New to me... Colchester master mk 1 1/2

Hello everyone,

Well, I went and bought another Colchester lathe over the weekend. I had seen the ad on Kijiji a month ago when the fellow was asking $500.00 more than this time around, so when it appeared again, I decided to go have a look. Well... to be honest... I went to look at it while hauling a tip-car-trailer... For some reason, that fact did not escape the seller and seemed to void any chance of me haggling on the price... The drive from Moncton, New Brunswick to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia was a bit hairy at times with heavy downpours and lots of stops on the way back to readjust the tarp. I had hosed it down with WD-40 before we loaded it, so when I got home, ther was very little that I had to do to dry what little did get wet.

I'm not sure if I am correct in calling this lathe a MK 1 1/2 or not. It seems to fit what I've read on "Tony Lathes UK". This lathe came out of a Nova Scotia Community College, complete with the cross-slide scarring inflicted whilst engaged in battle with the 4-jaw chuck . Other than that, it seems to be in pretty good shape. The "Induction Hardened" ways have some light staining, but appear to be pristine, at least to my eye. It came with a Burnerd 3-jaw chuck, a Burnerd 4-jaw chuck, a Burnerd scroll collet chuck (no collets), follow rest, steady rest, 4-way toolpost, catch plate, live center, a telescopic taper attachment, coolant pump, as well as all the necessary keys and wrenches. It has all of the original electrical equipment with a 3-phase 3hp motor built by the "Lancashire Dynamo & Crypto Ltd." of Willesden, London.


Here's a few pics of the lathe... the second photo shows the true and original colour of the lathe...




Serial # appears to date it to 1967 ...











Collet chuck...



Suds pump...



Telescopic taper attachment...



Battle scars...



That's all that I have for now...

Thanks for your interest...

Brian

Ok, it looks like 73 people have had a boo at this thread, yet no one has responded. I'm hoping that the recent forum troubles are partly to blame and that there are still glitches showing up.If you have viewed this thread and like what you see, blink 5 times....

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian counterparts...

Brian

Nice looking lathe. What did you get it for? Is the spindle L0 or L?. All you need is a collet closer, digitals and a BXA tool post, and you're set.

Tom

Hello Tom,

Thanks... I'm real happy with it. I checked the ways with a test indicator last night, using the (indicator riding on the carriage, in contact with the flat tailstock way method) and found that there was only .0005 difference from end to end. I realize that this method isn't perfect, but when using the same method on my 13" South Bend, it measured .015 difference.

Well, I paid more for it than I wanted to, but like I said at the beginning of the thread... "When you show up with a trailer you lose all bargaining power" ... I paid $2000.00 for it. The taper is "LO". The collet chuck that came with it is a scroll chuck, so I think that if I can find collets for it that don't demand a kings ransom, I'll use it the way that it is.

Yes, a BXA tool post is a must, but I'm not sure about digitals at this point. Because I'm a novice, I want to learn this machine manually to see if I can't get my skill level up to snuff and find out just how accurately I can get to size with just the dials. I'm sure that I'll consider DRO's in the future.

I made two new cork gaskets for both the headstock and the QCGB last night and drained all of the old oil out. This morning I will fill both gear boxes with fresh oil. I ended up contacting Shell Oil Canada with the Tellus #'s 27 and 32 and received this information... Shell Tellus Oil 27 is now Shell Tellus Oil S2 M 32...... Shell Tellus Oil 33 is now Shell Tellus Oil S2 M 68. These are both high quality hydraulic oils that I was able to purchase at a local bulk supplier in 5 gallon pails. They were $65.00 each. You could likely buy a cheaper grade of 32 and 68 but I figure that why skimp on such a vital area of the lathe.

I plan on taking the compound and cross-slides apart to clean them up and make sure that all of the oiling holes aren't plugged up with grease. I'll likely do the same with the carriage. I'll change whatever felts that I find and readjust all of the gibs. I don't plan on repainting the lathe at this point, just get it adjusted and make some chips.

Brian

$2000.00 was likely top dollar,BUT,you got the steady and follower rests,saving the PITA of trying to find them. I hope the battering of running into the chuck MANY times has not hurt the mechanisms that drive the carriage,or the spindle or its bearings. Too bad people cannot pay attention when their %$^&# lathe is running!!! Other than that,being a school lathe,perhaps it was not run forever on long,daily shifts.

