Lathe

[Jlg]

I was thinking the same, looks like more than £300`s worth of kindness has gone into that lathe, grab it

Bob

Hopefully I will tomorrow

 

[Jlg]

Hopefully this works out 18 months I've been looking for a lathe near me

 

[zx9]

It's not that small he says its 36" long

That is about right, Drummond claimed an overall length of three feet and 3 inches for the standard bed M.

 

[Jlg]

That is about right, Drummond claimed an overall length of three feet and 3 inches for the standard bed M.

What do I need to look for

 

[zx9]

What do I need to look for

General condition of the bed, move all the feeds through their entire range they should not get more or less tight but some wear is inevitable with them expect the saddle to be slightly easier to move nearer the chuck where it will have spent most of it's life and the cross slide & top slide may tighten up a bit at the ends of their travel. Spindle bearings are adjustable and modifications with thrust bearings are not unknown to take out end float.
There is a whole world that I have been discovering since I bought my M a year ago, beside help on here there is a Yahoo Drummond group which is full of useful info and drawings but a pain to navigate , there is a facebook Myford Drummond group which is more active if a little less knowledgeable.
Good luck with your potential purchase.

 

[wookie]

You can see what backlash there might be and any play in the headstock spindle.

Sorry for the slight thread hijack but are there any good guides on how to go about adjusting the headstock bearings ?

 

[Jlg]

Sorry for the slight thread hijack but are there any good guides on how to go about adjusting the headstock bearings ?

Your not hijackeing it'll be useful for me two

 

[Bill Edwards]

If wanting a lathe of that sort of size I'd be having that home by now, it looks decent and complete and unless it's worn and sloppy (highly, highly unlikely) I don't think it's a bad buy.

 

[MattF]

him

he's asking £300 for it its got everything in the pictures plus everything you need to set it up for screw cutting I'll ask if I could try it

That doesn't seem a bad price to me. It's the age old scenario: Stump up cash for something local, in decent nick, (hopefully), and have it now, or keep watching listings on various sites & hope you can find one cheaper at some point. Problem there is, especially if it's some distance away, you have to trek to gauge condition, so you could be travelling for nowt, unless you're willing to take on a project.

 

[MattF]

A friend of mine had a lathe given to him and it looks a lot like the Drummond. He says it came from a Merchant Navy vessel, there is no maker's mark on it though.

Drummond gear was used by the forces during both wars, so it may have originally come from a Navy vessel.

 

[MattF]

Sorry for the slight thread hijack but are there any good guides on how to go about adjusting the headstock bearings ?

On the B/M types, or another lathe?

 

[zx9]

Sorry for the slight thread hijack but are there any good guides on how to go about adjusting the headstock bearings ?

Plenty of info on the Yahoo group, it depends on the headstock bearing type which changes through Pre B, B and M obviously the late M is the only one I have done which is :
Slacken off the oilers.
Slacken off the bearing collars.
Slacken off the pre load on the change wheel side of the spindle.
Give both bearings a tap with a soft face mallet to un seat the adjusters.
Tighten the front bearing until the spindle just nips up.
Tighten the front oiler the spindle should now be free.
Tighten up the rear bearing until the spindle just nips up.
Tighten the rear oiler, the spindle should now be free.
Tighten up the pre load until the spindle nips up and back off a fraction.

When all is going good I can take 3mm off radius or about a 1/4" of diameter with a decent carbide insert, when you get them well adjusted they are quite capable lathes but they do need keeping well adjusted.

 

[Jlg]

That doesn't seem a bad price to me. It's the age old scenario: Stump up cash for something local, in decent nick, (hopefully), and have it now, or keep watching listings on various sites & hope you can find one cheaper at some point. Problem there is, especially if it's some distance away, you have to trek to gauge condition, so you could be travelling for nowt, unless you're willing to take on a project.

I'm just waiting on a reply to confirm a time

 

[Jlg]

While it's mine we've worked out a deal as long as it's in working condition he's got some Ali brass and nylon I can try it with but I'm thinking of taking a lump of steel with me

 

[wookie]

On the B/M types, or another lathe?

Another type, I'll post some pictures shortly.

It's the lathe I picked up cheap a while ago but no-one on here could id it.

 

[zx9]

While it's mine we've worked out a deal as long as it's in working condition he's got some Ali brass and nylon I can try it with but I'm thinking of taking a lump of steel with me

Yes take some decent bits of steel, soft materials are easy to turn a half decent finish but be aware that some steel can be a right pain to get a good finish on which could be down to the lathe, the RPM, the feed speed or the lathe tool tip.
Counter intuitively I have had good finishes on random bits of salvaged stainless steel and struggled on so called free cutting steel.

 

[Jlg]

Yes take some decent bits of steel, soft materials are easy to turn a half decent finish but be aware that some steel can be a right pain to get a good finish on which could be down to the lathe, the RPM, the feed speed or the lathe tool tip.
Counter intuitively I have had good finishes on random bits of salvaged stainless steel and struggled on so called free cutting steel.

I'm I've got a big bag of 20mm by 250mm high tensile bolts I'll take a couple of them and some stainless scraps

 

[pedrobedro]

I'm I've got a big bag of 20mm by 250mm high tensile bolts I'll take a couple of them and some stainless scraps

Not the best stuff for machining is it ? You'll need to make sure the tools are up to it or it's going to disappoint you.

 

[rtbcomp]

^^ My Drummond made a pig's ear of machining an HT bolt.

 

[zx9]

^^ My Drummond made a pig's ear of machining an HT bolt.

They do vary seemingly between two bolts from the same source. When I first got mine I destroyed a good number of bolts, some turned quite well others were very chewy once you got through the hardened surface, that was using carbide inserts I have no idea how HSS tooling would have coped.