Britan Lathe – New Lathe Day

[websnailParticipant @websnail]

Hi Andy.

The shaft lock is indeed used when a centre is being used.

If the shaft was not required, I would remove it along with the lock (Saves catching your sleeve on it).

We could go for months without needing it. Why cover it in swarfe if you don't have to?

Dave

[Anonymous]

Hi Dave,

So that explains why the tailstock lock is in the collet tray. Surprisingly I've run out of questions at the moment. I'd just like to say thank you very much for all your help and advice. It has been most interesting and useful. Unfortunately work has caught up with me, in the sense that I need to get down and do some! I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to use the Britan for real, but when I do I am sure that will result in more questions.

Regards,

Andrew

PS: I've sent you a PM

[websnailParticipant @websnail]

Hi Andy.

Glad to help. If I was in a position to get one myself, I would.

Hope you enjoy it.

Talk in the future.

Dave.

p.s. Any more questions, just ask.

[peter walton 1Participant @peterwalton1]

David Please ban this myters lee — just an advertising scam!!

peter

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

You don't have to keep posting requests to get a post looked into, just use the "Report" button at the bottom of the offending post.

This will bring it to DCs attention faster than him having to spot it in a thread

J

[Diane CarneyModerator @dianecarney30678]

Myters lee has been suspended.

Diane

[Anonymous]

Ideally by the neck…………..

Andrew

[Anonymous]

After buying my Britan repetition lathe last year I had rather assumed that I was unlikely to find much in the way of extra tooling to buy, without going to commercial specialist suppliers, with accompanying high prices. My reasoning was that if a company was selling a machine, all the tooling would go with it, and if not, then nobody would know what the tooling was for, and it would languish in a box at the back of the stores until it was binned.

Then, out of the blue, there are two lots of Britan tooling on Ebay in the space of two weeks. Bit like buses, nothing for ages then two come along. Although both auctions were 'collect in person' even more oddly they were both in Essex, within 12 miles of each other; and about an hours drive each way for me.

Here's the first lot of tooling:

Most of this lot is in good condition and gives me some things I didn't have before, including a threading unit for small dies, for use in the tailstock capstan. There is quite a pile of custom tooling in the bottom right corner, which isn't much use, as I have no visibility of the jobs they were used for. There are two puzzles, one I've no idea what the small V-belt is for; I don't think it is used on the Britan. Neither do I recognise the item bottom left as being for a Britan. It's an adjustable holder for parallel shank tooling, and would have been used on a capstan lathe, but not made by Britan?

Here's the second lot of tooling:

This is a bit more of mixed bag. There are some round collets that are duplicates, and some that I'll keep. The one square collet is a duplicate, so that'll go back on Ebay. The hex collets are a bit of an odd collection, including 0.709" A/F and 0.820" A/F. In case you didn't know they're the A/F dimensions for 3/8" and 7/16" BSW nuts and bolts. The drive bracket for using the hydraulic feed via the tailstock is useful as a spare, as I understand these are a weak point, given that the casting is aluminium. One thing I was really after were the two roller boxes, bottom, slightly to the right. I can make one good roller box from the two, and I'm sure the second body will sell. There's only one set of rollers, but it'll be simple enough to make a second, smaller, set from silver steel. There is also a revolving centre for the tailstock, but so far I have miserably failed to work out how to change the centres. Anyone got any ideas? As before there's a collection of 'special' tool bits, but also some useful bits of HSS. And as I was sitting in the car after collection, the seller knocked on the car window and gave me a box of new, old stock, HSS tool blanks, mostly by 'Eclipse'.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my purchases, as they expand my collection of tooling to nearly all of what was originally available. If I need extra collets I can always make them, using the existing ones as a pattern. Now all I need to do is work out what I'm going to keep, what I'm going to sell on, and what I'm going to bin.

Regards,

Andrew

[websnailParticipant @websnail]

Hi Andy, handy box of tools you've got. Vee belt might be one of the aux belts. The toolholder in the first photo is one I have not seen before. Never heard of a drive bracket braking either. HSS tool blanks will need 1/2" cutting off the end, I'm guessing that they are 4" long at the moment. Quick tip, when you grind up the tools, put like on like, ie, a part-off tool on both ends or a turning tool on both ends. That way, you won't swear when you find out that the p/off tool you want is on the other end of that speical turning tool you've just set up. How about running a oxy torch over the spare square collet to make it soft, ready to machine out when required. You prob only get a few quid for it on ebay. Have fun. Dave. Sorry about the lack of spacing in this post, my 'return key' is not working!

