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Thread: QUALOS lathe

  1. #1
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    Default QUALOS lathe

    Spotted this cute little geared head lathe on EPAY . It is listed on the lathe uk site, and it was manufactured in Melbourne . METAL LATHE QUALOS AUSTRALIAN MADE | eBay

  2. #2
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    Default

    Looks like a great buy for someone who is need for a lathe.
    Good find morris

  3. #3
    Metmachmad is offline Turning useful pieces of steel into scrap metal.
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    Default

    I've got one of those lathes, I think it is the B model. They were a good lathe in their day, but I suppopse it is like everything else, it depends on the condition it is in now, and that is a bit hard to assess without seeing it in person.
    Last edited by Metmachmad; 29th Oct 2011 at 10:51 PM. Reason: poor speling
    Turning useful pieces of steel into scrap metal.

  4. #4
    Metmachmad is offline Turning useful pieces of steel into scrap metal.
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    This Qualos Junior lateh has been relisted on Evilbay for the same starting price as last time, as it did not receive any bids last time around. This lastest auction ends on 09/Jan/2013, some 15 months since it was first listed.

    Personally, I think the starting price is too high, as it is near completely dismantled. Who knows what might be missing?
    Qualos Junior Toolmakers Lathe | eBay
    Turning useful pieces of steel into scrap metal.

  5. #5
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    Sep 2013
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    Melbourne
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    Default New to Forum- Just obtained a 10" Qualos lathe

    Good Day,

    Just joined this forum on recommendation of fellow member.

    I have just obtained a 10" x 33" Geared head Qualos lathe. (see attached). Belonged to the late husband of a good friend and she decided to downsize her home and as her two boys did not want it I was the next person she thought might like it. Bit of an understatement! It has sat idle for over 7 years since his passing. I am no fitter and turner, (just an old truck restorer) but it seems in pretty good shape. Brother in law, who is a fitter and turner, and forum member advised me what to look out for.

    It is very complete too, especially for something 60+ years old. Includes faceplate, 3 and 4 jaw chucks, tailstock chuck, coolant pump, thread chasing dial, tool holders and bits, keys, and sliding two point steady. It is powered by a 1.1 Hp single phase motor so I don't need 3 phase to use it. Power is same as original 3 phase motor according to the original manual that even came with it!

    It was manufactured sometime after 1944 and before June 1951 as the manual states it was leveled on June 12, 1951 in the notes.

    Think I will just give it a good tidy up rather than a restoration. Luckily lots of oil mixed with dust on it has preserved it very well. Photo is the "before" photo when it was still at our friends house.

    I have always wanted a metal lathe since my days in high school metal shop in the sixties in the US where the South Bend 9" was in practically every school. Only took until my 64th year to get one.

    No doubt will be asking a few questions in this forum as time goes on.

    Cheers,
    Attached Images Attached Images

  6. #6
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    Nice machine leave it be in its working clothes,a neighbor here has one identical almost worn out was his father's who was an old school auto electrician.it gets used by him for that odd job when come handy or he comes up to me to use a bigger machine Cheers and welcome plenty of old hands here to help you out. John.

  7. #7
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    Default Jacques Hi

    Quote Originally Posted by Jacqualos View Post
    Good Day,

    Just joined this forum on recommendation of fellow member.

    I have just obtained a 10" x 33" Geared head Qualos lathe. (see attached). Belonged to the late husband of a good friend and she decided to downsize her home and as her two boys did not want it I was the next person she thought might like it. Bit of an understatement! It has sat idle for over 7 years since his passing. I am no fitter and turner, (just an old truck restorer) but it seems in pretty good shape. Brother in law, who is a fitter and turner, and forum member advised me what to look out for.

    It is very complete too, especially for something 60+ years old. Includes faceplate, 3 and 4 jaw chucks, tailstock chuck, coolant pump, thread chasing dial, tool holders and bits, keys, and sliding two point steady. It is powered by a 1.1 Hp single phase motor so I don't need 3 phase to use it. Power is same as original 3 phase motor according to the original manual that even came with it!

    It was manufactured sometime after 1944 and before June 1951 as the manual states it was leveled on June 12, 1951 in the notes.

    Think I will just give it a good tidy up rather than a restoration. Luckily lots of oil mixed with dust on it has preserved it very well. Photo is the "before" photo when it was still at our friends house.

    I have always wanted a metal lathe since my days in high school metal shop in the sixties in the US where the South Bend 9" was in practically every school. Only took until my 64th year to get one.

    No doubt will be asking a few questions in this forum as time goes on.

    Cheers,
    Hi Jacques .. welcome

    Glad you made it to this forum..... heaps of help and advice here for you ...