It looks like a nice lathe to me. You even got the taper attachment,which is another great piece of luck. If there is no damage from the crashes,I think you did o.k.,compared to what you can get new.

At least,the lathe has nicely shaped castings,and not just the square boxes upon boxes that new lathes have. I do appreciate an aesthetically pleasing lathe,though it doesn't affect performance. Just nice to have. I'll bet it cleans up and paints up real nice.

I am excessive,i know,but I'd get some Dura bar and make a whole new compound for it,were it mine. Not that hard to do. It doesn't seem to even have tapered gibs,though they can be machined in place,too.

I agree the aesthetics on the older rounded head are better but the Mk2 w/ square headstock provides a nifty place to set tools and whatnot. For a "right sized" hobbyist machine the small colchesters are perfect Fit. Mine...

The trouble with MY flat top lathe is exactly that: TOO much space to pile crap up!!

Nice little lathe, shame about the compound slide. I've seen plenty of collision damage over the years but I've never seen anything nearly as bad as that. It's a one off alright. I'd be tempted to remake a new one as well.

The place I work now ( a high school ) has the later model of your lathe, same as the yours but with the squarish headstock and tail stock. We also have 4 of the later ones ( early 1970's " Student 1800's ) and all five are in great condition and really accurate even after 40 years worth of kids using them. I suppose they don't get hammered feed and speed wise, it's just the odd crash. Having said that in the 8 yrs I've been there we haven't had anything like a serious crash. Regards Tyrone.

Touches some wood now.

Yeah, the compound is quite a site... It must have made an awful racket when it hit. I'm consoling myself that it may have been 20 or 30 very light run-ins with the chuck over the last 45 years... Today I replenished the oil in both the headstock and QCGB and then took out the gap to clean out the chips and get it aligned. There were only 3 out of 4 cap-screws holding it in there and there was also a small ding which raised the surface a bit. I stoned down that dimple and re-installed the gap with 4 cap screws. I was able to indicate it to within .0005 with a few taps of my rawhide hammer. Then I oiled every single ball oiler that I could find and ran the lathe in all the speeds and screw gear changes. It's a little rattley at one particular speed, but works fine. It's not any way near as noisy in the headstock as my Colchester Student. All feeds run smoothly in both directions. It feels good to be getting accustomed to all of the controls.

Brian

Colchester 6 1/2' Master lathe.

G'day Brian,
I have an animal the same as yours. Down here in Aus, the price you payed would be considered a bargain.
There are a few things you can get (if you can find them) that are very handy to have.
The saddle stop is a handy thing to have especially when doing internal boring and the adjustable stops are useful also but not essential.
I've added a pic to show what they look like.
(And before the oooahhhs start, the chuck key was in to show someone else the collet setup)
Was there something else attached the taper turning attachment to fix it to the bed ?? Mine looks slightly different .

Danny

Hello Danny,

I have just logged on and was about to ask about the taper attachment bracket and there you are. When I bought the lathe, it was listed as a 'Student" and was given two original Colchester Student manuals to go with it. The seller did tell me that he didn't think that this was the right bracket for the lathe. I'd love to see a pic of the bracket from the back side of your lathe if it isn't too much trouble. There are a series of vertical pairs of, I assume, tapped holes along the vertical flat of the bed casting at the rear that look like they would line up with the holes in the bracket that I have, but obviously, I'm missing parts. Do you have a copy of the manual that would deal with this lathe? I could likely fabricate the missing parts.

Here's a better pic of the bracket that I have...




I like the saddle stop. It looks like you've got the collets along with the collet chuck. I've heard that they work real nice and are very accurate. What's the make of your toolpost? I've never seen one like that. It looks real solid.

I see a nice sized shaper behind the headstock of your lathe. It looks about the same size as my 10" Elliot shaper, but it's hard to say with the perspective. It could be a 24" ...

