Has anyone here ever modified a capstan attachment to fit a regular centre lathe?

[Jake Middleton-MetcalfeParticipant @jakemiddleton-metcalfe]

Hello I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice for my problem:

I am in need of a capstan lathe but workshop space is tight and buying another lathe could be a problem. I have a warco centre lathe for which capstan attachments were never made – has anyone on here ever got a capstan attachment made for another lathe and made it fit their centre lathe either by making some sort of milled plate to make it taller or indeed machining down the base of the capstan and then perhaps boring the tool holes on the capstan to a larger size (to make certain they are central to your lathe spindle).

If anyone on here ever tried this … is it something you would recommend or not? Is this just a horrible idea? Or is it a great idea which will help me save space by not having two lathes?

Best wishes and thank you for reading

Jake

[Jake Middleton-MetcalfeParticipant @jakemiddleton-metcalfe]

is this just a bad idea…

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

There used to be a Myford Tailstock Capstan attachment, so others have had this requirement previously.

There have been designs published, by model engineering afficianados, and marketed commercially (By Warco among othgers ) for Tailstock Capstan attacments.

They usually carried four or six tools (, Centre, Drill chucks Die Holders etc. )

Try looking at Warco, Chester, Axminster, or RDG; you might find what you want.

Howard

[Robert ButlerParticipant @robertbutler92161]

The Arc attachment 2MT & 3MT? works well. Tooling needs to be designed incorporating its own stop.

Robert Butler

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Drummond did a big one Page 22

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

There was even a [rather lovely] little capstan attachment for the Pultra 17/70

There will presumably be pictures of it on lathes.co.uk

MichaelG.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Does Hemingway make aa kit?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Downriver Tools used to do a few designs to make your own for various size lathes but their website seems to be down at the moment.

This minilathe one looks quite well done, build thread

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Myford made a proper capstan that was bed mounted, had it's own slide way, indexing and stops ! A beautiful if very expensive bit of kit. To fit it – for perfection the capstan was drilled to suit the centre height of the machine it was used on. The myford fitted with the lever or screw operated cross slide and its associated tool holders plus the capstan attachment with box cutters Etc became a proper capstan lathe. I supose that provided the centreheight was 3,5"  or greater one of these could be easily made to fit a larger machine.   Noel.

Edited By noel shelley on 13/02/2023 11:00:36

Edited By noel shelley on 13/02/2023 11:32:51

[peak4Participant @peak4]

It's not a full capstan attachment, but Chester have THESE on offer at the moment, with a 30% discount coupon available.
https://www.chesterhobbystore.com/shop/tooling-accessories/tool-holding/multi-head-indexing-tailstock/

The MT2 version isn't particularly rigid, and unfortunately, they can't supply spare tailstock ends.
I bought that one, so I could use it in the Myford as well as the larger Warco gearhead.
Note that the various holders are primarily designed for metric sized dies etc, but obviously can be adapted or duplicated.

Bill

[Anonymous]

Depends what you want to do with it. I have a capstan unit for my lathe (Harrison M300) which has its uses, but it is not as useful as a proper capstan lathe. Also note that a capstan unit, or lathe, is useless without tooling. For quantity production I have a repetition lathe; far quicker and more versatile for small items than the capstan unit plus centre lathe.

Andrew

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

What is it that you want to make on your capstan lathe, and in what quantity?

There may be other, better or easier, ways of doing it if more details can be given.

As others have said, capstan attachments can be somewhat limited in their abilities and are not the same thing as a full-on turret lathe. So again, it depends on what you want to make and how many.

Edited By Hopper on 13/02/2023 11:58:13

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Andrew is right about needing not only the capstan unit, BUT all the tooling and the lever operated collet chuck. A 1985 Myford publication shows an S7 set up with all the bits that make it a capstan lathe. All the bits cost more than the bare lathe. What is it that you want to make lots of ? Noel

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

From previous posts I would think keys(finger buttons) for concertinas

If it is then this is one of the Downriver designs on a small Sherline lathe that could be adapted to the Warco 180

Edited By JasonB on 13/02/2023 12:18:45

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I think Radford had a design for a dovetail quick change arrangement for the tailstock so you could quickly swap drill chucks etc. In ME in the mists of time

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

All you need is a lump of cast iron or steel to make an adapter plate and you’re in business, I have seen a Myford capstan unit grafted on to a Colchester Chipmaster with great success.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Well, if it is just for that kind of small stuff on a mini lathe, a tailstock turret combined with a lever tailstock mechanism might be the easiest and cheapest option. You don't get the auto rotation/indexing like the proper turret in the video but for short run production jobs it would work OK.

There have been a number of designs for tailstock turrets over the years. From memory LH Sparey has one in his book The Amateurs Lathe" with drawings.  And ISTR there have been more recent designs in MEW. Plus of course these days you can buy them ready made.

