Seeking information on Elliot Cardiff Major lathe

Hello Everyone!

I am a retired machinist and just joined this forum today.
Hoping to find a manual or parts list for my Elliot Cardiff lathe known as the Major. It has a center height of 7.5" and a gap bed of 60".

I need to get into the speeds/feeds gearbox to do some repairs but without knowing what is inside I am not sure how it comes apart. The cover seems solidly stuck and I do not want to break it. The cover appears to sit on top of a frame.
I would really like to understand what is inside. If I cannot find manuals perhaps someone has photos taken during their restorations?

Cheers,
Tom

Welcome to the forum.
There is some Cardiff info. here
Elliot Cardiff Major, Senior, Prefect, Crusader
I have no experience with these machines myself but maybe someone else will be able to add more.
Jim

Thanks Jim,

I should have mentioned that I searched this entire site on the word "Cardiff" and among the results was the link you posted. I did send an email to the address noted in your link. Hopefully I will get a response. I found at least one member who said he had the manuals but that member has not been on this site in years. I also followed a few links of members claiming to have a lot of old machinery manuals but again, they have not been seen here for years. I

I have attached a photo of the cover I am trying to remove. See below. It looked like a simply matter of removing the bolts and levers, but so far no success. The casting is fairly thin so I don't want to hammer or pry on it very much.

Cheers,
Tom

Looking at the pictures on Tony's site there seems to be more holes on the front of the open change box than there are screws on the cover with the handles attached .
That would suggest to me that there may be some dowel pins of some kind holding the cover to the main change box casting.
You may have already tried gently tapping with a hammer trying to wedge a putty knife or similar thin knife between the joint of the cover and main box casting in a few places to see if it will break any gasket glue or paint and perhaps get any dowel pins moving so that the cover will come off.

Jim

Success!

Hi Jim,

You nailed it!

I purchased a parts listing for the Elliot Omniturn as the feedbox on it appears identical to mine and it turns out you were right on all counts. I have attached the page showing the feedbox with certain parts labeled and highlited for future use by others who may be following a similar path.

Step one is to remove all four handles, some of which were almost impossible to remove because past owner had tightened the setscrew in the wrong location and scarred the shaft. Putty knife and gentle prying with various tools did the job.

Step two is to remove the circlips from the handle shafts even though it looks like they would almost clear the cover.

Step three is to remove all of the socket head cap screws that hold the outer cover to the lathe. These bolts reach past the inner cover.

Step four is to remove the outer cover while being very careful not to hurt the gasket.

Step five is to remove the inner cover but this is held in exact position with two dowel pins, so point of friction is at the pins which are located on the left and right vertical edges of the cover. Again be careful not to damage the gasket.

The cover comes off with the shifting forks. If you don't want the forks to fall out, I would suggest reinstalling the circlips. I have highlited the forks in yellow along with their mating shafts on the attached drawing.

Reassembly is a challenge, since you have to hold the 3 forks in their proper place while making sure the pinion engages the rack in exactly the right location. Note the inspection windows in the casting that are located underneath the feeds/threads chart. These windows offer a nice view of the top two shifting forks to make sure they are in the right location. I was able to do this by myself, but a 2nd set of hands would have made it easier.

What ended up being broken or worn?

TorqueHead ,
I'm glad you were able to get the manual and it was good of you to share how you got it apart and back together again.
It may help someone else be able to fix their machine if they find the thread in the future.
Jim

Frank R said:

What ended up being broken or worn?

Click to expand...

Hi Frank,

Nothing was actually broken or worn, but the previous owner had it incorrectly assembled. The rotary dial with numbers from 1 to 9 was not correctly aligned. To get to position 9 one had to rotate the dial about 30 degrees past 9 so setting feeds and threads was always a bit of a guessing game. I finally got fed up and decided to fix it. It was a bit tricky as the dial has a pinion gear that drives a rack that shifts gears. I had to make sure the pinion engaged the rack at exactly the correct tooth.

While I was in there I generally inspected and tested all functions and had a chance to really clean out any sludge that normally won't come out with an oil change. While I was at it, I gave the headstock the same deep clean treatment. Fresh oil for all, including the apron.

Really glad to have that job done!

Jim Christie said:

TorqueHead ,
I'm glad you were able to get the manual and it was good of you to share how you got it apart and back together again.
It may help someone else be able to fix their machine if they find the thread in the future.
Jim

Click to expand...

Hi Jim,
I have found this site useful so I am happy to contribute. Cardiffs are great old lathes but there is not a lot of information like what I needed.