About the price... It always depends on where you're located geographically in relation to manufacturing belts and also, what kind of contacts you have and what you do for a living. The fellow whom I bought this lathe from, bought it at a community college auction of what they had in storage. He's a machinist and also has a friend who teaches there. I believe that he bought this lathe for peanuts, but these don't come up for sale on the open market very often. As I go forward, I may yet have such a find. I'm quite certain that I'll be able to get my money back out of it if I were to sell it. Just yesterday, I saw an ad on the local Kijiji about what looks to be a 10L South Bend. There are only a couple of pics of the lathe, but it is unbelievably filthy and doesn't look like it's seen any oil on the ways in decades. The seller is asking $2500.00 for it. I really don't think he'll get anywhere near that and likely would have helped himself immensely by cleaning it up a bit before posting, but that gives you a little insight as to what's on the market around here.

Oh, I just saw on another thread where you replied about putting a pair of matched belts on your Colchester. I'm looking to do the same thing, as the chalk test shows them waaaayyy off. Did you have any difficulty in finding matched belts?

Danny, any help that you can shoot my way would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers...

Brian

The tool post looks like a " Dickson " or a " Dickson " clone/copy. Not cheap but very nice to use. Regards Tyrone.

Sachmanram : Very nice pics of a nice lathe. Nearly identical to my 13" Clausing/Colchester . Mine has a flat top which is a great place to gather too many tools, as mentioned earlier. Your carriage is different with the handwheel and halfnut lever reversed. I don't have t-slots in top of carriage either. A little tip if your lead screw stops, there is a little brass shear pin (about 1/8 ") in lead screw gear train. My lathe seems to have american threads in every fastner that I have had out. Does your's have metric. thanks for posting and good luck.

JH

Hello James,

Thank you for your kind words and thanks for the tip on that shear-pin. Yes, this lathe will cut both American and metric with just a flip of a lever.

Here's a pic of the threading chart...



I'm not sure if it's large enough to read until I post the response. Even though the compound got a good "chewing", this lathe is in real good working order.

Best regards...

Brian

Good morning Brian,
No problem getting a pic of the taper turning bedattachmentt. I'll do it when I get home this afternoon. As for the belts, I just took an old belt to the local bearing & transmission supply people and ordered them. The QCTP is a Dickson. Over the years I have amassed quite a few holders for mine. They are quite handy to have with various tooling sitting there on stand by ready to go. I bought them of ebay, they turn up regularly. There is a multi stop bed stop on ebay at the moment. The shaper is a 10" Douglas. I tend to use a lot of bar for machining and the collet system is great, just stick it in and it runs nice and true. Get some collets and you'll never look back. I too have a student manual but they are essentially the same thing where it counts.
Danny

Square looking tool, to me it looks like that top slides been well clobbered and the damage machined off before.

On all those round head Colcheys, and especially the Student and Master, remove the headstock top cover and make sure the gear selecter levers move the gears and dogs to full engagement,... not unknown for them to work loose, or bend the selector forks.

If the gears aren't in full engagement, the likelyhood of damaging them beyond repair at high speed or interupted cuts increases 10 fold.

Oh no.... there has been no hiding of the weapon that was used in this attempted murder scene.... it is there for all to see. If you look carefully, you can see that the carriage was also involved.... a veritable conspracy, no doubt... but.... the victim survived the attack... and is doing quite well, in spite of her devastating injuries... She, might be said... is rather stalwhart and impenetrable... A true Brit, through and through...

Although, I admit, she IS rather square looking...

Quipping aside, Lamy... Thanks for the warning about the headstock. I've had both hatches open and run "her" through the gears (by hand) and have have no issues with her "pulling her salt". Everything engages fully and was inspected before purchasing.

Cheers buddy...

Brian

Nice looking lathe Brian; do you mind if I ask which NSCC campus it came from? I've seem some lathes come out of their shops in pretty rough shape... I'm curious if maybe there's a shop supervisor at one campus who takes decent care of his equipment...

Taper turning bed anchor.

Back again Brian,
As per request some pics of the bed anchor attacment for the taper turning unit.
My machine is just a little older than yours by the numbers.

Danny

Namzy said:

Nice looking lathe Brian; do you mind if I ask which NSCC campus it came from? I've seem some lathes come out of their shops in pretty rough shape... I'm curious if maybe there's a shop supervisor at one campus who takes decent care of his equipment...

Click to expand...

Hello Namzy,

This lathe came out of the Cape Breton community College according to the rivetted badge on the bed of the lathe. I'm not sure if any supervisor could prevent a student from crashing a lathe over that many years, but I'm sure that there must be some that dodge the bullet.

Brian