Britannia Lathe

jcfs2211 · Jul 4, 2020

Hello,

I recently bought a britannia lathe pictured above. I got it, the chuck and drill chuck for £350, which i dont think was a bad deal. However, this being my first lathe i am having a couple of issues. Firstly the issue of surface finish. The change gears here are in a double reduction and yet i am still getting finishes like this(not my picture but shows the problem). Any help is appreciated. I also dont have any charts for speeds, feeds or threads so if anybody knows where i could get them i would be happy to know. I am using carbide tooling now (china's finest) and i cannot see any chips on the insert.

Thanks

James

DDoug · Jul 5, 2020

Looks like a High school shop project.....

GregSY · Jul 5, 2020

What's with that funny cage-thing around the chuck?

Bill D · Jul 5, 2020

GregSY said:
What's with that funny cage-thing around the chuck?

Looks like it was originally designed for overhead line shaft. Converted to electric motor drive. That motor looks prewar to me.
Bil lD

DDoug · Jul 6, 2020

GregSY said:
What's with that funny cage-thing around the chuck?

Some adjustable shelving cross bars hacked up, and pasted together with a HF $99 flux core box.

paul39 · Jul 6, 2020

Download this: how to run a lathe 1966 - PDF Archive and / or find a hard copy to get you started.

Using High Speed Steel tooling on a lathe of this vintage would probably work better.

Do some reading in here: https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/south-bend-lathes/

Yours is not a South Bend, but is of the size and type that would apply.

Paul

NRDock · Jul 6, 2020

OK, I'm not the professional that most guys here are. I'm a more experienced amateur than you. I've made that crappy surface finish. Not being a Pro, I was content to turn slow and take light cuts to sneak up on my dimensions. This sucks. Calculate the speeds and feeds. Grind your HSS cutting tools correctly, or get some carbide insert tooling. Both have their place. HSS inset tooling has been a poor investment for me, but then, I have the speed and power to use carbide. Turn as fast as you calculate, and measure between roughing passes so you develop the confidence to hit final dimensions with a decent cut on your final pass. Also, get a handle on the concept of "spring pass".

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