My Faircut Lathe

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My Faircut Lathe

This topic has 89 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 14 September 2020 at 11:28 by Brian Morehen.

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18 August 2019 at 20:25 #424927
Andy Carlson
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@andycarlson18141
A week to the day after buying it, I managed to make some swarf on my Faircut lathe.

The lathe is not yet properly installed – I'm figuring out how to construct a sensible drive arrangement with the bits that came with the lathe.

My first attempt more or less reproduced the arrangement that the previous owner had. Unfortunately he never really used the lathe after inheriting it so it turns out that his drive arrangement has a serious flaw – the back end of the cross slide can collide with the motor and/or the drive pulley… apart from the obvious matter of the pulley being in the firing line for swarf.

I'm putting the drive system together on a 'sledge' to give me a way to tension the flat belt. The Mk 1 arrangement is below.

I eventually want to get to an arrangement with 3 stepped flat pulleys to match the lathe but for now the objective is to get the thing up and running.

I'm thinking that my next move is to get a pulley mounted in the middle of that shaft but that turns out to require some thought. I've now dismantled the Picador pulley shaft and discovered that it has stepped ends (and also a left hand thread which took me a while to twig). I also discovered that the shaft is aluminium so quite why it looks like rusty steel is a bit of a mystery really. Figuring out how to get the (ball) bearings off would be useful.

The snagging list for the lathe proper is getting longer each time I look at it but the priorities just now are getting the drive system sorted and a sensible electrical arrangement put in place.
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18 August 2019 at 20:25 #13618
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
18 August 2019 at 20:32 #424928
Dave Halford
Participant
@davehalford22513
Motor looks familiar 1/4hp American Century Electric Co. with brushes, WW1 vintage?

Edited By Dave Halford on 18/08/2019 20:35:42
18 August 2019 at 20:44 #424929
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Absolutely. Century Electric Co repulsion start induction motor.

My original thought on collecting it was 'what a piece of junk, take it to the scrapyard' but I've now found out a bit more about it and I have done a complete about face on that plan.

Date-wise I dont know. The last patent date on the plaque is 1918 and the info I've found online suggests that they started using an alphabetic prefix to the serial numbers in 1938, so that leaves a 20 year band of uncertainty but I suspect it's early in that band.

I've given it a good clean up and freed up the sticking brushes. The external leads were a complete rat's nest so I've tidied those up and pushed some modern insulation sleeving as far into the casing as it will go. Runs a treat
18 August 2019 at 20:51 #424932
Steve King 5
Participant
@steveking5
I have one of these myself. Not used it as closer inspection revealed the head stock was cracked. Iv been told its not repairable. So i have spares you you need any stuff. Think iv got pictures of it im my album if you'd like to have a look.
18 August 2019 at 20:59 #424933
Dave Halford
Participant
@davehalford22513
This one is mine – much smaller serial number, did you know it's reversible by moving the brush carrier.

mine came with a T&LM lathe

Edited By Dave Halford on 18/08/2019 21:01:22
18 August 2019 at 21:25 #424938
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Posted by Steve King 5 on 18/08/2019 20:51:25:

I have one of these myself. Not used it as closer inspection revealed the head stock was cracked. Iv been told its not repairable. So i have spares you you need any stuff. Think iv got pictures of it im my album if you'd like to have a look.

I had a look at your photos. Such a shame. Cracking across the oil hole seems to be the achilles heel of the traditional English pre-war lathe designs. I have seen someone get an early Cowells (or maybe Perris) working again by machining away the whole top half of the bearing and making a new steel top. Didn't look great but it rescued the machine. Faircut made a beefier spindle tail bearing on the Junior, so maybe this was a common fault. Cowells also thickened up their headstock above the bearing.

