Hobbymat MD65 needs assistance to start

[Clive TurnbullParticipant @cliveturnbull59507]

I have just acquired a Hobbymat MD65 from an old shipmate. He very kindly gave it to me as he is not in the best of health. The machine looks hardly used and I wish to give it a bit of an overhaul. main problem I have is that it needs a manual turn of the chuck to get it to rotate in the forward direction whereas it start instantly in reverse. Does anyone know if this is a major problem or is there an easy fix?

Help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Clive

[Clive TurnbullParticipant @cliveturnbull59507]

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Clive,

                I am assuming the motor is a fixed speed induction motor. Based on this assumption I suspect the contacts on the reversing switch which connect the start winding in the forward direction are faulty. I cannot find a wiring diagram on the web to tell you which connections on the switch to check. If you have the manual I think that contains the wiring diagram. If so then if you scan it in and attach it to your next post I will be able to tell you which contacts to check.

Les.

[Clive TurnbullParticipant @cliveturnbull59507]

Les

Many thanks you were spot on. I tried wiggling the switch and sure enough it will start fine if I do that. Weekend I am going to take the switch out  and clean all the contacts I can find.

Thanks so much for your help you have saved me hours of messing about.

Regards

Clive

[John ShepherdParticipant @johnshepherd38883]

Clive

I had a similar problem when I had a Hobbymat but in my case I think it was a centrifugal switch in the motor that was the cause.

I can tell you from experience that the switch can be damaged if you turn the reversing switch when the motor is running by mistake!

With the on off and reversing switches being of a similar type and mounted close together I suspect I am not the only one to have done that.

 

Regards

John

[Clive TurnbullParticipant @cliveturnbull59507]

Yes

I noticed that and I will have to be careful on that one! I suppose it’s fine until one day I’m not concentrating. Time will tell!

Thanks

Clive

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Could you fit a cover or lock on the reversing switch so it can’t be opperated accidently. When using reverse the cover or what ever would blank out the foreward control. Maybe not practical, but an idea.
Clive it’s great what a bit of a clean up will do, a bit of WD40 might help too. Ian S C

[chairmanmickParticipant @chairmanmick]

Hi Chaps, like Clive I have just aquired a Hobbymat BFE-65 milling head ( mill head ,upstand and flange fitting for rear of lathe ,only- not the lathe itself) 

I am hoping to fit this to my aging ML7  at the rear of the bed or machine a bed mounting block ,as with the old Amolco miller. Would any of You kind souls know where I may get a copy of the manual  and spares list for the BFE-65 please.  I found a link on the web to a site that you could download a copy from, but that has since expired. Many thanks in anticipation, and well done lads for solving  Clives problem.Cheers, Mick (34G!).

[Jim WhetrenParticipant @jimwhetren72358]

Hello Mick,

 

When I bought my Hobbymat mill, it came as the two seperate items – Milling head & Milling table.

 

The Head included the cast bracket to attach it to the Hobbynat lathe, which I did not need.

 

Also included were two semicircular plates and associated screws to enable the accurate setting up both left to right and fore and aft. Being a ‘pack rat’, I still have the plates.

 

The operating manual included comprehensive instructions for setting the bracket accurately. If it is of use I can look out the instructions, and if they are as I remember them, I can scan them and send them on.

 

Regards,

Jim

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

The only place in the UK that I’m aware of any Hobbymat help from (spares, etc) is Stephen Lacey at Essel Engineering. He provided me with an MD65 spares list (I think it’s an excel spreadsheet that he can email), and generally appeared to be quite helpful.

 

 

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

Back in the early to mid’90s, Essel Engineering supplied a very useful speed adaptor for the Hobbymat lathe. This gave an additional two lower speeds of 125 and 63 rpm.

 

I have no connection with this firm, other than the fact that at that time I had a Hobbymat and was quite frightened when I tried screwcutting under power at the manufacturer’s original minimum speed of 250rpm.

 

After that, I made a mandrel handle – more work, but certainly less “exciting”!

 

Regards,

 

Peter G. Shaw 

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

There’s also the possibility that Tony Griffiths at lathes.co.uk has Hobbymat
handbooks, etc. available. According to his website he may even still
have some low-speed pulleys too.

 

The other
thing that Essel supplied at one stage was a lever-operated tailstock
mod kit. I have one of those, but took it off; not very useful as far as
I’m concerned.

 

And yes, any attempt at
cutting threads without the mod is pretty hairy – to the extent that
I’ve only ever tried it once. That was on a brass tube which required a
very high TPI (21 I think from memory) shallow thread, well away from
the chuck, with plenty of room to withdraw the tool and flick the power
switch. Generally with a bit of care in setting them up, and not asking
them to do ridiculous things, HD65s are quite useful little lathes. But
screwcutting is definitely not one of their strong points unless you fit
the low-speed mod, and I would have thought that using some sort of
retractable tool would be quite a good idea too.

[Pierre EHLYParticipant @pierreehly19171]

Hi gents,

The links for :

Hobbymat MD65 Lathe manual (french) with WDM & IPC

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4MWOWBEP 

Hobbymat BFE65 Milling Head manual (french) with WDM & IPC

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P4UYQ2AX

brgds

pierre 

[joegibParticipant @joegib]

Another source of useful information about the Hobbymat machines is the Yahoo Prazi newsgroup here:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Prazi_mill_lathe/

 

You’ll need to join the group to access resources. In particular, the ‘Files’ section contains copies of manuals covering both the lathes and mills marketed under the Hobbymat name in the UK. Sadly, the group’s not very active nowadays.

 

Jim Whetren (if you’re still following the thread),

 

 In reading (and enjoying) your MEW articles over the years, I’ve been intrigued by occasional images of your Hobbymat milling machine showing what appears to be a fine-feed adjustment for the quill. Any chance of your doing a write-up of this mod for MEW, please?

 

Joe

Edited By joegib on 31/05/2010 09:24:28

[Jim WhetrenParticipant @jimwhetren72358]

Hello Joe,

 

Thank you for your kind comments.

 

As it happens, I did write an article on this mod at the end of March 2008. I presume it is as they say, in ‘The Pipeline’.

 

Watch this space?

 

Jim

[modeng2000Participant @modeng2000]

Hi Jim,

 

You may remember me asking the same question a while ago.

 

Regards,

John

 

[chairmanmickParticipant @chairmanmick]

I would like to thank all the lads that replied to my question reguarding the mill head ,especialy Jim and Pierre,  Thanks for the manual link Pierre, just wish I had taken more notice at school during French lessons!! Will have to buy the Rosetta Stone guide to French now as well as the mill head!!

Picked her up today, looks like a project for next winter, bits missing and studs sheared off all over the show,. (the mill head not Rosetta Stone !!) Oh Well—that ebay has a lot to answer for!

[Peter Ellis 5Participant @peterellis5]

Posted by Jim Whetren on 31/05/2010 11:46:57:

Hello Joe,

Thank you for your kind comments.

As it happens, I did write an article on this mod at the end of March 2008. I presume it is as they say, in 'The Pipeline'.

Watch this space?

Jim

Did it appear eventually ?

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