# Hazdent Machine Tools - big wood lathe project!



## minilathe22 (21 Jan 2021)

I am taking delivery of this metal spinning lathe soon - although I am hoping to convert it to a heavy duty wood lathe. The design appears to be influenced by the Taylor spinning lathes of the 1950s. The seller also recently sold a Taylor spinning lathe, and it looks like the Taylor banjo got put on this lathe by mistake.

The lathe came from a closed down business in Birmingham, and the motor was made in Lancashire, so it sounds like they may have been based in the north of England. It is around 12.5" centre height with a 3HP 6 pole motor, so with the intermediate pulley shaft I should be able to get slow high torque I want for turning large bowls.

I am debating whether to do a full restoration and repaint, or whether to just fix any issues and clean it up a bit. The only major problem I can see so far from the photos is the tailstock is missing a few bits and the top cover has a bit of damage.

I will most likely have to make a thread adapter to use woodturning chucks/faceplates. Hopefully the toolpost diameter is a common size.

I cannot find any information online about "Hazdent Machine Tools" specifically. I wonder if anyone has heard of them, or seen a similar machine before?


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## Adam Pinson (22 Jan 2021)

Love it, even this old machine has a movable power switch, i wish my DVR-xp had one !


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## minilathe22 (22 Jan 2021)

I believe the power switch is just hanging off, its probably meant to be permanently fixed!


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## Adam Pinson (23 Jan 2021)

minilathe22 said:


> I believe the power switch is just hanging off, its probably meant to be permanently fixed!


Oh ok, i suppose it could easily be made into a magnetic movable one though.


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## minilathe22 (23 Jan 2021)

A busy day today, 8:30AM the lathe was delivered, we used an engine crane to get it out of the van and then lowered it onto the bed of the engine crane, wheeled it in and laid it down on some wood blocks.

Mostly stripped down, it has a thick layer of gunge mixed with metal cutoffs, going to take a while to clean it all off.

The motor runs which is good. Huge plain bronze bearings, they are slightly scored, I am hoping they can still be used.

To lock the headstock I used a pipe wrench, Its 3" across flats but spanners of this size seem to be £50 new!

The thread is 2" and 4.5 TPI, I will make an adapter to either M33x3.5 or 1.5" 6tpi which suits the Union Graduate parts I currently have. Or perhaps I can machine this thread onto a chuck backplate directly.

There is a morse taper 3 in the tailstock and a heavy duty live centre, The spindle is sold centre but plenty of room for a taper if I decided to try and machine one.

I need to make something to lock the tailstock thread, It looks like there is a plain bore that intersects with the main bore of the tailstock, so I think I can get a piece of plain solid steel and then machine a cutoff on it. 

Anyone got a 3" spanner please let me know!


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## Droogs (23 Jan 2021)

Just need to get yourself a fancy super freezer to make some curvy ice molds and get creative


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## clogs (23 Jan 2021)

it'll prob cost u that much to get a spanner lazer cut anyway.....
I'd say £50 is well spent the second time i use it......
does the main shaft spindle feel groovey with ur finger nail....?
if so polish with som 800-100 wet and dry paper....
for oil I think I'd be using some kinda good qual mineral oil...guess it has oil drippers....?
nice peice of kit.....
I'd just clean it up a tad and get using it.....then if u want to modify anything then do a rebuild.....or...
Use some tractoryl enamel paint or similar.....just spend a little time on the prep....
glad to see ur sorted now....


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## minilathe22 (23 Jan 2021)

The scoring is visible, but I can't actually feel it. The spindle is smooth to turn, but does not keep any momentum, I am wondering if its a bit tight. There are no oil drippers, I think I will get some, there is a threaded hole in the top of the bearings and a small inspection cup at the lower level. I will empty it out and replace as I do not know how old the oil is.

Once I am convinced the bearings are usable I will treat it to some tractor enamel as suggested.

The hole in the top of the tailstock is plain without a thread, I think Its meant to take a sold bar with a cutout machined in it. I will probably have to make this component.

Without the motor or tailstock its over 600kg!


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## Droogs (23 Jan 2021)

lovely bit of kit and will bring a lot of enjoyment. BTW I think the oil will be around 2mil year old, just saying


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## TFrench (23 Jan 2021)

Looking good! Like I said, it's got ring oilers - the bands on the main spindle lift oil from the well and oil the main bearing. It won't need drip oilers - it's got this far without them. The guy I picked it up from was under the impression hazdent were American.


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## minilathe22 (23 Jan 2021)

I see now, it is not a total loss system like many metal lathes have, it goes round in a loop. Thanks Tom.


