New to the hobby

[Martyn PlantParticipant @martynplant87032]

Hi everyone thought I'd introduce myself and explain what I'm doing here , so I'm martyn living in the south Wales valleys , I'm no longer able to work due to illness so have a lot of time on my hands and ant sit still and like keeping the old grey matter ticking over so I was gifted a lathe to turn a few small bits out on but I can't find any info on it except for what is on this forum in an early post . Its missing the gears and has a poor low cost rubber band instead of the appropriate belt I'd like a owners manual for it and to see what is actually missing .

[Martyn PlantParticipant @martynplant87032]

[Michael CallaghanParticipant @michaelcallaghan68621]

Hi martyn. Look on the follow web site. Lathes.U.K. This site carries information on all machines made. The other thing that sometimes works is to put in a search for belt driven lathes, look up images and see if you can find one the same as yours.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

Welcome, Martyn, you can check out how to post photos of your lathe by using the "keyword" at the top of this thread.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Hi Martyn, welcome ! A picture is worth a thousand words ! I'm sure some one will recognise it. Good luck. Noel

[Martyn PlantParticipant @martynplant87032]

[Martyn PlantParticipant @martynplant87032]

[Martyn PlantParticipant @martynplant87032]

Please forgive my computer skills there not great , the model shown in yellow is a chester which is identical to the model I have only the colour is red and as said its missing all the gears , the only thing behind the door are the two gears and a shaft which I assume is where the missing gear fits ? .

I am a complete novice to this sort of work but with time on my hands I'm eager to learn as much as I can before age catches up and I start to forget all I've learnt .

[Martyn PlantParticipant @martynplant87032]

[Martyn PlantParticipant @martynplant87032]

[Martyn PlantParticipant @martynplant87032]

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Dats a dinky one

It will teach you all the basics, I would start with small bits of aluminium and mild steel

Knowing your machine is half the battle

Rule one: Eye protection

Never ever start her up without something on your eyes, even a £1 pair of reading glasses

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Welcome!

You have done well to find data on what looks to be the Chester equivalent.

Since yours is painted red, it may well be a Sieg. In which case, it may be that Ketan Swali at Arc Euro Trade might be able to provide more information.

Looking at your pictures, to my mind in addition to a set of Change GHears, you will need:

A banjo, c/w with clamp This will clamp around the bush through which the leadscerew protrudes. It will have a slot to take the

Stud/ s (C/w clamping ) for intermediate gears

As anewcomer. it would be a good idea to buy some books to read up using a lathe and a milling machine.

I'll PM you with a list. Look for a flashing envelope near to the top left hand corner of your screen, next to SETTINGS

Howard

[BizibilderParticipant @bizibilder]

Sold by both Chester and Warco several years ago now but either may have some spares possibly. I olso found this video (in chinese!) that you may find useful https://youtu.be/bcjOtdNqxm4

Searching for "CT125" (without the quotes) seems to be a good place to start.

Also this forum thread: HERE

Edited By Bizibilder on 23/08/2022 14:24:51

Edited By Bizibilder on 23/08/2022 14:28:29

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Have just seen a post from Chester UK saying that they have some spares available for this machine

And that they may produce an updated manual for the machine!

See "Which Chester min lathe/ mill is this?" by Colin Lloyd , last posted 22–8–2022 timed at 1945 .

Howard

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Welcome to the forum Martyn.

The machine you have is good for indoor model railway sized work rather than clocks or traction engines. It's probably quiet enough to be used inside the house rather than needing a shed or workshop to to contain the racket and mess.

The motor is small, so although it will turn, drill and mill mild-steel, it will be happier on Aluminium and Brass. Don't expect it to plough through metal in seconds! I like to drive my machines so the motor can be heard to be straining slightly, but not struggling. Patience is essential on a machine with a 250W motor, but they can do good work.

Best to buy metal described as machineable or free-cutting rather than trust random scrap; quite a lot of scrap and DIY store metal doesn't machine well and small lathes are less able to deal with awkward metal than big powerful ones. My entry into the hobby was almost derailed because my collection of scrap was all rubbish!

The missing change gears are annoying but not the end of the world. Most small threads are cut in the lathe by tap and die. Change wheels are only really needed for large diameter threads. A problem may be the lead-screw moving the saddle too quickly to be used as an automatic fine-feed; again annoying rather than fatal – you just have to develop a steady hand.

Any idea what you want to make yet? If not, people often build skills by making simple tools and whatnots before moving on to a model or real-world object.

Dave

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

With the high minimum speed, making and using a mandrel handle, may be a necessity for cutting threads by any means.

With a machine, this small, threads are likely to be cut using Taps or Dies, rather than screw cutting so the lack of change gears may not not be that detrimental.

Imagine trying to open half nuts with the lathe running at 1150 rpm. VERY quick reactions needed.

The changewheels are more likely to be needed to provide a fine feed for sliding. BUT, at 1125 rpm and assuming a 20: 80/20:80 set up, the Saddle will still cover the length of the bed in a couple of seconds, by my calculations!.

Maybe that's why the gears and the banjo are missing?

Definitely a job for the Leadscrew handwheel to provide a longitudinal feed, in my book.

Howard

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Can't read the speeds from a print of the picture!

Is the minimum speed 150 rpm rather than 1150?

If so, that means that the Saddle would travel at about 14 mm per minute, which is much more useable, but still quick if you were cutting a M8 thread (11 threads in a minute ) .

Howard

[Martyn PlantParticipant @martynplant87032]

Thank you for all the info and advice it's all greatly appreciated. One of my long term interests are target shooting with air rifles so possibly look into creating bolt handles transfer ports and hammers etc but at some point I would love to build / create a model steam engine but all this will be after some extensive research and lots of practice.

[Steven CorstonParticipant @stevencorston14096]

Hello Martyn. From the manual the belts are 1.5 x 83 x10 for the lathe and 1.5 x 70 x 10 for the milling head. The only place that I found them was Banggood. The originals were steel belts but I got rubber ones, much cheaper.

The milling head belt was far too tight on mine, I got round this by making a new pully with one tooth less.

Let me know if you want further information on this machine.

Steve

 

Edited By Steven Corston on 25/08/2022 18:30:49

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