Capstan attachment for Colchester Lathe

zoeper · Mar 8, 2017

Hi Guys,
I bought this Capstan attachment for a Colchester lathe as part of a lot on auction. I have a Harrison lathe that I could possibly make it fit on, but would rather see it go to a good home than become another ornament on my shelf. The part is in the UK and I would prefer to sell it to someone before I ship it to South Africa. I have not seen this piece in person, other than the pictures I post here. I also do not have any additional information about this piece, so to be frank, what you see is what you get!
If anyone would like to make a reasonable offer for this part, I would be happy to hear from you via the forum or PM.
Best regards
Pieter

mark costello · Mar 8, 2017

Dimension from the middle of the Vee to the middle of the flat might help Someone out. Center height also.

zoeper · Mar 8, 2017

Hi Mark,

This item is unseen to me and is currently about 6000 miles from me.
From what I could dig up on the net it is for a 13" model Clausing/Colchester machine. Part Number:13-486
Info from this link: http://www.sterlingmachinery.com/db-files/Clausing-Machine-Tools-Lathe-Accessories-Clausing-Colchester.pdf
Hope this helps. I might be able to have it measured if needed, but most likely not by tech-minded person.
P

mark costello · Mar 9, 2017

I have a 15" Clausing Colchester and wonder if it could be adapted.

zoeper · Mar 9, 2017

mark costello said:
I have a 15" Clausing Colchester and wonder if it could be adapted.

I was wondering the same thing with regards to my 13" Harison lathe. Since the catalogue indicated that the unit needs to be fitted (presumably scraped in) to the machine and finish bored in situ, I would think it is quite doable to make a new base/ adapter and scrape that in. In my setup, I kind of doubt if it would be worth the effort as I don't think it will see much use.
The revolver style QC toolpost also in the image, That I can see myself using a lot.

adama · Mar 10, 2017

FYI if you can make it fit the Harrison you will find there bloody useful. Mine makes me a lot of money especially considering what it cost. I only use a std tail stock rarely these days, probably not had it on the lathe in the last 12 months.

A stop, spot drill and 3 er collet holders in 5 of the 6 stations make short work of drilling and tapping operations. Its so much faster than a tail-stock especially on anything repetitive.

As to the re-scrape, i cheated, mine fitted to the bed nicely, problem was the holes were not central, simply bored then over size sleeved them then re-bored them.

onecut · Mar 10, 2017

I agree these things are extremely usefull with a roller box,die box,if you have repetitive jobs thin rods bigger diameters tremendous value and additional tooling goes for a song be intresting to see how much it goes for sure it could be addapted as long as it below your c/line easy put a false plate on base to raise it to the required height

SAG 180 · Mar 10, 2017

There's another turret for the smaller Colchester lathes, this is the one on my 11" Bantam lathe and the same unit is used on the 13" Master 2500. There is a 3/4" thick iron adapter base plate to fit the ways and set the centre height, so it would be straight forward to buy a unit and make the plate to suit your particular lathe. Be aware there is a metric 16mm socket version and an imperial 5/8" socket version. They are actually a 5 station turret which runs on pair of tapered roller bearings more suited to a small import car. I'm going to fit mine out with some straight shank ER collet holders and maybe a tiny Coventry die head.

Edit: they came in 20mm and 3/4" bore or optionally undersize to allow finish boring on the lathe it was fitted to.

193271d1489188674-capstan-attachment-colchester-lathe-turret-tailstock1.jpg

zoeper · Mar 11, 2017

In searching for info on my unit I ran across quite a few of those. They seem to be more common and I presume of earlier design judging by design only.

SAG 180 · Mar 11, 2017

zoeper said:
In searching for info on my unit I ran across quite a few of those. They seem to be more common and I presume of earlier design judging by design only.

The turret I have?, it dates from the 1970's and according to the brochure it's made for the Bantam, Chipmaster, Student and Master....I'd guess your unit is for the Triumph, Mascot and Mastiff.
Edit: Found a link for both types and they are around the same vintage: 1970's, one for 13" and below and the other for 14" and up.

http://manuals.chudov.com/Clausing/Clausing-6913-Lathe-Turret.pdf

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=547F...D561F!1477&parId=547FE296ECFD561F!164&o=OneUp

adama · Mar 11, 2017

Sag the one on my 5lA (11") Harrison is a 6 position hexagon, but with 1" holes. The 1" holes is a nice match to the lathe. 5/8" is tiny, could you bore thoes out any bigger? I bored and sleeved mine using a std boring head off the mill in the lathes chuck, went really well - was actually really easy too.

I made my own ER32 collet chucks up for mine as i could not find any with 1" straight shanks, you probably want 3 of them too, so you can hold a drill, tap and countersink as a minimum.

Love die heads too, i have from 1/4" heads upto 1 1/4" Coventry style heads which is actually larger in diameter than the 6" 3 jaw chuck. Obviously anything more than the 1/2" head and you can't index the turret, but they work so well.

SAG 180 · Mar 11, 2017

Adam, I made a mistake: it's 3/4" sockets and 20mm for the metric unit. Your Harrison capstan sounds like a decent amount larger than the 5 position Colchester. My only regret is not having the longer bed Bantam lathe to run it on, I used it recently to make a batch of 40 brass nuts: centre drill, drill and rigid tap in the Jacobs chuck and part off: I loved it. I see in the brochure that Colchester supplied the turret undersize specifically so it can be bored out to suit the larger size lathes it's fitted to, i.e. not my particular unit.

Zoeper: I recognise your turret: my fitter and turner guru has one at his workshop new and unfitted, we were wondering if it was custom made or genuine Colchester until now and seeing your post about one.

adama said:
Sag the one on my 5lA (11") Harrison is a 6 position hexagon, but with 1" holes. The 1" holes is a nice match to the lathe. 5/8" is tiny, could you bore thoes out any bigger? I bored and sleeved mine using a std boring head off the mill in the lathes chuck, went really well - was actually really easy too.

I made my own ER32 collet chucks up for mine as i could not find any with 1" straight shanks, you probably want 3 of them too, so you can hold a drill, tap and countersink as a minimum.

Love die heads too, i have from 1/4" heads upto 1 1/4" Coventry style heads which is actually larger in diameter than the 6" 3 jaw chuck. Obviously anything more than the 1/2" head and you can't index the turret, but they work so well.

zoeper · Mar 12, 2017

Wow! imagine finding a 45 year old new tool! I am of same vintage, wish I could be described as new...then again, happy to call myself a well used reasonably well looked after model! Thanks for the insights guys. There has not been much interest in this unit at all, so I guess it might come and spend some time on my shelf, who knows, maybe even on my Harisson?

zoeper · Mar 24, 2017

Does anyone here recognise the QC toolpost/revolver turret in the picture?

moonlight machine · Mar 24, 2017

zoeper said:
Does anyone here recognise the QC toolpost/revolver turret in the picture?

It looks like it would be perfect for my Holbrook C13

Limy Sami · Mar 24, 2017

zoeper said:
Does anyone here recognise the QC toolpost/revolver turret in the picture?

Nope, new onw on me, though it looks like one facet has a mounting for a DIXON toolholder - or similar, the tag might tell you something when it reaches you.

zoeper · Mar 24, 2017

I am hoping it might fit my current dixon holders as none are included. I could be way out on scale though. Was thinking I might just make a bunch of holders if it doesn't fit. Good times hopefully!

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