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Thread: QUALOS lathe

  1. #31
    Metmachmad is offline Turning useful pieces of steel into scrap metal.
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jmebgo View Post
    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?,Joe
    I just went back and re-read this thread and noticed that you said you had an odd taper in the spindle. Not sure if mine was an odd taper, but it had been butchered for some reason, (maybe because of an odd spindle taper) so I machined mine out to a MT3. It works good now.I would guess that your tailstock has been replaced at some time for a now unknown reason.
    Turning useful pieces of steel into scrap metal.

  2. #32
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    Default Qualos lathe on Ebay

    Quote Originally Posted by morrisman View Post
    Did you spot this Jacques ?

    1940
    Had another look at this lathe- interesting with the casters! I did the same thing but only to move it out of its original resting place, not to use them full time. Might be a bit hard getting it level.

    Also noted the clutch engagement lever is missing. Hope the electric motor has a lot of initial starting torque to start it with the headstock engaged!

    Cheers,

    Jacques

  3. #33
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    Default Finally up and running

    Quote Originally Posted by morrisman View Post
    Hey Jacques

    Get some metal in that chuck and make some swarth . It is no good just looking at it I warn you, it is addictive and there isn't any cure ... Mike
    Hi Mike,

    Finally got the lathe up and running. Took until two weeks ago just to get a good drying day to finish painting the legs and underside of the chip tray. Took a can of spray putty and a fair bit of wet sanding to get the legs to the same standard of finish as before I stripped them. I ain't doing no more painting on it! Last Wednesday my son helped me re-erect it. Spent this week checking and double checking the new wiring after finding out the way to set the motor terminals for a changeover switch. I used the original 3 phase motor controller as a changeover switch by adding a couple of jumps and can run the lathe both directions as the motor is a capacitor start type. Have read all the hazards of doing so in reverse so it will seldom be used but is available if required (and the chuck is made not to screw off). Only required to first select direction then switch on.

    Now to get some of the tool bits ground to the correct shapes. Think previous owners didn't do too much research on that score. There are shapes that defy descriptions, or at least don't look like anything shown in my old South Bend Manual. Maybe one-offs?

    Once I am happy everything is right it will be coming off the castors and put into its working position near the shed wall.

    Stay tuned for further developments!

    Cheers,

    Jacques
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  4. #34
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    Default Neat

    Quote Originally Posted by Jacqualos View Post
    Hi Mike,

    Finally got the lathe up and running. Took until two weeks ago just to get a good drying day to finish painting the legs and underside of the chip tray. Took a can of spray putty and a fair bit of wet sanding to get the legs to the same standard of finish as before I stripped them. I ain't doing no more painting on it! Last Wednesday my son helped me re-erect it. Spent this week checking and double checking the new wiring after finding out the way to set the motor terminals for a changeover switch. I used the original 3 phase motor controller as a changeover switch by adding a couple of jumps and can run the lathe both directions as the motor is a capacitor start type. Have read all the hazards of doing so in reverse so it will seldom be used but is available if required (and the chuck is made not to screw off). Only required to first select direction then switch on.

    Now to get some of the tool bits ground to the correct shapes. Think previous owners didn't do too much research on that score. There are shapes that defy descriptions, or at least don't look like anything shown in my old South Bend Manual. Maybe one-offs?

    Once I am happy everything is right it will be coming off the castors and put into its working position near the shed wall.

    Stay tuned for further developments!

    Cheers,

    Jacques
    Looking nice Jacques . It has cleaned up very well . Took me a while to get the tool grinding under control, you will learn how to do it faster than it took me to figure it out, no doubt . Do you have a decent bench grinder ?

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jacqualos View Post
    can run the lathe both directions as the motor is a capacitor start type. Have read all the hazards of doing so in reverse so it will seldom be used but is available if required (and the chuck is made not to screw off).
    Hi Jacques,

    Whats the problem with running in reverse if the chuck isnt going to come off?

