Hello all, I am now the owner of a Hardinge Cataract Toolroom lathe. I purchased it from another Practical Machinist member, coltz. This is a great lathe, and I think I am going to have a lot of fun fixing it up and just using it in general.

It has a lot of the accessories, but its missing the rotating collet tray, I was wondering if anyone else out there had the collet tray and could take some measurements and maybe a few close-ups of the components that make up the collet tray? Also any guess as to what type of wood the tray is made out of?

Thanks!

Tyler

The patent has excellent scale drawings of the collet holder. The Hardinge rectangular wood collet racks were maple. I don't have that model lathe, so I can't offer measurements. But the patent drawing can be scaled because the Cataract No. 5 chuck (5C collet) holes are 1.25 inch.

I posted a fairly complete list of Hardinge patents here, including several for the quick change swing lathe. If you send me an email, not a private message, I will email my Excel file on the patents.

Patent number: 1226657
Filing date: Jul 24, 1916
Issue date: May 22, 1917

http://www.google.com/patents?id=Drd...age&q=&f=false

Larry

Thanks Larry, I searched back through the forum and found your patent list, this will definetly help me figure out the collet tray, but I'm not sure I can scale it because the tray doesnt have holes in it, it just has pegs. (at least that I can tell anyway)

Oh I have another question, my lathe is missing the bolt/stud that is used to attach the tail of the cross-slide to the taper attachment, anyone able to make a rough sketch of the bolt?

Thanks!

Tyler

My mistake on the pegs. They would fit the ID of the old collets without internal threads. The early Cataract No. 5 chucks had a 1 inch through hole. Sometime later they thinned the wall to let 1-1/16 bars pass through. My bet is that the patent drawing has 1 inch pegs.

Larry

Hi Tyler,

Welcome to the Hardinge Cataract Quick Change Swing lathe club! If you didn't find them all, there have been several threads here about these lathes.

I want to make myself a copy of the rotating tray, too. Mike Unger, who lives nearby, has one with his lathe. Maybe he or I will post the dimensions and materials. I'm sort of busy cleaning up after some coastal flooding, so I won't get to it for a short while though.

I have a couple pictures here of the dimensions of that taper attachment knob, courtesy of Andrew Clapp in the UK:
http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m...Swing%20lathe/

Irby

Larry: alright that works, I can use that to at least get a pretty close idea of the size of the materials I need to gather, thank you!


Irby: ohh your lathe is black, I was wondering what my lathe would look like black with gold lettering... but thats down the road a ways. Anyway, thank you for the pictures of the taper attachment stud, ill have to see about making one now.



Another question, (sorry about all the qestions in this thread, but its probably better then a ton of new threads) does anyone know if you can still get the odd-ball chain from the overhead "quiet chain" drive? It kind of looks like a timming chain from an engine. Mine isnt so quiet anymore and I think its due to all the slack. I dont see a way to adjust it, and I'm not sure if I want to try and take a link out.

Thanks!

Tyler

Can you just pop one of the links off and reattach like a bicycle chain?

Nice work moving the lathe. I was going to post a picture of you guys if you didn't mind. It was an impressive bit of atom transposition to get that sucker in a pickup truck!

If I can't find anymore of this style of chain, I might have to try and remove links.

It was a tense trip home through stop and go traffic, I had to hit the breaks a little harder then I wanted to a few times, and I was waiting to hear the sound of things slamming around in the bed, but nothing moved at all.

Here is the picture Coltz took of my Dodge Dakota loaded up with the lathe, I'm not to sure how much more I could have fit into the bed, and it was a pretty heavy load cause my head lights were at Highbeam level, and my Highbeam lights were aimed up into the air. I'm on the far right, and the guy leaning on the truck is Brian, he was my portable engine hoist, I'm about 5'10", just to give you an idea of how big he is.

Tyler

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You can't just take a link out of the chain.
If it is stretched, it is stretched.
Look where it wraps around the sprocket.
If you can pull the chain away from the sprocket, it is stretched.
A good chain will not pull away from the sprocket any appreciable amount.
If you use a worn chain, it will start to kill the sprocket teeth, and it will be loud.
If the chain is stretched, it no longer winds on the sprocket smoothly.
Taking a link out is not going to help that.
My chains are also worn, and loud as heck.
Before I use my lathe, I also need new chains.
I was thinking of converting to timing belt drive.
It would mean machining the teeth off the sprockets
and either milling in timing belt teeth or grafting some
purchased sprockets and bore them to fit.

