Hi Wayne,

I assume you have already checked lathes.co?

Thor

My CVA has 3 v belts from motor gearbox output to the headstock. I guess it’s for torque transmission.

Dave

I would be looking at a minimum of a two HP motor to drive your lathe ,thats a big headstock to drive,plus cut metal,the multiple drive pulley indicates that it originally had a good size motor.I would not try to get a high spindle speed,if it is ww2 ,a spindle speed would not been much over 750 rpm. In the 1950s a 8inch Wilson lathe i worked on had a top speed of 440 rpm and a 41/2 Boxford was only 1450 rpm.

Hi W.olly, welcome over here.🙂

Get the 2HP motor. Have you checked the threads on any of the bolts and measured the lead screw pitch (travel per rev) yet?

You won’t break it if you are careful. It is built like the proverbial brick bog.

Ipswich is a bit far for me, but I expect there are some nearer, who could give you some practical on-site advice- sort out your accessories and get that indexer working.

The better VFDs can be programmed for all manner of things.

Edited to add: Check the type of bearing on the headstock.  If it is a plain bearing stick to the 1000rpm  limit – well not much more.  If a taper roller bearing, the main spindle could go much faster but the gearbox may not like it.  It would be a shame to push it too hard.  

Edited By not done it yet on 17/10/2021 22:04:10

We all look forward to regular updates on progress with your lathe. Have you measured the spindle threads and fitting? You will probably have to make custom backplates from blanks or solid cast iron for any additional chucks needed.

Google has some information from Suffolk Steam on this particular lathe, It is demonstrated in a video

The nose thread is 60 mm O/D, pitch 5.5 mm with a through bore of 40 mm and 5 MT nose taper. From the size of the bearing housing I would guess at a taper roller bearing support at the chuck end and probably a plain roller bearing at the far end of the spindle

Old Mart recommends a decent quality oil in the headstock. I agree with him and used a semi-synthetic 10W-50 oil made by Morris Lubricants in a recent restoration of a Churchill Cub lathe of 1947 vintage. It seems to like it and runs very well at all speeds.

Brian

Well then, Andrew at Suffolk Steam is the man to ask for any other information, the rest of us are floundering about without a lot to go on

Brian

Edited By Brian Wood on 18/10/2021 18:20:34