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  1. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    Tasmania
    Age
    48
    Posts
    30

    Default

    Looks fantastic! it's nice when things line up.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Melbourne Australia
    Age
    60
    Posts
    37

    Default

    The drive unit was the last major chunk requiring attention. This mostly just required cleaning prepping and painting; however the countershaft assembly was in poor shape. The stepped pulley had obviously been struck with something and was cracked, the shaft was not original and heavily scored, and the bearings were worn oval by about 3mm. I had already sourced a second-hand pulley and some re-bushed bearings, and AMH provided a new Shaft so that all went together easily.

    Drive unit.jpg Countershaft etc installed.jpg

    I decided to stick with the original 3 phase set up as I had everything I needed. The motor tested fine so got a coat of paint. The original reversing switch was toast, but I had another suitable one which I set up on a fabricated bracket with the leaver set at 90 deg for ease of use. This made the leaver vulnerable to being bumped so I bent up a guard from a large plated tent peg I had lying about. I won’t go into details about the electrics except to say that having an industrial electrician in the family is a good thing.

    Switch installed.jpg

    Initial runs revealed a serious vibration in the countershaft and the large pulley had a wobble – maybe that had copped a wack too. Replacing it with a second-hand one improved things a lot but I feel the shaft assembly would benefit from balancing.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Melbourne Australia
    Age
    60
    Posts
    37

    Default

    I had been worried the headstock bearings might be a little tight so I ran the lathe for twenty minutes or so at high speed but they barely got any warmer to touch, however having the belts whipping around unguarded affirmed my early decision to source and fit a full set of the ‘optional’ guards!

    The lathe came with a factory guard on the motor pulley which had obviously been later (poorly) fitted by the owner. Mick Moyles was able to supply a correct front guard for the change pullies for a plain bearing machine and Mal at AMH had the rear guard. Both fibreglass guards required repairs and extraneous holes filled. I sanded them back to the gelcoat and patched and filled as required. Oddly enough one was painted green over a yellow gel coat and the other was painted yellow over a green gelcoat.

    20200808_174725.jpg 20200816_082043.jpg

    Fitting these was straight forward. I needed to shorten one leg of the front cover’s hinge to get it to sit down over the headstock correctly and drill and tap the top of the drive support for the attach bolts

    20201107_101256 1.jpg

    I had the original gear cover and Mal supplied an inner cast iron guard from later machines, but the change gear banjo had to drilled and tapped to fit it.

    20201107_101331 (2).jpg

    With all the bits in place and the lathe running smoothly now I can start on the tooling...
    Attached Images Attached Images

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,436

    Default

    Hi Brett, Guys,

    I think that I would have painted over that yellow as well !

    But it does look quite decorative.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Melbourne Australia
    Age
    60
    Posts
    37

    Default

    The lathe came with 3 and 4 jaw chucks, a face plate and a couple of dog plates. Both chucks had plenty of character, but the 3 jaw was VERY worn and I could have measured the run out with a ruler! I stripped down and cleaned the chucks and reassembled them.

    The four jaw came up well but unsurprisingly this did not improve the three jaw’s condition, so an alternative was sought. I settled on a 125mm unit from Hare and Forbes. This looked nicely made when I unpacked it but felt a little rough to open and close the jaws. I dismantled it cleaning all the parts carefully and then going over all the working surfaces and sharp edges with a soft wire wheel before another thorough clean and reassembly with lots of oil. The action is now nice and smooth.

    I found some serious runout on the backplate that had been fitted to the original three jaw chuck. There is a huge cut in the front of the old chuck which must have been caused by a cutting tool stopping it. This probably explains the runout, stripped spindle teeth, and replaced back gears…

    New Chuck.jpg

    With the backplate machined true and rebated, the new chuck fitted up nicely and a quick check indicated it was true with negligible runout. Oddly, the four-jaw chuck was found to be installed slightly off centre. I don’t even know how a backplate rebate can be machined off centre? There was plenty of meat still so that was easily fixed.

    The Lathe came with a fixed steady and a multi position stop, and I picked up a thread chasing dial on eBay. These were all straightforward to freshen up. The thread dial just needed a new gear.

    Steady and Stop.jpg

    I had already acquired a set of the later larger diameter cross and compound slide dials from AMH. With the lathe now functioning, the new dials were set up with a 0.001” clearance using the procedure in the Hercus Manual.

    Original Small Dials.jpg New large dials.jpg

    The larger dials are definitely well worth it, however I quickly realised that I needed better lighting over the work. Who knew Ikea stocks period machinist lamps in (almost) Hercus grey – only $15! Just had to bolt the supplied wall fitting to the motor support using the old switch mounting holes.

