Mega Adept

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

A little while ago I started chewing away at a block of continuous cast iron for the headstock. It started at about 4lbs, the bed casting is about 2lb 10 oz. So.. there's obviously plenty of waste in there worth saving. I took a large chunk out by a combination of power hacksaw (see above) and chain drilling.

The chain drilling with the 2 1/2" depth of hole was challenging. I used a very nice Brooke split point 6mm drill in two stages, the second bit with the drill pulled right out of the chuck, and the table raised so the drill started well into the hole.

Now my pillar drill is a fifteen year-old bottom-of-the range Clark 5-speed drill. How would it cope with such deep and overlapping holes. How accurately would they come out and would it be a disaster? Well as the swarf flowed freely and the drill bit was good, it had the best chance to show it's metal. Bit didn't catch and the holes didn't wander significantly – this pic shows how accurately the holes went in. Not far off straight, bearing in mind it was over 2 1/2" depth. Yes the score marks show how close I was to the depth limit!

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Here we go, the tale of a new headstock, about a two day's power and hand hacksawing, drilling, reaming, boring, milling, more milling and filing… remains to be fettled with the dremel, but the critical faces are all flat, the bores are parallel (spindle bore bored on lathe, backgear holes reamed at same setting) and they are also (hopefully!) parallel to the tenon on the bottom in both planes… although I can correct for errors when making the matching tenon on the old bed. There will need to be fettling and filling to disguise the join, and one joining screw will have to be down a hole crossing the front bush's bore – I will plug it with a mount for an oiler.

Neil

4 lbs of iron:

1lb 14oz of iron

12 oz of iron:

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Looking rather fine, Neil

I wonder how much they would have needed to charge for a production version of the Mega Adept

MichaelG.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

At least two shillings in old money.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by John Stevenson on 09/11/2014 21:51:49:

At least two shillings in old money.

.

So, Neil would be earning about a farthing an hour

MichaelG.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Posted by John Stevenson on 09/11/2014 21:51:49:

At least two shillings in old money.

2 days pay for an archer at Crecy, or an able seaman at the battle of Jutland.

[D.A.GodleyParticipant @d-a-godley]

Posted by Bazyle on 19/10/2014 14:00:32:

At the midlands show the Wolverhampton club stand had an 'old style' workshop with someone working on their Adept.

It was nicely mounted on a box that contains the motor to make a very compact unit. Behind him you can just see another lathe that I think might be a Flexispeed or one of the similar ones. An added touch to this display was that he was working on a whitewood kitchen table. It might have been better though to have moved up closer to the 'window' to show and talk to the punters. It is good to see clubs putting some effort into their stands like this to add some variety to the displays for the interest of regular visitors who go regularly and may have seen a lot of the club exhibits before. (ooops drifted into the exhibition thread there)

Edited By Bazyle on 19/10/2014 14:06:21

Bazyle ; you may not have understood our stand, we were showing what to us in Wolverhampton is new technology, most of us are not used to this Electricity driven kit, no doubt you also saw the more common equipment in these parts, viz : the tredle powered lathe demonstrated by another of our number.

Glad you found it interesting .

David.

[Chris TriceParticipant @christrice43267]

Looking nice Neil. Of course you know that sense of satisfaction is just the start of the addiction path that leads to bigger and bigger lathes?

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I'm working in reverse. the next one will be fitting a VFD to one of these:

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I've just clocked a test bar fitted in the back gear 'holes' and it's dead parallel to the tenon, which means the spindle should be as well

This means the next bit is cutting off the old headstock.

Scary! =8-0

Perhaps stripping the paint off it would be a good delaying tactic… especially as I'm out of paint stripper

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 10/11/2014 12:38:32:

… the next bit is cutting off the old headstock.

.

I trust you will be repurposing it, as a milling spindle.

MichaelG.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 10/11/2014 12:38:32:

Perhaps stripping the paint off it would be a good delaying tactic… especially as I'm out of paint stripper

Neil

Seeing as it's such a big machine use the edge off a matchbox.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

> I trust you will be repurposing it, as a milling spindle.

