Spent some hours on an exact same Colchester lathe back in the early 80’s. Seemed old then but worked perfectly.

HI Tom, Nice to finally have the lathe in your shop. Looks like the ways are a bit worn but I am sure you will be going through the whole machine to make it all good. Take Care, Reid

Nice score! I love the drawer on the stand! Too cool.

@TomZelickman

9 жыл бұрын

I'm pretty happy about it overall but this one might need a bit more work than expected. I'll keep everyone posted along the way though!

@bluehandsvideo

9 жыл бұрын

Tom Zelickman Isn't there some saying about a loose machine making a better machinist? :)

Nice new tool Tom. She should be a great lathe! Colin ;-)

Hey Tom, grats on the new lathe, I hate to say it, but start shopping for a bed grinding service, looking forward to seeing the speed threading do-hickey working :)

@TomZelickman

9 жыл бұрын

Shadon HKW Thanks, Stan. I was thinking the same thing but kept hoping there might be another reason for it. As someone else suggested, I might get a test bar and run an indicator down it to see how badly worn things really are. Still need to make sense of the wiring too but Randy has me looking at things a little differently. I might need to do another video just examining the wiring! That speed threader might be exactly why the bed is worn the way that it is... repetitive threading ops on production parts over and over again. Still, it will be nice to have it working. Best wishes, Tom

Great video. I have a Triumph which is 15" swing. They weren't built by Clausing but by Colchester. Clausing were the importers. I love my lathe very versatile. High speed thread attachment is pretty rare.

@millomweb

2 жыл бұрын

My understanding was that Clausing made Colchester lathes for a time from Colchester's drawings. - Saved shipping a load of metal ! I recently read about Clausing on lathes.co.uk - it seems it was a struggling company and maybe Colchester was a way for them to move forward ???

@codprawn

2 жыл бұрын

@@millomweb Clausing did make some of their own lathes I think but the majority were just rebadged Colchesters. The scale of the Colchester factory was huge. It wouldn't have been viable to try to replicate that. Do a search for Colchester lathes on KZread and you will find a video showing the production process.

@millomweb

2 жыл бұрын

@@codprawn I've got that video bookmarked ! I'd got a feeling that there's 2 factory video/films but might be mistaken. The factory covered the rest of the world - leaving Clausing making them in the US.

speak to Tony he has a wealth of knowledge on most english lathes really nice guy and extremely helpful. he works from home and your welcome to ring him Saturday and Sundays. before 8pm. mention my name. Hope this helps you out. I've jist bought a colchester master 6inch lathe built in 1939

I have the exact model lathe! I believe that is wear on the ways because mine does not have that groove on the ways

@millomweb

4 жыл бұрын

Absolutely - bed needs regrinding ! If it wasn't wear, it'd go the full length of the bed.

When they machine the table/ways.. There cut on a rotary head cutter take off the tailstock and examine the ways. Compare the shape and finish to the part the carriage operates on. You'll see the wear step easily. Some old lathes were good and some ??? In good shape that lathe could do some nice work. Great video Sir ALL THE BEST.

That up and down leaver on the apron is for power feeds. The screw cutting leaver is on the right on the apron.

My 15x48 has a 2.5 / 5hp high-low motor. My ways don't look like yours. I'm looking for a steady and fallow rest. And a 4 jaw ..

What does the small lever to the left of the power levers do?

If the way marks match the saddle bearing surface I would say the ways are probably worn. Yep 2 speed motor. Wire the speed change switch after the VFD output then to the motor. Make sure the motor is stopped before changing the motor speed. This is the same setup I have on my Lance Lathe. Works well, 80% of the time I have it in one gear setting and motor speed setting and use a remotely mounted pot to vary the speed. I was looking at one of the ClosterClausing lathes when I found the Lance. Nice vid, like to see how the auto threading works. Thanks for sharing, Randy

@TomZelickman

9 жыл бұрын

Randy Richard That's good to know! I've got my hands full with this one...

@millomweb

4 жыл бұрын

This one doesn't stop between slow speed and high speed.

Hi Tom, I am looking to buy one like yours, How much did you pay for it?

Your lathe is very mutch like my 15x48. They are a fine machine. My ways have about .002 vertical wear in them and maybe more in the carrage but it makes very little deferance in the cut. Yours looks like a lot more but before spending the money on grinding try a long cut. It may not be as bad as it seems. I didn't have 3 phase so I went with a VFD and wired the motor in to high speed only as the VFD can be used to change the motor speed. The VFD also gives you controled acceleration and decel which is nice as the brake is some what trouble some on these lathes. I used the forward/ reverse switch for input to the VFD and mounted a micro swith to the brake linkage for run/stop.

