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Smart&Brown Model L capstan lathe

Demon69

Titanium
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Location
Area 69.
New to me recently. The plan is to go through it, do what needs doing and get it making parts :)

According to tonys site, its an early model as it has an aluminium base.
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Am on the look out for any tooling in the UK btw.

Cheers
D
 
First job is have a look at the turret, looks simple enough.
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Slides still in great shape despite the grease love. Will just give the top surfaces a cross cut for oil retention.
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The tapers the turret mounts on are in great shape as is the locking thingy.
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Not sure how the screw stop pin got so bad but ill face that off and put a flat on it. Unless theres a better idea here.
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Same for the this washer that sits in front of the worm. Will make a new one.
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The bushings for the hand wheel were hanging so made em.
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And in their new home.
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The tapered pin that holds the worm dog and drive gear was broken. Wouldnt budge and i didnt want to smash on it to hard so I used the DHC to have that out.
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Reamed the shaft/dog and gear for the new pin, as it should be. The gear was being held in place a grub screw and the dog with what was left of the old pin.
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Should be back together today with any luck, tool slide next :)
 
Cheers Sami :). Had some fun n games getting it back together (note to self, mark gear timing! lol), and found out the turret lock likes a light oil, the fits are too close for anything like way oil. Works like a champ now though ;)

Tyrone, ive heard of that type of 'key' before but cant remember the name :scratchchin:, sounds like a good idea for a critical or buried bushing. Plan to use that type of key to secure the nut im gonna make for my DSG tailstock quill. For the model L I made the bushings OD .001" or so oversize and pressed them in, I turned the ID to a nice slip fit but needed to ream them after id pressed them in, guess they crushed down a little. I think theyll be ok ;)

Cheers
D
 
You need to mention shank dia. of tooling. At a guess 5/8",look for screw machine tooling. You could also speak to Frank at Autos GB. He is in Melbourne Derbyshire.
Its 3/4" shank on this on one. Have you got a link or something for Frank? Found nothing for Autos GB.

Cheers
D
 
Ive just had the front cap off the spindle and it aint good. The cap just slides over whats left of the threads on the spindle, someones used grub screws to hold the cap on, it uses push collets so not hard to guess who won that battle! Im even wondering if the cap is a different thread.
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A file wont touch the spindle so if I want those threads back???
Im gussing spindle out, hard turn threads deeper and live with grubscrew damage, make a new cap.
or knock off the threads, weld it up, turn new threads, hope it doesnt move,,, too much ..

Better ideas welcome.
 
Nicely illustrated post, Demon. Sounds like you're going to wind up a happy man.
Re your tooling request, you might try a Wanted in Tony's listing.

-Marty-
 
Nicely illustrated post, Demon. Sounds like you're going to wind up a happy man.
Re your tooling request, you might try a Wanted in Tony's listing.

-Marty-

Thanks Marty, be happy when its done lol.

''Better ideas welcome. ''

Hard turn off threads to clean surface, m/c up OD threaded sleeve and Loctite in place.

Is Loctite is it really that good? Not much room for a sleeve, something like .050" a side if I leave the nose OD as is (.100 or so difference from cap id to nose od). Have done a bit more investigating, the threads (24 tpi) are soft, the area in front isnt fileable. The cap is fileable.

It could be so easy lol.
 
Thanks Marty, be happy when its done lol.



Is Loctite is it really that good? Not much room for a sleeve, something like .050" a side if I leave the nose OD as is (.100 or so difference from cap id to nose od). Have done a bit more investigating, the threads (24 tpi) are soft, the area in front isnt fileable. The cap is fileable.

It could be so easy lol.

Run a few tests on Loctite and see what you think ??? …………..IME use the correct brew of Loctite, follow the instructions and it don't half take some shifting.

As for the soft parts, they're a game changer and you're pretty much home and dry
 
Run a few tests on Loctite and see what you think ??? …………..IME use the correct brew of Loctite, follow the instructions and it don't half take some shifting.