    20201107_101348.jpg

  6. #21
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Melbourne Australia
    Age
    60
    Posts
    37

    Default

    Hi All,

    A vacant hole is as much of a worry as left-over parts, so I am wondering if someone can tell me what the threaded hole (circled in blue) in the headstock is for?

    Inked20210406_111925 (002)_LI.jpg

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    102

    Default

    Well I just popped out to the shed to solve the mystery for you but as it turns out mine doesn't have such a hole!

    Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

  8. #23
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Melbourne Australia
    Age
    60
    Posts
    37

    Default

    Thanks Ratters, it must be an optional hole!

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Adelaide
    Posts
    239

    Default

    The threaded hole might have been used for an attachment of some sort, I had bought a model B that was set up as a turret lathe and it had a hand lever operated collet chuck on it that had a bolt in a similar position. Awesome job, the lathe looks fantastic.

    Steve

  10. #25
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Melbourne Australia
    Age
    60
    Posts
    37

    Default

    Thanks Steve, I'm really pleased with how has come together. You are probably onto something regarding possible accessory attachment; My lathe's original bed (Serial B5540) was stamped ‘E4’ at the headstock end (?), and ‘BS’ at the tailstock end. I did read somewhere that the ‘S’ indicates a ‘Special’ and wouldn’t have a tailstock - one possible reason for the older tailstock that came with the lathe.

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Adelaide
    Posts
    239

    Default

    I had a craftsman that was an S number, it came with the turret and no gear train or lead screw.

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    64
    Posts
    221

    Default

    I am pretty sure that hole is for a bar to stop the collet holder from rotating. I installed the collet holder on my 1943 vintage C model. And it had no hole. I took a deep breath and drilled/tapped one. Works fine. Yours may be Hercus factory installed or after, that I can't tell you. See photo. Cheers, Tony

    Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

  13. #28
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Melbourne Australia
    Age
    60
    Posts
    37

    Default

    Thanks Tony for the image. That looks like a perfect match to the location and size of the hole in mine. I'd guess it was made in the factory - its certainly precisely done. I have a collet holder with my lathe, the standard Hercus one with the hand wheel on the end, but I only have a small selection of collets. I'm not even sure what constitutes a full set?

    Your lathe is a very tidy looking example!

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    64
    Posts
    221

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Brett C View Post
    Thanks Tony for the image. That looks like a perfect match to the location and size of the hole in mine. I'd guess it was made in the factory - its certainly precisely done. I have a collet holder with my lathe, the standard Hercus one with the hand wheel on the end, but I only have a small selection of collets. I'm not even sure what constitutes a full set?

    Your lathe is a very tidy looking example!
    Brett, thanks for the compliment. I don't think mine is anywhere as good looking as yours - you've done a top job restoring it.
    I've just set mine up as a turret/capstan machine. Photo att. I had to restore the various accessories, including the collet holder. Those 3C collets are hard to find, and not cheap.
    Still looking for a Coventry die head to cut some external threads - another set of hens teeth to find!
    Cheers, Tony

    Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

  15. #30
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Melbourne Australia
    Age
    60
    Posts
    37

    Default

    With the new dials now set up correctly I found that there was significant backlash in the Cross (20 thou) and compound slides (12 thou). This seemed consistent across the full range of travel, so I figured that most of the wear was in the nuts. New ones from AMH took the backlash down to a couple of thou in most positions with maybe a one or two more at the worst point on the cross-slide.

    The next upgrade was to install a Wedge style AXA quick change tool-post. I obtained mine from M&G productions, who are very close to me. (the warehouse manager dropped my order off his way home!)

    The supplied clamping plate needs to be modified to slip into the large T-slot on the Hercus compound. This involves narrowing the block and rebating the two top edges to create a large T-nut. This is obviously a job for a milling machine. My milling options either involved a two-hour return drive or drawing up the mod carefully and leaving it with a local friend to take into his workplace.

    I reminded myself that there is another way, as decades ago I spent the first months of my apprenticeship learning hand fitting – hacksawing and filing. At the time none of us could see the point of this and bemoaned the tedious accuracy that was demanded: points off for any dimension exceeding plus or minus one thou! It took me a long time to understand the value in this training beyond having a ridiculously accurately dimensioned drill gauge.

    20201228_125117.jpg 20201228_134451.jpg

    I laid out the cuts on the plate and found a small block of steel that was true to use as a guide for the hacksaw. This was carefully clamped for each cut in turn to minimise the amount of filing needed. The whole operation only took about an hour or so.

    20201228_141732.jpg 20201228_141748.jpg

    I’m very pleased how with the toolpost works in operation and certainly allows a range of tool sizes and options beyond what the lantern post can handle. It does however displace the tool about 40mm towards the chuck. This point is a bit of a stretch for the Tailstock with a standard dead centre but the extra length of the new live centre deals neatly with this issue 😉

    20201228_143508.jpg 20201228_144249.jpg

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