@TomZelickman

8 жыл бұрын

+terry linenberger Hi Terry! Thanks for watching and the comment. How long have you had yours? Mine definitely has a good bit of wear but I very rarely do long work. I'll have to do a test though! I want to get my tail stock aligned properly so it sounds like that might be a good time to do some checks. In the last week or so I did some short turning and was able to keep about a .0005 tolerance if my measuring device was to be believed. You are absolutely right about a VFD being a great device! I did wire mine high and low to make sure I had the low end torque but I really like your idea of the micro switch acting as the connectors. Frankly, I'm still learning new and better ways to do that wiring and maybe someday I'll change it around. Before I do that I need to get the enclosure door to work right though. Appreciate your comments! They definitely gave me something to think about. Sincerely, Tom Z

I just picked one up, only it's a 5hp with a 2.5 under it on the tag. 220 3ph. Do you have any more videos of this lathe?

@TomZelickman

6 жыл бұрын

I love this lathe! Mine is a little beat up but still can hold tight tolerances. I've made other videos, especially of the Ainjest threading attachment. Lately I've been recording more of the CNC work but the manual lathe still gets used regularly. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy your new iron, Tom Z

@millomweb

2 жыл бұрын

2 speed motor ?

@metalworksmachineshop

2 жыл бұрын

@@millomweb yes , it called a high low motor. in high its 5hp and 2.5hp in low

@millomweb

2 жыл бұрын

@@metalworksmachineshop Yep, a '2 speed' motor. 2.5 is just under 3HP (standard) then the 5 for the higher speeds. I'm not sure they got it right - the extra power would assume similar depth of cut at the high speeds - usually when taking big cuts, you reduce speed a bit - but still need the torque.

@millomweb

2 жыл бұрын

So how are you getting on with it - any questions ?

Tom, my colchester is almost exactly the same on the ways.

@TomZelickman

9 жыл бұрын

The Texas Gun Guy Does it affect the accuracy of your lathe?

looks like a 13 inch student as sold in the US badged 'Clausing'

you can check the ways by going to the far end of the ways at the very end we're the tailstock is. which is rarely used if you make a simple template up by laying a card upwards against the ways draw round it. cut it out perfectly.And check the ways near the headstock end we're most of the work is done. you can then determine if the ways are badly worn

@TomZelickman

7 жыл бұрын

Hi Mark! Thanks for the tips. I did determine that they ways are pretty worn I do most of my work in the area where it's worn so it's fairly uniform. Luckily, I'm able to hold pretty good tolerances so far. I'm getting ready to move and once of the projects that I'll be doing is stripping this down and doing a full restoration. As a part of that, the ways are going to get fixed up. I'm not sure if I am going to grind them uniformly or do a build-up first. Thanks for watching! Tom Z

Good 👍👍👍👍👍👍

hello sir my be you can help me to identify which model of colchester lathe i have..

@TomZelickman

4 жыл бұрын

Maybe? I typically look at these places for info - www.lathes.co.uk/colchester/ and the other is vintagemachinery.org/ If you can't find what you need there let me know!

Hi Tom, it is indeed a two speed motor, I don't think the VFD will like you changing (the field windings) from high to low, whilst powered up. Selection of a suitable VFD and some sort of safety lock out on the electrics, will take a lot of careful research. The bed looks to be in need of a regrind, how about putting a length of round bar in the chuck and with a clock mounted to read the top surface running the saddle from one end to the other, that should put some numbers to any wear. A quick way to get a fix maybe to have a look at the saddle where it bares on the vee, to see if it is grooved, I suspect it will be and figure out how to fill the groove in. Well I say quick, thats relative I guess, as all the saddle will need stripping down to get to it.

@TomZelickman

9 жыл бұрын

Stephen Deakin Thanks for the input, Stephen!Now I need to figure out if the high & low speeds are controlled via gears and or the motor. More researching to do!

Very nice lathe by the way. you can check out lathes.co.uk there have a great deal of literature of most English lathes .

Hi Tom, I have found a manual for the 15" lathe and attachments at www.marin.edu/SchoolDudePublic/IVC/101179_EOM.pdf It looks very much like the beastie you have acquired. It is a photocopy of the original supplied manual and has wiring diagrams and comprehensive instructions on the threading attachment. Cheers Eric

@TomZelickman

9 жыл бұрын

midgoog2 Thank you, Eric! Skimmed through the manual and the only difference appears to be mine is the 13" model. That's just what I needed! Appreciate you watching and especially for providing the link. Sincerely, Tom

Why are you asking if the motor is 2-speed when the damned lathe's fitted with a 2 speed switch ?