I will PM you.
18 August 2019 at 21:27 #424939
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Posted by Dave Halford on 18/08/2019 20:59:38:

This one is mine – much smaller serial number, did you know it's reversible by moving the brush carrier.

mine came with a T&LM lathe

Yes, I did find the little screw and quadrant slot to reverse the motor under all of the crud. At the moment mine goes the way it needs to so I left it alone but if I end up turning it around then I will be altering that screw.
18 August 2019 at 21:29 #424940
Jeff Dayman
Participant
@jeffdayman43397
First thoughts re motor placement –

1. cut a hole in the bench for the belt run, mount motor under bench. Make sheetmetal swarf/hand guard around belt. Belt would need to be lengthened to reach motor under bench.

2. Pivoting around the jackshaft, swing motor/frame/jackshaft up to a pre-made sturdy wood frame mounted to wall and roof under the rafters, little bit higher and to the right of the blue bike helmet.

Good luck. Glad you made some chips already!
18 August 2019 at 21:36 #424941
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Posted by Andy Carlson on 18/08/2019 21:25:13:

Posted by Steve King 5 on 18/08/2019 20:51:25:

I will PM you.

… or not. I dont seem to get the option to PM you when I look at your profile. Not sure why.
18 August 2019 at 21:40 #424942
Steve King 5
Participant
@steveking5
Posted by Andy Carlson on 18/08/2019 21:36:31:

Posted by Andy Carlson on 18/08/2019 21:25:13:

Posted by Steve King 5 on 18/08/2019 20:51:25:

I will PM you.

… or not. I dont seem to get the option to PM you when I look at your profile. Not sure why.

My email is

Saking1983@googlemail.com
18 August 2019 at 21:43 #424943
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Posted by Jeff Dayman on 18/08/2019 21:29:43:

First thoughts re motor placement –

1. cut a hole in the bench for the belt run, mount motor under bench. Make sheetmetal swarf/hand guard around belt. Belt would need to be lengthened to reach motor under bench.

2. Pivoting around the jackshaft, swing motor/frame/jackshaft up to a pre-made sturdy wood frame mounted to wall and roof under the rafters, little bit higher and to the right of the blue bike helmet.

Good luck. Glad you made some chips already!

Thanks. The underneath of the bench is spoken for. I'm pretty much at the limit of the available real estate for machine tool related uses so above the bench it must be. Changing the belt length should be straightforward enough – they are jointed leather straps but lifting the motor higher is not an enticing prospect. It's flipping heavy! At the moment I'm trying to arrange it so that it can go further back towards the headstock end.
18 August 2019 at 22:32 #424950
Nathan Sharpe
Participant
@nathansharpe19746
Andy, that's a nice looking machine. Have you looked on Tony's site for the photos of original set up ?

Steve, that looks repairable to me if you use modern/ trad methods. Clean the crack, drill for "pinch bolts", epoxy in the crack and wind it together. You would need to check for circularity on bore and make a new plain bearing but not scrap as it is. Nathan.
18 August 2019 at 22:41 #424951
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Posted by Nathan Sharpe on 18/08/2019 22:32:32:

Andy, that's a nice looking machine. Have you looked on Tony's site for the photos of original set up ?

Steve, that looks repairable to me if you use modern/ trad methods. Clean the crack, drill for "pinch bolts", epoxy in the crack and wind it together. You would need to check for circularity on bore and make a new plain bearing but not scrap as it is. Nathan.

Thanks Nathan. Tony's site is excellent. The only snag is that I spend far too much time looking at it and I get ideas about finding room for more lathes. Still, I only have four. Should I worry?
18 August 2019 at 23:02 #424953
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
I had a closer look at the Pulley shaft this evening and did what I should have done earlier. It is magnetic so that explains why it looks like rusty steel… because that's exactly what it is. Even knowing this though, the machined part of the end still looks like Aluminium to me. It isn't but I've never seen steel that colour.

