What is this Colchester accessory used for?

[choochoo_balooParticipant @choochoo_baloo]

Hello all. Another ‘what is this used for’ thread 🙂

I saw an advert for what is described as for Colchester lathe cross slide drilling. See photo. Being just a humble hobbyist that isn’t much help! Especially as female ways in base seem perpedicular to the bore…

Any info gratefully received.

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Replaces the cross slide hence the bore is then inline with the lathes axis. You can then put big drill bits into it and use the lathes powerfeed to drive them.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I imagine that could also be useful with tap or die holders, and die-boxes, usually held in the tailstock – though using the hand saddle feed, not power.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Such devices are all about chip control with larger drills. Power feed produces a constant thickness, relatively thin, chip/swarf at the lower speeds frequently needed with large drills.

When drilling from the tailstock it’s easy to overfeed a big drill producing all sorts of chip and swarf problems.

Clive

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

Dean, Smith & Grace do a similar attachment. It works in exactly the same way. The attachment is slid onto the cross-slide dovetail from the rear. There is usually a doweled location piece on the attachment which abuts with a similar location piece dowelled to the carriage. This automatically aligns the attachment on the lathe centre-line. Provision is usually made to lock the attachment in position.

This can be used for drills and floating reamers using the Morse taper adaptor socket or this can be changed to use a Coventry Die Head, Roller box, or similar Capstan tooling by using a parallel socket.

Hope this helps

Regards

Gray,

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

Replaces the cross slide…

It would not really replace the cross slide, as that would involve removing the cross slide to install the attachment and then re-installing it when finished. In an industrial setting, that would not be productive.

Some of the larger Colchesters had a dovetail machined into the top of the cross slide and the attachment fitted to that.

The DSG one is shown here:

https://www.lathes.co.uk/dsg-lathes-1960s-1970s/

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