice sort of sea green as well, couldn't resist at that price plus replaces the lot that was shot into a bucket when priming the new auxiliary lines/attachments. I should be able to reuse the bucket lot though it has a small bit of dirt and water so I can probably siphon off the top 80% to avoid said dirt/water.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Thats very very clean. Nice. Is it L00 fitment on the chuck?
For L00 There's some chinese options if you want a budget friendly 6 jaw in future and sometimes bernard multifix collet chucks appear secondhand state side in l00 fitment, you can also get l00 blank backplates now, I have one with a cheap generic ER32 collet chuck mounted onto for small work but mostly I tend use a large 4 jaw that I just dial everything into.
Also might be worth 3d printing or having someone do one for you a L00 nose protector for when the pictured collet and drawbar is in the spindle as the spindles mating surface of the l00 is exposed to damage otherwise. The models are on thingiverse for free to download:

L00 Lathe Spindle Protector by danb35

This is a spindle/thread protector for a lathe with a L00-type spindle, something that can be useful if you're using centers, a collet closer, or something else that doesn't have a chuck or faceplate fixed in place. It's tested to fit on my Clausing 5418 lathe, but should work with anything...

www.thingiverse.com

There's also various boxford change gears, but no idea if they fit your model or not. I run a 3d printed nylon as the intermediate change gear on my harrison, and if I crash the leadscrew somehow and it gets wrecked, its not a big thing to print another one off, same as the sacraficial fibre gears they originally came with & your not dealing with broken leadscrew drivetrain's.

Yes it is a LOO fitment, the same as I had on my Clausing 4900 series lathe overseas. Hated to leave it and other tools behind when relocating. I do have other chucks including a 6-jaw, and there's an extra LOO backing plate included with the lathe. There are other items listed in the description that are not shown in the photos, including a nose protector.

Through constant searching over the past few years, I've been able to acquire almost all of the accessories Boxford made for the lathes, and many are compatible with the VSL. Thanks for the link and suggestion about 3-D printing. My friend who will be helping me collect the lathe next week is into 3-D printing, so a good source nearby.

One of the things that sold me on buying, was when I asked for photos inside the motor and electrical cabinet. I could see that the lathe had been refurbished meticulously, and not just with a splash of cosmetic paint. I have done full restoration of a couple machines in the past, and know how much time, effort and expense is involved.

 

[Memmeddu]

I felt the need of a vice after seeing the huge one posted by @jmp49 ....

Fza 100mm "machine" vice, between commas cause it would got shredded a part is used for milling ...
Anyways 35 euro it was a bargain, colleague saw it while I was buying it and said me if it was for my milling machine cause he needed it, so he will buy it once it arrives home even though those are around 200 euro brand new.

20 globe cutting wheels for 10 euro
A bargain as they are about 2+ euro piece and they are honestly the best cutting wheels you can get, they patented the abrasive pattern visible in the picture, and they don't get pinched easily or destroy due to overheating.
Actually the same exact product sold by Würth but from the original manufacturer.

machinist trench bayonet, useful melee against people who take your tools and unpleasant customers.
Anyways it's a Facom champhering thing, we have one similar at my workplace and we use for deburring/champher conrods bushings.
I think to remember me having a look at them once and they are kinda expensive so I didn't care about 8 euro to get it

I've then found this drill bit sharpening attachment for the bench grinder
Wich I'll be surely modifying but 12 euro was enough cheap to get it even just for reference to make a bigger one

 

[Pete.]

Your chamfering tool is actually a bearing scraper.

 

[Memmeddu]

Your chamfering tool is actually a bearing scraper.

So it's actually the right tool for the task.
This doesn't happen often at my workplace, we always do improper use of the tools due to the terrible lack of means

 

[nickk]

1litre of Perry given by a customer I made fittings for his cider press,even though I charged him.
Even better it’s still and dry.

 

[Memmeddu]

My father has been diagnosed with cancer on late April this year.
The things are going on... Not really the subject of the post...
Anyways he's getting bored at home after being at the hospital for two weeks to apply the bag bypassing his guts
Since he's back home he's talking me about getting a Defender 90 pick-up model and restore it make it cool and things.
Wants me to seek picture to send him so he can have a look at them when he has nothing to do.
Especially now having started chemo
So I've bought him a Defender 90 pick-up painted in red and white hard top...