No doubt the rust will make it tricky to get the bearings off but at least one of them needs to come off.
19 August 2019 at 04:06 #424965
Jeff Dayman
Participant
@jeffdayman43397
Idea for heavy motor raising –

1. obtain box of beers and a big pack of good sausages for BBQ (get the good buns and mustard too)

2. invite rugby playing friends by for BBQ

3. apply beers and sausages

4. mention that you had some tennis playing friends by two week ago and they couldn't even lift a little motor we've got in the shop…..
19 August 2019 at 04:06 #424966
Jeff Dayman
Participant
@jeffdayman43397
duplicate post, sorry

Edited By Jeff Dayman on 19/08/2019 04:06:54
19 August 2019 at 06:53 #424967
Sandgrounder
Participant
@sandgrounder
Posted by Dave Halford on 18/08/2019 20:32:38:

Motor looks familiar 1/4hp American Century Electric Co. with brushes, WW1 vintage?

Edited By Dave Halford on 18/08/2019 20:35:42

I've got a 1/2HP motor of the same make which I use for a buffing machine, in addition to the brass plate shown mine has an additional plate reading 'Refrigeration Motor'.
19 August 2019 at 08:02 #424973
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Posted by Jeff Dayman on 19/08/2019 04:06:04:

4. mention that you had some tennis playing friends by two week ago and they couldn't even lift a little motor we've got in the shop…..
19 August 2019 at 08:03 #424974
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Posted by Sandgrounder on 19/08/2019 06:53:03:

Posted by Dave Halford on 18/08/2019 20:32:38:

Motor looks familiar 1/4hp American Century Electric Co. with brushes, WW1 vintage?

Edited By Dave Halford on 18/08/2019 20:35:42

I've got a 1/2HP motor of the same make which I use for a buffing machine, in addition to the brass plate shown mine has an additional plate reading 'Refrigeration Motor'.

Care to share any photos of your motor?
19 August 2019 at 10:10 #424987
Sandgrounder
Participant
@sandgrounder
Posted by Andy Carlson on 19/08/2019 08:03:54:

Posted by Sandgrounder on 19/08/2019 06:53:03:

Posted by Dave Halford on 18/08/2019 20:32:38:

Motor looks familiar 1/4hp American Century Electric Co. with brushes, WW1 vintage?

Edited By Dave Halford on 18/08/2019 20:35:42

I've got a 1/2HP motor of the same make which I use for a buffing machine, in addition to the brass plate shown mine has an additional plate reading 'Refrigeration Motor'.

Care to share any photos of your motor?

This is the best I can do at the moment, the camera does'nt seem to do close ups very well, and excuse the workshop clutter as I'm just re-arranging things, I've tried to crop most of it out. The motor serial no is 958784

Edited By Sandgrounder on 19/08/2019 10:11:50
19 August 2019 at 12:26 #425012
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Thanks for the pics – very nice.

I found the manual online. I wasn't expecting that.

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/2461/4520.pdf

Very informative – and refreshingly free of Chinglish.
19 August 2019 at 15:18 #425036
Sandgrounder
Participant
@sandgrounder
Thanks for the manual, although I hope I'll never need it for my motor.
19 August 2019 at 23:02 #425109
Andy Carlson
Participant
@andycarlson18141
Posted by Sandgrounder on 19/08/2019 15:18:58:

Thanks for the manual, although I hope I'll never need it for my motor.

It does tell you how to change things around if you want to mount it sideways up so if I am understanding your pic correctly then it might be worth a read.

The screws on mine came undone without too much assertiveness – just a proper big screwdriver to fit the big slots but the chap in a vid on YouTube had to use an impact driver so YMMV as they say in the.US.
20 August 2019 at 06:52 #425122
Sandgrounder
Participant
@sandgrounder
Posted by Andy Carlson on 19/08/2019 23:02:52:

Posted by Sandgrounder on 19/08/2019 15:18:58:

Thanks for the manual, although I hope I'll never need it for my motor.

It does tell you how to change things around if you want to mount it sideways up so if I am understanding your pic correctly then it might be worth a read.

The screws on mine came undone without too much assertiveness – just a proper big screwdriver to fit the big slots but the chap in a vid on YouTube had to use an impact driver so YMMV as they say in the.US.

Thanks for that Andy,

I'd downloaded the manual and had a quick read but the bit about sideways mounting hadn't registered, I'll look into doing it.

John
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