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## TFrench (23 Jan 2021)

Those bearings will outlast anything you can throw at it, I wouldn't do anything to them. Looks like ball bearings to the outside of the plain bearings? I think I would be inclined to give it fresh oil and reassemble, then rig up a small motor to spin the spindle for 10 minutes, check if anything gets hot. I doubt it will but you'll know where any problems are. 
I'm amazed the threaded adapter came off easily - I thought that would take some serious heat to bust it loose. I wonder if there is enough meat left on the adapter to recut the threads to fit a sorby or evolution chuck - worth doing some measuring as all the hard work of cutting that great big internal thread has been done.
Lancashire crypto made motors for lots of people - I've seen a few on pollard drills as well.


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## Jameshow (23 Jan 2021)

Think it was one of those a guy was turning Saab hub caps on! Was on Drew Priichards car programme. 

Cheers James


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## KingAether (23 Jan 2021)

Beautiful machine! Looking foward to seeing it up and running if you keep us updated! 
No promices but i may have a 3" spanner i brought at a carboot for the novelty, its at a friends currently but ill get him to measure and get back to you


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## minilathe22 (24 Jan 2021)

The threaded adapter needed only a little persuasion with a blowtorch. Locked the spindle with the pipe spanner and hit a cold chisel in one of the (very worn) gaps in the side of the adapter. There was a bit of oil inside. I think the last person to actively use it was quite careful.

The inside thread is very deep, 60mm so there isnt enough meat left over to make a new male thread on the front. However it looks like I could make it into a very chunky ISO style backplate for my 100mm versachuck - If I can find a way to accurately drill three holes through the length of it. You are right I don't want to have to make a 4.5TPI thread if I can avoid it...

As there is no taper in the spindle I am debating having the chuck more or less permanently attached, ideally with a locking screw to prevent it unwinding. I don't see any faceplates with this thread.

The lower pulley shaft is supported on SKF double row self aligning bearings, 90mm OD! Thankfully they are well greased and appear to be in good condition as I can't afford to replace them!

TFrench: On the main spindle there are two sets of thrust bearings, they look like the type that fall to bits when you remove them.

James, please let me know regarding the potential spanner!


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## TFrench (24 Jan 2021)

In that case I'd get a blank versachuck backplate and machine it to whatever the thread is on that adapter I think.


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## minilathe22 (24 Jan 2021)

Not as much progress today as yesterday, but that is partly due to being sore all over from moving things around and excessive wire brushing!

The inside of the lathe is thick with black oily dust, its fluffy like the inside of a chimney. I think material from the belts over time has caused this. It burns easily, I found this out when putting some heat with a blowtorch on a stuck bolt so I want to remove it all.

I tried to remove the spindle, to access the inside better and also so that I can fit a true endless belt but the lower halves of the bearings did not want to release from the main casting, and I would have to split the oil thrower rings instead to remove it so I think now I will leave it in place and get a belt which glues together.

Mostly degreased all the parts except the lathe casting itself. Interestingly the tailstock is not self ejecting, even though the male thread moves towards the inside of the taper as its wound back. I believe I could make it self ejecting by inserting a piece of metal in there. Perhaps there used to be one. I also want to avoid grease getting on the taper.

Tailstock end thread which holds the handle has been beaten up, and my small metal lathe found an excuse to not earn its keep again as the tailstock rod is too long to mount it on there and recut the thread. I have had a go with some needle files, hopefully a new nut will be able to get over the rough bit of thread.

I briefly laid out some of the parts to get an idea of how I can use it, to see if there are any problems using it as a wood lathe. For heavy duty work you can actually bolt the banjo in two places. The centre height is a bit low, so I need taller toolrests or make an extension. Toolpost diameter is 1 1/8" which I believe means Wadkin toolrests would fit. The lathe itself I think I will raise 2" on some pieces of chipboard to make it more comfortable to use.

This test also allowed me to get an idea of the max dimensions, it looks like 25" max diameter and maybe 28" between centres, although the tailstock is so solid I am sure it would work fine overhanging a bit.


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## TFrench (24 Jan 2021)

Most economical way to sort the toolrest is to buy a chunk of 1 1/8" Round bar, thread the end to whatever sorby use for their modular range and use them. It's what I've done for my wadkin. Wadkin toolrests are hideously overpriced for what they are.


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## Richard_C (25 Jan 2021)

Since the first post I've been thinking about Hazdent and like you can't trace anything. A few "hmmm. I wonder ....."

Is it a portmanteau word, 2 meaningful halves. Dent near Sedburgh seems unlikely, Hazel Grove and Denton - both Stockport-ish. lots of machine tool industry but found nothing on local history sites. Founders name plus a bit of a place name - Harry.... but where does the Z come from - or 2 founders names?

The thinking not UK - maybe post war import un-powered with a UK motor added, lots of US and Commonwealth support for Britain as we tried to rebuild. Another Dent then? There's a suburb of Cincinnati called Dent, and one or two others in the USA. Cincinnati mostly did milling machines, so why not a smaller specialist firm down the road. No joy there though, but that's not to say it isn't. Canada - don't think so but they did develop a machine tool industry.

