Levin lathe info wanted

Just bought a Levin lathe and would like to talk to an owner. Mine is a model D . I think it was built in the 60s

I have several Levin lathes. I use one similar to yours, but with two chrome feet instead of the cast iron coolant pan, on a Levin maple top bench.

I just used it today to put dog points on a couple of 1/4-28 set screws. I have a stereo zoom microscope on a boom clamped to the bench and an LED ringlight so I can see what I am doing. I used carbide hand gravers and the t-rest, which are handier than the slide rest for many jobs.

Larry

I too own a few of the lathes such as yours. You will probably find that the headstock will feel lumpy thinking that the bearings are shot when actually all that is needed is to have the headstock spun enough to loosen up the grease.

The 10 mm collets are often hard to find.


cheers
Markus

That is a nice lathe. Parts show up on ebay regularly.

I have a smaller (8mm) lathe of different make that I use for all sorts of small jobs. You'll enjoy using yours.

You may see my set up to view a few of handy accessories for such lathes:

http://www.JamesRiser.com/Machinery/WWSmall/LatheSetup.html

I'm sure Larry has many more goodies for his lathes than I do.

Nice purchase!
Jim

I e-mail the Liven Co. and got a nice reply. They said my headstock was made in 52 and crossfeed in 58. I can download a manual from their site.
What do the collets sell for on ebay? The new ones sell for over 100.00 new.
magicmaker we will be spending Feb in Greenvalley Az.

The other source of new 10 mm collets is Derbyshire, who charge less than Levin. The Derbyshire designation for 10 mm collets is Magnus-Elect. Derbyshire is a much older company than Levin, so Levin copied the Derbyshire collet and called it a "D" collet. The other Levin collet is the 8 mm WW type, so-called because it was originally for the Webster-Whitcomb lathe, also a Derbyshire product when Levin copied it. Both the 8 and 10 mm collets were designed by American Watch Tool Co. in Waltham, MA. Fred Derbyshire worked for AWT and then started his own lathe factory. Derbyshire bought out the AWT watch lathe business when it was up for sale, acquiring the rights to the Webster-Whitcomb and Magnus trade marks and designs.

Used collet prices are not standardized. Maybe $20 each for decent 10 mm collets could be called average.

Derbyshire

Levin

Larry

Hi Larry,

I too have a Levin, though a more modern long bed square headstock mounted on a tray with rear mounted motor made in the late 1980's/early 1990's. I have the heavy duty cross slide with quick change tool post and the milling spindle along with the counter shaft. The prices of these items new is nothing less than shocking.

I also use my Levin with a microscope. Can you describe that LED ring light or where you sourced it from? I would like to adapt them to my Aciera F1 and Levin microscope.

Thanks,

Mike

This is the model ringlight and the seller from whom I bought it: http://cgi.ebay.com/48-LED-MICROSCOPE-RING-LIGHT-ILLUMINATOR-100-000-hours_W0QQitemZ250156048446QQihZ015QQcategoryZ48738QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I am quite satisfied with it. I have several fluorescent and fiber optic ringlights, but the LED turned out to be the easiest to install and set up on the B&L Stereozoom 4 on the Levin bench.

Larry

What is the best way to instal a drive belt on a levin?
Old Bill

Old Bill, I see pics of the old watchmakers lathes with the lathe and the motor mounted separately on a flat wooden table top. Not sure if this is best.

On one site I visit regularly, it's considered by some to be inappropriate to share the numbers of items being auctioned on ebay. If you feel that way, don't look at the ebay item 150153168926, which is a Dumore motor for small lathes. Don't know if this is big enough for gt2ride's lathe. Not my listing, just pointing this one out.

Looks nice, gt2ride.

Jim

Does gt2ride refer to a Mustang GT, Ferrari, what? My first car was a 69 GTO (not a GT...) with a 389 and a six pack. Drinking age was 18, so both meanings of the phrase 6 pack apply. Testosterone, alcohol, 400HP, poor suspension, braking, and handling, and an 18 year-old's sense of immortality and infallibility. I shudder to think...

Watch Lathe Drive Belts

For 30 years or so, the only drive belts I have used on my watch lathes are 3/16" hollow Rounthane. That is a polyurethane material that is hollow, like hose, and comes in either yellow or clear color. You cut it a bit short and join it by pushing the ends over a tiny barbed aluminum connector. The belt comes in 100 foot rolls and the connectors come in bags of 25. The belt dealers make me buy 200 feet at a time, so I got in the habit of selling my excess belt and connectors to other watch and clock lathe users.

The same material is available solid instead of hollow. The solid belting must be welded, which is possible, but I never wanted to bother. I do have the actual expensive electric welding tool made for these belts. Welding can also be done with a heated knife blade. Welding leaves a flash around the weld that is a pain to trim off.

Rounthane is available in a variety of sizes and materials, hollow and solid. They also make a v-shape belting that can be welded to any length.

Obviously this stuff is great for applications like a watch lathe where it is a royal pain to pull the spindle and install an endless belt.

http://www.shinglebelting.com/extrusion.html#rounthane

Many years ago, leather was the normal round belt material for little machines. Levin actually made a splicing tool for gluing leather belts for their lathes. O-rings do not work well at all for high speed belting. Steel spring belts slip like mad if you try to use them on a lathe. Some machines use endless round belts made of braided cotton or synthetic thread. Examples are the Alexander (Deckel copy) cutter grinder and the old belt-drive dental engines. These belts are good, but hard to install on a watch lathe, even if you could find one the right size.

The Levin bench I use has the motor below the benchtop, driving a countershaft behind the lathe. The motor belt is a 2L section v-belt. The countershaft comes apart easily, so the endless v-belt is not a problem.

For a 10 mm lathe, I use a 1/8 or 1/4 HP universal motor of 5000 to 10000 RPM. I control the speed with a Linemaster solid state (SCR) foot control. Mine is a cast iron Clipper wide tread type, which I did not find on their website. Here is one that will do the same job: http://www.linemaster.com/acvarspctl.shtml

The Foredom model SCT-1 foot speed control is about the same as the Linemaster Clipper and may be easier to find. See P.7 of the Foredom catalog.
http://www.blackstoneind.com/foundations/store/documentwarehouse/documents/301Catalog_AllPages_May2006.PDF


Larry

[ 08-24-2007, 08:42 PM: Message edited by: L Vanice ]

Larry,
Thank you very much for the heads up. I had the lathe, mounted on a jewelers workbench, given
to me a while back. Now I'll have to get it running.
Old Bill