Thanks. If I'd taken the time to study the diagrams on the lathe and interpret them instead of panicking about what was wrong I might have got it sorted without bothering anyone. :ashamed:
Yes, it's a nice machine. Had it around 10-12 years. The previous owner got it from a school or college...
Thanks all for your responses. The answer was beginning to dawn on me, but you've cleared this up very nicely before I damage myself or the machine. I'll get the spanners out!
That's true, but the speed is influenced by the other headstock gears which need to be set according to the job in hand - e.g. when cutting a screw thread you will normally, or at least frequently, want the carriage to travel faster than when you're trying to produce a fine finish on material.
Thanks Pete. The problem I discovered when I went to turn down a length of bar was that however I set the gearbox up the carriage travel was w-a-y too fast to produce anything like a decent roughing cut. This panicked me! Looking at the machine and the plate on the gearbox after a night's sleep...
Thanks. Unless I'm missing something (quite possible!) I think this is just to change the direction of the headstock spindle and leads crew (if it's engaged) - up=forward, down=reverse, neutral in middle
I'm no welder, but there seems to be a few Boxford users on here who can maybe help? Had my AUD 5" a while but haven't used it for the last couple of years (long story).
Last time I used it was for a bit of thread cutting so the headstock gears were positioned accordingly. Trouble is, I didn't...