Then I went off looking not for machine tools but metal forming tools. Rhodes (Wakefield) might have bought them up, they were about sheet metal working in all its forms. The group still exists but nothing on their history page. Learned from it though, metal spinning is a much bigger industry than I imagined.

Will keep going on and off, but you might try an enquiry to the Metalforming Machine Makers Association - who knew they existed 



https://www.mmma.org.uk/



Do please post of you find out, its 'bugging me' now.


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## minilathe22 (25 Jan 2021)

The metal spinning lathe that James saw in Salvage Hunters is a Taylor lathe, very similar style but not the same one. I believe the design of this lathe was influenced by the Taylor lathe, or perhaps the other way round as there are many similarities between them. Having said that, metal spinning lathes are all pretty similar in design.

Thanks Richard for some interesting ideas, I will be sure to let you know if I find out anything else!


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## MusicMan (25 Jan 2021)

That's a mighty lathe. I'm sure it will make a very good heavy wood lathe. Look forward to seeing your restoration progressing.


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## minilathe22 (25 Jan 2021)

Ok so a little progrss this evening, Tailstock mostly stripped of paint, a few highspots filed down and a few low spots identified for some car filler before painting. At the top there is a very fine thread, I believe for a small oiler, but it does not appear to be a BSP thread. Maybe UNF instead.

The motor pulley setup is not original, firstly the pulley on the motor is not fixed, it has a key but its loose sliding on the motor shaft, I don't see any grub screw or anything. Neither the shaft or the pulley looks tapered, I wonder if there is something I am missing here on how its supposed to be secured? a tapered key perhaps?

The pulley at the other end has the heavy duty taperlock adapter, however its too big for the shaft so there is a split collar inserted. I am sure it would work when all tightened up, but for peace of mind I will try to get hold of a larger centre insert, and add a key. This was well oiled and came apart very easily. I have measured all the pulleys now, so I can estimate what speeds it is setup for, Strangely the motor pulley is slightly larger than the other one, so it steps the speed up slightly, not down. I might change one of the pulley diameters. Also I wonder if I really need all 3 V belts. Perhals I want a bit of belt slip for when I catch something!

I was suprised to find that two belt pulley covers are not an off the shelf item, I was expecting to find something ready made that I could put over the pulleys. Looks like I will have to make something instead.


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## Democritus (26 Jan 2021)

Mini lathe. 
Looks like you’ve got your work cut out there. I wouldn’t know where to start.
Hope you get lots of help if needed off this forum. Retired has done a lot of rebuilds, so I’m sure he could offer you advice if you need it. I look forward to keeping up with your progress
Best wishes
D


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## minilathe22 (26 Jan 2021)

Bit more progress, cleaned up the thread adapter on the metal lathe, although its reaching the limit of what will fit so there is a bit of vibration visible. Once this wood lathe is all working I will probably go over it with emery cloth to get it smooth.

Managed to repair the damaged thread on the end of the tailstock handle, the tailstock is heavy! I think people have used a hammer on this end to move it along the bed, the threads were bent over and there was no nut on there to protect them. Retraced the thread on the metal lathe and a bit of a go with a hand file and now a new nyloc nut will go on there.

Deciding what to do with this big slot and thread in the tailstock barrel. Metal spinning videos I have seen, you have a lever in that threaded hole, and you wind the tailstock all the way and then push the lever down into the recess, as a kind of lock. I don't think I will need this for woodturning, so I may just put a grubscrew in there or a short bolt. Strangely this is not the part that stops the barrel rotating, there is a key on the back of it instead.

Tidied up the end of the tailstock barrel in the metal lathe where it had been bashed and beaten over the years. Cleaned up the banjo clamp bolts, again just by holding in the 3 jaw chuck and a few light passes. Makes no difference to the functionality but much nicer to use shiny tools!

Degreasing the inside of the lathe is taking forever! but getting there slowly. I don't think I can get it perfectly clean without sand blasting, but if I get it smooth I can go over it with zinc primer or similar just to keep it tidy.

The lathe came with a big chunky live centre, the bearing is worn out though. I cannot see an easy way of getting inside, as its a taper its quite hard to grip without damaging it! Any ideas on how to remove it? I do not see any grub screws on the side. I may end up tapping a thread in the end of the taper and using a bolt to pull it backwards.


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## wallace (30 Jan 2021)

Oh that looks fun, I like the dyno crypto motor. It amazes me that people spend thousands on lathes when their is so much old stuff out their.


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## minilathe22 (30 Jan 2021)

Ok so more progress this weekend, this kind of work does not lend itself to a little effort now and then on a lunch break as it gets everything so dirty. Angle grinder with sanding discs removed most of the paint, not completely bare metal but hopefully close enough for the primer to stick. Went over the inside with zinc primer but there are many areas where it has not taken as there is still oil and grease. I will leave it to dry out and then see what I can do with it.

