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Colchester lathe info (was What is this lathe?)

TANFIELD

Plastic
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
It's a very old lathe, which my Grandad has had for 50-60 years (He thinks he got it new around 1940-1950's), and was last used about 20 years ago. My technical knowledge of lathes is very limited. All it says is "Colchester Master 6 1/2" ", it's blue, and supported in 2 places (the middle bit is open). It has the auto feed, gears inside the housing are sparkling, in lubricant, but a lot of surface rust everywhere.

I'm yet to find a picture of it on the internet which is exactly like it, this one comes close >

Colchester master lathe 1940s to early 1950s

But it has some different labels, and some levers and nobs are a little different.

Here's some pictures of it (Google photos) >

What is this lathe? - Google Photos

Anyone know rough value? Or any web page for manuel's and info?

Thanks
 
Early 1950's Master. Last version before the fully modernised Mk1 "round-head" which was almost always fitted to a full cabinet stand although sometimes found on separate legs rather similar to yours.

Its bit later than the one you found on Lathes + Machine Tool Archive. Colchester had habit of introducing incremental improvements as and when so exact i.d can be tricky.

Value is, as ever with older ordinary machines, based on condition. Maybe £500 if it stops starts and goes and has no objectionable wear. Any significant wear, excess backlash or extreme noises off in the headstock and its pretty much a scrapper. Spares availability will be pretty much zilch and its sufficiently complex that serious refurbishment is impractical. Any sane buyer waits for something better to come along.

Clive
 








 
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