It might just be up to becoming a lazy susan.

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Phew, the lathe bed has some hard spots… very tough going with a slitting saw! Resorting to the hacksaw which is a PITA as it took me about an hour to get such an awkward shape securely fixed to the bed of the mill and aligned in all directions :-/

At least I know it can be set up now, but milling the matching tenon is going to be done VERY carefully and slowly in case I hit one of those hard spots.

Funnily enough, the slots where the headstock bearings are split may or may not be hacksaw cuts, but they are well of centre!

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Hacksawing that headstock off by hand took several sessions!

But it took a lot less effort to set up this time! I did my trick of sighting across the edge of the bed to the edge of the mill table. Incredibly, the DTI showed it was dead parallel, I had to check three times to make sure! Five clamps/stops so hopefully it stayed dead solid. The iron machined better than I expected, although the screw on my DRO coming loose gave me a small heart attack – it suddenly acquired 20 thou of backlash!

Anyway, the result appears to be a good fit, its alight push in and hangs in place upside down, which I take as a good sign:

Next stage, was to get out the files and teh dremel and start blending in:

Not obvious at that angle, but there's an ugly 'notch' between the back of the old headstock and the new one, which I will fair in with JB weld or similar epoxy putty.

Next task, fixing screws…

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 11/11/2014 20:13:40:

… which I will fair in with JB weld or similar epoxy putty.

.

Don't forget to leave a few blowholes and pimples; for authentic effect

MichaelG.

.

[seriously though; it's looking good]

[WALLACEParticipant @wallace]

Call me ‘negative’, but I’d have been more tempted to build a home furnace, melted it down, added a few bits of scrap iron and cast a completely new lathe…. … .

W.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Where's the challenge in that

In all honesty, I have a pattern I've made for a lathe about 1.25 times bigger, with a bolt on 'box' headstock.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 11/11/2014 20:34:16

[WALLACEParticipant @wallace]

I do appreciate the challenge Neil !

It’s just that I’ve been looking at YouTube clips of an Australian guy casting iron with a home made crucible furnace and I’m itching to give it a go .. unfortunately, it’s going to have to wait for the next house……

W.

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Wallace,
Have a look at this website. This is a guy in the UK that casts iron using a waste oil fuelled furnace.

Les.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Headstock now firmly attached with two M5 bolts and metal-filled epoxy. Cosmetic fairing in is under way, using epoxy putty – can't praise the dremel Micro enough, using it with the sanding drum.

I have a 10mm hole down through the front bearing for the front fixing screw. Annoyingly, this is too big to tap 3/8" x 32tpi, and making it M12 seems OTT… I think I'll press in a brass plug and tap it for an oiler.

Now, has anyone got any advice regarding the size of oil hole I should use for the (plain) bearings?

Neil

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Neil, I would use a flip top oiler, I imagine these are for the backgear shaft.

Ian S C

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

No, it's for the main spindle's bronze bearings.

The back gear will run on a shaft between eccentric plugs in the 1/2" holes, allowing for easy single lever engagement/disengagement like a Boxford. Lubrication could be interesting, but I might use a couple of small ball races, they can be tidgy as 1/8" face width 1-mod gears will limit me to about 1/8 horsepower/100W.

Still not sure how to lock/unlock the pulley cluster – probably a sliding pin in the fixed gear, but maybe not.

Neil

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Fantastic stuff Neil, really impressed. I think I have a 1/8 HP 3 phase motor somewhere (with gearbox outputs 1rpm from memory) – if its interesting to you, I'll venture the depths of my hoard and take a look.

Steve

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Hi Steve,

I hope I'm doing it justice, I hope to bring it along to MEX, at least some of it, as a loan exhibit. I'm really chuffed with how the rebuilt bed is looking.

Wouldn't that motor be ideal for a table drive or similar? I have a 1/3hp motor lined up for the moment (I won't be pushing it to the limit as I will only use 1/4" plastic belting) and its easier to drive than a 3phase motor, but I'll keep that offer in mind.

Thanks,

Neil

[Author]

Posts