Thread: Demco lathe countershaft mounting

Hi all,

a few years back I scored myself a Demco lathe for $150.
No motor, pulleys, countershaft brackets etc as I'm fairly certain it was an overhead shaft model.
At that price I'm not going to complain.

238573611_1323686951394640_94793626479448909_n.jpg

Over time I have scrabbled a few pieces together to be able to weld up a leather belted countershaft.

The metalworking part of my shed is not conducive to mounting stuff on walls or ceilings, so it seems best to have it on a frame with a rear overhanging bracket to best deal with directly overhead,
but now that I'm looking at the legs I'm thinking I've got some 4" x 3/8" angle that I could make a boxed apron around the top of the legs to bolt or weld the bracket to.

It looks like I could also get a slight rear angle before the belt would come to grief with the external casting.
I haven't seen too many models that would have been mounted like this on these legs so just had concerns with any balance problems.

Before I get started has anyone else taken this route with an overhead model and can offer advice, or perhaps a "fer chrissakes don't do what I did".

Any advice appreciated,
Freddy

Hi Appleshed,
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Grahame

Hi

Nice looking vintage lathe, it has the appearance of a early Colchester Bantam, the tailstock. link Colchester Lathes - 1920s

I think DEMCO were a agency rather than a brand, they imported machinery and sold it on ?

I have a Colchester Master from the same period , the serial nr. suggests it was made late 1929 to early 1930.

Welcome - that looks to be in pretty tidy condition given its age.
I have an old Senecca Falls machine that was originally a treadle machine and very similar in layout to yours.
One of the more compact motor conversions for one of these that I have come across was from this chap in the US.

Star+Lathe.jpg

This has the motor mounted between the legs where the original treadle mechanism was fitted with a countershaft arranged on an over-centre mechanism on the rear. I think the position of the motor has been chosen to offset the countershaft set-up to some degree.

Drive+Setup.jpg

I have exactly the same model lathe (sadly not as flashy) but it has been removed from the cast iron legs and mounted on a welded-up table.

IMG_2623.jpg

This has allowed a countershaft and motor to be mounted on the rear of the bed - something that would be too off-centre with the original legs. This motor is quite heavy being an ancient repulsion motor so would possibly be viable with a lighter modern motor.

IMG_1800.jpg

Ray

First up, thankyou Grahame for the welcome!


@morrisman I think Demco was definitely a rebadger- it would be nice to find out where they sourced from, the Colchester Co definitely looks close.
Tried looking for a serial number, in Southbend locations but no joy.
Perhaps I might have luck with Colchester locations....

I was picking it up sight unseen and thinking at that price it had to be close to a homemade woodlathe, so was a nice surprise!


I had discounted a treadle model as I didn't think the belt would be going over the leadscrew and some of the southbend catalogs looked as though optional extras may have gone there and interfered with that kind of layout.
It also looked as though the legs had purely ornamental webbing and didn't have any mounting holes, but his one has a fairly similar casting to prove me wrong!



@Ray-s
I've found a picture of a Moody lathe that has a platform mounted, a lot of these lathes have the headstock over the leg making it nice'n'easy-
unfortunately my one has an even greater distance between the headstock and the leg.



it may still be possible to extend the apron out a bit (perhaps even have the angle facing upwards to make a rudimentary tool well/tray) and have a motor plate hinged underneath off the protruding extension.
I've been lucky pulling apart an old Ronaldson Tippett water pump in that I now have a very long 7/8" shaft if I need the extra length in accomplishing this.
Unfortunately it has a machined cog smack bang in the middle that I'll have to work around as I find myself in a chickeneggish situation

Originally Posted by Ray-s

This has allowed a countershaft and motor to be mounted on the rear of the bed

Ray, hard to see from the pic, but how much separation is there between the belt pulley and the motor pulleys, and have you found any issues with mounting the motor pulley on that side with the chuck?

I did have a previous post, it must be on approval while this one wasn't- hopefully it'll pop up

The clearance between the belts is a lot more than that end-on photo implies. I hung an old sheet behind the lathe to give you something to contrast against (rather than the mess on the bench behind it).

IMG_1443.jpg

The motor drive was mounted on this end to avoid having the drive belt and pulley close to the back-gear handle that you can see in the this photo from the other end. You can also see how big this old 1HP reluctance motor is - you could definitely get something more modern that was heaps lighter and would help with the top-heaviness.

IMG_1445.jpg

This rather dark photo shows the clearance of the lathe drive belt when fitted to the largest pulley - there isn't a huge amount of room but at the current angle to the countershaft there is enough to clear the belt and the alligator clip joiner.

IMG_1444.jpg

There would be many ways to skin this cat of course but this particular set-up was very workable for me over quite a few years.

Here is a photo of another Senecca Falls machine with what I think is a factory fitted drive. That has the motor drive at the other end but well above the back-gear handle.

IMG_0717.jpg

Hmmm,

if that's worked out fine for you then I might have my drive pulley on that side too...

That last photo definitely looks the way to go- clearance for the belt on the casing with that angle and height along with the right amount of balance...

Hi Appleshed
Colchester usually stamped the serial nr. on the RH end of the rear bed ways, on the flat section.

@morrisman

Thanks! you were right- it's a 1936 Colchester Bantam.

I was thinking same, same, different due to the slightly different gearcover and halfnut lever.


This is a pic of a converted one- good to see I was headed in the right direction
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain lol.



https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:I...-ColLathe3.jpg



It's a shame it's unlikely the belt would fit directly downward as I had a really nice bronze bush housing that would have fit nicely into the leg, but oh well....