    Stuart

  6. #36
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Stustoys View Post
    Hi Jacques,

    Whats the problem with running in reverse if the chuck isnt going to come off?

    Stuart

    Hi Stuart,

    Re-reading my post what I meant was I will have to ensure my chuck won't come off if I want to use it in reverse, as it sure will, if not adequately tightened onto the spindle. It is only screwed onto the spindle with no other means of preventing it from backing off.

    Cheers,

    Jacques

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jacqualos View Post
    Now to get some of the tool bits ground to the correct shapes. Think previous owners didn't do too much research on that score. There are shapes that defy descriptions, or at least don't look like anything shown in my old South Bend Manual. Maybe one-offs?
    Don't be in a hurry to reshape those weird looking tools, or one day you may need to reinvent them. Each one would have been designed for a particular purpose.

  8. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bryan View Post
    Don't be in a hurry to reshape those weird looking tools, or one day you may need to reinvent them. Each one would have been designed for a particular purpose.
    Thanks Bryan,

    Good point! Some look like they were designed to make small grooves about 1mm wide and 4 mm deep. I won't touch them but a couple look like bad attempts at sharpening a RH facing tool and a round nose turning tool. I may have a go at them eventually, but probably better to start with a clean slate.

    Yes Mike, I have a good old 8" Ryobi bench grinder and even a couple of new wheels in different grades for it plus a wheel dressing stone. They should do the job hey? Found my Dad's old oil stone for final honing too. Now all I need is the practice!

    Cheers,

    Jacques

  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jacqualos View Post

    Finally got the lathe up and running.
    Once I am happy everything is right it will be coming off the castors and put into its working position near the shed wall.

    Stay tuned for further developments!

    Well, it is finally in its working position with everything working correctly. Had one electrical issue which originally required me to select direction first then switch power on at power point. Was not happy with that for safety reasons especially if it needed to be stopped quickly. A rethink of the circuits and a $4 Jaycar twin terminal block installed inside the selector box allowed it to be started in either direction via the changeover switch. An extra jump was added to the switch to supply switched active to the U1 terminal in the motor to make this possible.

    I have been corresponding with Tony Griffiths of Lathes and have sent him photos of the finished lathe and other parts of it during cleanup which he has put in his archives. Photos of the finished lathe can be seen at his site Qualos Lathes along with other photos of various other Qualos lathes. He has also published close up photos of the graduations on the cross slide and compound slide micrometer dials of my lathe on that page.

    Hope you find this interesting.

    A Happy New Year to all,

    Cheers,

    Jacques

  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Metmachmad View Post
    I just went back and re-read this thread and noticed that you said you had an odd taper in the spindle. Not sure if mine was an odd taper, but it had been butchered for some reason, (maybe because of an odd spindle taper) so I machined mine out to a MT3. It works good now.I would guess that your tailstock has been replaced at some time for a now unknown reason.
    Thanks Metmachmad. Saw the reply but haven't had a chance to access the lathe. It is larger than a MT3 taper. I'll figure it out one day. I couldn't remember what was written on the tailstock ram so I checked it, it has "J. Rabone and Sons" on it.

    Out of curiosity, and I'm certainly not contemplating it at the moment, but how did you machine it out? It seems to me that you would want to grind it out somehow?

    Thanks,
    Joe

  11. #41
    Metmachmad is offline Turning useful pieces of steel into scrap metal.
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    Quote Originally Posted by jmebgo View Post
    Thanks Metmachmad,

    Out of curiosity, and I'm certainly not contemplating it at the moment, but how did you machine it out? It seems to me that you would want to grind it out somehow?

    Thanks,
    Joe
    Joe,
    I bored it out with a HSS bit, using the compound slide, it was a fairly slow process as I had to "creep up" on the 3MT with minute adjustments to the compound slide, constantly using Prussian Blue and a new 3MT centre.
    The Qualos spindle was not hardened, so it was easy enough to bore with HSS, and achieve an acceptable finish.
    Turning useful pieces of steel into scrap metal.

