Help with new old lathe

[John Brown]

Just acquired a very old Arundel lathe that needs a bit of cleaning up, and have a few questions.
1) How do I know the model/type? It doesn't seem to be marked.

2) The drive belt is totally knackered, it's marked Z 840 Z 32 or 33, tricky to read. I believe Z is the profile, and 840 is the length.

3) It has a massive starter box for the motor, label says Square D MBG-3. Works fine, but it is enormous, when compared with the starter on my Elektra Beckum flip saw, for example. Can it be replaced with a smaller one?
That's about it for now, but I expect I'll have a lot more stupid questions.

 

[Jacob]

Just acquired a very old Arundel lathe that needs a bit of cleaning up, and have a few questions.
1) How do I know the model/type? It doesn't seem to be marked.

2) The drive belt is totally knackered, it's marked Z 840 Z 32 or 33, tricky to read. I believe Z is the profile, and 840 is the length.

3) It has a massive starter box for the motor, label says Square D MBG-3. Works fine, but it is enormous, when compared with the starter on my Elektra Beckum flip saw, for example. Can it be replaced with a smaller one?
That's about it for now, but I expect I'll have a lot more stupid questions.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/arundel/
They are very classy lathes. A pleasure to use.
Mines a J4 Senior which is brilliant. Previously had J4 Junior which was also brilliant but smaller.

 

[Tris]

This may help i.d

http://www.lathes.co.uk/arundel/index.html

 

[John Brown]

Ok, thanks. I reckon it's a J4 junior.
It's remarkably heavy, especially the motor...

 

[BillHoughton]

Older Square D boxes are likely pretty big. I think if your amperage rating for the voltage is matched, that you can install any quality box you want. You'll lose the history, of course. Just remember the "quality" part.

 

[John Brown]

Older Square D boxes are likely pretty big. I think if your amperage rating for the voltage is matched, that you can install any quality box you want. You'll lose the history, of course. Just remember the "quality" part.

Thanks. Is it a DOL starter, do you think? I have a couple of smaller NVR units kicking about...

 

[John Brown]

How does one replace the belt? I'm guessing that I have to take the outboard face plate off, remove the grub screws from the pulley block, and attempt to remove the shaft.

 

[ade99]

This may help i.d

http://www.lathes.co.uk/arundel/index.html

Exactly what I was going to suggest. Tony at Lathes.co.uk was very helpful when I was asking for advice

 

[Jacob]

How does one replace the belt? I'm guessing that I have to take the outboard face plate off, remove the grub screws from the pulley block, and attempt to remove the shaft.

My J4 Junior didn't have an outboard face plate, so maybe you have the wrong model number? Post a photo?
Removing the spindle was easy - remove the grub-screws from the block and from the outboard ring bearing thingy and pull out the spindle, with a bit of careful tapping. It had plain bearings, but I guess sealed bearings much the same process but more difficult as a tighter fit.

 

[John Brown]

My J4 Junior didn't have an outboard face plate, so maybe you have the wrong model number? Post a photo?
Removing the spindle was easy - remove the grub-screws from the block and from the outboard ring bearing thingy and pull out the spindle, with a bit of careful tapping. It had plain bearings, but I guess sealed bearings much the same process but more difficult as a tighter fit.

Maybe I'm using the wrong term. Will try to post a picture later.

 

[Jacob]

Maybe I'm using the wrong term. Will try to post a picture later.

Is yours like the green one? Arundel J4 Junior & J4 Senior Lathes
It's a later version than my old blue painted one and looks like it has sealed bearings and the end plate you mention.
Not sure if removing the shaft would be exactly the same as for plain bearings - there may be circlips etc.
Mine new (old) one is the J4 Senior below, but with extra bar extensions etc

 

[John Brown]

Mine is(was) blue, and here is a bad picture (it's in pieces right now). The disc on the left of the headstock is what I thought was an outboard face plate, as it screws on with a lh thread, and has two sets of three holes in it.
For some reason my phone refuses to allow me to upload the other picture!

 

[Jacob]

Mine is(was) blue, and here is a bad picture (it's in pieces right now). The disc on the left of the headstock is what I thought was an outboard face plate, as it screws on with a lh thread, and has two sets of three holes in it.
For some reason my phone refuses to allow me to upload the other picture!

Same as mine (as was) and plain bronze bearings I presume.
The sealed bearings in later versions are covered by a plate, which is what I thought you meant.

 

[John Brown]

Same as mine (as was) and plain bronze bearings I presume.
The sealed bearings in later versions are covered by a plate, which is what I thought you meant.

So is that faceplate to the left for bowl turning? There was no way of mounting the tool rest over there...

 

[Jacob]

So is that faceplate to the left for bowl turning? There was no way of mounting the tool rest over there...

You need a separate bowl turning tool rest. Have a look in the Arundel site and you will see them.
There's a prob though - the thread on the outboard end is quite small and I managed to break mine by trying to turn a bowl too big. Arundle were still operating back then and I could buy a new spindle.
So bear in mind it's the J4 junior and don't trash it like I did! Just make bowls not too deep or too massive, or plates, on the outboard end.

 

[John Brown]

had a bit of a struggle getting the grub scew out of the pulley block, but got there in the end. I'd like to replace the grub screw, but it doesn't appear to be metric. Calipers show it as a tad over 6mm thread diameter, any idea what it might be? 1/4"??

 

[Jacob]

had a bit of a struggle getting the grub scew out of the pulley block, but got there in the end. I'd like to replace the grub screw, but it doesn't appear to be metric. Calipers show it as a tad over 6mm thread diameter, any idea what it might be? 1/4"??

Dunno. BSP something I guess. They are easy to track down once you know the size.

 

[John Brown]

I doubt it's British Standard Pipe!
I guess I'll have to count the threads per inch...

 

[Jacob]

I doubt it's British Standard Pipe!
I guess I'll have to count the threads per inch...

BSW? I'm a bit vague about thread sizes TBH!

 

[John Brown]

BSW? I'm a bit vague about thread sizes TBH!

Me too. Still, at least we do have some standards these days, I believe that before Mr Whitworth came along, it was pretty much a free for all.

I was lucky with the damaged grub screw in this instance, as I found a screwdriver style Torx driver of a size that I could hammer in the damaged hex socket.
I wonder if that's why the seller wanted shot of it, as the belt was positively falling apart. Not that I'm complaining, since he delivered it on its bench in his trailer, for no extra charge!