# Coronet no. 3 Lathe information required



## kasandrich (27 Sep 2009)

Hi, I am new to turning and I went over to see an old friend of the family this morning, as he offered to show me a few pointers.

Long story short, there was a lot of vibration and chattering going on, he blamed the screws in the face plate as being loose, but they were not. I found some play in the shaft of his headstock.

His Lathe is a Coronet no. 3. and it had a large C'spanner fitting.

Is this some sort of tapered bearing that can be adjusted with a C'spanner? If so, does anyone know the adjustment proceedure please?


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## dickm (27 Sep 2009)

C-spanners is quite right . Either side of the casting on the "business" side of the headstock you should see a couple of rings round the spindle bearing with indentations for C-spanner. Slightly slacken off the one on the inside of the casting, and tighten up the one on the outside. Getting them dead right takes a bit of experimenting (you want the spindle to turn freely, but without any end or side play). Once you're happy with the tightness, tighten up both rings and then check again. If it's too tight/loose, repeat the process. Perseverance is the only answer


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## kasandrich (27 Sep 2009)

Thanks Dick, so there is another ring inside between the pulleys and the casting, and its the relationship between the two that gives the adjustment.

We will give it a go, next time I go over there.


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## Roy_H (28 Sep 2009)

I am still perfecting the adjustment on my Coronet 3 bearings, Dick is right, only perseverance will work - unless you are extremely lucky on your first attempt!

I had them working fine and then thought I could maybe just improve them slightly - mistake! :roll: I've still not managed to get them back where they were.

One thing about the Coronet though is that the phosphor bronze bearings are extremely good when you get them set up right.


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## kasandrich (28 Sep 2009)

So it is quite tricky then


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## paulm (28 Sep 2009)

It's not tricky at all really, very simple in fact !

I had the same taper phosphor bronze bearing in my Record CL3 for many years.

Adjustment is as described before, loosen slightly the ring on the outside of the headstock, then tighten slightly the ring on the inside of the headstock until the spindle won't turn freely by hand, then back the internal ring off again slightly until the spindle just turns freely, then tighten up the external ring to hold in place. Recheck that the spindle still turns, and make some shavings !

Takes longer to describe than do. All adjustments are very slight, shouldn't need more than an eighth or a quarter turn, that kind of magnitude. Instead of a C spanner you can tap gently on the indents with a soft brass bar and mallet if needed.

Not forgetting a couple of drops of oil of course each time the lathe is used, into the oil cap on the top of the headstock.

Hope that helps demystify it a bit.......

Cheers, Paul


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## Haldane (28 Sep 2009)

If you go to the Record website and look up the CL3 lathe there is a link at the side for Documents which will let you download the manual with full instructions for adjusting the bearings

Dave


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## Roy_H (28 Sep 2009)

Paul and Dave beat me to it in saying that no, it's really not difficult to do!

The points I was going to make are pretty much the ones Paul made, small adjustments to the inside locking ring, after loosening the outside one. Tighten the inside ring until the spindle can't be moved by hand (with lathe motor unplugged and in raised position of course!!), then unscrew the inside ring bit by bit until the spindle turns freely by hand, then tighten the outside ring. Check it still turns freely after tightening and make sure you don't forget the drops of oil before each session. :wink:

Dave: Thanks for pointing out that the manual for the CL3 is online. It's a lot better than my old original Coronet 3 manual! 
Here's a direct link to the PDF.


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