Finally.......

[slim_boy_fat]

After years of 'thinking about getting one', I've finally managed to buy a small, bench-top lathe for learning/making small projects - been interested in one for years but they were either too big, too expensive or too far away.

Picked this up at the weekend for under two hundred squids and pretty pleased. Needs new drive belts and a bit of fettling, but I think [hope ] it'll get me into a new way of destroying things.........

Just something else to start acquiring 'stuff' for........here she is

Not too sure about the open-topped oiler cups, that's high on the list of things to put right, along with a cover of some sort [prob perspex] for the exposed gears/drive pulleys.

Life's full of learning curves.......

 

[jon62]

Seeing a chuck still in the chuck without a hand on it makes me nervous, nice looking bit of kit though.

 

[fixerupper]

Yes ,my old metalwork teacher at school would go balistic if he saw a chuck key left in a chuck .. A very nice lathe I'm dead jelous .......jeff......

 

[BrokenBiker]

very Nice indeed.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Thanks lads.

Chuck key....aye, that's one part of the learning curve I'm aware of - it's only in there while the power has yet to be connected and until I get all the bits & pieces which came with it properly racked/stored. I don't fancy a face-full of sharp metal .........

 

[CRB]

No markings, so could be a Myford ML1-4 copy.

Not that it matters, it looks nice enough and you will probably find you do more than you thought. I was sinking shelf supports with mine on the weekend, four-jaw gripping a brazed TCT tool.

You will love the mess you can make. SWMBO will not.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

No markings, so could be a Myford ML1-4 copy.

Not that it matters, it looks nice enough and you will probably find you do more than you thought. I was sinking shelf supports with mine on the weekend, four-jaw gripping a brazed TCT tool.

You will love the mess you can make. SWMBO will not.

Yes, it does look a lot like the Myford you link to, but it's an RandA of an earlier period as I understand it.
It has the back gears as per this pic on the www.lathes.co.uk website, like so -

I'm still trying to work out their function........ [said I was a learner......]. Can you help?

Looking forward to blood & mess, but I've not had a SWMBO for many years now.......

 

[Fazerruss]

On the list of things to get would be a 3 jaw self centering chuck. The 4 jaw independent is very useful but will be a pain for using doing normal turning.

The lever may be to engage the back gears for very slow speeds when screw cutting. Don't engage without first unlocking the drive on the main shaft or you will stall the lathe. you may find a small woodruff key under a gear that rotates to do this. That's how a lot of myfords do it.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

On the list of things to get would be a 3 jaw self centering chuck. The 4 jaw independent is very useful but will be a pain for using doing normal turning.

One of those came with it, along with a 1MT drill chuck, fixed and rotating centres and some tooling/cutters. Decent deal I thought.

 

[MattF]

Tidy looking machine. Is there a grub screw on the smallest pulley on the headstock for locking it to the spindle, for using backgear? Had a look on the lathes site, and that may just be an oil point or it could be the locking screw. When you want to use backgear, you need to unlock the headstock pulley so that it rotates independently of the headstock spindle.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

When you want to use backgear, you need to unlock the headstock pulley so that it rotates independantly of the headstock spindle.

Excuse my ignorance of these things, but what would you use the backgear for?

 

[brightspark]

Excuse my ignorance of these things, but what would you use the backgear for?

putting the lathe in backgear reduces the speed to a snails pace for turning cast iron rough castings and iregular material or hard steels. it gives your lathe 6 speeds

 

[slim_boy_fat]

putting the lathe in backgear reduces the speed to a snails pace for turning cast iron rough castings and iregular material or hard steels

Many thanks, something new I've learned already.

 

[MattF]

Yup, what Brightspark said. Plus if you're turning large or heavy pieces, where you don't want it whizzing round at a rate of knots.

 

[Shox Dr]

Nice little lathe, hours of fun (we need a lathe/milling machine smilie)