Bradford Metalmaster info

djones3158 · Dec 15, 2017

Hoping someone on here can give me some information on my Bradford Metalmaster lathe. Lathe belongs to my Dad and hasn't been run for 30yrs. Hooked up the electric to it last night and everything seems in order other than the oil flow sightglass filled up completely. Don't know if this is normal or not. I thought about it last night an figured it to be drained back to gearbox this morning, but to my surprise it still is full. I cleaned the filter inside the sightglass before I ran it and it seemed clear but now I'm not so sure oil is not deadheading the filter. Thought I'd ask on here before I remove the sightglass and oil goes everywhere...thanks. If there is a better category to ask about a Bradford lathe please let me know.

johnoder · Dec 15, 2017

I'll suppose its similar to my Monarch

Level is the low one, flow sight the upper one - to let you know pump is working. May be as simple as the drain for the flow sight is plugged up after all that long vacation

djones3158 · Dec 15, 2017

thank you John, so you agree it shouldn't stay full? Thinking about taking filter out and see it that helps...shot some brake-clean down the drain hole before I ran it but couldn't tell much about it. Maybe someone with another Bradford will chime in as well. Thank you for the reply.

johnoder · Dec 15, 2017

If, as I supposed - it was similar to my Monarch, it is never "full" - it shows you a running stream of oil. Naturally, that would require a wide open drain for that window.

Any restriction or stoppage would allow it to fill partially or completely

djones3158 · Dec 15, 2017

thanks John, yeah that's why I was going to remove filter that is located in the center of glass reservoir and see if it drained. The drain hole is in the middle behind the filter so it would make since the oil level would only be halfway up the glass. thanks again

djones3158 · Dec 15, 2017

Just removed what I'm calling a filter, but I don't think that's what it is. I'm not sure what it is. put the glass back on and ran it. with the machine running forward the oil comes up thru the tube on the bottom of the reservoir which seems backwards to me. the exit hole is up slightly above center. so now since I've run it again and shut it off the oil is standing 3/4 full or at the top of the exit hole. Maybe it will drop overnight but I kind of doubt it. when spindle was running you could see the oil coming up thru tube keeping time with the chuck when I slowed it down. oil pump is for sure working! Maybe everything is fine but doesn't seem right to me. It seems to me the oil should be flowing the other way. I hope another Bradford owner comes across this post and can straighten me out. If the drain is plugged a don't see where it goes to unplug it. You can't even see it with the gearbox cover off. Thanks for listening

johnoder · Dec 15, 2017

We could speculate that its not similar to Monarch and that the pump fills a distribution reservoir that has a sight glass. As long as there is oil there - plain for you to see - it is gravity feeding bearings, etc

Mind you, this is just speculation

Greg Menke · Dec 16, 2017

Lots of people (including OEM) were/are fond of adjusting the flow of oil at various places by adding pipe cleaners to the oil lines. My ATW has one, (don't know if its factory) in the line from the topmost oil accumulator to the main spindle bearing. If its not present there is a stream of oil leaking past the labyrinth at high rpm's, so a cut & try method is used to reduce the leak but not stop the oil to the bearing.

Might be something like that in line- the nice thing about the pipe cleaners is you put a T shape at the end as a handle and adjust the length of the tail, that way its removable and adjustable.

Probably worth opening up whatever oil service ports are there and blowing things out. My ATW's main spindle drain back to the headstock was plugged with dirt.

johnoder · Dec 16, 2017

Two sentences on lubrication in the forties catalog - I'll scan that page this morning and edit it in here as a Thumbnail

There are two sight gages. One indicates proper level and the other indicates the flow of oil from the pump.

Peter S · Dec 16, 2017

djones3158 said:
It seems to me the oil should be flowing the other way.

The first thing I would check is that you have the electric motor running in the correct direction.

djones3158 · Dec 16, 2017

First thank you for the response. Made a typo on my first post. This lathe came from a Navel Ord. plant and my Dad bought it in the 50's. Meant to say the lathe belonged to my Dad. So I Kind of doubt the Navy restricted the oil flow. but that's good information to know. I thought about the pump running backwards but it appears that there is a cam or eccentric ring of some sorts involved because it oils when the spindle turns. The lathe did run backwards when I hooked it up but it's 3phase so I reversed two wires and corrected it, so now the chuck runs forward when turned on. Motor has a reverse also. I didn't try running in reverse to see if it changed but like I said it seems to pump with the spindle rotation. I am trying to post a few pictures but having a difficult time doing so but I'll keep trying, There are 2 plugs directly under this flow glass on the face of the headstock that I'm sure have something to do with the oil port. Just checked level in glass from overnight and it is still at the 3/4 level as expected. Again, this may be alright, just want to be sure. I'll keep trying with the pictures maybe someone can identify the brass part. Maybe as suggested it's a restrictor. Thanks again for the help. Can't get pictures from computer to insert image...did it once by accident but can't seem to get it done now.

