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  1. #1
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    Default Any Macson lathe information out there?

    We bought the big Macson lathe at the recent Tregoning sale in SA and are in the process of preparing it for transport to our workshop at Mt. Barker.
    Today we removed the motor, power cabinet, chuck etc. and jacked her up and cut the hold down bolts so the next step is to move the lathe and crane it out of where it's sat for many many years.

    We are trying to work out how much it's likely to weigh but so far have drawn a blank looking for manuals, specifications etc. We haven't found a ID plate on the machine as yet, the only clue is a "257" cast into the guard that covers the 8 drive belts. There's nothing showing on the UK lathes website to assist.

    The machine is 21' long, has a 1200mm chuck and has been fitted with 12" riser blocks that were fabricated by Tregoning in house.

    Anyone out there have a clue as to how much it's likely to weigh or have any information relating to the machine?

    macson_hs.jpgmacson1.jpgmacson_257.jpg


    We did run it up before we cut the power today, the spindle seems to run smoothly with no alarming noises. The minimum speed is 7 rpm the highest is just over 300 rpm.

  2. #2
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    I'd guess somewhere around 10-12t for weight based on some other second hand listing of machines either side of it in terms of size.
    Gear cutting specialists and general engineers www.hardmanbros.com.au
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  3. #3
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    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  4. #4
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    Thanks for those, I'll have a read tonight...

  5. #5
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    Gavin, on the smaller Macsons around that vintage that I have looked at they have a Machine Number on the spindle speeds chart immediately below the 'M' and the 'A' of the MACSON.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ray-s View Post
    Gavin, on the smaller Macsons around that vintage that I have looked at they have a Machine Number on the spindle speeds chart immediately below the 'M' and the 'A' of the MACSON.
    Ours is 65-23. I read in a post on Practical Machinist that the first part is the year of manufacture, this may or may not be true.

  7. #7
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    That lathe was a really good buy, I was glad to hear it was going to steamranger. I would say 10-12t to comparing it to the similar sized lathes we have at work.
    On a side note the riser blocks may have been factory fitted as i have seen it a few times before on Macson's that size.
    Whats the plan to get it out? Assuming you will skate it out the door to hardys road then crane it onto the truck?

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by snapatap View Post
    That lathe was a really good buy, I was glad to hear it was going to steamranger. I would say 10-12t to comparing it to the similar sized lathes we have at work.
    On a side note the riser blocks may have been factory fitted as i have seen it a few times before on Macson's that size.
    Whats the plan to get it out? Assuming you will skate it out the door to hardys road then crane it onto the truck?
    We had the crane people down yesterday while we were doing the preparation work. The Hardys Road option is problematic due to the incessant traffic. The plan at this stage is to skate it further into the factory to the point where a Franna can pick it up. There's a few other machines that need moving before that can happen though.

    10-12 tons is what we guesstimated so it's good to get corroboration.

    It's going to be a useful addition to the workshop for sure. I can't wait to start making big chips

  9. #9
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    Default Moving day for the big Macson soon...

    All being well, the big Macson lathe will be moved next Friday so I'm after advice from the brains trust as this is the largest lathe lift I've ever been involved with.

    As background, the motor and mount plate have been removed (around ¾ ton) as has the chuck (around ½ ton) plus the electrical cabinet.
    At the headstock end the lathe floor base is around 9' long, and at the tailstock end it's around 6' long.
    At the headstock end there are 2 x 4" diameter through holes below the feed rod and lead screw for lifting bars, these are around 6' apart, more or less evenly arranged in relation to the floor base.
    At the tailstock end there is a similar sized hole around 3' in from the end of the bed.

    The crane guy's initial idea was to run the carriage and tailstock up to the headstock and just use the 2 lifting points at that end, leaving the tailstock end unsupported, I vetoed that idea very quickly.

    From the placement of the holes and the sizes of the footings I infer that the manufacturers intended the lathe to be lifted from all 3 places, the crane guy was intending to lift from the outer 2 locations but I am concerned that this may allow the bed to sag in the middle. It's his first lathe lift though.