    I would leave it as is for now and use it ............ lots of swarth will be happening soon around Longwarry !

    how is the F15 A coming along ( its a 4X4 WW2 Ford truck made in Canada ..Blitz )

    Mike

    Mike

  8. #8
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by morrisman View Post
    Hi Jacques .. welcome

    Glad you made it to this forum..... heaps of help and advice here for you ...

    I would leave it as is for now and use it ............ lots of swarth will be happening soon around Longwarry !

    how is the F15 A coming along ( its a 4X4 WW2 Ford truck made in Canada ..Blitz )

    Mike

    Mike
    Hi Mike,

    Thanks for the advice of a few months back to join- I didn't want to rush into anything! Yes, I think I will just give it a good clean and oil change and keep my restorations to military things on 4 wheels. That's going a bit slow at present along with a lot of other things due to a tragic accident my son-in-law had which has left him a quadriplegic 5 months ago. This is the first project I have taken on since then and it has been good for my mental well being.

    Opened up top cover yesterday to free up the stuck gear change levers. A good spray of Penetrene and a very light tap on a brass drift was all that required to free the stuck gears on their shafts. Oil, if you can call it that, looked like treacle and that was the only thing keeping them from moving. After sucking out half of it I found a drain plug at the rear of the gear case but when I opened it nothing came out due to about 10 mm of sludge in the bottom of the case. Bit of prodding with a skewer and pushing with an old paintbrush got a lot of it out of the drain hole.

    After seeing what 60 year old oil can do to trans and diff gears of WW2 trucks (pitting over 1mm deep) I was pleased to see no pitting on any of the lathe gears. Now the cleaning part, hopefully without having to strip the gear case down. Believe there are lots of opinions out there on what not to do and how to do it, or not even changing oil altogether. I am open to suggestions. Thought a few litres of kero and a soft brush and lots of flushing it out may be the way to go. Note how Qualos loves red paint inside the case and between the webs of the bed.

    All the best,

    Jacques
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  9. #9
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    Default

    Looks good Jacques.

    Myself, I've got a belt driven Qualos lathe, presumably from the 40's. Serial number in the 80's. It has a bit of an odd taper in the spindle, not a morse taper but I've never quite figured out what. Which is a bit odd as the tailstock is a MT2. Then again the tailstock is a bit odd as it has the logo of a well known english company on it (the name eludes me right now). I would've assumed that Qualos would've made the tailstock too. So, perhaps then it is a replacement ram? My lathe has the red paint between the webbing on the casting too.

    My lathe is quite the basic machine, no keyway in the leadscrew for instance, no power cross-feed, etc. Seems to do the job though, and it was cheap as chips, so as a learner there will be no complaints from me.

    Best of luck with it,
    Joe

  10. #10
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jacqualos View Post

    Believe there are lots of opinions out there on what not to do and how to do it, or not even changing oil altogether. I am open to suggestions.

    All the best,

    Jacques
    Hi Jacques

    kero would be fine - or diesel . I would use the modern oil in it , the non detergent stuff as it does not hold any metal particles in itself . And use a magnet on the end of the filler plug , to grab any tiny bits of metal from the gear teeth .

    It looks to be in very good shape for its age . The bakelite hand wheels are rather odd .

    Mike

  11. #11
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    Default Moving the lathe

    Quote Originally Posted by morrisman View Post
    Hi Jacques

    kero would be fine - or diesel . I would use the modern oil in it , the non detergent stuff as it does not hold any metal particles in itself . And use a magnet on the end of the filler plug , to grab any tiny bits of metal from the gear teeth .

    It looks to be in very good shape for its age . The bakelite hand wheels are rather odd .

    Mike
    Hi Mike,

    Yes those Bakelite handwheels are odd but original. The manual and sales literature of the times show them as Bakelite. Considering how well the machine is made it seems a bit of a shortcoming. Only my tailstock hand wheel is not-original. Bet someone pulled the tailstock out too far and dropped it breaking the wheel in the process. Would like to find an original replacement but it's not a high priority. (something else to look out for at swap meets besides Blitz parts)

    As a matter of interest for everyone here is how I moved the lathe using a 4 x 6 trailer. See attached photos.

    Was concerned about high C of G and possible toppling over enroute home if I did not remove the legs.
    I slung it with two 1 metre poly slings at the webs but was also concerned it would topple once free of the legs as most of the weight is above the lifting point so I put a piece of pipe in the jaws to the tailstock with a Morse taper drill fitting inside it. (Note: pipe is a Ford Blitz Grill guard). With the slings on either side of the pipe and lifting effectively from the bottom of the lathe there was no ability for it to topple once the legs were removed and the weight was taken.
    Took the weight, removed leg bolts thanks to a 7/16" Whitworth spanner I was able to borrow from my son-in-law, lowered lathe and tray onto trestles, removed tray, and lifted lathe into trailer. Those heavy slings around the tray were just a bit of overkill and not tightened, light rope would have done the job but they were with my lashings and rope wasn't so I used them.
    I put those wooden outriggers on it to prevent it toppling over in the trailer as there is no way to lash it with any downward force inside the box. The rubber underneath the bases and lots of lashings completed the job.
    Those heavy duty castors on the legs too were my means of moving it away from the wall where it has been to the other side of the garage to load it onto the trailer. I had done that job previously to the day of removal along with stripping off the motor and other bits once clear of the wall.
    All went well- no movement and safely home without any new scratches!