Opened up the motor and found it chock full with dirt and small metal offcuts, so glad I went in there and hoovered it all out. The motor is not actually as big as it looks, it has an outer tube which air can flow through. Some of the varnish has gone brittle and started to flake off, and I have identified the star point hidden in the wiring so I will debate whether to try and sort that out myself or get the motor rewound.

I got hold of a 75mm spanner, searching on ebay for 3" spanner brings up 3/8", 5/8" etc so difficult to wade through the results. 3" = 76.2mm so it did not take long on the grinder to make it a nice tight fit on the flats on the spindle. Now I can see why a chunk is missing in that spot, I suspect someone started the lathe with a spanner still attached!

I put a Union Graduate tailstock and banjo on there, just for scale to see what I am upgrading from. The tailstock is enormous, and at the moment very difficult to push along the bed. Hopefully I can clean up the sliding edges and make it more useable. It also takes up a large amount of the bed. The tailstock barrel has 10" of travel so hopefully I won't need to move it very often! Interesting that the tailstock has a strip of metal attached with screws, I wonder if this was a repair done in the past.


Next steps are to finish degreasing the inside of the lathe and get the zinc primer to stick, and start the top coat which will be Smoothrite light blue, with red for the handles and so on. I also need to decide how to spruce up the bed, probably a large flat piece of wood with wet and dry and some oil. I have not started on the door yet either.


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## TFrench (30 Jan 2021)

That last pic really gives a scale of how monstrous it is! 10" of tailstock travel would be handy for deep drilling a lamp base. Coarse scotchbrite and wd40 is my go to for cleaning parts like the bed.


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## minilathe22 (31 Jan 2021)

Smaller update today, went over the primer with the final colour Smoothrite blue, some areas of the primer had flaked off even though the metal looked clean, I think I will sand with rough sandpaper and see if that works. Two coats of blue done on the larger areas, just need to get some small brushes to finish off the detailed bits. Not sure I like the colour yet, I was thinking black originally, will see how it looks once its dried a few days.

Tried to pull the spindle out of the live centre by tapping a thread and pulling on it, snapped a 10mm bolt! At which point I decided to look at it in more detail, and discovered it has a hidden threaded section.

The split is lined up with the end of the knurled section, almost impossible to see! I will clean it all out and add some new grease. Looks like a big thrust bearing and a smaller ball bearing. It was very wobbly, I think the screw holding the ball bearing on was loose, giving the impression of a worn out bearing.


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## minilathe22 (3 Feb 2021)

So I am pricing up new belts, and I considered lathes.co.uk but they want to charge me £120 for a "Betalon" rubber based flat belt with scarfed joint that I glue together, or an endless belt for the same price. You can get a whole wood lathe for that!

On ebay I can get a traditional looking "Balata" flat belt with alligator clips for £40 but I wonder if I would find the ticking of the clips annoying over time.

Any other options? 2200mm is the shortest length that would fit, 2250mm would probably be too loose, especially if it stretches once in place. 2.75" width flat belt.


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## minilathe22 (4 Feb 2021)

OK we are getting close to being able to do a few test cuts with the lathe under power!






Getting the lower frame back in the base was a bit of a head scratcher, it did not appear to fit through the opening, then I remembered I had one end of the lathe up on the car jack when I was removing it. Sure enough a little extra height (and space underneath) and I got it through.

Old grease wiped off and new grease put in the bearings. The tops are threaded 1/4" BSP so I will see if I can get some grease points or grub screws to block out dirt. Used the motor to turn the lower pulleys, everything spins freely and does not get hot. Used this setup to clean the lower pulleys with emery cloth.






Filled in the gap missing on the front with car filler, not perfect but a big improvement. However I suspect pressure from the spanner when loosening things on the spindle might damage it.

More painting, blue as the main colour and red inside the bed and on the handles. Car filler again in a few small chips/defects and various unused screwthreads that have been tapped in the castings over the years.






Final step with the door is to try and paint the letters red, this will be a fiddly job so I will wait until I have the patience for it.

The bolt to hold the banjo is too long, perhaps I confused it with the one for the tailstock. Neither are original so I may end up buying some more bolts of suitable length.






This absolute monstrosity has nearly 10" of overhang but only 6 thou runout! I will use it to test the lathe but need to decide what to do with the spindle thread, its too long and an unusual size. There is also no taper.






Tailstock barrel has a big thread here, still deciding what to do with it. Originally I believe there was a handle but its for metal spinning and I wont really need it.






Live centre cleaned up a bit on the metal lathe, when I have more time I will machine the end to a sharp point. New grease in the bearings.

New flat belt is due to come tomorrow, I need to flush out the old oil before running the spindle properly. I may put the brass badge for the motor on the top, its meant to go underneath but then you can't see it which would be a shame.


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## leisurefix (4 Feb 2021)

Thank you for posting your work in progress, looks a mighty impressive lathe & great restoration. Have you considered getting the spindle machined to a new thread & register (or maybe the VB36 bayonet mount), and bored to 3MT.


