Zyto Lathe

[Beccy PowellParticipant @beccypowell23807]

I understand this is a Zyto Lathe. Is it used for wood or metal? Is it restorable? Is it likely to be of interest to an enthusiast? I have several photos but cannot find a way of uploading them. Any advice welcome.

[Beccy PowellParticipant @beccypowell23807]

Clearing out dad’s shed – but what actually has he left me?

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Greetings, Beccy

Posting photos here is a challenge to most new members

… Start here : **LINK**

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=103028&p=1

MichaelG.

.

Edit: __ and have a look here: http://www.lathes.co.uk/zyto/index.html

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 04/09/2021 18:46:05

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Hello Beccy.

A Zyto lathe would be a metalworking lathe. they are small, basic and the newest ones will be 70yrs old. The value will not be great and will depend on the condition and how complete it is. If it's lacking a motor and gears, like many that you see, then it will not be woth much at all. If however it has a working motor and drive system, a good compliment of gears and perhaps a chuck or two then it might be worth a couple of hundred or maybe a bit more.

Post the pictures if you can.

Pete.

[Beccy PowellParticipant @beccypowell23807]

Thank you both (Michael and Pete) very much. I have uploaded the photos – I think they should give an idea of it's condition. It hasn't been connected to the mains, but was able to turn the "motor shaft" so don't think it is seized. I am interested in offers from anyone who could give it a good home.

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Hi Beccy.

The big chuck at the far right end does not belong on that machine it's for a muc larger lathe, also the tailstock (the thing it#s hanging on is fitted backwards. The pointy end attachment should point at the chuck on the left.

Your dad's lathe appears to be largely complete although the sapearate wall-mounted countershaft makes it a bit cumbersome. In the cabinet the only parts that belong to it are the gears and the big round faceplate with the slots. Loks like there is a tilstock chuck too (it fits in place of the pointy end dead centre in the tailstock). The grinder wheels and other bits are not meant for a lathe (although he may well have used them in it). The wooden thing in the corner is a hand tool called a wood plane.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

Beccy, several years ago I was invited by a lady in a similar position to yourself to view her late father's workshop and see if there was anything I wanted to purchase from it. There was, and I offered what I considered to be a fair price for the items I wanted. The lady concerned then immediately wanted more, although she wouldn't specify the price she actually may have had in mind. I increased my offer but it was still declined. I rather think that someone had advised this lady that her father had left her a 'goldmine' and she was suspicious of potential purchasers, because I was not alone, attempting to take advantage of her. I genuinely wasn't trying to do that, so I politely declined any further negotiation and left the premises. I don't know, but I suspect that the lady concerned would have either been left with items I would have liked or eventually, because they were quite specialist, received a lower price than the one I had initially offered.

It is always difficult in situations such as this and I would think that the best way to determine the value and demand for any item is by auction because anything is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it whatever its supposed intrinsic monetary is thought to be.

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Okay so it turns out this lathe is only a couple of miles from me so I volunteered to look it over.

What I can say is that the lathe appears to be 100% complete and aside from the grimy appearance and very light surface rust is in remarkable condition and seen very little use. Here's a quick rundown.

The model appears to be the "now rare early Zyto" listed on the Lathes website as linked by Michael G above. It has a working backgear with all the teeth in perfect condition. It also appears to have a full set of screwcutting change gears (10 in total) and the tumbler reverse works although the tiny actuating lever needs attention

There is little or no wear apparent on the bedway. The original planing lines are evident all along the length of the top even (faintly) right up to the chuck. There are no digs or dents on it at all that I could see. The swivelling slide is complete and bears no battle scars. I didn't move the slide except to check it's not seized and external inspection shows no wear.

The leadscrew is in fine condition showing little use and certainly very little wear in the usual spot in front of the chuck.

The lathe has two chucks in excellent working condition just a little grubby, a 3-jaw 3" Crown with both sets of jaws and a 4" 4-jaw Burnerd. Both are undamaged with no signs of wear, no corners knocked off or gouges in the chuck or jaw faces The outside jaws are actually pristine. The jaws fit snug and there is a chuck key that fits both chucks.

There's a centre in the tailstock and also a keyless tailstock chuck that looks unused.

Apart from a clean and service the only part that appears to need attention is the drive system. There a vintage motor which turns smoothly but I would certainly suspect the rubber insulation on the internal wiring before putting it into service. There is a flat leather belt that is perished but that could be replaced with a poly-vee belt very easily.

All in all, a cracking little lathe with loads of potential if you look beyond the grime and put in a few hours of cleaning and fettling effort. I've advised Becky that it's worth every penny of £200 and perhaps a little more given the completeness and condition.

This is going to make a very nice little lathe for someone

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

That was very kind of you Pete.

Let's hope the machine soon finds a loving new home, with £200 passing on the way!

(I'm in a slightly similar position, in preparing to dispose of a late friend's workshop on behalf of his widow.)

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

It's lasted 80+ years so it deserves a sympathetic restoration, and to be used of course!

Pics are in my album folder **LINK**

[Lee RogersParticipant @leerogers95060]

Nice old Zyto . They do have quite a following , FB Zyto group is a spin off from the Drummond group , nice bunch always keen to help and always looking for a new project. A very capable lathe for its size , I know of one that still earns its keep repairing sewing machines in Lutons rag trade district.

£200 sounds about right .

[Calum MacDonaldParticipant @calummacdonald82071]

Hi all,

New to model-engineer and lathes in general. This thread is on a subject I need some help with if that's ok?

