Thread: another hercus member for the register

just got my first lathe home hercus model c serial number 5097. Think that makes it about a 1955 model. got 50+years of grunge to clean of to see the blue grey colour under neath . needs belts .has anyone used the link type belts so the head stock doesnt have to be dismantled??its missing most of the gears apart from those already fitted but hopefully enough can be salvaged elswhere. the leadscrew appears to be set up for metric threads(its got a tag on it saying 3mm pitch) maybe thats was just some where to hang it . the tail stock hand wheel is missing so theres plenty to do
aprt from these it appears to be usuable but time will tell .
pics to come when i get it cleaned up a bit

HI tannii51, Welcome to the Hercus Sub Forum. If you need a Copy of the hercus Textbook of Turning. I can Email it to you as a PDF File it is about 3.9MB in size. Good luck with Your Lathe. I own a Hercus Model A Plain Bearing Lathe.
All the Best Stewart steran50

Hi Tannii, welcome to the ever growing Hercus Forum as the holder of the register and the finder of spare parts or wreck a lathe for parts plus a supply of new old stock parts I can help you out if you have any queries just start a new thread and with all the brain power we now have nothing is impossible

Can you give us a bit of history on the old girl as it always make a bit more added to the collection of were it came from
so welcome once again
all the best Derek bitza500

Hi tanni,
I have used the link belts for lathes, bandsaws etc. They work well providing you use the same batch for the one belt. IE Purchase enough for the belt in one go.
I tried to make one longer with the same section, but obviously a different batch, and it did not run smoothly.
Regards,
Peter

thanks guys for the welcome, thanks for the offer stewart i got a bit enthusiastic and already downloaded the hercus book and also the southbend one.got the belts today and used up a can of carby cleaner to get rid of some of the grunge and i can now see numbers and scales .what do other hercusites use to clean the 50+yr old oil dirt etc off its pretty stubborn.One stupid question ....the bit that holds the tool holder ( dont know what its called has a 180 degree scale around the bottom where its fixed to the cross slide, if this is put on 90degrees its not at 90 degrees to the travel of the carriage .
motor is a 1hp 3 speed ( ex airconditioner fan motor)lucky i have a spare one not sure its going to do the job but we live in hope. had alook at gears all ok except the small one on the bull gear has 2 teeth missing on opposite sides. chuck came off with no dramas more wip in a few days

Originally Posted by tanii51

thanks guys for the welcome, thanks for the offer stewart i got a bit enthusiastic and already downloaded the hercus book and also the southbend one.got the belts today and used up a can of carby cleaner to get rid of some of the grunge and i can now see numbers and scales .what do other hercusites use to clean the 50+yr old oil dirt etc off its pretty stubborn.One stupid question ....the bit that holds the tool holder ( dont know what its called has a 180 degree scale around the bottom where its fixed to the cross slide, if this is put on 90degrees its not at 90 degrees to the travel of the carriage .
motor is a 1hp 3 speed ( ex airconditioner fan motor)lucky i have a spare one not sure its going to do the job but we live in hope. had alook at gears all ok except the small one on the bull gear has 2 teeth missing on opposite sides. chuck came off with no dramas more wip in a few days

Hi Tanii, if you are going to rebuild like me I used Caustic soda 3 packets to 15litres of water and it takes paint dirt grot and grime and is available at the supermarket
but buy som heavy duty gloves larger that your hand then buy some kitchen gloves as if the glove splits and they do it has a rather stinging effect

once the part is cleaned get a bucket of hot water a old scrubbing brush or those cheapy 3 mini wire brushes clean what is left over in the hot water and just dry with a rag
I did this 4 days ago the parts are all bare castings and still no signs of rust starting yet
But goggles gloves and mask and water incase you get some on your skin

all the best Derek