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## minilathe22 (4 Feb 2021)

Yes I was considering an M33 thread, I think I will try it with the existing setup while I consider the options. A Morse taper and a hole through the centre for a knockout bar would be great but it's 30" long so a tricky job.

I don't want to send the spindle away and not be able to use it for months. It would have to be a big machine to handle it with the pulleys, they appear to be pressed on.


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## Tanglefoot20 (4 Feb 2021)

Why don’t you find a local engineering firm... see if they will help out.
Would be an easy job on a decent lathe...deep hole drilling and cnc machined morse taper...
I am an ex turner .... it could be done with pulleys in situ...just take the whole spindle....


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## flh801978 (6 Feb 2021)

Minilathe
You don’t need a hole through the spindle for removing morse tapers
Just a thread protector which also ejects any centres mounted


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## minilathe22 (7 Feb 2021)

So the new flat belt arrived, 4.5mm thick and 2.5" wide, measured the belt length with the adjustment at its shortest setting, and then added 5mm and cut the belt. Hopefully this will allow for any belt stretch over time. just over 2.2metres long.

I bought some thick cord and did a sewn up joint instead of the metal click clack alligator joint, it is MUCH quiter, there is no change of sound at all when running over the joint. Hopefully it holds up over time.

Ran it under its own power for the first time, the existing V belt was slipping alot but it proved the basic setup. A set of 3 new V belts on the way, once I have fitted those I will get the tension correct. There is quite alot of rolling resistence between the bearings in the base and the spindle bearings. I am not sure how much would be considered excessive.

The door lock required a bit of attention, it had a strange feel to it sometimes when opening and closing, a bit unpredictable. It turns out the handle is just threaded onto the lock piece, so sometimes the thread winds in or out during locking/unlocking. I tapped a small thread and grub screw to stop it rotating on the shaft.

Loosened the oil inspection caps to drain the oil out, however the oil cap is not at the bottom of the bearing sumps, feeling round with a hex key through the hole reveals there is a thick layer of goo at the bottom of the sumps. I will see whether I can access this a bit better with the spindle removed to clean it out properly. They have both been knocked about before, and if damaged could drain all the oil out, so I am wondering whether to move them to inside the headstock out of the way.

I got a few woodturning toolrests on ebay and another banjo which is a bit higher than the ones I have, hopefully this all lines up well. It also allows me to sell my other lathe with a good set of toolrests.

Still not fully decided on the spindle modifications, whether to shorten it myself with a cut off tool and make a suitable backplate for the chuck and then just leave it on all the time. Or whether to have it out and machined properly. with a taper and an M33 thread.


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## minilathe22 (13 Feb 2021)

So the old motor is out and a brand new motor with adapter plate is being fitted. The new motor is 1.5Kw/2HP 6 pole which is much better suited to the VFD I have and still plenty of power.

I bought a Challenge motor plate, and I am installing it on the back of the headstock as it allows me to put the lathe much closer to the wall, the previous motor layout stuck out very far.

The motor plate has a bolt to raise and lower it, for belt tension which is handy. Unfortunately the old motor pulley is a bit of an odd one, it is slightly tapered, so even with a grubscrew that I installed, it is wobbly and will not stay on. Also the speeds will be a bit too fast with this pulley diameter so I will order a new smaller pulley for the motor (more spending, when will it end!). Then I get a solid motor setup and the slower speeds that I want.

Trying to scoop out the old oil, I tipped the whole lathe forward with the car jack so the oil runs to the front where the oil caps are. bit of white spirit to flush it out, but still some flecks of metal and general gunge in there. It is hard to get into the corners, I wonder how they cast the shape in one go. Hopefully one more flush will get rid of most of the gunge, the oil slinger does not go very deep so any crud left at the bottom will probably just stay there and not make its way to the bearings.

Changing the belt speed is going to be a bit of a hassle, In theory you have to undo the nuts on the long bolts at the base until the base can be lifted to slacken the belt. I wonder if I can find some kind of quick release spacer/bolt combination, to make this easier. The base is very heavy, perhaps the weight of it will give the belt enough tension.

My partner painted the letters on the door for me, we need to touch it up very slightly once its dry but a nice finishing touch.

The opposite end of the spindle has a large fine thread on it, with a clamping piece, I am wondering whether I can put that thread into the centre of a large handwheel I have.


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## minilathe22 (21 Feb 2021)

Smaller fiddly jobs left to do now, I have installed the motor, and got it lined up with the new pulleys.

Spindle bearings cleaned up and fresh oil put in, I have run it to around 2000RPM and the front bearing gets lukewarm first, then the back bearing warms up later. I can see through the top threaded holes in the bearing caps that the ring oilers are getting oil onto the top of the bearing shaft and seem to be working. Flat belt slips slightly when speeding up, I suspect the pulleys need polishing and I need to adjust the belt tension. 