Edited By Hopper on 13/02/2023 13:15:49

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by duncan webster on 13/02/2023 12:34:53:

I think Radford had a design for a dovetail quick change arrangement for the tailstock so you could quickly swap drill chucks etc. In ME in the mists of time

It is in his book "Improvements and Accessories for your Lathe" which is still available.

[DC31kParticipant @dc31k]

Another option to consider, as an alternative to a traditional capstan, and if your parts suit its layout, is a gang-tool setup. A popular commercial one is Omniturn. They used to have lots of very useful ideas on their website.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Big disadvantage of a tailstock turret compared to a true capstan attachment is the lack of depth stops. Which make sit very difficult to do repetition jobs requiring identical sizes. Generally the tailstock breed is best for things like drilling several sizes of holes.

I have a good industrial quality one for my S&B 1024 which comes out for such things. Centre, centre drill, two drill sizes might be loaded. Worst point is teh porcupine effect with bits pointing in inconvenient directions. Avoiding interference between job, work and machine can be an issue.

The common import breed seem even more problematical. I've still got one that I bought 40 years ago and have never used!

What makes true capstan really useful is the ratchet tool rotation and lever feed. It may be that fixing a turret to the cross slide and using a multi-position bed stop will work adequately well.

Look at the Hardinge low profile capstan attachment used on the HC et al for inspiration.

Providing you remember to increment both for each stroke. Usually hard to miss a tool shift but easy to miss clicking to the next stop position. Which makes a right mess! With stepper motors being os cheap I wonder about automating the stops using a microswitch clamped to the bed actuated when the saddle is cranked back. Cut off is the difficult bit but a simple fixed slide probably isn't impossible to arrange.

Clive

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

The myford has capstan station and stops linked ! Noel

[Jake Middleton-MetcalfeParticipant @jakemiddleton-metcalfe]

Thank you all for the very helpful replies, I should have been a bit more specific in my original post though –

There three parts I am making and they: are small bolts with a bastard thread (I have the unusual thread die) in batches of about 200 and concertina buttons which are slightly more complex and made in two parts, I would probably produce a batch of abound 400 of those parts at a time. I enclose an image to show what these are like. The tooling up and setup for making this sort of thing is not a problem, I
make a lot of them .. if somewhat slowly on a centre lathe. Im not really interested in outsourcing the work
I have just had a lot of bad experiances with doing that on any level sadly.

I actually have one of the 2mt tailstock 6 tool capstan like attachments and as has been pointed out
the lack of a depth stop is quite a drawback. Also the one I have is somewhat flimsy sadly, perhaps some of them are better.

The guy bazmak who made the capstan for his mini lathe looks to have done an incredible job but sadly that path looks a bit beyond
my milling capacity (wm 12 mill and wm 180 lathe) and time limitations (self emplyed with two under 5 children)

The bed turret for the sherline lathe looks incredible, it would be that exact setup which I would be
trying to emulate – not quite as perfect as an industrial capstan lathe (looks like its missing the handy
lever collet setup which many have) but I feel such a setup would be the best thing for my needs and limitations ect.
As pointed out sadly their website seems to be down though.

Still looks a bit hard to see the best way forwards – Perhaps I need more sleep you have all provided very useful suggestions I think I just need to have a good think now on this one.

Best wishes

Jake

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

There are capstan attachments made for some of the Smart & Brown lathes which probably could be modified to fit your lathe, you would need a mill for the mods, though.

**LINK**

[Jake Middleton-MetcalfeParticipant @jakemiddleton-metcalfe]

As mentioned in previous post here is an image of a concertina button – made in two parts

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Jake

I notice that a rather distressed capstan attachment is on E-Bay at the the moment (for rather too much money!).

**LINK**

Item 154308218335

Probably too large as the turret is 5" diameter but might be worth an ask. You'd need to do the dovetail base it slides on in two or maybe three bits to get the length as it will be too long to do in one go on your mill but its not an impossible job. Frankly for the size of work you plan a partial length dovetail may well be fine.

There is a nice looking Myford one :- **LINK**

Item 175612996112

That looks pretty much ready to go, albeit a bit spendy. A Myford bed is of simple square edge design so, if the centre heights work, its far easier to make an adapter.

Alternatively consider making something similar to the tool carrier off a tailstock turret as the basis for a cross slide mounted version. Or buy a cheap one and cannibalise it!

If simple manual rotation will do an angled block to hold it at the right tilt having some sort of spring loaded registration stop inside fixed to the cross slide will suffice to mount it. Use a multi-position bed stop as I suggested in my previous post.

Still need to sort a cut off slide or substitute tho'. I suspect for your mall jobs a simple hand pull down, or up, device pivoting on a rod behind the lathe bed might work. Sharp too and stop spring to work against.

Clive

 

Edited By Clive Foster on 14/02/2023 14:45:24

[Author]

Posts