The basic lathe is now completed, and runs like new !
In her previous life, she spent her time turning patterns from cheap timbers in a brake foundry.
Now she will be turning some of the most beautiful, exotic Australian native timbers such as Tasmanian Huon Pine ( beautiful honey gold in colour - probably the most rare timber in Australia ), Northern Territory Ironwood ( deep red, very hard with interlocked grain - polishes beautifully ), Brush Box ( hard and heavy with slight pink - brown tones ), Western Australia She Oak ( very rare these days, lovely amber colour with wavy grain ).
We are very lucky to have such stunning timbers available to us, but they are becoming difficult to source.
Currently, am making a set of turning rests, as there were only two short rests with the machine. Am also costing the high tensile steel to fabricate the gap bed tool rest and will then decide on fabrication vs casting from pattern.
The second hand Allen Bradley VFD units were both defective, so have decided to opt for a new TECO E510 series VFD.
This unit is IP 66, so will save me the time and trouble of obtaining an enclosure.
Will update as the last few additions are made.
Hope this post has been of interest and help to some.
My thanks go to others who have taken the time to post their restorations, and to those who have responded during this post.
