Buying a Schaublin 135

[marcsO]

That site certainly shows what can be done if you have time, expertise and deep pockets I suspect!
I have a question, colours, not sure which way to go here, the machine is a light silver blue colour, guess that is its factory colour but do see others like the green, white with dark grey cabinet etc...
Personally not keen on the green nor the colour it is right now, like the white top half and dark grey bottom but wondered if there is any issues with value of these machines should you decide to change the colour from the original factory coating?

Any other colour options as see the new machines are white/red now which is nice as it reflects the Swiss flag colours, would a 135 look good in white and red and how maybe would that combination best be applied?

Marc

 

[hansvandongen]

IMO a repaint job on an old machine always looks worse than leaving the original paint. Unless. My vote is for cleaning the machine drastically and letting it be. If you go the Ruemema route and get the geometry back to better then new: then a repaint job (which takes ages when done right, and means dismantling to the rough castings etc.) might be in order.

Still: cleanup first, then assess. IMHO, of course.

Hans

 

[Peter from Holland]

IMO a repaint job on an old machine always looks worse than leaving the original paint. Unless. My vote is for cleaning the machine drastically and letting it be. If you go the Ruemema route and get the geometry back to better then new: then a repaint job (which takes ages when done right, and means dismantling to the rough castings etc.) might be in order.

Still: cleanup first, then assess. IMHO, of course.

Hans

The ruemema route will cost him about €50000 to €60000 if not more
He does not restore these for stock anymore Only if ordered And his prices went way up

Peter

 

[marcsO]

50-60,0000 is madness for a 50 year old lathe, does not matter how accurate it is human error will be more of an issue IMO.
I'll see how it cleans up mechanically, I'm not after silly accuracy just something decent, if its like the Hardinge HLV I had that will be fine.
I have a friend who does body repairs and has a paintshop so access to painting and prep work is not a problem and should be relatively cost effective as I can use the sandblasting equipment and can spray paint as used to race and restore Aston Martin cars, might get one of the workshop guys to do the filler and sanding as don't like that job!

 

[Peter from Holland]

I did ask him who bought his machines and why He told me his machines are used as manual hard turning machines
Many of his customers are in the optical industrie As a example he told me of a compagny makiking opticals for sniper riffles
These have to be light So made out of aluminium Anodized But then they have to machine the seat of the lenzes To a very high accuray but without going through the anadized layer Pocketgrinding is very difficult So they do it with a diamant tool on a Schaublin 150 of his

Peter

 

[marcsO]

Been quiet sorry as planning the machine move but thought I would update on project.

Been cleaning down the Multifix tool post, size A and what appears to be a genuine item, the tool post is in good condition but the threaded bolt that looks like it was made to suit the Multifix needs re-making as the shaft is worn and loose and the threads that locate in the carriage base plate are damaged. Will get this re-made, hopefully a fairly easy job and post the results.

Making contacts at Schaublin UK and they are putting me in touch with a private machinist guy who knows these machines very well, he is located 30 minutes from me so hoping this contact will be able to give me advise when I start the project proper.

 

[ole.steen]

A very nice buy! I have restored and own a 135 from around the same era, (1974). Are you sure yours is from 1970? One important difference is the spindle bearings. If you have the rounded top spindle housing, it indicates the old bearing style (cylindrical rollers and ball thrust bearings), while a squared off housing top indicates the newer type, with 3 angular contact ball bearings behind the chuck, introduced between -70 and -74. Your lathe looks to be in reasonable state, especially if there is no rust on the ways (as it looks). Feel free to ask me any details, I'll try to help as best I can.
Ole

 

[marcsO]

Ole many thanks for the info and offer for help. I have come across some very in the know people around the world and a few here in the UK which is great, looking forward to starting the work to clean it up.
Picture of the spindle housing and rusty old chuck, which type is it?

 

[ole.steen]

Aha! This is the pre-1974 type with the roller and thrust- bearing. It may well be 1970 as you presumed. The guy with the utmost knowledge of these machines is Rüdiger Krämer. He is a professional machine restorer, and lives in Germany. I myself is a retired psychiatrist with a passion for machines as a hobby. Here is my 135, i have restored it myself: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AixuXkj7rT9J1nu3c5qDb24-yJId?e=hYvzdy

Ole

 

[marcsO]

Ole nice work sir, I have a couple of questions.
1- I notice all your handles have what look like new covers, red and black, can you explain if they are new ones from Schaublin or did you make them or another solution?
2- The base cabinet, how much work was needed to get it to a good condition to paint and what paint method did you use?

