DSG lathe – Matrix 5 1/2 dry plate clutch

[Chris Dobbs 1Participant @chrisdobbs1]

I realsie a 13*32 Dean Smith & Grace lateh is not teh usual model engineers machine tool, but hoping that someoe here may have soem infortion that will assist.

 

This lathe uses a Matrix 5 1/2 dry plate clutch between motor and headstock gearbox. On the lathe we have at the heritage railway I volunteer at the clutch has suddenly stopped engaging the drive mid -job. We suspect a problem in either the linkage (buried deep in the headstock) or the clutch unit. There is no information of help on either linkage or clutch in the manual we have.

Does anyone, by chance, have any information on the construction of the Matrix clutch ? I know that Matrix brand clutches were used on several different lathes, so perhaps someone has  some insight from another make ?

 

Many Thanks for any assistance you may be able to give.

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

Hello Chris,

I suspect your problem is one of linkage. My Churchill Cub has a dry plate clutch, possibly of Matrix make, built into the twin sheave pulley driven by the motor.

It would not hold in drive when I bought the lathe as a result of actuating rollers running back down ramps and releasing pressure on the plates, but it was gradual rather than sudden and it could be pulled back into drive again using the clutch lever, only to repeat the effect a few minutes later

I hope that gives you  a clue.

Nice machine, I’ve used a well worn one.

Regards   Brian

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

Hello Chris,

There is an adjustment for the DSG and you can find out more information below. From memory the clutch design is used across the whole DSG line up and it should apply to all lathes. I have reset these clutches on the Type 13 and 17 lathes. The size of the chuck has something to do with the setting.

Regards

Gray,

 

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/4080/25469.pdf

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

What a helpful posting Graham.

It would not have helped me with my Churchill clutch but I found my own solution for that to overcome wear on tapered ramps

Regards   Brian

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Sorry this isn’t a helpful post, but is that the DSG at Ravenglass? Saw one there a few years back, very impressed by it.

Rob

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

The DSG at Ravenglass was destroyed in the catastrophic fire they had some years back. The whole workshop went up in flames, arson attack.

[duncan webster 1]

On duncan webster 1 Said:

The DSG at Ravenglass was destroyed in the catastrophic fire they had some years back. The whole workshop went up in flames, arson attack.

Oh no! I was unaware of that, sad to hear.

Rob

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Looking back at my photos, it seems like they managed to acquire a replacement (or skilfully restore the old) DSG at Ravenglass, as the fire was in 2013 and I visited in May 2019. There was also a couple of Colchesters (Triumph 2000 and a Bantam, I think), a Start-Rite Mercury pillar drill and a Besco Truefold press brake, amongst other things.

The arsonist got a ten year sentence in 2016, so will be out around now.

Rob

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