  12. #42
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    Default First project done on Qualos lathe

    Quote Originally Posted by Jacqualos View Post

    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.
    Well finally did my first project on the lathe. A much needed spacer for the feed change box shaft. See attached photos and previous post regarding same where the only remaining gear, the 40 tooth one cannot be used as a spacer due to too big a diameter. The 80 tooth gear would rub on the face of the 100 tooth gear without a spacer.

    I will be the first to admit it was a metal shop 101 project and not the most beautifully made item but it gave me a chance to get familiar with the lathe on something
    basic. Didn't have a 3/4" drill either or a small enough boring bar for the shaft hole so luckily I remembered I had a 19mm Sutton holesaw. Drilled it first with my largest drill, a 5/8", then ran the holesaw down the bore. Worked well, a little bit sloppier on the shaft than I would have liked but hey, beats laying out a lot of money for a 3/4" drill and it only needs to keep two gears from rubbing. A few minutes with a file to give clearance for the key and I was in business. Now on to bigger and better things!

    Cheers,

    Jacques
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  13. #43
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    Default

    Thanks Metmachmad for posting that information

  14. #44
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    Default Qualos Lathe- Original Operators Manual

    [QUOTE=Jacqualos;1710532

    Speaking of which, I had previously obtained a pdf file of the manual from Mitutoyo Qualos here in Melbourne and they have kindly given me permission to post it here if I wish. Also have some pdf file period sales brochures they also sent me.

    Let me know if you are interested, and if the forum allows files these large to be posted, I will do so. I don't think they are excessively large but must investigate what is maximum allowable.

    Cheers,

    Jacques[/QUOTE]

    Hello Patrick,

    Did you get the PDF Operators Manual I sent you on the fifth to your hotmail address? I have found in the past sometimes hotmail rejects large attachments

    Have posted it here for you and all to see. Looks like the forum can handle a 3.80Mb attachment.

    Wish to thank Mitutoyo Qualos fot their kind permission to reproduce it here.

    Cheers,

    Jacques
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  15. #45
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    Default RE : Qualos Lathe

    Hi Jacques
    Thanks heaps for posting that manual - I only noticed your post now. No I didn't get it via hotmail, thanks anyway, perhaps the attachment was too big as you say.

    BTW if you or someone on the forum has a parts list I would also be very grateful.

    I am a newcomer to metal work and planned to book myself into a night school course sometime, and picked up my Qualos about two years ago. I wanted to restore it to its former glory given its local history and good reputation as a lathe, but have not had time to get stuck into it properly. Mine, like yours Jacques and metmachmad, is the 5 1/4 inch geared head model. I have a few questions for you all:

    1) I have two spindle problems with the lathe. Firstly, my spindle runout at the nose, just behind the threads right in front of the headstock is 0.06mm (~2thou); inside surface 0.17mm. When I put a mild steel rod inside the spindle I get about 0.03 - 4mm deflection, doing the same test with the 3 jaw chuck screwed tightly and pulling sideways with moderate force on a piece of 25mm round bar about 1 foot down the bed, I get a whopping 0.3mm side deflection.

    I think this might be a bearing problem (either preload or the bearings themselves). I looked at the bearing nuts (H and I in the manual) on my lathe, and the previously nice round 3/16" hole in the nuts show signs of someone having used something square to adjust bearing preload in the past. So I assume they have had the same problem.

    What is your combined experience re how often preload needs to be adjusted on these old lathes? (if I indeed find out that is the problem)

    2) the second problem I have with the spindle is that the MT3 taper is chewed up internally. I saw some other posts in the forum from metmachmad about taking some careful cuts to true this up. I'd really appreciate it if you could describe how you set up for that.....

    I really, really hope my spindle is not bent......

    I'll post some photos and more detail to clarify the above garblings soon. I haven't levelled the lathe of tried to test other alignment (e.g. bed etc) because I wanted to get the headstock sorted first.


    Thanks a lot for all and any advice you all can give me. Thanks again to Jacques for posting the manual

    cheers

    patrick

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