How do I get this working?

[Stanleymonkey]

I have this small lathe - chuckless and with nothing going on at the tail end.

The end with pulleys where the chuck should go is 1/2 inch diameter and a Whitworth thread.


There is enough room for a four inch chuck.

First question - do chucks come with a Whitworth thread or are the backplates interchangeable? I haven't seen any Whitworth backplates.

At the tail end there is no centre. The handwheel cranks this cylinder in and out. There is a keyway - but I was surprised to see it was threaded at both ends.

The end that the centre would fit into is shown here:



Second question: What sort of running centre would fit in here? I can't find any threaded ones in my preliminary searches.

Hope some of you can help me out with this.

 

[minilathe22]

Looks to be quite an old machine - interesting that the tailstock has a threaded centre, normally this would be an internal morse taper.

As for the chuck, commonly you would buy a backplate and chuck separately, but direct threaded chucks are also possible. However you may get stuck trying to find an off the shelf chuck or backplate with 1/2" Whitworth. Most likely this lathe did not come with a chuck, but only faceplates.

I have seen threaded tailstock centres before, some cheaper lathes have them, but again you would need to find a suitable thread. You may be able to get hold of a suitable bolt and turn the head to a point, for a simple dead centre.

 

[Orraloon]

That looks very old. The finish on it is still quite good too. Any idea of its history?
Pity the centers are missing but something could be made up. For the tail stock just find something with the right thread and grind a point on it. I think the original would have been a dead center anyhow. You will have to find someone that can make something to fit that thread and a more common thread on the outside that can take faceplates or a chuck. Be mindful that its a small lathe so don't try overloading it. The pulley looks like it takes a slim belt. Are the belt grooves round like old sewing machines? Last question are you going to use a motor or treadle?
Regards
John

 

[Tanglefoot20]

Hi there... looks like a good old machine...firstly I would say it’s a treadle driven job.....you can get sewing machine belts fairly cheap on eBay .
As to the spindle thread..,remove the spindle and pulley....see if you can get someone on the forums to turn a new one for you...with a 3/4 16 thread. Don’t use large chucks on machine..,,,I’d say the RP2000 ideal...you could also make your own faceplates and all sorts of holders..,
The tailstock end would use a threaded bolt....head turned down to fit a small roller bearing...then a centre turned up to fit over the bearing...giving you a running centre.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Looks to be quite an old machine - interesting that the tailstock has a threaded centre, normally this would be an internal morse taper.

As for the chuck, commonly you would buy a backplate and chuck separately, but direct threaded chucks are also possible. However you may get stuck trying to find an off the shelf chuck or backplate with 1/2" Whitworth. Most likely this lathe did not come with a chuck, but only faceplates.

I have seen threaded tailstock centres before, some cheaper lathes have them, but again you would need to find a suitable thread. You may be able to get hold of a suitable bolt and turn the head to a point, for a simple dead centre.

Thanks - I hadn't thought of turning a point on a bolt. I'll check the diameter and but some Whitworth threaded bolts. Hopefully both ends of the lathe will have the same threads!!

How do flat faceplates work for turning work? I can't see that they will hold a long piece of stock securely.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

That looks very old. The finish on it is still quite good too. Any idea of its history?
Pity the centers are missing but something could be made up. For the tail stock just find something with the right thread and grind a point on it. I think the original would have been a dead center anyhow. You will have to find someone that can make something to fit that thread and a more common thread on the outside that can take faceplates or a chuck. Be mindful that its a small lathe so don't try overloading it. The pulley looks like it takes a slim belt. Are the belt grooves round like old sewing machines? Last question are you going to use a motor or treadle?
Regards
John

Unfortunately I don't know anything about its past. I am planning to run it from a treadle and use sewing machine leather belt to drive it. I did wonder about a treadle turning a heavy metal chuck, I'm not familiar with lathe faceplates and how I would use those.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Hi there... looks like a good old machine...firstly I would say it’s a treadle driven job.....you can get sewing machine belts fairly cheap on eBay .
As to the spindle thread..,remove the spindle and pulley....see if you can get someone on the forums to turn a new one for you...with a 3/4 16 thread. Don’t use large chucks on machine..,,,I’d say the RP2000 ideal...you could also make your own faceplates and all sorts of holders..,
The tailstock end would use a threaded bolt....head turned down to fit a small roller bearing...then a centre turned up to fit over the bearing...giving you a running centre.

I plan to run it from a treadle. I'll look into that chuck - I assume RP stands for Record Power? I think I need to read up on faceplates for turning as that keeps being mentioned. I'm a bit of a caveman and I like the tighten it in a chuck approach!!

 

[minilathe22]

for shorter, larger diameter work a chuck/faceplate is a strong workholding method, however the size of lathe you have, between centres will be good enough, at least at the beginnning.

To start some simple turning you just need a centre point in the tailstock as already discussed, and then a star point like this on the headstock:

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-four-prong-parallel-drive-centre-410052
This looks like it would have enough meat in the back to tap your headstock thread.

 

[Dominik Pierog]

I plan to run it from a treadle.

The tailstock is for dead center
So you want repurposing old foot operated treadle.

It will be rad and fancy... nice festive/fair presentation of wood turning.

 

[Tanglefoot20]

I plan to run it from a treadle. I'll look into that chuck - I assume RP stands for Record Power? I think I need to read up on faceplates for turning as that keeps being mentioned. I'm a bit of a caveman and I like the tighten it in a chuck approach!!

Hi there...
If you’d like to start a conversation I could help you if you like...it saves all the indiscriminate posts regarding whatever. I am ex engineer...spent 20 years turning metal....so I could help. needs be ...

Steve

 

[redhunter350]

I plan to run it from a treadle. I'll look into that chuck - I assume RP stands for Record Power? I think I need to read up on faceplates for turning as that keeps being mentioned. I'm a bit of a caveman and I like the tighten it in a chuck approach!!

Many years ago as an apprentice always looking to make a extra few bob I used to wheel and deal in small lathes, very understanding boss allowed me to use works facilities! However I came across quite a few treadle lathes and converted them motor driven — my point is that you will need a fairly hefty flywheel incorporating to be able to cut metal. At a guess they would weigh between 30 & 50 lbs having said that the marching I’m referring to were considerably more substantial than your machine, nevertheless I would ensure you have much more than the flywheel used in a sewing machine.
May be worth looking at www.lathes.co.uk and see if you can ID your machine

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Redhunter and Tanglefoot

Thanks for your replies. I was planning on using the lathe for some basic wood turning. Treadle power and short lengths of wood. I had forgotten about the four prong drives. I think they should do the trick - just need to make sure the wood is always turning in the correct direction.

With your knowledge - do you think that is possible on this little bit of kit?

 

[minilathe22]

I think it would easily be capable of small diameter wood turning. You may want to work out how the main bearing is lubricated - is there an oil hole at the top somewhere?