Thread: The Zyto has arrived

The Zyto lathe that I bought (the original thread is here) and that my Mum decided would be a good Xmas present for me (great way to get your tools in past SWMBO) has now taken up residence in the workshop. And SWMBO has not raised any ojection - this is a great technique).

As part of setting it up, I need to replace the old flat leather belt and replace it with a serpentine belt.
Attachment 92440Attachment 92441

The photos show the headstock after taking it off the bed and removing the backgear mechanism. I need to get the spindle out of the bearings so I can fit the new belt. I have removed every screw, bot and grubscrew I could find, but I have got as far as I can see.

Any suggestions for the next move?

Jeremy
It looks like there is a nut on the end of the spindle itself. Opposite end to where the chuck screws on. The brass bit looks like a thrust washer and the round steel bit next to the brass bit looks like a nut to me. It could possibly be a left hand thread as well. Will probably have some sort of locking device like a grub screw. If thats the case you might find that once the locking device is removed the nut itself might not be real tight. Thats the reason there is no hex on it so it can't be done up tight with a spanner. A strap wrench will probably undo it.
Hope this helps
regards
bollie7
PS if you don't have a strap wrench, sing out and I'll take some pics of mine and tell you how to make one real easy.

Hi jmk89,
Glad that your Lathe is home, we have to be a bit creative at times to get our "Toys".
What you will probably find is that the opposite end of the Spindle from the Chuck side has a split threaded take-up ring, it should have a couple of blind holes in it. This is so you can adjust the amount of takeup on the Spindle which would have Tapered Bearings, with a punch and a hammer tap the Ring arround in an anti clock wise fashion to loosen it, then screw it off. With a peice of wood hit the end of the Shaft to start the removal of the Shaft, the Pully and the Back Gear will have a Keyway so may be a bit tight, use some WD40. This was the wave my Old lathe was and your Lathe looks the same.

Thanks Keith. Will have a go and see if that works
The can of WD 40 is just at hand so I may give it a squirt to loosen things up first!

Wooden drift and light taps worked a treat (after I remembered which way is anti-clockwise) - headstock is now in pieces - no WD 40 required. I will take the opportunity of the thing being in pieces to clean off the old oil (about 40 years old I'd say) and other gunk - I notices some small metal chips in there. I was going to use chainsaw bar oil when I reassemble. Any other suggestions?

Keep the chain bar oil for the chainsaw, especially keep it away from the bearings, they only need something like an ISO68 hydraulic oil..

Yeah, the chainsaw bar oil recommendation was only for the ways, and even then, some people objected a little. Personally, I love these old machines of this era; they have real character.

If you are going to use the chainsaw oil for reassembly in my opinion no problem but change to a lighter oil when running the aws 68 should be fine.

Hi jmk89,
Glad it was easy to get shaft out.
Are the Bearings Bronze? Check to see if there is excessive wear, if not then look at your reassemble after you have cleaned up and painted. On your pictures there seems to be some Oilers, if this is so then consider fitting a small Glass Bowl Oilers, this way you can see what Oil is being used. For the type of Oil see if Zyco has a recommendation, if not seek opinion from Shell as to the best type to use. You will get a feel as to how much tension to place on Locking Rings, remember that there needs to be a film of oil between the Bearings and the Shaft.
The next thing is to look at what type of belt to use in your reconstruction, a synthetic that dosnt expand would be good, you dont want to have to strip down the head too often.

Regards,
Keith.

I wouldn't bother with a synthetic belt myself unless it was really cheap. The beauty of a leather belt is is you can join it easily with out having to strip down the head. A good leather belt will last for years. My last lathe had a leather belt and when I replaced it about 20 years ago I joined it using araldite. the join was still good when I sold the lathe about 6 months ago.

regards
bollie7

Keith


My thoughts/questions embedded in the quote of your post

Originally Posted by Keith_W

Hi jmk89,
Glad it was easy to get shaft out.
Me too
Are the Bearings Bronze?
Yep
Check to see if there is excessive wear, if not then look at your reassemble after you have cleaned up and painted.
Wear looks fine. I think I will clean up but not repaint yet.
On your pictures there seems to be some Oilers, if this is so then consider fitting a small Glass Bowl Oilers, this way you can see what Oil is being used.
Great idea - do you know where to get the glass bowl oilers?
For the type of Oil see if Zyco has a recommendation,
Apparently there never was a manual - this quote from www.lathes.co.uk:

MZ300 ZYTO Lathes. Unfortunately no manual was ever published for this very popular little lathe. An excellent low-cost substitute is a book: "The Amateur's Lathe". This was first published at a time when many similar lathes were on the market - and non had any worthwhile literature. The book covers in detail all the elements of a lathe's construction, its operation, Maintenance and how to make accessories. Screwcutting charts that suit the Zyto leadscrew pitch are also included.