    My thinking was that we sling the machine from the Franna main hook using the 2 outermost points and run a 3rd sling to the "middle" point from one of the lifting lugs on the Franna boom using a chain block to allow us to tension that sling without taking too much load off the outer slings. Does this make sense?

    The tailstock and carriage will be brought to the tailstock end of the machine to even up the weight. There is no means of locking the tailstock down to the bed, in normal use it has a drop down arm which engages in a sawtooth rack between the ways to hold it in position but it cannot be clamped down, there is no means of stopping it moving towards the headstock end.

    There is a pin in the carriage which allows the carriage to be locked to the tailstock so the carriage power feed can be used to reposition the tailstock - my thinking is to lock the two together, engage the half nuts on the carriage to secure that and then strap the whole lot down to the bed with ratchet straps to stop any movement. Does this make sense or is there a better way to approach this?

    Finally, given that the lathe may be top-heavy, should I take precautions to stop it rolling over, if so, how?

    Any advice would be most appreciated.

  10. #10
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    Your over thinking. That lathe isn’t that long, the bed will support it’s own weight. 2 points like a smaller lathe will be fine. That is how we did the 2 similar sized lathes at work.

  11. #11
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    I will reply better next week when I am back from the states

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gavin Newman View Post
    Ours is 65-23. I read in a post on Practical Machinist that the first part is the year of manufacture, this may or may not be true.
    Here is the number on my lathe on the headstock as described by Ray-S.
    Plus what was written on the front of the McPherson handbook that came with the lathe.
    Looks like 1960 made, bought in 1961.
    Also the range they made then, mine would be right up the top and yours at the bottom
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  13. #13
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    Below pic is from a 1.5M swing X 3M BC lathe we got a few years ago, similar weight to your macson. My memory is a bit fuzzy but i think we had chains around some webbing in the bed, and a bar clamped in the chuck between 2 drops of chain to stop it rolling over ( not a problem you will have lifting with bars thru the base, as the spread between the chains will make it a lot more stable.)
    lathe lift.jpg

    I would lift from the inner hole at the headstock end and the tailstock end, tailstock and carriage at the far end for balance. Important to lock it all up so it cant move, but your already all over that. The lathe will be a little top heavy, but lifting from bars thru the base will make it reasonable stable, should be no problem for a competent crane operator to maneuver with.

    Hope this helps, good luck, and make sure you take some pics for us.

  14. #14
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    Thanks for the details, we are aiming to lift it this Friday, hopefully it will be such a straight forward exercise that I can get photos...

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by snapatap View Post
    Hope this helps, good luck, and make sure you take some pics for us.
    Just got home from a very long day shifting the beast up to the depot. After a lot time cutting myriad hold down bolts from removed machines out of the floor between our lathe and the doors we started on the lathe move. The Franna shifted the other lathe down to the staging area but due to low headroom over ours we ended up using the forklift to drag one end around and then the side-shift facility on the fork to inch the other end around. Because we only had 2 skates available we used the fork to lift one end and push the machine along on the skates. Slow but effective.

    The crane had trouble lifting the lathe, no matter which combination of the 3 lifting points were used there was no way the Franna could get a good level lift, access was limited by the height of the roof and the presence of multiple overhead crane beams. In the end we removed the tailstock (820 kg!), used the Franna to lift by the two headstock bars and used the forklift to support the other end of the bed.

    The truck driver managed to get his semi into an area less than 12" wider than his trailer in one move, very impressive indeed.

    The same process was reversed at the depot and the lathe is now sitting under cover waiting for its slab to be poured, not sure when that's going to happen but at least we have the lathe safe and sound. Here are a few pictures from the day, sorry about the quality but I was rather busy...

    Dragging the lathe from it's home for the last 50 odd years
    dragging lathe.jpg
    Steering the other end with the side-shift
    steering lathe.jpg
    Finally lifting onto the trailer
    lifiting lathe.jpg

    Not a lot of clearance down the side the trailer, less on the other side...
    truck clearance.jpg

    And finally, back to terra firms in the depot
    lowering lathe.jpg

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