[Anonymous]

Dave: Thanks for the notes. I'm pretty sure that the toolholder bottom left in the first photo is nothing to do with the Britan; but you never know, it might come in handy for something. I wasn't aware that there were aux V-belts on the Britan? The belt is very small, about 6mm by 5mm. I forgot to mention that in the second picture, bottom and to the right of the roller boxes, there's what looks like a blanking plug, with a O-ring. It looks like it could be a Britan part, but I've no idea where it goes if it is?

It seems a shame to mangle an existing collet, so as an experiment I've put one collet (1/4" square), and a couple of boring bar holders on Ebay. I'm not expecting to get killed in the rush, but a few pounds here and there would help. I've also got a few duplicate round collets to sell, although I'm not sure how much demand there will be for a 1/2" round collet, stamped 0.016" oversize, call it 13mm may be! As and when I need special collets it'll probably be easier for me to make up a batch of blanks from bar rather than trying to modify an existing collet.

I've worked out how to get the centre out of the revolving centre body; 'it wiv a 'ammer! Well, more like a gentle tap actually. As far as I can see the centre shanks are ground to a very good finish and are a tight 'tap' fit into the bearings.

Regards,

Andrew

[websnailParticipant @websnail]

Hi Andy, I forgot to answer you question on the centres. Yes, a light tap with a hammer via a bit of brass. Re: Vee belt. the aux drives the hydraulic pump, it's only a small belt but I can't remember the correct size.Look above the suds tank. My 'return key still doesn't work, damm it. Re: blanking plug. From what I can see of it, it looks the the plug that goes in the bar feed tube, left hand end and a small flexi joins that and the small air carrying tube.Regards. Dave

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

This thread is gold dust

[Anonymous]

Ady1: I'm glad you find the thread interesting.

Dave: Brilliant! You're absolutely right, the mystery bung does indeed appear to be from the pneumatic bar feeder tube. I can't see I'm ever going to need a spare, but I will clean it up and tuck it away in corner of the Britan tooling draw in the workshop.

Thanks for the confirmation of changing centres. Here's a picture of the revolving centre:

The female centre seems in pretty good condtion, the other two centres less so. The bigger of the two male centres has two rather neat concentric rings in it. Presumably this was not standard. In due course I'll probably clean up the centres. I am slightly puzzled by the threaded screw that goes in the back of the centre. If you nip it up then the centre stops rotating which seems pointless. I wondered if it was a means of ejecting the centre without tapping via a brass drift. I did try that but I think you'd badger the screw slot on the end in pretty short order. Using a brass drift seems much better.

Again you're correct, there is indeed a small V-belt from the auxiliary motor driving the hydraulic pump. I'd better stack the belt along with spare drive belts I got when originally purchasing the lathe.

At least I've now got a few 'watchers' on my two Ebay auctions for some Britan bits. I'm optimistic that the bits will sell, even if not for much. I haven't sold that much on Ebay, but things generally seem to hot up at the end of an auction. I suspect that most people seach using 'finishing soon' and make a last minute bid.

Regards,

Andrew

[websnailParticipant @websnail]

Hi Andy.

Re:Bung. No idea why you have a spare. It's never going to wear out, is it?

Re: revolving centre. The threaded screw is something which I have never seen. We used to drift ours out with a brass or ally rod. Not done on the machine but over a vice or hole in a flypress. As we had three or more revolving centre bodies we didn't change them too often. The were three male and three female centres as standard equipment. NONE had concentric circles from new, yours are worn. As it's a revolving centre and damm hard to wear (because it turns, unlike a fixed centre) I guess that it was in use and somebody got careless and hit it with a tool, probably the back edge of a turning tool.

I made-up some special 'bungs' that I pressed the centres into, this allowed me to machine far larger dia tubes etc.

Quick tip. When setting the machine, set the revolving centre first. Then you will know where and at what length to set the stop/s. Then set the tooling to the available spare space.