    All the best,

    Jacques
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  12. #12
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    Default First Qualos Questions?

    While cleaning up the change gears this weekend I found the lead screw would not turn by hand by the lower gear at the change lever box. After a bit of inspection of the screw I decided to back off the nut at the tailstock end and give it a gentle tap with a nylon mallet. It moved about two mm and that was all it took to break the hold of the old oil in the bushings or bearings it runs in. Re tightened it as per manual and it turns easily.

    I set it up for the slowest feeds of 60 to 32 TPI as per table using 20-100-50-80 teeth change gears.
    In so doing I noticed a need for a spacer at the change lever shaft to prevent the 80 tooth gear touching the 50 tooth gear. Looked through all the bits that came with it with no luck so that may be the only thing missing.

    So questions by this rank novice:

    Am I right about the spacer or am I missing something in the setup? If a spacer is needed I know what the first project will be on the lathe.

    Top 20 tooth gear does not fully engage 100 tooth gear. Is that OK? Everything seems correct, no bent arm, all gears flush with ends of shafts. Just the way it was designed maybe?

    Is there any rules for the engagement of the gears as in how tight should the arm with the gears on it be brought up against the other gears before tightening the arm?

    Any recommendations for what lube to use on open gears like these? Presently just covered in Lanotec to prevent rust until I find a lubricant for them.

    All info gratefully received.

    Cheers,

    Jacques
    Attached Images Attached Images

  13. #13
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    Default

    I usually go for about 2/3 -3/4 of the teeth engaged then run the machine and adjust if they are still noisy. It is really just a feel thing.

    Nice uzz31(?) Btw )

  14. #14
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    Default Spacer

    Quote Originally Posted by Jacqualos View Post
    While cleaning up the change gears this weekend I found the lead screw would not turn by hand by the lower gear at the change lever box. After a bit of inspection of the screw I decided to back off the nut at the tailstock end and give it a gentle tap with a nylon mallet. It moved about two mm and that was all it took to break the hold of the old oil in the bushings or bearings it runs in. Re tightened it as per manual and it turns easily.

    I set it up for the slowest feeds of 60 to 32 TPI as per table using 20-100-50-80 teeth change gears.
    In so doing I noticed a need for a spacer at the change lever shaft to prevent the 80 tooth gear touching the 50 tooth gear. Looked through all the bits that came with it with no luck so that may be the only thing missing.

    So questions by this rank novice:

    Am I right about the spacer or am I missing something in the setup? If a spacer is needed I know what the first project will be on the lathe.

    Top 20 tooth gear does not fully engage 100 tooth gear. Is that OK? Everything seems correct, no bent arm, all gears flush with ends of shafts. Just the way it was designed maybe?

    Is there any rules for the engagement of the gears as in how tight should the arm with the gears on it be brought up against the other gears before tightening the arm?

    Any recommendations for what lube to use on open gears like these? Presently just covered in Lanotec to prevent rust until I find a lubricant for them.

    All info gratefully received.

    Cheers,

    Jacques
    jACQUES

    On my Sheraton the spacer you refer to is actually the small gear that is opposite the larger gear e.g., side to side, as in a compound gear ... hope you follow that !

    chain saw bar oil is suitable for the gears

    you need some backlash in the gear train ............ it sounds OK

  15. #15
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    Default Qualos change gear spacer

    Quote Originally Posted by morrisman View Post
    jACQUES

    On my Sheraton the spacer you refer to is actually the small gear that is opposite the larger gear e.g., side to side, as in a compound gear ... hope you follow that !

    chain saw bar oil is suitable for the gears

    you need some backlash in the gear train ............ it sounds OK
    Thanks for that Mike. Funny, I had a thought chainsaw oil might do with its stickiness, and I happen to have some on hand!

    Yes, noted how when I got it, the 20 tooth gear was used as a spacer in the original setup when the 50 tooth gear was the driver but when set up for slowest feeds using the 20 tooth gear as a driver the only remaining spare gear, 40 tooth is too big to clear the 100 tooth gear as a spacer. At least the set is complete with the 20-40-50-80-100 teeth change gears so if a spacer is all that's missing I don't think I've done too bad. Relatively easily rectified.

    Cheers,

    Jacques

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