All that my copy of Sparey says is light oil and frequently

if not seek opinion from Shell as to the best type to use.
Good thought, I have sent them a request. In the meantime, I see that my nail gun is lubed with ISO 68, it's pretty light oil, but that should be OK, don't you reckon.
You will get a feel as to how much tension to place on Locking Rings, remember that there needs to be a film of oil between the Bearings and the Shaft.
Thanks for the reminder
The next thing is to look at what type of belt to use in your reconstruction, a synthetic that dosnt expand would be good, you dont want to have to strip down the head too often.
Agreed - I think I have a good 4 rib serpentine belt that will work - the original leather is RS.

Regards,
Keith.

Thanks Bollie 7 - as I said above, the leather of the belt is really RS - I think that a 4 rib serpentine belt that I have loitering in the shed will work and it is definitely the right price!

Originally Posted by bollie7

I wouldn't bother with a synthetic belt myself unless it was really cheap. The beauty of a leather belt is is you can join it easily with out having to strip down the head. A good leather belt will last for years. My last lathe had a leather belt and when I replaced it about 20 years ago I joined it using araldite. the join was still good when I sold the lathe about 6 months ago.

regards
bollie7

Originally Posted by jmk89

Thanks Bollie 7 - as I said above, the leather of the belt is really RS - I think that a 4 rib serpentine belt that I have loitering in the shed will work and it is definitely the right price!

There you go. When it carks it you can cut it off and go back to a leather.

re oil. I reckon a good light engine oil would be fine for the bearings. Thats all I used in my old lathe for the 15 years I had it, and my Dad had it for about 10 years before that. I just used to give it a couple of squirts in each oiler before start up and then another squirt every 10 minutes or so depending on how fast it was running. Others will have different ideas I'm sure.
When you have had it running for a little while, just put you fingers on the bearing caps, should be no hotter than warm ( don't ask me for temps) if it is hot something is wrong.

Back when I was an apprentice ( and then later as a fitter) in the power industry there were a lot of slow running pumps and things that had whitemetal bearings with an oil ring running in an oil bath. If the bearings were scrapped correctly, with the correct clearance and if they were not let run out of oil, it wasn't uncommon for some of the pumps to run 24/7 for months with out bearing failure. Most common cause of bearing failure was if the gland on the pump started leaking excessively, water would run along the shaft into the bearing, displacing the oil. Once all the oil was gone, it was all over. The old white metal doesn't like water lubrication.

There was a very scientific method of checking bearing temps used at the time.
The old fitters would take us apprentices to one that was running right and get us to feel the bearings and then say "thats how hot it should be, any hotter means somethings wrong" LOL
I suppose its all done using condition monitoring gear these days.

Best wishes with your new toy

regards
bollie7

Jeremy, If you find you need to make a backplate for a four jaw chuck you can buy castings here

http://www.hobbymechanics.com.au/macaccprice.htm

Steve

Thanks

This weekend saw the Zyto installed and running (finally - I know how long it has taken because when I went to post this reply, I got tyhe message that says "you do know this is ancient history!!!!")! Here are two photos:

Attachment 128519

Attachment 128520

Some things of interest:

1. The belts are a 4-rib serpentine and a 3/8" twistlink. They work really quietly and I am really happy with them. Even SWMBO was pleased with the low noise level.
2. The power switch is a Triton switch I was able to buy in a year or so ago. The off paddle is really good and it requires a conscious effort to turn the machne on
3. The bench is an old thing built from a pre-Bunnings BBC Hardware kit. It is stable enough , but to help things along, the lathe is mounted on a 30mm RHS rectangle which I welded together and bolted to the bench.
4. The lathe is not bolted directly to the RHS frame - instead I made four jacking bolts by pinning a nut to each of the 3/8" bolts that run through the mounting lugs. The lugs sit on the pinned nuts and then screw into the RHS frame and are held at the correct height with a locking nut. I haven't adjusted the lathe yet, but this system should mean that I can move each lug up or down to get the bed perfectly in alignment with the spindle.
5. The drip tray is bent out of thin aluminium and, once the bed is aligned properly, I will run some sealant around the nuts to stop any coolant getting out down the mounting bolts.
6. The lamp is an old Orbit desk lamp - I put a daylight fluoro bulb in it - I find the light from these are a huge improvement from ordinary fluoros and that the lamp is great to be able to get raking light on the workpiece.

It has taken a long time to get to this stage, but I am really happy with how it has turned out. There have been several stages that involved one step forward and two steps back (as well as several occasions of just going round and round in circles), but I have learned a heck of a lot about the machine along the way.

PS I will probably move the television soon. It was put on the ledge to keep it out of the way! I doubt that coolant and swarf would be good for it.