COWELLS LATHE TAILSTOCK PROBLEM

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

Still getting to grips with my cowells lathe, so the thing is i have been cleaning the unit up, so i got to the tailstock and realised it seemed to be jammed up ie not retracting and moving when you move the tailstock dial, so on some further messing around and to be honest using some brute force i have managed to completley destroy the threaded bar going through the centre snapped it in half, i think its a reverse type thread on it, my main question is what other tailstock will fit as it seems imposible to get any advice would be very apreciated.

regards john

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Try contacting Cowells

Roy

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

Does anybody have contact for Cowells? i have also heard that the tailstock off the ml7 is the same ? the tail stock has mt0 fitting i was thinking of trying to rig somthing up to move it back and forward till i come across somthing

john

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

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Edited By Nick_G on 10/09/2017 21:19:19

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

Posted by Nick_G on 10/09/2017 21:16:42:

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I have bad news and good news for you.

Bad news is this is likely going to cost quite a bit of money to fix.

Good news is. ………. It was not me that did it.

Like Roy says contact Cowells as they are the only people likely to have spares as Cowells lathes tend to not get split for 2nd hand parts sale.

Nick

Edit :- for Cowells site **LINK**

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

Is there any other machine with a very similar tail stock arangment ? as i said i have read in older threads that the ml 7 will fit, all is not lost as i can still use it for centering etc and in ref to drilling this is going to be my difficulty but as i only need to drill to re pivot my clock repairs i will aft to find a way to move the tailstock along, im begining to think the centre going through the tailstock something was wrong as the face plate does not fit either it is supposed to be m14x1.5 but on measuring the thread on the plate its 12mm but to be honest i am still happy with the unit i will aft to get my thinking cap on just need some ideas, i will get in touch with cowells but dont fancy paying a few hundred pound when im only using the lathe for pivot polishing etc,

regards john

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

I think the Cowell lathes continued to use the cut down 0MT used by Perris in his lathes (Cowells bought the firm after his death) – this is the small end of the 0MT taper and unless you make your own you need dig deep to buy off Cowells as any full length 0MT sticks well out of either head or tailstock – I think the drive rod is a LH 6mm x 1mm thread but again Cowells may have changed from Perris and I’m away from my workshop and manuals so can’t check (might be worth posting a picture so others can see just what damage has been done) – this should be relatively easy to make tho LH dies are not cheap but anyone with a screwcutting lathe should be able to help you

Edited By Frances IoM on 10/09/2017 21:47:51

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

Thanks will do the thread is 6mm,

regards john

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by JOHN BURNELL 1 on 10/09/2017 21:41:26:

Is there any other machine with a very similar tail stock arangment ? as i said i have read in older threads that the ml 7 will fit, all is not lost as i can still use it for centering etc and in ref to drilling this is going to be my difficulty but as i only need to drill to re pivot my clock repairs i will aft to find a way to move the tailstock along, im begining to think the centre going through the tailstock something was wrong as the face plate does not fit either it is supposed to be m14x1.5 but on measuring the thread on the plate its 12mm but to be honest i am still happy with the unit i will aft to get my thinking cap on just need some ideas, i will get in touch with cowells but dont fancy paying a few hundred pound when im only using the lathe for pivot polishing etc,

 

regards john

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John,

I think you have been finding some dodgy information, if you've read that an ML7 tailstock will fit a Cowells.

I posted a link to "watchmaking.weebly" on your other thread … With the greatest respect; I think you need to check exactly what lathe you have. Look at his pages about the 90 CW  http://watchmaking.weebly.com/lathe-maintenance.html  and also Cowells site.

Rearding the faceplate: The early Cowells had a different headstock spindle to the recent ones, and of course the 'Watchmaker' version has another variant.

MichaelG.

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For info. : This is the early headstock spindle:

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 10/09/2017 22:04:44

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

the earlier Perris lathes used a 0.5″ UNF thread on head stock – maybe the face plate is from an early version – the 14mm 1mm thread spindle may be an upgrade as the new and old spindles should fit the old headstocks

Did Cowells switch to 14 x 1.0mm as I note that this thread is mentioned by ArcEuro in their chuck faceplates

Edited By Frances IoM on 10/09/2017 22:17:51

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

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Guy's it's the tailstock he has a problem with not the headstock.

Nicl

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Frances,

Yes, the early spindle is the one that I illustrated

… Cowells later changed from that to the de-facto [Unimat] size of 14×1

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Nick_G on 10/09/2017 22:15:00:

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Guy's it's the tailstock he has a problem with not the headstock.

 

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Nick … Read the bit about the faceplate

"something was wrong as the face plate does not fit either it is supposed to be m14x1.5 but on measuring the thread on the plate its 12mm "

This ^^^ is why I suggested that John needs to check exactly what lathe he's got.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 10/09/2017 22:21:06

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

Nick
he also has a non-fitting faceplate which looks as tho from a different model than the one he thinks he has.

Suspect buying a thread gauge should be a first purchase!

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

.

Ooops. My bad.

Nick

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

Yes the plate and the headstock thread are most defanatly different, i have ordered some 6mm LH thread stud of ebay going to have a go at making somthing to do the job, i will post some pictures of the lathe, the plate of the unimat would fit, anyway many thanks for your help, as a mater of interest is there any other tailstock that fits, this is just in case i find one,

regards john

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

The tailstock problem sounds very odd – in particular the 12mm dimension. That size was the spindle thread size for the Unimat SL version – most definitely not compatible!

Cowell spares are, indeed, expensive, but their customer service was excellent in the couple of times I have contacted them.

rgds

Bill

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

I think i might not have explained properly, the faceplate thread is 12mm and the headstock thread is 14 ? so the plate is from a diferent lathe i think, my tailstock is mt0 but the lh screw that goes through the centre to move the chuck back and fourth has snapped so i have ordered some LH thread stud bar and am going to try and make something up.

regards john

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

I presume the older Perris tailstock would fit – these are I think cheaper than new Cowells but suspect don’t come up that often. There is a series of 3 articles in ME in 1988/9 – first article issue dated 16 Dec (page760 but I didn’t note issue # on my copy) on making a capstan/turret for a Perris/Cowells lathe

[James AlfordParticipant @jamesalford67616]

The Flexispeed is a predecessor of the Cowells. On mine, because the taper is not too good, I have looked at using a Peatol / Taig tailstock centre and fabricating a lever arm to drive it, using the screw holes that secure the retaining collar for the original threaded drive as fixing points.

The Peatol centre is 12.5mm OD and readily available from the UK supplier. It has a centre turned on the end and is threaded to take a chuck. You can see a picture of the entire tailstock on the accessories page at **LINK**

This might be an alternative to trying to fabricate a threaded centre with a female taper if the bore of your tailstock casting will accommodate it.

James

 

Edited By James Alford on 11/09/2017 07:40:28

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

Thanks for the info i will keep it in mind, i am hoping the thread will fit the tail stock casting if so i reckon im in with a shout of sorting something out, we shall see it will be an experience.

regards john

[James AlfordParticipant @jamesalford67616]

John,

I should be interested to hear how you get on with this.

James.

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

Hi James, I will post some pictures of my work if it goes ok, i am quietly confident if my LH threaded 6mm bar fits ok i have a good chance of doing a fair job, fingers crossed .

regards john

[JOHN BURNELL 1Participant @johnburnell1]

Succes, got my L/H thread stud bar 6mm threaded it through the centre peice of my tailstock secured a nut on the thread fited coller secured that fitted turning handle , works great, tottal cost £5 i have added a few pictures, thanks for all your help and sugestions.

regards john

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