johnoder · Dec 16, 2017

Hit Go Advanced
Scroll down to Manage Attachments
Follow thru on finding jpg and uploading as thumbnail

Now if you are using a "phone" device, you'll have to ask someone that has one

If you want to say SIZE of lathe (12, 14 or 16") I'll post that page scan

djones3158 said:
I am trying to post a few pictures but having a difficult time doing so but I'll keep trying, There are 2 plugs directly under this flow glass on the face of the headstock that I'm sure have something to do with the oil port. Just checked level in glass from overnight and it is still at the 3/4 level as expected. Again, this may be alright, just want to be sure. I'll keep trying with the pictures maybe someone can identify the brass part. Maybe as suggested it's a restrictor. Thanks again for the help. Can't get pictures from computer to insert image...did it once by accident but can't seem to get it done now.

cranium · Dec 16, 2017

Your headstock (what little i can see in the above pic) appears beautifully detailed. Can you add a few more pics of the machine? To quote a 1919 ad "All Bradfords are GOOD".

djones3158 · Dec 16, 2017

thanks you for the instructions...I just wasn't giving it enough time to upload. here are the pictures of brass piece in question, and also you can see the plugs I was talking about. One plug is 1/8 pipe and the other 1/4 pipe. thanks again for the response . I have stuff piled on the lathe or I would be happy to post pictures. After I get it going good I will, but the paint job is a brush job over rough casting so the picture makes it look better than it is and still have some handles to paint. It's always been inside in the heat so it is in pretty good shape. Thank you for the complement.

Peter S · Dec 16, 2017

djones,

On some (many?) lathes motor rotation is critical for the oil pump to work. For example on my lathe the oil pump in the headstock is driven by the input shaft. This is the shaft with the belt pulley on it. The input shaft always turns in the same direction and so does the oil pump. The forward and reverse clutches are also on the input shaft, they determine which direction the spindle turns. My lathe has the same oil level glass, flow glass and filter in the flow glass. Wrong motor direction = no oil, hence the warning sign and arrow on pulley on my lathe.

I reckon that brass thing you removed is a filter.

Asquith · Dec 17, 2017

I agree with Peter: brass thing = oil filter.
I would imagine that if you took the nut off, you'd regret it, but would find a series of thin perforated discs with star-shaped discs sandwiched in between, the thickness of which determines the degree of filtration. The clean oil will emerge from the end where the nut is.

I'm basing this on the (much larger) Autokleen and Vokes filters we have over here, which are cleaned on line, by turning a handle to rotate the stack of discs (against a stack of scapers which are slightly thinner than the 'star-shaped' spacers).

djones3158 · Dec 17, 2017

Thank you for the replies, I feel like the oil pump is running the right direction because it seems to run off the spindle rotating forward[haven't tried it in reverse] but after 36 hrs. the oil flow sight glass remains at the top of drain hole[may not be a drain hole, may just be the hole after the filter which continues oil flow to the gearbox]Again I question weather anything is wrong or not. I'm not going to try to take filter apart, I just kind of separated the discs a little and sprayed with brake cleaner. The filter is out now just to see if it made any difference. Thinking about removing 1/8 plug just to see if it is going to after filter hole, may even screw a pressure gage in it. Another oily mess. I thank everyone for the replies and keep thinking please. Hopefully a Bradford owner will see this post at some point. Thanks again to everyone for the help!

iwananew10K · Dec 17, 2017

someone was gracious enough to scan this-

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/2316/16884.pdf

johnoder · Dec 17, 2017

iwananew10K said:
someone was gracious enough to scan this-

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/2316/16884.pdf

Great lube system info pdf page 6. Clearly the "brass thing" is the disc filter, an idea used extensively in the CUNO filter

djones3158 · Dec 17, 2017

JACKPOT!! I can't thank you enough for that file. After looking at a few pictures of Bradfords for sale on the internet, it appears the oil stained glass on the ones I saw were all at a high level....I think I'm going with "don't think I have any issues" Thank all of you again for the replies. If anyone thinks of anything else I should know please let me know. Thanks again.

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