Regards

Dave

[Anonymous]

Dave: I've got no idea why I've got a spare bung either. It just came with the collection of other tooling. I doubt it's saleable, but sods law says if I get rid of it I'll need it.

Ah well, the threaded screw will have to remain a mystery. The screwdriver slot has evidence of use, but as to what for, who knows. I've got a flypress so I can use that for inserting and removing the centres. The smaller centre is just plain worn. The two rings on the larger centre look very neat, almost as if they were machined. No doubt your explanation as to cause is correct. It'll be no problem to machine it back to pristine condition. The female centre looks to be in pretty good condition; presumably it didn't get used much.

The next project is to clean up the roller box and make an extra couple of rollers. I've got the rollers for smaller diameters, but not the set for larger diameters.

Regards,

Andrew

[Anonymous]

I've bought yet more Britan accessories. The package came via ParcelForce, along with a neat cord handle for the convenience of the postie. Never seen that before:

Here are the bits:

The dinky little collets in the front are for the 3/4" Britan, as opposed to the larger 1-1/4" collets behind. There's also an home-made adaptor to allow the use of the 3/4" collets on a 1-1/4" machine. The two tap/die units on the middle right are only fit for scrap/spares, but there is a range of useful die holders. I'm not sure what the adaptor, top immediately to the right of the large collets, is for; it takes 1-1/4" collets and has a fairly powerful square section spring in it. If it's homemade, it's very well done, nice machining and ground in all the right places.

Regards,

Andrew

[xgris swindellsParticipant @xgrisswindells89021]

I have just purchased a britan 4 wheel grinder 3 phase but cannot find any information about iy anywhere, I know from previous forum posts there was a member who did an apprentiship there. I wonder if anyone has any information

[TigerParticipant @tiger]

Well, this thread is a few years old, but thanks to it, you guys made me fall to the britan repetition lathe and recently purchased two of these.

Initially I was planning to get 1-1/4" model, but there where only a couple listed on ebay(the place where I usually look and buy) and they where incomplete. Like missing rear tool turret, missing splash guard, missing this, missing that. Then one came up with everything it was equipped by factory(as far as photos show on the net) including bar feed and some tooling, but in was the 3/4" model. It was listed for a gran but the seller lowered the price after two weeks to 700. Then I thought to get this one to get acquainted with the machine and maybe if some other 1-1/4" appears to change it.

I did contacted the seller to ask questions, who was a great lad, and he answered all of them the best he could(he had no idea what he was selling, other than "it's a lathe&quot and kindly sad that he is willing to drop the price to 600. So, this made me really think about it. Then after a few days he contacts me and says that he had enough of all the buyers(dreamers)and I am welcome to have it for 500. And with this he tripped all my switches and I went ahead to make the deal.

I have to tell you, that I had no idea how I am going to transport the thing, but thanks to this forum(especially Andrew, thanks!) I knew that the lathe is not heavy. Looking more in detail at the machine photos it doesn't have to many parts, so I might be able to disassemble it, load it into my small estate car and drag it home, even in two runs if it's necessary.

Took my imperial spanners and not the allen key set, that I forgot home(had to buy a cheap set from screwfix) and drove there to see the little machine. The seller was extremely friendly though he might had doubts in me that I will, or not, be able to take the thing apart and load it into a small estate car.

My time slot was 4 hours and took the lathe apart in one hour and 40 minutes or so, all loaded into my small estate car ready to follow me home in one run.

For those who are interested, the lathe comes apart in the following bits: headstock(one man can lift), tool table(small hoist, or two men), base casting(two men, not heavy, just bulky), the two legs(one man), motor(small hoist or two men). The auxiliary unit was still in the base casting at the loading moment but it did fall out on the way home. Good thing that I've layed a liner in the car in Case oil comes out(some did). The base casting is made of aluminium, the legs and the head two.

Got home and started assembling the next day. The legs I pressure washed and wiped of the base casting interior as it had some dust and oil mixture, had to clean the top from the brass swarf put it back together and it is ready to make some parts.

Meanwhile giving the TLC to this little machine a 1-1/4" model appears on eBay on auction. And I went for this one too as it sold for less(400) then what I paid for the 3/4" model. Fair bit of tooling, quite a few collets and rack, bar feed, etc. Dragged it home the same way as the other one, though I was heavily surprised by the size of the collets and the rack, something I wasn't expecting to be so big(almost ran out of space).