Ok ok maybe it's 1/64 but if everything goes well we'll find one and restore it and make something out of it either if it'll see the road again or not...
Cause honestly it'll end up with him sitting on a stool and me working on it but if this will make him happy I'll be happy of doing that.
And it would be our thing cause we actually don't share anything in particular

 

[Arc Tourist]

My father has been diagnosed with cancer on late April this year.
The things are going on... Not really the subject of the post...
Anyways he's getting bored at home after being at the hospital for two weeks to apply the bag bypassing his guts
Since he's back home he's talking me about getting a Defender 90 pick-up model and restore it make it cool and things.
Wants me to seek picture to send him so he can have a look at them when he has nothing to do.
Especially now having started chemo
So I've bought him a Defender 90 pick-up painted in red and white hard top...
View attachment 515925
Ok ok maybe it's 1/64 but if everything goes well we'll find one and restore it and make something out of it either if it'll see the road again or not...
Cause honestly it'll end up with him sitting on a stool and me working on it but if this will make him happy I'll be happy of doing that.
And it would be our thing cause we actually don't share anything in particular

Glad you are looking forward to a mutual project with your Dad.

Keeping his mind and body active, even if its only helping you with the easy things is good for him to keep a positive mindset.
I have a couple of forms of cancer and am also going through treatment. It is what it is, and I believe doing things to keep your
spirits up is half the battle.

Good thoughts are sent your way, for both you and your Dad.

 

[Memmeddu]

Good thoughts are sent your way, for both you and your Dad.

And to you too
@zzr1200 helped me a lot during the first contact with the situation, he went through that too and gave me tips about how to deal with the thing.
My boss too gave me crucial help at the beginning cause I was destroyed at first not even knowing how to react to the thing.
I've asked help to him, cause he's a very religious person, he went through the loss of his own son that has been obviously devastating even for us employees, cause we spend most of our day together and we knew about that in the same exact moment his other son knew about.
Despite the biggest pain a man, a father can experience he managed to keep his family together and kinda get after that.
Cause his own words you'll be never the same and you'll never really get after something like that.
He now helps people who unfortunately found themselves in the same situation.
Many other forum members supported me during the first phase I just can't wrote them all but just to know they are the ones I interact the most over here.
Many replied to my post about my father, many others sent me a PM telling me their story and how they dealt with cancer.
Too many good folks over here have to deal with that.
Make me feel less alone and somehow lucky cause not everyone can say to have got help and support from people who actually know what the word cancer really means.
But it's not only that I'm lucky to be here on the forum cause I've received a ton of help during hard times, not just this one in particular.
I'm really thankfully for that

 

[Dapph2]

I felt the need of a vice after seeing the huge one posted by @jmp49 ....
View attachment 515899
Fza 100mm "machine" vice, between commas cause it would got shredded a part is used for milling ...
Anyways 35 euro it was a bargain, colleague saw it while I was buying it and said me if it was for my milling machine cause he needed it, so he will buy it once it arrives home even though those are around 200 euro brand new.View attachment 515900
20 globe cutting wheels for 10 euro
A bargain as they are about 2+ euro piece and they are honestly the best cutting wheels you can get, they patented the abrasive pattern visible in the picture, and they don't get pinched easily or destroy due to overheating.
Actually the same exact product sold by Würth but from the original manufacturer.
View attachment 515902machinist trench bayonet, useful melee against people who take your tools and unpleasant customers.
Anyways it's a Facom champhering thing, we have one similar at my workplace and we use for deburring/champher conrods bushings.
I think to remember me having a look at them once and they are kinda expensive so I didn't care about 8 euro to get it
View attachment 515903
I've then found this drill bit sharpening attachment for the bench grinder
Wich I'll be surely modifying but 12 euro was enough cheap to get it even just for reference to make a bigger one

I'm all ears as to how good or rubbish you find the attachment . I had two , found I could do better and far quicker on a 9 inch grindstone or my small linisher fitted with an aluminium oxide band

 

[Memmeddu]

I'm all ears as to how good or rubbish you find the attachment . I had two , found I could do better and far quicker on a 9 inch grindstone or my small linisher fitted with an aluminium oxide band

Honestly I've got the thing just to understand the indexing part of it, I'm pretty sure I'll faster by hand too
As we don't have a sharpener at work we use a bench grinder for everything

 

[Bki26]

Parts to fix the boiler, was very handy having all of them in the one bag when they are only slightly different like 18/19/22/22.8mm making it rather confusing to work out what went where!

Also got a parrot