@TomZelickman

4 жыл бұрын

If I recall correctly at the time I wasn't sure if the high and low speed was controlled via motor wiring versus general power (like a potentiometer). This was about 5 years ago now so hard to say. Thanks for watching.

@millomweb

4 жыл бұрын

@@TomZelickman I've just e-mailed you !

your lathe is in much nicer condition than mine although my lathe hasn't seen much use it. looks like a piece of crap if you look at it lol. I'm going to fully restore her. my only disappointment with my lathe. it hasn't got the higher speed such loke yours . other than that I can see the beauty in her I also know a company where you can get new gears made if there worn or damaged and his prices are really reasonable. I've contacted a number of company's in my country UK for replacement gears such as change gears. But there prices are extortionate and completely try to rip you off. due to the age of vintage lathes if you get stuck send me a message I see if i can help in any way i can. Thanks for sharing hope you get yrs of work out of her. you just can't beat vintage lathes compare to the rubbish that's built these days unless you willing to spend thousands . no disrespect but the diy lathes from China are totally crap. you got a good heavy duty lathe there my friend.

@millomweb

4 жыл бұрын

What lathe you got ? Is it a Colchester ? Should be able to get spares direct from them.

I buy and restore vintage lathes have 6 atlas lathes and a 920 Logan, l wouldn't buy a lathe with that much bed wear would cost more than the lathes value to get it right.

Barrel ?? Try 'Quill' ! But barrel is correct!

If you look towards the head and tail, you see the scraping marks still Those grooves are wearWhen you buy a pair of belts, you buy a matched pair

@TomZelickman

9 жыл бұрын

12345NoNamesLeft Yeah, that seems to be the consensus at this point. I'll have to evaluate how badly the wear affects the accuracy and make a decision from there. Thanks for watching and commenting! I really appreciate it. Tom

OK so based on verbal you have a 3 phase 2 speed motor 3 HP in fast ie 1800 RPM and 1.5 in low ie 900 RPM. RPM values are nominal - your numbers include the slip - which sounds about like 5% which is pretty normal. IF you had shown the nameplate I could do better. Be careful and know your torque in each speed - off top of head you will have the same torque value in each speed - you can do the math -- HP = (T x RPM) / 5252 NEVER add motors or in your case change speeds without stoppng a VFD. Unless you need a VFD to derive 3 phase OR you really must have infinite variable speed control you do not need a VFD. You have relay control on the motor speeds which will work just fine and you can change on the fly if you want - give motor a couple seconds to slow a bit when slowing - no pause needed on "upshift". YOu do not show enough in video so I cannot say whether these relays are for speed control or reversal - IF there is another switch either speed or reversing then it can be better determined what the ralays really do. One caution of VFD - yes it sounds neat n great and they are for sure - one box does it all blah blah blah. BUT you can fix relays yourself - not true with VFD - many times they are throw away and buy new - in case of the big ones ie 50 HP or more - factory repair item but you still have down time. Dan Bentler

@TomZelickman

9 жыл бұрын

dan bentler Thanks for the input, Dan! I think you are spot on; the front levers are switches and not gear levers as I had originally thought. No real need for a VFD to be honest. What I really need is a phase converter since I only have single phase here at my shop. I haven't bought anything yet as I was both doing my research as well as weighing all of the input I got from guys like you and others. It's much appreciated. Sincerely, Tom

@danbentler9742

9 жыл бұрын

Tom Zelickman OK so you need 3 phase in shop. Your first big decision is this -- are you going to get more 3 phase machinery. If so then consider a rotary phase converter. You will need total HP or watts of anticipated load ot determine sizing. If you want ot go VFD route you will still need total HP to make estimate of cost - estimate this using $100 per HP. Both have their advantages. Capital cost on VFD may be higher and operating cost VFD is probably cheaper. Let me know if you have any questions. In many ways the older machines are better. One thing for sure they prevent boredom unless you have the luxury of complete teardown and overhaul. Dan Bentler

@millomweb

4 жыл бұрын

@@TomZelickman I'd be interested to know what you have as a 3ph source. Have the same issue here - ended up with a magic box of tricks stuffed with large life-limited capacitors - which complicates wiring up and needs to be 'tuned' to your motors ! Last time I powered my box of tricks up, it just went bang ! I'm now tempted to replace (sometime!) with an MG set to get proper 3ph power.

@millomweb

2 жыл бұрын

I got a 3ph diesel generator in the end. Ample power for the machines and doubles up as emergency power if the supply goes off ! Arrival of generator triggered my new channel - machining by mike - but currently making zero progress !

The bed is very badly worn