The belt tension is a bit more involved than it would first appear as moving the lower plate up and down affects the tension of both the flat belt and the v belts on the motor. Also there is a fair amount of slack with the plate, so I think to get the flat belt running true I need to tweak the bolts one at a time. Swapping between the different belt speeds will be a hassle, should have got a Wadkin RS! Still thinking about how I can have some method of quick release for the belt tension.

I had to fiddle with the threaded retainer on the outboard side of the spindle, to get no play back and forwards, one of the thrust bearings rattles a bit but it appears to just be the spacer ring moving around freely.

Slight grumbling from the lower pillow block bearings, they have been cleaned out as well, I will see if it all beds in or perhaps I have some worn out ball bearings. I would not be surprised as this machine has clearly been worked hard, and the side pressure from the 3 V belts and a flat belt will be significant.

Painted up the larger banjo I purchased, and pushed in a piece of tubing to get it down to 1 1/4" diameter for my tool rests. Unfortunately the inside diameter appears to have a sticking point as the toolrests do not rotate freely all the way round, and as I need to increase the diameter of the other banjo to 1 1/4" aswell, I have ordered a 32mm blacksmiths drill bit. Hopefully once I pass that through the pipe it will be smooth and have a bit of clearance (as 1 1/4" = 31.75mm).

Bit difficult to get good photos of the motor as I can't move it easily! Once its running ok I will make a guard for the v belts, and try to move the lathe closer to the wall which will save me alot of space in the workshop.

Still getting an overvoltage error on the VFD sometimes when stopping, this is due to the momentum of the whole thing and the motor sending generated power back into the VFD, there are alot of settings so hopefully I can resolve it. If not, then I need either a resistor attached to the VFD to dump the excess power into, or apply a mechanical brake of some kind when slowing down. It looks like an old style bike wheel brake would clamp well on the ridge near the smallest flat belt pulley.


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## minilathe22 (17 Mar 2021)

Sorry for radio silence on the rebuild, I have used the lathe briefly a few times, the flat belt slips a bit, especially on the highest speed, and the inside of the belt has got very dirty so I think I need to clean and polish up the pulleys a bit.






The bit of car filler I put in the gap has fallen out, I would like to get it welded up but I would have to persuade someone to come here with a pretty heavy duty welder so I might leave that for now. Anyone with a big welder near Stevenage/Letchworth fancy giving it a go once lockdown is lifted? Its about 1/2" thick cast iron. I have a 16amp wall socket.

I have put safety interlock switches on the door and the lid, and added a foot pedal emergency stop. Lid now has hinges and a locking clasp.






The top cover front is a thin casting, and has a split in it, still debating what to do about that but at least it can be removed for welding. The front and back of the belt cover could have been made with metal spinning, why did they go with thin castings when making a metal spinning lathe?!

On the lookout for a belt cover from a large pillar drill or similar to cover the v belts at the back, or buy some rectangular ducting with two 45 degree bends, but for now its fairly safely tucked away while I am using it.










I attached the tool holder from my metal lathe to a threaded toolpost, and reduced the length of the headstock thread. I then threaded the Versachuck backplate 4 1/2" TPI, which took forever, its a deep thread! about 15 thou runout on the body of the chuck, which is ok but not great but the overhang is massively improved without the adapter. The headstock thread has no register, which makes it difficult to align well. There is enough meat after the thread to turn a register in the future if I want to increase the accuracy. I could also reduce it to an M33x3.5 but that would involve removing the spindle and taking to to someone with a big enough metal lathe.

The lathe is screwed to the chipboard riser blocks with woodscrews, and not mounted to the floor. I have found even though its 700kg in total it still rocks about with out of balance bowl blanks, so I will bite the bullet soon and drill 4 holes in the floor for anchor bolts.

Some old kitchen worktop was trimmed to fit behind the lathe, as I find I always drop things behind the lathe bed and have to crawl under to find it.

I also sorted the tailstock barrel clamp, but I am after a threaded lever instead of using a spanner. I also want to fit a lever to the tailstock-bed clamp. The two plates I have under the tailstock and banjo are free to rotate when loose, and this makes it difficult to quickly tighten and release, so I will see about making some pieces of steel with edge cutouts, to prevent rotation, basically a very wide inverted T nut, and coil springs on the bolt to push the T nut away from the bed when loosened.

The tailstock takes some real heaving with both hands to move it along the bed, I am wondering whether to try sanding the bed and/or the contact surfaces of the tailstock to improve this, it weighs 55kg so always going to be a bit difficult to move. I notice big metal lathes often have an overhanging bracket so you can use the gear rack to move the tailstock.

