Newbie with an old Boley lathe

[Paul NarramoreParticipant @paulnarramore61033]

[Paul NarramoreParticipant @paulnarramore61033]

[Paul NarramoreParticipant @paulnarramore61033]

[Paul NarramoreParticipant @paulnarramore61033]

Edited By Paul Narramore on 20/10/2015 18:04:54

[Paul NarramoreParticipant @paulnarramore61033]

Phew! I must go and lie down now as my head hurts. Just a few comments before I do. Image 1 – Behind the lathe the 'magic box' can be seen. A previous owner has built this and it contains the rheostat to alter the speed from Dead Slow to Fast. Also a switch to reverse the rotation of the electric motor. Image 2 – shows the titchy M4 Allen screws which I feel could go up at least one size. Image 3 shows the strange handle to slide the drill chuck in and out and I may change at some time for a conventional drill post. Image 4 shows two of the oilers crudely poking through the belt cover. These leak. Image 5 shows the rear end of my 1977 Honda GL1000. When I added the grab handle I had to make up two small spacers in stainless steel, shown between grab handle and frame. Also two stepped alloy spacers for the non-standard Lucas rear indicators.

Now I must go and lie down…..

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Looks a useful lathe, Paul

The tailstock lever extension is a bit gross, but the basic mechanism seems good. … Put an appropriate lever on it and it should be fine.

The toolpost looks home-brewed to me, and I would have no qualms about modifying or replacing it.

Have fun

MichaelG.

.

Edit: See photo near the end of this page … That's what the lever should look like.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 20/10/2015 21:30:07

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

The topslide looks like a reversed Myford long cross slide – none the worse for that . Looks to be a good, solid lathe.

Cheers,

Rod

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

I wonder who bent the lever on the tail stock ? I think I would get it off and straighten it. Like many of this style the tail stock has a nice long stroke.

If Paul wants to get rid of the chatter he would be wise to find some one who is capable of finding out what is causing it. It might be just a case of adjusting the slides so that there is a VERY slight drag. The other cause when some one hasn't used a lathe before can be blunt tools and or too fine a feed. More general play means that heavier feeds / deeper cuts are needed to get rid of it but that can only go so far. Above centre tools can also cause chatter especially on carbide tools as the clearance angles are so small.

John

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Edited By John W1 on 21/10/2015 10:16:49

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by John W1 on 21/10/2015 10:14:48:

I wonder who bent the lever on the tail stock ? I think I would get it off and straighten it.

.

John,

As I mentioned yesterday:

See photo near the end of this page … That's what the lever should look like.

I wouldn't bother straightening the 'custom' lever, just replace it with a reasonable replica of original.

MichaelG.

[Paul NarramoreParticipant @paulnarramore61033]

John, I think the lever is bent like that as it puts the end closer to the machinist. It frankly doesn't bother me as it is, just that I'd prefer a conventional tailstock with a screw fed chuck. It is a simple task to unscrew and store away when not needed. The other day, I needed to drill an 8mm dia. hole into the end of some stainless steel bar, my first attempt at turning this metal. OK, at first with a new pilot drill, but then onto something a bit bigger (5mm?) as I was going to work my way up to the final size. Now OK, the 5mm might have been just a tad blunt but not overly so, but I had to really pull on that lever to get the drill going. By the time I reached the 8mm drill, it was cutting like aluminium.

Chatter. I think it was a combination of the factors you mentioned. The biggest though is the dreaded overhang. As a newbie I am a bit timid (Cautious) about getting anywhere near the peril of the spinning chuck and even though the overhangs haven't been excessive (to my eyes), I think they have. I also have a tendency to tighten screws, etc, just so much, a habit brought about by years of working on cars/motorbikes and almost never ever stripping threads. Clearly when using the lathes, they need more tightening than I'm used to. So I now go around giving everything just one more tweak. Also with a 65yr old machine, things have naturally relaxed a tad and worn also. The parting tool I bought on eBay is astonishingly small and may be better suited to watch/clock making than my motorcycle work. Something 'meatier' would be better. I am now taking more care to mount the tools centrally, and determined by eye. If when facing off the end of a piece of round bar, the final nipple disappears, I feel I have got it right. Feed? Yes I have been feeding the lathe tool a little bit at a time – no 'rubbing' you understand – but enough to cut properly.

But thanks everybody for the helpful advice. This is but the start of a journey, and an interesting and rewarding one so far..

Edited By Paul Narramore on 21/10/2015 10:42:26

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Wondering why some one might do something like that – maybe to get 2 levels of leverage for different drill sizes that fit well in the hand. Maybe they didn't need the one on the end or couldn't be bothered to fit a knob.

Noticing your post after I made this one – not sure I would do anything about the handle either – rather use the lathe and sort out any problems.

John

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Edited By John W1 on 21/10/2015 10:46:37

[frank brownParticipant @frankbrown22225]

Ref the "bent" tailstock handle. In the picture, the tailstock is parked at the end of the bed. Unless you are using a 15" long drill, it would be never used here. Taking a more realistic view, drilling a piece in the collet, the front of the tailstock would be 4" or so from the chuck. If the handle was straight you would have to step to the left or backwards or it would hit you in operation!! It could also foul the tool holder.

Frank

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

There are some more useful pictures here, including the screw version of the tailstock.

MichaelG.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I have a pultra 1590 which is about the same size. These lathes have quite massive headstock/bed stiffness and the tailstock is good.

The driptray is an integral part of the setup, creating an amazingly stiff box section when the lathe is bolted to it

The weakest point on these lathes is the cross slide and for best results never let the toolpost go beyond the saddle support or hang out too far kind of thing

They were made for making zillions of small accurate parts easily so even if you progress to a screwcutting machine don't get rid of it because you will probbly never find another one

Get to know your machine well and keep a weather eye on a well known auction site for bargain bits, my pultra was 55 quid because no-one recognised what it was under the dodgy paint job

edit:

Try to suss out your headstock so it stays well adjusted, there are bound to be a few dedicated boley websites out there

gl

Edited By Ady1 on 21/10/2015 11:17:46

[Paul NarramoreParticipant @paulnarramore61033]

Michael, Those images are just what I wanted to see. I would like to get a conventional tailstock one day but there's no hurry, as I can have plenty of enjoyment in the meantime. The bent handle? It doesn't offend my eye and does what it does OK, but again, it's nice to see what the original looked like. I detach it for much of the time.

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