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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Slightly left of Vernon, BC Canada
    Age
    61
    Posts
    75

    Default A pair of 260AT will be following me home tomorrow, my first Hercus

    Hi guys,

    I have just become a member of the Hercus community.

    I have been searching for a lathe for my son to continue his interest in metalwork at home, and after a summer long search I finally found something that will fit into our modest shop. I found a pair that came out of a high school and are a 260AT and a 260ATLH, both working when removed this summer, one of them slowly creeps out of low range into high range, hopefully just an adjustment, the other one runs perfectly. Comes with 5 or 6 chucks, mix of 3 and 4 jaw, face plates, lives centers, drill chucks, and a few other misc goodies, as well as all documentation and some cool old training slides for an overhead projector. As these are just AT, not ATM, I assume M means metric, so these should be imperial? There are some gears new wrapped in oil paper, hopefully they are for this lathe and will allow metric threading. I also think that the ATLH is a slightly longer machine, and hardened ways? I have been researching Hercus for a few days now and have learned a lot, this site is amazing. We are in western Canada and I think these were pretty commonly found in high schools here. They seem to be well looked after, I haven't seen them yet as it's a 10 hour round trip but have made the deal and they will be helping me load them tomorrow with a forklift into the box of my truck. Hope they both fit, full size Dodge Ram 1 ton with 6' box.

    I have attached few pics of them where they sit in storage. I'll update more tomorrow after I get home, will be a long day driving thru mountain passes, hope for no snow.

    Cheers

    01111_LUUeyk93oW_1200x900.jpg00k0k_hF1d2Y1NroR_1200x900.jpg00G0G_amX3iIxQFE3_1200x900.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Southern Highlands NSW
    Posts
    1,894

    Default

    A good thing about having Hercus lathes where you are, is that some accessories made for South Bend bench lathes fit.
    For example, the slotted cross slide.

    Jordan

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    melbourne australia
    Posts
    3,228

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Kilohertz View Post
    I also think that the ATLH is a slightly longer machine, and hardened ways?
    Correct. Fantastic find. If you PM me your email address, I'll send you some Hercus manuals and other stuff.
    Chris

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Slightly left of Vernon, BC Canada
    Age
    61
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Thanks guys,

    Just got home a few hours ago, long day of driving, but well worth it, he had them all strapped to a pallet when I arrived and had all the extras tucked into the shelves, which I can't see as they are strapped front to front so they would fit in my truck. Gave me a box of live and dead centers, drill chucks, tons of little square wrenches, and I think one of the coolest things is all the documentation he had, original parts manuals, service manuals, an original funky shaped square binder containing clear slides meant for training, showing all of the interior gears and such...I love this old stuff and it just makes the acquisition more special. It will take me some time but I will digitize this material and make it available to this group. Drive went well, no snow but plenty of rain, will need to get them inside the shop tomorrow and light the wood stove and give them a good drying and wipe of oil, then start playing with them.

    Also, the shop teacher was surprised at my excitement that the motors were 240VAC 3 phase, not single phase like he thought, I have a nice Baldor VFD which will drive these perfectly.

    So...more tomorrow.

    Cheers

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Slightly left of Vernon, BC Canada
    Age
    61
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Forgot to post a pic of them all loaded, can't really see much, but it was a beautiful day for moving lathes (until I got close to home )

    IMG_5966.jpg

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Slightly left of Vernon, BC Canada
    Age
    61
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Well it was a very productive day, started out with a little clear skies which allowed me to get the machines off the truck and into the shop with the help of my son. Went very well, they balanced very well by slinging around the first big cast lug in the bed, closest to the chuck, slid the tail stock and carriage right up to the chuck, pretty close balance. We got them both into the shop and wiggled them into their temporary cleanup and maintenance position, we will then move them to their final location afterwards.

    Discovered lots about them, I won't type it all out here in one post as I just got in from working all day, but briefly....

    The ATLH is in very good condition, probably not used all that much, or way less than the AT, ways are nice, spindle bearings sound good, all gears mesh nice and are clean. It has a .37KW motor on it, odd, it's 220 3 phase which is great, just not the .55KW I would have thought. The carriage gears in the apron have a stiff spot, probably some crud lodged in a tooth, I think I may pull the carriage to give it a good cleaning, I will be consulting the maintenance manual tonight, thanks Chris!