Still not found any more information about Hazdent Machine Tools, not even one example of this machine, or any others. I will keep looking from time to time but I can only guess they were not around for long which is a shame as it appears to be a solidly built machine. No part numbers/names on any of the parts other than the door has the name cast in, perhaps Hazdent was a rebrand of a more common manufacturer. It certainly takes inspiration from the Taylor spinning lathes, but is different enough that I do not think its a Taylor lathe originally.

The restoration is pretty much as finished as it ever will be, so I probably won't post about it as a restoration any more, but please contact me with any info on Hazdent Machine Tools, or if you have any big root balls or other bits of timber for me to work with.


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## TFrench (18 Mar 2021)

I think I'd cut a bit of steel plate to fit over the inside of the missing chunk on the headstock and drill and tap it to cap head screw it in place. Then you have something strong for your filler to adhere to. You could even tap the plate where the filler will be so you can put some short screws in to give the filler something to bite to. I really wouldn't want to try to weld that one!


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## ovenpaa (18 Mar 2021)

What lovely machine!

I have seen castings repaired in the past using the metal stitching process, it might be worth searching the internet. Silicon Bronze rods and a good sized Tig with some pre-heating might be an option as well although I have not used it on anything quite so big.


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## minilathe22 (18 Mar 2021)

Yes it would be a bit of a mission to preheat it, that part of the headstock is cast integral with the bed.

I was debating a piece of angle iron across the top, and filler underneath. I suspect any welding quote would be quite expensive really. I have heard that laser welding is a thing now, I wonder if that can handle large cold pieces better?

It is more than strong enough with the bit missing, technically you could touch the belt while it's running but it's only for hobby use so common sense can be used for the time being.


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## TFrench (18 Mar 2021)

minilathe22 said:


> Yes it would be a bit of a mission to preheat it, that part of the headstock is cast integral with the bed.
> 
> I was debating a piece of angle iron across the top, and filler underneath. I suspect any welding quote would be quite expensive really. I have heard that laser welding is a thing now, I wonder if that can handle large cold pieces better?
> 
> It is more than strong enough with the bit missing, technically you could touch the belt while it's running but it's only for hobby use so common sense can be used for the time being.


As far as I know laser welding can't be done on cast - the parts have to be perfect fitting. Trying to weld or braze it would be a nightmare which is why I suggested the cold option. Having a steel plate there gives it strength where the spanner rests when you're locking the spindle.


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## minilathe22 (18 Mar 2021)

It looks like all the welding options are either faffy or pricey. I will see what scrap metal I have and make something out of that. Then filler to tidy it up.

The centre to centre alignment is not great, however I do not see how I can adjust it, as the headstock and bed are cast as a single piece and the tailstock casting is a single piece sitting in the centre slot of the bed. There are two holes for floor mounting on the headstock side, maybe I bolt those with anchor bolts, but put adjusting feet under the other end of the bed so I can make sure the bed is flat. How much twist can a bed like this realistically have if not laid on a flat surface I wonder?


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## Richard_C (19 Mar 2021)

A couple of random ideas for the missing chunk. Thinking back to out student 'car bodging' in the 70's, fibreglass got used a lot. My mates Renault 4 ended up with a lot, in places with some flattened tin cans sandwiched in so the MOT testers magnet would stick.

Anyway, could you use fibreglass/epoxy lay up larger than then the gap on the inside face, then when it had set build up the hole with either more fibreglass or go back to car filler? The removable cowl could be turned upside down and reinforced with fibreglass from the inside then some resin/filler perhaps.

Another thought for the big hole, the top edge is straight. Get a nicely printed on aluminuim plate saying "restored by - name - 2021" a bit wider than the gap and fix in place. Covers the hole! Google for printed metal plate, surprisingly cheap.

My son has just bought a pair of period timpani drums to restore. They are in very rough state, when we opened one up it had chalked inside "restored by T Smlth, Civil Service Symphony Orchestra, 1913". So, your aluminium plate might not appeal to you but might delight people in 108 years time .....

Still trying odd searches for Hazdent, still bugging me, no progress unfortunately.


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## minilathe22 (19 Mar 2021)

In terms of history, I noticed the end of the spindle, some rough saw marks are still visible, not completely faced off. Also the big cast pulleys have some very small casting voids in them, as does the tailstock. The bed surface is slightly rounded at the back, so not a totally flat surface. Most of the original nuts look like the Whitworth style, as in they are one spanner size larger than you would expect. Underneath the bed, it was unpainted, same with the tailstock.

There is no easy belt tension release for either flat belt or v belts. Also when compared to a similar spec Taylor lathe, the bearings are massively oversized for the application, and are very far apart, making the headstock much bigger than really needed. Or perhaps there was a larger model with the same bearings. The headstock lid lifts off, which feels like a bit of an afterthought, I wonder if originally it did not have a lid. Many older wood lathes have visible exposed flat belts like that. Perhaps it was originally run from flat belt lineshafting, and had no motor.