--Doozer

That's funny, I don't remember helping you move a lathe. LOL My name is Brian too, and it is scary how much that Brian and I look alike.

I wish I had some help to offer though.

Hi Tyler,
I have the collet tray and it's off my lathe right now so I can take specific measurements and pictures for you. I'm looking for the same for the follow rest, end trays and the metric gear bracket so I can fabricate them for my lathe. I think we can help each other out. I'll try to do it in the next week or so.

Mike

Hi;

I have the follow rest, end trays, and metric change bracket. I can take some pictures, and maybe make a few key measurements. Any one have the feed speed reducing attachment or raiser blocks. I don't know of any in existence.

regards,

Jon P.

Pictures and key measurements would be great. I haven't heard of any riser blocks or the corresponding drive gear brackets for the raised headstock. These are the Holy Grail items! Funny when you think about it, as the lathe was sold as a "Quick Change" swing lathe and none of these parts seem to have survived with the lathes!

Mike U.

Some pics I has of the riser blocks.
I don't know who owns them.

--Doozer

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I wonder if a moderator could change the name of this thread to the Cataract Quick Change Swing lathe wishlist.

I'll see if I can remember how to do some drafting and take some measurements of my end trays, metric attachment, and follower rest.

Need to find out who has the riser blocks, he might have the fine feed attachment. Does anyone know if the fine feed attachment works without the riser blocks?


Since we are all swapping measurements, could someone take some measurements of the back-gear assembly? mine is completly missing.


Tyler

I posted the pictures. They are for a Cataract bench lathe, not the Quick Change Swing Lathe. I sold them to a PM member in CT.

I did not have the little riser for the slide rest.

Larry

Here is some more on the risers and steady rests.
I bought a Steady on ebay some years ago. Still looking for a follower.

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Finally got out to the shop.

Collet tray is 0.090” sheet metal and 18” diameter with sides 1 ¾” tall.
Center pedestal is contoured with 2” central diameter and aprox. 4” at top and bottom. Large washer on bottom is approx. 4” and bottoms on pedestal so tray can rotate.

The collet rack slides on a wheeled carriage that sits inside a track that bolts to the chip tray.
Tracks- each made from two pieces of 1/8” angle stock riveted back to back to form Z channel.
Top piece bolts to chip tray: 1” and 17 ½” long with tabs on each end.
Bottom piece: ¾” and 17 3/8” long
Mounting holes at 7 ½” centers.

Carriage for tray is 4” x 10 ¾” and 0.325” thick
Axles are ½” square stock with 0.365” axles turned on ends
Wheels are 1 ¼” dia. x 0.560” thick with radiused outside edges
Wheels are loose on axles and captured by channels

Wooden collet posts are 0.89” x 1.9”
Approx. ¾” btw posts and 1 ½” between spiraling rows.

I have some more detailed pictures I can email to those interested if you send PM with your email address or can answer more specific questions.

Mike

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Thank you Mike for the description of your collet rack, that helps a lot, and I hope to start making mine soon.

I hope to post my drawings for the end trays and bracket here when I finish them, its just hard to find time during the holidays.

Here is what I want for Christmas: bracket "A" and bracket "C"... the fine feed attachment. I am wondering how accurite the drawing is, maybe some rough measurements could be taken using the T-slot nuts as a referance for size. The photo with the head stock and brackets on the little bench shows bracket A and C together, I guess you need bracket A to make use of bracket C. Anyone really good at figuring out this kind of thing? If we could get a pattern made for the brackets, I'm sure almost every Quick Change Swing lathe owner would love to have this attachment.

Tyler

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You and about 20 other folks! Including me. The patent drawings show the end view and are scalable. The trick is finding something to show a good view 90 degrees to that. The only pictures I've seen - like the ones you posted - are not quite clear enough to define the shape. If someone had an original catalog, maybe those pictures would give enough detail to make up a drawing. Then we'd just have to find someone to make a pattern. There are several places they could probably be cast.

Of course you know the fine feed attachment is just the start...

Irby