Colchester Bantam Mk1 1600

[Dieselman 63]

Looking good.

Thanks Carl. Getting there, not the quickest route I must admit! But good fun nonetheless

I put some fine filler onto the cabinet tonight. I’ll wet sand this tomorrow, then I can put it in the queue for painting. Still got the smaller, tailstock end of the cabinet to prep.

 

[Brad93]

Going to be a lovely lathe when all painted and reassembled

 

[Dieselman 63]

Going to be a lovely lathe when all painted and reassembled

Can’t wait. I don’t like a rush job though so I’m trying to do it right first time

 

[Brad93]

Can’t wait. I don’t like a rush job though so I’m trying to do it right first time

I was going to wait till mine was all painted but there was/is paying jobs lining up for the thing. I’m going with cleaned, inspected and lubricated now.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I was going to wait till mine was all painted but there was/is paying jobs lining up for the thing. I’m going with cleaned, inspected and lubricated now.

Fair enough mate. I have the Union Graduate too, that was just given the once over, a few dire bits cleaned up, bedways scrubbed and I bought a three jaw for it, now it’s in use. Better to have one lathe in bits than two!

The Bantam was in really poor condition when I got it, which I feel warrants the extra love! The Graduate was actually the only machine I’ve ever bought which hasn’t needed some serious attention.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Taking full advantage of what has proved to be a rather hot and sunny day for the middle of winter, the chip tray is in one coat of blue. I think it will need another to be finished... probably hasn’t looked this good since 1975 though

 

[Dieselman 63]

I’m cleaning the foot brake, this connects to both an electrical and mechanical stop. I’m hoping to connect the electric cutoff to the e-stop function on the vfd, the mechanical one will be a failsafe. The weld looks a bit unusual to me, almost like a braze or solder.

The headstock cabinet has been given a wet sand. The drawer ends (not pictured) have been painted by brush - you won’t actually see them but the pedant in me wants them done! I’ve painted around the bolts on the blanking plate to make life easier with the roller.

I may put the brake into gloss red. We shall see.

 

[Dieselman 63]

More paint today, trying to strip the last bits of the tailstock end cabinet, a total mission I might add since I ran out of stripper, and some red paint on the footbrake from the worlds worst spray nozzle made by MTN which is unusual as they’re pretty good normally.

I’m getting bored now, I want it back together!

 

[Dieselman 63]

That’s me done for the night. Paint scraped off, sanded, and put into primer. I can see some gaps on the welds and some knocks, so I’ll bring out the filler tomorrow and get busy. Still, this looks fab! Once it’s all smooth it will be time for paint.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I wasn’t 100% happy with the paint finish on the pedal, so I bought a tin of gloss red to finish spraying it. It looks better even though the photos may look the same.

The cabinet is now fully sanded, and I can start to paint it. I think I will paint the insides first, then this will allow me to bolt it together as one piece. Then I can give it a once-over with the roller, before fitting the blanking plate at the end. It looks good so far.

 

[Dieselman 63]

A rare treat tonight, some virgin Colchester paint and grime to clean off! I haven’t touched this part since day one. It came apart nice and easy and the paint fell off. Interesting it’s not a cast box but individually fabricated - very nicely made little box too, all welded.

So it went into primer, and then into paint, it can dry all night and tomorrow too.

A while back when I was finishing off my degree there was a whole pile of stuff to be skipped - including about 40 carpet tiles. Not sure if anyone has used these before but they make great drawer liners, as they are industrial felt bonded to rubber. The drawer under the lathe is exactly the right size to take one complete square, and another with an inch off. This holds all the chucks happily.

Finally, whilst doing a dry run of assembly, I realised I had gotten the drawer runners upside down - those holes below were obscured before. Better to discover now than later, when the screw heads are impossible to reach! Off to bed now and rain tomorrow, so it looks like painting will start on Monday.

 

[Dieselman 63]

That’s that reassembled. I managed to drop it and chipped the brand new paint... I couldn’t be bothered stripping it since it will live in the oily change gear area, so I’ll brush on the touch ups. It’ll have character!

Now if I could just work out how to wire it so that it cuts off input power, that would be great!

 

[Dieselman 63]

Thanks @Seadog for these ball oiler nipples, British made - just right for the Bantam almost all mine were knackered. An easy-out knocked in with a hammer then twisted out is good for removing dead nipples, saves levering with screwdrivers etc.

Fortunately there’s some more winter sunshine here today which means more painting - hooray! At the end of the day I’ll be able to actually reassemble the cabinet for the last time.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Got impatient and the paint was touch dry so... probably the best bit of progress I’ve done. The pedal has particularly good spring to it.

 

[Brad93]

Thanks @Seadog for these ball oiler nipples, British made - just right for the Bantam almost all mine were knackered. An easy-out knocked in with a hammer then twisted out is good for removing dead nipples, saves levering with screwdrivers etc.

Fortunately there’s some more winter sunshine here today which means more painting - hooray! At the end of the day I’ll be able to actually reassemble the cabinet for the last time.

What size are they? 6mm or 8mm?

 

[Brad93]

Got impatient and the paint was touch dry so... probably the best bit of progress I’ve done. The pedal has particularly good spring to it.

That’s smart!

 

[Dieselman 63]

What size are they? 6mm or 8mm?

1/4”

Also thanks! I’m pretty pleased with it myself. With the blanking plate on looks even better.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Got impatient

A common enough failing, been there....done that.... Keep up the good work!

 

[RichardM]

Oilers - if you are pulling them out of a blind hole check that you don't leave the spring and ball in the hole, the springs occasionally "unscrews" from the outer.

 

[Dieselman 63]

I've installed the drawer sliders upside down once - now I've gone and installed them back to front! I could understand my ineptitude if it was something actually complex, but the drawer?

Time to take it apart again. Again...