All this leads me to think that it was made by a company without significant R&D resources, so they overspecced overything, and the imperfections passed QA when they would not have done at other companies. I think a premium maker such as Hardinge or similar would not have accepted these kinds of imperfections. It was not a cheap and chearful outfit though, as they chose to cast their name into the door, and the door itself offering no structural strength is over 1/2" cast iron.

Also Hazdent does not sound like a very british name to me, I wonder if its more of an eastern european sounding name?


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## Richard_C (23 Mar 2021)

Manchester Museum of Science and Industry have an online catalogue, links to the Science Museum. 600+ lathes including many photos, but no Hazdent. NIce picture of a VERY big lathe turning the outside of a ships gun barrel though so worth the looksee. I've searched the online patents and trademark databases for the UK, USA and EU, no results. I've also looked at the Government Insolvency service for any relevant bankrupt companies. Also google maps - the only Hazdent business name I've found is a dentist practice in Columbia. Oh well, will have another bash soon.


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## minilathe22 (26 Mar 2021)

Thanks for your research Richard. I suspect any paperwork for this machine is not digitized, and I am not sure where to start with offline research to be honest!


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## minilathe22 (8 May 2021)

Update since I last posted - I have been busy with a few other things but have used the lathe occasionally for woodturning when I have had time.

The banjo and tailstock clamps were a bit Heath Robinson, being made from flat pieces of metal they would sometimes rotate while trying to tighten the bolts, and bend slightly so it required several turns of the nut to get it fully tight. They also did not slide very well. I had another forum member make me some very solid T pieces from 4" round bar, inspired by the Wadkin RU banjo clamp. These are internally threaded so I can use a bolt instead of a nut, I hope this will be more resistant to getting clogged with dust. Quick spray of zinc primer to avoid rust, and a bit of oil on the slides and grease on the thread, they have a much stronger feel and I now only have to turn the banjo bolt a little over 1/4 of a turn.

I have found pieces of wood of around 2foot diameter are not often available cheaply! so I have not stretched the full capacity often. Still get some belt slippage at low speeds, but usually only when the chisel has bitten off more than it can chew.

I do not normally need two banjos but I am planning to upgrade my bowl saver to take dual toolposts, this should make it alot more solid.

I plan to get some T nuts and bolts to go in the seconary slot, the thicker banjo doesnt need it but the thinner one seems to rock slightly sometimes, so at larger diameters I think the extra bolt would be handy. Perhaps it is not perfectly flat.

Still no progress with finding any history of Hazdent Machine Tools. Surely more than one was built...


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## Neil Lawton (8 May 2021)

Spotted this but can't find the custom search button on the site.

*Machine Tool Archive - Lathes.co.uk*
http://www.lathes.co.uk › page21

27 Apr 2021 — ... Hasselquist (later Elgin Tool Works), Hatch, Haulin, Hauser, Havier, A.Haworth (Sowerby Bridge), _Hazdent Machine Tools_ - spinning lathes, ...


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## Droogs (8 May 2021)

click on the search icon at the top right of page and select advanced search or the dropdown list that shows everywhere


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## Neil Lawton (8 May 2021)

Droogs said:


> click on the search icon at the top right of page and select advanced search or the dropdown list that shows everywhere


I meant the search on Lathes.co.uk


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## Droogs (8 May 2021)

try this page


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## minilathe22 (8 May 2021)

Unfortunately the lathes.co.uk resource does not have any reference to Hazdent Machine Tools, only a text at the bottom of the page to boost links. I phoned the guy who runs it, he had not seen one before. I plan to send him all the information I have, which is basically just the photos and some dimensions.


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## TFrench (8 May 2021)

Good to see the blocks being used, glad they work well. I thought I'd be able to use the 4th one for a part I'm making for my RS, but the hazdent bed is much wider - I'd be turning half the block to chips to make it work. Back to the drawing board!


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## minilathe22 (28 Dec 2022)

I made a new discovery regarding the origin of this lathe - it appears to be "Hazlewood and Dent Ltd" established 1885 in Birmingham.
The advertisment does not show my specific machine, but one very similar for much larger work. This is from a scan of "Benns Encyclopaedia of Hardware" 1954 so they must have still been going in that year at least.
Confusingly a new company has started called Hazdent Ltd in 2022 but this is not dental and not related!


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## minilathe22 (28 Dec 2022)

Also some extra info, looks like the company made it into the 1980s: Hazlewood & Dent Ironmongery & Tools


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## tonylathes (28 Dec 2022)

We now know a little more about Hazdent Multico Junior Wood Lathe Permission to use your rebuilt pictures - and others if you have them - would be a most welcome addition to the *Archive* I trust that the rebuild has gone well and the machine back in use? My good wishes, Tony Griffiths.


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## minilathe22 (29 Dec 2022)

No problem Tony, go ahead!


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## tonylathes (29 Dec 2022)

minilathe22 said:


> No problem Tony, go ahead!


Thank you very much - will do!


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