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Rob Turbo
3rd Jul 2016, 02:46 AM
Hello, I'm Rob, I have a few small hobby machines, most of the work I do on them is for them, although I do make the odd part for other things such as car parts and air rifles, it's mostly the work I enjoy, not so much the finished part. I properly got into metalwork after a motorbike accident around 6 years ago which left me less active than I used to be. Apart from moving heavy lumps of metal around it's a good way of filling spare time without pushing myself too far!

Before that I'd done bits and pieces with my dad's machines, he has a round head Colchester Student, a Perfecto (similar to a Myford ML4 I believe) and a Murad (Antarctica I think) lathe, and an Axminster (Sieg) X1L milling machine, as well as lots of woodworking machinery/tools which I have no interest in so don't know the makes/models!

When I started collecting my own machines I started with a bargain Clarke CL250M (Sieg C1) that I picked up for £30 with a set of 38 cutting tools and 3 jaw chuck with a roughly homemade key and no external jaws, I spent way more time on it than it's worth, stripping it down, and rebuilding it as accurate as possible, I'm very impressed with the results for the size of it. I bought a set of screw cutting gears, a tail stock chuck and a 4 jaw independent chuck, then a new 3 jaw chuck so I had a proper key and both sets of jaws, 80mm chucks can be had really cheap! This is perfectly sized to sit at the desk and work on little bits and pieces on days when standing isn't really an option!

Next up I bought an Amadeal AMA210VG that needed a new motor. Instead of just replacing the motor like for like, I fitted a 1HP 3 phase motor along with an inverter, wired up to the standard controls, it's still not finished, I still need to make an enclosure for the inverter and the control for the tachometer, wire up the potentiometer instead of using the one on the inverter and finish the belt tensioner, it can be used and will probably be finished within the next week or so. I've also fitted a quick change tool post and have a number plans for it, including make a better way of locking the compound slide in place without having to wind it nearly all the way back to get at the 2 allen bolts. I also bought a 4 jaw independent chuck for this lathe, I used it for one job then took it apart to make better screw retainers for it.

Now on to milling machines, I have 2 in progress!

First is parts of a Dore Westbury MK1, yet another cheap acquisition, consisting of the complete head and a half length column in poor condition. A lot of the work is well done with a couple of exceptions, the pinion that raises and lowers the spindle is poorly made and the slots to drive the spindle veer off in random directions about 20mm from the bottom. I have solutions to both of those problems, as well as a few ideas for the column, but that's for another discussion. For the table I've bought a second hand Axminster CT1 compound table, which will be bolted to some 20mm thick steel plate, along with the base for the column. I'll also be using a 3 phase motor and inverter with this, I have 5 1HP inverters that I picked up cheap because they needed repairing (starting to see a pattern here? Yup, I like fixing things!!).

Second is the most fun (in my head anyway!), since getting the CL250M I've liked the idea of the CL251MH, the milling attachment for the lathe, it's basically a Sieg X1 mill head with a round column and the motor is controlled by the driver in the lathe (it plugs into the late and you switch between the late motor and mill motor with a switch on the front of the lathe). The problem is the cost of them, even more so now that they have been discontinued, the few places that have them want around double the original price, they very rarely come up for sale used and when they do they sell for way more than I could justify paying for such a small mill. Bringing me onto my plan to make my own, from the remains of a cheap drill press that I was given, I think I'm going to save the details of that for a project thread!

All of this, plus a drill press, bench grinder, couple of 4" rotary tables and my soldering/desoldering stations live in my converted loft, hence all small machines.

I appear to have got carried away with my introduction, I'm having a resting weekend so expect the odd essay! If you read all the way through, I hope you found it interesting, if you've just skimmed to the end for a summary, I've got a couple of small machines that remove material in various ways and I like playing with them :U

steve.rsa
3rd Jul 2016, 10:04 AM
Welcome, I'd love to see some photos of your shed sometime.

KBs PensNmore
3rd Jul 2016, 01:58 PM
Welcome to a top forum Rob. A very good intro about you and your machinery, it gives us a good insight as to what you're capable of. Did you take any pis of your rebuilding of the machines, as we LOVE seeing WIP (Work In Progress) reports.
If you didn't, doesn't matter, as no doubt you will in future, we hope.
I wouldn't mind seeing a couple of pics of how you've set up your machines so that it is workable for you, as by reading your intro you can't stand for long? We have a few like that on this forum, so you're no orphan.
Regards
Kryn

Rob Turbo
4th Jul 2016, 02:12 AM
I did take some photos of the rebuild, I've just had a dig through my photo folder to find them, I could have sworn I took more!

This is the CL250M as I got it (on my parents' kitchen table!!),

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The power feed knob was missing,

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So I made a new one,

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Added a cut up cheap digital vernier as a cross slide DRO,

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Here's one of it coming apart, I did have it completely stripped down but for some reason I can't find or didn't take pictures,

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Then as if by magic it's all back together again,

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I bought a MT2 test bar and used it when refitting the head to get it as straight as possible, I can't remember off the top of my head how close I got it, but for the work I do on it it's close enough!

Now onto the AMA210VG, when I bought it it was filthy, it was delivered on a pallet along with all the metal and plastic shavings and thick black gunk that had been collected over the years, the original tools, change gears and external jaws were all there, somewhere, buried under all the mess, I must have been in too much shock to take photos, or they were so embarrassed of the mess that they deleted themselves, either way the first photos I have are of the cleaned bits going back together! There's not much story to the rebuild to go with the photos so I'll just let them describe themselves,


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The last photo is how it stood for a few months at least, no motor or controls, since then I've fitted the 3 phase motor, wired it up and used it regularly, there's still work to be done on it, at the minute I'm fitting brass gib strips to the saddle so it's out of action for a bit. I do have photos of the 3 phase conversion, I must not have copied them to the computer, I'll try finding them later and maybe make a thread about the conversion. The room is no longer this tidy, once I've tidied up I'll take some new photos of the setup.

It's not so much that I can't stand for long, I have trouble with my hip, when it's bad I have to be very careful what I do, it can escalate to being stuck in bed very quickly if I'm not careful, the CL250M is so small that when it gets bad I can sit at the desk and easily reach everything without twisting or stretching, it's bolted to a piece of kitchen worktop and isn't fastened to the desk so I can move it around easily instead of having to move around it. It keeps me busy when I need to take it easy!

Steamwhisperer
4th Jul 2016, 07:49 AM
Welcome to the forum Rob
There is only really one requirement on this forum and it is pictures :D:D (oh, and words can help)
You have joined one of the best (if not the best) forums around and I look forward to your future projects.

Phil

old1955
6th Jul 2016, 05:19 PM
Welcome to the forum Rob.