Corbetts Little Jim Lathe restoration – newbie needs advice

[Andy Thompson 3Participant @andythompson3]

My lathe just has 1/8" holes on the headstock for oiling. Of course I need to remember to drop oil in as I use the lathe and I never know if I am over or underdoing it.

Andy mentioned how drilling and tapping these holes for a proper oiler may contribute to cracking, so I made up a couple of oilers as shown. The one on the left is a free syringe from the pharmacy with some scrap bar and a screw.. Your can watch and count the the drops if paint drying is too exciting. The blue marks are meant to show level every 15 mins. It is all a bit sensitive – how can I improve control. I could modify these for a tube and wick – any idea on min tube/wick size.

Since I don't particularly like the above, I also made up the one on the left. Looks simple but a good exercise for a newbie. Different tapers needing me to grind and use right hand, left hand, round nose, boring and chamfering tools. The clear plastic for the top lid was a real pain and does not really work. The hole in the bottom is 1.5 mm and the oil runs out quickly. Don't have any felt or coffee filter, but tried various sponges and paper on the bottom to slow it down to drops. Best seems to be a single circle of normal writing paper.

The blue lines were marked every 15 mins. How much oil is required – ny idea of cc per hour?

Not sure if these are better than dropping, esp since only a fraction iof the time is spent rotating. Any suggestions to improve. Any suggested new design. Another thread talks about cheap Chinese oilers that may have a 1/8" thread – would these work for me?

[Andy Thompson 3Participant @andythompson3]

Last update finished with concerns over a poor finish. Well I have learnt that I need to learn to sharpen better. Taking the sharp point off the knife to leave a small radius and aligning tool to rub really makes a difference. Photos show my latest efforts. Photo 1 the large bar is cheap mild steel bar, photo 2 the thin bar is EN1A supported in tailstock. I was pleased with these as they look and feel smooth. However I was dissapointed when somehow my phone caught photo3 – I cannot see it that rough even with two glasses and a magnifying glass!

These are the first things I have made on a lathe so I have learnt much from all the above. Not least is that pottering ineptly with a lathe can eat up the whole day. I now have plans to alter the carriage feed and make new handles and make a new belt sander – so I may be some time.

Welcome any comments – Cheers

[Andy CarlsonParticipant @andycarlson18141]

Sounds like you are progressing in leaps and bounds Andy.

I have made some ally bits of tooling for my lathe and they are fine but I'd be looking for something ferrous for the tailstock clamp if it were me.

The carriage stop is a handy thing and I see you have already discovered why it is a good idea to have a stop screw rather than bumping into the whole stop.

For 'T' nuts I think you need to think about how things will bend and at what points the clamping forces will be applied to the 'T' slots. Having 'T' nuts which occupy most of the height of the slot is a good thing because you have more thread engagement and they are less likely to bend. You may need to make them because the off the peg ones may not fit your slots. Thinking about it the opposite way… the last thing you want would be thin, flattish things that can bend and then try to rip the flanges out of your slots. It's also better if there is a solid block of metal (toolpost etc) directly on top of the slide to oppose any force trying to rip out the slot… not always achievable though.

Your oilers look good. I would not be too stressy about oil feed rate (aka…. I dont know what it should be) – as long as the bearings keep a film of oil they should be OK. My (small) cups do run out during longer cuts but I don't think it's a major problem. I top them up whenever I stop the lathe to check measurements etc.

I like to be sure that I can reach the off switch in an emergency or a lesser panic like a dig-in. On the Faircut I have the NVR on the front of the bench next to the headstock and also have an emergency stop button at the tailstock end.

[Gerry HedderwickParticipant @gerryhedderwick80661]

Been reading you topic with interest, just picked up my first lathe (a Corbetts XL / Granville 4-inc) so very similar…..

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