Lovely work and hope I can achieve 50% of your result...

Marc

 

[Martin P]

Nice buy!
My experience with Schaublin as a company:
I could use some small parts for my 160s.
So I called their German location. They berated me for owning such old crap (I am not kidding), but told me to mail them the serial numbers and they would see if they could help me with some parts or a manual.
I mailed them the serial numbers and proceeded to never hear from them again.

 

[marcsO]

Martin if you want I can supply you with a contact at Schaublin UK who is super helpful and I am sure will help you out on parts etc, he was very complimentary of my 1970 135 he only juddered when I mentioned I had a Hardinge HLV before

Marc

 

[Peter from Holland]

Ruemema told me that overhauling a 160 is so very expensive because almost no parts were available
Did Schaublin go bankrupt at some point Wasn`t there a auction at some time??

Peter

 

[Martin P]

I could use some standard parts, but the swiss made things just a little different.
Like the crank handles, not the ame as others.
The rubber on top of the headstock is 5mm thick instead of the usual 2 mm. Where to get this?
On the top of the headstock there is an oil glas shaped like a bulb. One would think this is a standard part, but no, some swiss thing only known within sight of the Matterhorn I guess.
But then Deckel mostly used suppliers from within a 100km around Munich. But at least that is DIN country.

I do not know the Ruemema guy. Judging by his website he must be....lets say...."difficult".

 

[marcsO]

BMW's (never-the-f**k AGAIN, thanks!)

I had an old X5, it did 250,000 miles and was brilliant, had a Merc C AMG, pile of rubbish, most modern cars now have so much electronics and 'stuff' that inevitably is the Achilles heel of modern cars - Audi IMO are now better than Mercedes and BMW.

Its interesting now that so many 'European' cars are in the USA, not wanting to diss American cars but OMG there are some pups out there, ugly things that don't handle round corners and ride like an old mattress. Your Jag and Rangie are cool, hope they deliver a decent ride and enjoyment.

Marc

 

[marcsO]

If you want generic rubber matting try Polymax in the UK, do 5mm stuff.

Marc

 

[Peter from Holland]

I could use some standard parts, but the swiss made things just a little different.
Like the crank handles, not the ame as others.
The rubber on top of the headstock is 5mm thick instead of the usual 2 mm. Where to get this?
On the top of the headstock there is an oil glas shaped like a bulb. One would think this is a standard part, but no, some swiss thing only known within sight of the Matterhorn I guess.
But then Deckel mostly used suppliers from within a 100km around Munich. But at least that is DIN country.

I do not know the Ruemema guy. Judging by his website he must be....lets say...."difficult".

That is the swiss profit scenario
Collets with a pitch you cannot make on a normal lathe Bearings with od sizes or features
Variator belts Even their low profile allen head screws are nowhere to be found
Then you have to buy them in Switserland at a premium
A piece of 5mm rubber should not be that difficult though Or does it have a profile ??

Peter

 

[Screwmachine]

That is the swiss profit scenario
Collets with a pitch you cannot make on a normal lathe Bearings with od sizes or features
Variator belts Even their low profile allen head screws are nowhere to be found
Then you have to buy them in Switserland at a premium
A piece of 5mm rubber should not be that difficult though Or does it have a profile ??

Peter

I have a Habegger 102 screwcutting lathe; it's metric but the leadscrew is inch (?!) and one of the threads in the chart is the W20 1.666mm thread, haha.

 

[marcsO]

Guys posted on a few forums in my time but seems pictures on this platform are not straightforward so need some help...

In my early posts pictures are small and often in the wrong orientation even though on my computer where I get them from they are the right way up! Also not able to find a way to post multiple pics in one go (easily) either. Finally if you post the wrong picture I have found no way to edit the post and remove a picture so please can someone spell it out how best to do this as moving forward when I post about the re-build on the 135 I want the pictures to look right and be a decent size/quality.

Thx
Marc

 

[marcsO]

A few weeks ago I grabbed a few items for this lathe from where it was being stored, the Multifix toolholder and the fixed steady, both grubby but spent a few hours cleaning them up and wire wheeling the tooling parts and polishing the brass bearings from the steady - come up nice so hopefully the lathe will do so also once I get stuck in.
Collect the lathe in a few days and will post some pictures of the process and move to its new home.





Marc