As for the soft parts, they're a game changer and you're pretty much home and dry

I like the sound of that mate! :)

If Im having to get into the headstock, I might pause and have a good think on how I want this thing to work. Having a set up for bar work is a must. Will get my head around how the collet closer works cos as things were, it had a bung in the end of the spindle which im not so sure needs to be there. I need some schooling on the ways of the capstan lathe ;)

Heres one that got away, a pile of gear went with it :nopity:.
 
I've done the weld-up and re-cut threads thing way back on a similar, albeit not lathe, spindle repair. Managed to keep things straight but result was "OK I suppose" at a charitable best with a heavy dollop of fix on Sunday ride on Monday. But it worked. If you are planning on building up perhaps metal spaying would be worth investigating.

Loctite is that good. If you can trim the plain part down too it will pretty much double the adhesive area. Its not gonna pull off. Far, far stronger than the threads. On this sort of job there is a minimum thickness for the "tube" section under the threads to avoid weird stress issues with the thread. I imagine something over half the thread depth underneath will be fine. Loctite may have an application note about minimum sleeve thicknesses.

Clive
 
Cheers Guys, thats 2 votes for Loctite so ill order some up and give it go. I messaged Loctite UK and they suggested 638 and clean with 7063. Good point about extending the sleeve, it adds surface to the joint. Will likely keep the 24tpi over the standard 8tpi in case I want to grip a collet with the cap rather than the closer. Could make the thread od a bit larger too if needed, I dont mind making a new cap etc.

Ive some play in the rear bearing (.004" axial and .005" endlfoat) so have to look into that, the rear bearing is opposed ball races the front bear is an adjustable bronze bearing. With luck ill find some shims that let me adjust things.
 
I need some schooling on the ways of the capstan lathe ;

Does that mean you have no experience of capstans?

No experience with capstan lathes im afraid, ive a WS turret lathe operator book, whole new world of stuff in there.
 
Have a word with Frank,he will have all kinds of toolholders. You will need floating drill holders,rollerbox and V steady turning tool holders,a tap holder,a button die holder,and if your luck is in a Coventry diebox. Tell him they are all OG turret size,he will understand.

Camscan, I've already spoken with Demon and am going to sort through my collection of capstan tooling for 3/4 shank stuff, and / or those that can easily be modified.
During out chat he told me he'd some dieheads.
 
I think most of the die head stuff I have will be too big, I'll dig em out and take a look when I get a mo.
Have turned a gage for the spindle threads, it's about as nicer fit for the cap as could hope for, I intend to keep the same size/tpi but will make it longer, leaving say .100" on the nose. Is gonna be one skinny sleeve with around .040" under the threads. I've some EN19T that I plan on using.
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Thats a happening little capstan lathe!

My Wade is a similar size, also 3/4" shank. The smaller 2 sizes of Coventry die heads should fit yours just fine, I opted for making a new shank for my Conventry, an ebay score in fantastic shape but had a 1" shank.

I've found drill chucks take up a lot of axis, my prev owner liked them so I have a pile. What works well as a quick expedient is to take a short length of 3/4" TGP or at least pretty smooth bar, drill it through for the size of drill you want and fit a grub screw that is below the surface when clamping the drill. Then you fit the assembly directly in the capstan bore; gets you a minimum length projection, with the cost of ending up with lots of the buggers in the toolbox and you have to find the one you want. Its also not a floating arrangement so quite sensitive to misalignment of capstan to spindle bore.

I'm a fan of the Boyar Shultz box tools, though have a few Brown&Sharpe also. Its a shame about your spindle nose, OTOH when using the machine for conventional turret work I've not yet ever mounted anything to the spindle threads; all in collets.

You have any preferences for coolant? I run cutting oil diluted with 0W spindle oil so it pumps and drains well. It helps with repeatability, particularly with dicey tool setups, but does tend to make a mess.
 
Thanks for the info Greg. Unfortunately I need the cap to use the dead length collets that came with the machine. Although open to suggestions for other collet setups etc.

Cheers
D
 








 
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