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
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