Now giving the TLC to this one, barely assembled the legs to the base and already had to make quite some restoration, some new parts, few fittings, screws, hinges, cables cut everywhere, auxiliary cam that actuated the compressor is broken(it was stated in the description that it packed up though). Working on the head now, but it just makes me sad really, I don't know if they had no collet spanner or they where rather using a chisel and hammer while setting this machine. The two holes for the spindle collet nut is just hammered to twice the original size. And I just got started, I can already see that there are multiple moving parts that need restoration, joints rebuilt, new bushing and so on.

The 3/4" model looks brand new next to the 1-1/4" Now I don't know how other 1-1/4" models look like. My rough guess is that they are much sought after because of the larger spindle capacity and they just got more used through the years. Something to keep in mind if anyone is looking to buy one if these and large spindle capacity is not needed.

Another thing that buggers me, is that the 3/4" model has a clutch, the other doesn't. Does anyone knows, if this was an extra on these?

Oh.. and about collets, what material where they made from? And I know you can make them from mild steel, but in today's world where prices for mild steel and a proper carbon or alloy steel is not much difference(at least to me) it would worth to make them from the right stuff. Read that there is someone here on the forum who worked at this factory, but can't remember who it was.

Thanks for reading!

All comments are welcome

[Anonymous]

Posted by Tiger on 17/08/2020 08:54:30:

The base casting is made of aluminium, the legs and the head two.

Well so it is, never knew that. I'd just assumed it was cast iron. The lathe will be lighter than I imagined; although I've never found a definitive spec for the weight.

Not sure what you mean by a clutch? My Britan has a lever clutch to engage high or low speed ranges, but that's not the same as a clutch to stop/start the spindle. These were production machines designed to run continuously. With operators on piece work I doubt they would have used a clutch to stop and start the spindle on a regular basis.

I don't know what the collets are made from. I'd guess a medium carbon steel and hardened to something like 40-45Rc.

I had some 3/4" collets, but sold them yonks ago. Good luck and have fun with your lathes. I assume that all accessories, apart from the collets, are interchangeable between the 3/4" and 1-1/4" machines?

Andrew

[TigerParticipant @tiger]

Hi Andrew!

I haven't run either of them yet. I'd imagined that it's a start stop clutch, but now it makes sense. Thanks! And not to overly worried in this case if it's missing on the 1-1/4" model

Yes, as far as I can see, all accessories are interchangeable. The small toolholder collets, as well as the die holders, centres and most bits and bobs. I am just looking to most of them trying to figure out what it does, where it fits, but I found stuff that's probably some other lathes tooling.

The 3/4" came with quite a few shop made blanks of tool holder collets. And some with the 1-1/4" as well. It's seems that they get lost easily.No wonder, they are so small…

The only difference between the two is the headstock and the bar feed tubing that is larger on the 1-1/4" than on the 3/4". And the clutch that is present on the small, but not on the large.

I will try to upload some pictures later.

Do you still have yours?

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

A major task ahead, figuring it all out and not chopping your fingers off in the process

Take your time and good luck, have sent you a PM

I noticed a few come up on ebay recently but only one looked like it had the bits and they all looked well used

Put as many pictures as you can into an album in here, including from weird angles which show rarely seen surfaces

There's not really much out there on what is a very interesting and useful little lathe

Edited By Ady1 on 25/08/2020 15:47:57

[Anonymous]

Pictures would be most interesting. I do still have my Britan. It gets used regularly, mainly for knocking out custom studs, bolts and nuts for my traction engines. So I'm not really challenging the machine, but I sure wouldn't want to make the parts without it. Of course building two engines means lots parts. So far I've made at least 300 1/4" BSF full nuts and 50 or so locknuts.

Andrew

[Small EngineeringParticipant @smallengineering21682]

Hi everyone,

We have two of these at our work place, but misplaced the manuals as they've never been needed. A saw an earlier post way back from 2012 that says have you downloaded the manual and partslist – I was just wondering whether these downloads were still available?

Kind Regards

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

I think Britan are still trading, last address I have got is Unit 3 Goodwin business park CB8 7SQ.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

That now seems to be a retail park!

[Author]

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