    The AT, while in good overall condition, bore the brunt of use at this school, most sharp corners are now well rounded, , there's a tooth missing on the left driving back gear on the spindle, the cups are missing for the spindle, the spindle bearings feel smooth but probably could use replacement, smooth yet sound a little noisy. I will clean them and check once I get the spindle out, as the belt is pretty much knackered.

    As I had started working on the AT first, that is the one I powered up today with my Baldor VFD, and it works great. This machine has the .55KW 3 PH and it is so quiet compared to our bugger lathes, a big Cincinnati hydrashift and an old Voest. It ran very smooth but could get the half nut to engage, the carriage feed works though. May have to pull it apart or get some serious cleaner into all the works.

    I thing I just noticed is that the AT has a speed range of 60-2000RPM, the ATLH is 50-1680, not sure why but I will check all the documentation I have to see if it's motor, gears, pulley sizes etc. that could be different. I would prefer the higher speed one, and I will probably swap motors anyways as we will be keeping the long bed for sure, but may part with the AT one day though, however, you can never have too many lathes.

    Enough for now...time for dinner, then I'll add some more later.

    A few pictures of the days activities.

    Cheers
    Attached Images Attached Images

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Slightly left of Vernon, BC Canada
    Age
    61
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Here are a few of the items that came with the machines.

    I was very happy to see the milling slide in there, they were all hidden inside the machine's shelves and I didn't know they were there until I unloaded the lathes today as they were strapped front to front on the pallet.

    Yeah!
    Attached Images Attached Images

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    34

    Default

    Wow looks like you got yourself a great deal there (I wish there was a green with envy smiley)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Slightly left of Vernon, BC Canada
    Age
    61
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Darryn View Post
    Wow looks like you got yourself a great deal there (I wish there was a green with envy smiley)
    I was happy with it, they were asking $500 each which I gladly paid, considering all the stuff that came with them. About $150 in fuel and a day off work, it was a fun day. I think our dollars are about on par now, well, they both have QEII on the back anyway.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Slightly left of Vernon, BC Canada
    Age
    61
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Are these the original chucks that came with these? They both have them mounted currently.

    thx
    Attached Images Attached Images

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    35
    Posts
    1,522

    Default

    Yeah Pratt Burnerd are the OEM chucks.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    melbourne australia
    Posts
    3,228

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Kilohertz View Post
    I was happy with it, they were asking $500 each which I gladly paid
    Ha! That Hercus milling attachment alone would fetch $500 over here. You got a bargain.

    The ways on the ATLH look to be in excellent condition.
    Chris

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Southern Highlands NSW
    Posts
    1,894

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Kilohertz View Post
    I think I may pull the carriage to give it a good cleaning
    Wise decision.
    With any South Bend or Hercus bench lathe, occasionally removing the apron to clean out the clutch oil bath is good to do I think.
    As it is open at the top, it's prone to catching metal debris.
    That tends amongst other things, to prevent proper lubrication from the oil cup in the apron's front.
    You just can't get oil in there, as it's too clogged.
    There's a description of this job on a similar lathe to yours, here: http://steammachine.com/hercus/index.html
    - although the RH leadscrew bearing details are different.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Slightly left of Vernon, BC Canada
    Age
    61
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Well a fun day of tinkering has passed and I completely stripped the apron and rebuilt it, had lots of material jammed into the teeth, making for a few hard spots. Cleaned everything and greased and lubed it all as it went back together, looks great and everything works great. I will pull the saddle tomorrow and clean it as well. Thanks for the link, I also found a you tube link on a south bend 9, fellow walked thru a complete dismantle of the apron ( I think it was part of a whole rebuild of an SB9). I watched it this morning and it helped me understand how everything came apart.

    For me, this is as much fun as using the lathe, I just find it very relaxing to get out in the shop and rebuild stuff.

    More later.

    Cheers
    Attached Images Attached Images

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Slightly left of Vernon, BC Canada
    Age
    61
    Posts
    75

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jack620 View Post
    The ways on the ATLH look to be in excellent condition.
    Thanks Chris, they are pristine, the AT however has seen some more mileage, the flats of the ways are nice, the peaks....Mmmmmm May be a good opportunity for me to learn the art of scraping ways, I don't think this one is hardened.

    Cheers

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