Hi Guys,

I recently bought a Colchester Bantam Mk1 in an auction in France. It was a risky one as it was bought sight unseen but was only standing me €300 and as it was French the chances of it being the metric model that I wanted were greater so I took a punt on it. I unfortunately bought it just before the world went Covid-19 nuts and of course it sat unmoved in a workshop until things could get opened up again. After weeks of hassle and a further €700 to get it packed and loaded onto a truck (by supposed professional machinery movers) it was set to come to me here in Ireland. When it arrived I was apprehensive but when I saw it I was downright disappointed and angry. The ‘packing’ just involved putting it on a pallet, not a single strap or fixing to hold it to the pallet and unfortunately it had fallen over and caused significant damage to the handles and castings (particularly the apron and saddle) as you can see in the pictures not to mention bits are missing. I am going to try fight both the shipping and packing companies tooth and nail to claim some of the money back but I’m now unfortunately left with an unusable lathe. What I’m hoping someone may know or point me in the direction of how best to replace or repair these parts and who might even be selling them (I have found some parts on eBay but I am unsure if metric and imperial model parts are interchangeable). Any help would be greatly appreciated as I’d love to get this old girl restored and working again.

Thanks mate, here’s hoping that I’ll be an expert at something by the end of it ! Didn’t realise the photos hadn’t worked until now but thanks for letting me know, I’ll try put up some photos again tonight.

Hi Mick,
It’s such a shame that something that has lasted so long had to be ruined by someone’s negligence and lack of care. I’ll keep the thread updated on what joy I can get out of these crowds.
cheers,