So I have been wanting a lathe for years now, one to restore and teach myself how to use. I had no budget (21 month baby girl), but was able to get myself a zyto. From the research I've done it looks like it's a 50's model possibly the penultimate run. The issue I'm having is the gear that goes on the lead screw is missing and a couple of the shim's. The dial for thread count?! That whole thing is missing too. But given there's very very little I can find out about the thing, I'm drawing a complete blank on replacing the missing bits. Probably also due to my lack of knowledge and inability to use the internet effectively haha 😂

I'm reaching out to anyone who has knowledge on this one, I'd love to be able to get her up and running and looking her best so I can start learning.

Many thanks for any help.

Cal

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Callum,

Welcome!

But, if you are new to engineering, and lathes, I would counsel against buying a lathe AND restoring it..

A lathe starts life as a precision machine, although with use, it may well suffer some wear.

By all means, clean it and lubricate it, but avoid stripping or much in the way of adjustments, unless you know what you are doing.. You don't want to make anything worse.

Unless you have the correct knowledge, skill and equipment to measure and rectify, you might do more harm than good. in attempting to restore it.

Without the knowledge and skill, you will have enough to do to learn how to operate the lathe.

(One of the first things that I learned was that whatever cut I put on reduced the diameter by twice as much )

Learning how to cope with a machine that is worn, will always be useful.

With any machine, even a new one, to do accurate work, you have to allow for backlash.

Find and join a local model engineering Society. There you will be face to face with people who can help you.

Where are you located? You may be able to find a club local to you on Google.

Guided by someone with experience,you will be helped to learn how to set up and use the machine.. They can also guide you as to what measuring equipment you need, and tooling, as a minimum.

(I would advise starting with a digital calliper. For about £10 yo should be able fo find one in ALDI or LIDL, when they come in on offer. Alternatively, a pretty good quality one, such as a Moore and Wright, can be bought from machine DRO. This is just under £26, plus shipping. ) This will enable you to work in either Imperial, or Metric units. Being a Zyto, I would expect the leadscrews to be Imperial.

My advice, FWIW would be to use High Speed Toolbits.

This means that you will need to learn how to grind tools, which means more expense to buy a bench grinder!

Fellow M E Club members will help you learn how to grind tools.

Other expenditures that would be advisable would be a set of Zeus Charts, and a book such as Ian Bradley's "The Amateur's Workshop".This covers workshop practice in general.

For books on lathe work, there are several that would be useful (You don't need to buy all of them! )

The most often recommended is L H Sparey "The Amateur's lathe", but Stan Bray and Harold Hall ((Both former editors of MEW ) have written books on lathe work..

Where to get these items?

I am pleased with my M & W calliper from machine DRO, and although not a big spender, have had good service from Arc Euro Trade (Take a look at their website) .

Start by just just cutting some mild steel

Having done a little ,bit of turning, gain experience by making simple tools. These will give you experience, and will be useful in the future..

One of the first that I would suggest is a Centre Height Gauge. Once made and set up thisaid setting cutting tools to Centre Height. (If a tool is not at centre height, it will not cut properly, and even if it cuts, will leave a pip in the middle of the work..

A simple one just needs a piece of round steel, three nuts, a short piece of studding and small piece of flat plate or another flat disc. This will involve you in drilling and tapping. Drilling and tapping is another skill that you will soon need to acquire. (More expenditure;but you don't have to do everything at once. You can but things as and when you need them.) And other club members no doubt, will help.

If you are unsure about making a centre height gauge, PM me and we can find a way to help you.

Howard

 

Edited By Howard Lewis on 14/08/2022 07:26:49

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Welcome to the forum Calum.

Can you post photos of the missing bits please? I think I know what you're describing, but best to be sure. Posting photos on this forum is a little convoluted; how to described here.

Sounds as if the Thread Dial Indicator is missing. They speed up thread cutting but aren't essential.

One comment on Howard's advice: he recommends mild-steel, which is an OK safe choice rather than wonderful. Starting out I was horribly confused because none of my collection of scrap metal machined well. I eventually twigged that many alloys are race tuned for other purposes, intended to be cast, stamped, ground, extruded, or rolled rather than cut by a self-taught trainee with a hobby lathe.

Getting a good finish from ordinary structural mild-steel can be tricky because it tends to smear and tear. I recommend buying a machinable mild-steel such as EN1a or – even better – leaded EN1A, sometimes sold as EN1A-Pb. Most brasses machine well, but many Aluminium alloys are uncooperative. The internet is helpful, sellers like Metal Supermarket usually explain what each alloy is good for. For example they say '2011 Aluminium Alloy is the most free machining of the common aluminium alloys with excellent mechanical properties.' whereas 6063 was 'Developed as an extrusion alloy'. 6063 isn't nice to turn in a lathe. Buying metal, look for mention of 'Free-cutting' or 'Good Machinability'. Although it's possible to turn and mill difficult metals, they're not good to learn on!

Dave

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Have you looked on lathes.co.uk for info on your Zyto? If not, it's always worth a look.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Second to what Hopper says about constructional steels!

Don't touch Rebar with the proverbial barge pole! It is foul stuff, good for reinforcing but NOT for machining.

Almost impossible to get even a reasonable finish.

Probably the easiest to machine will be leaded mild steel. If you use anything slightly exotic or hard and have a problem, you won't know if it is your fault, or a difficult material.

If there are problems with an easy to machine material, (That's one variable you won't have to worry about ) you can explore tool height, speeds, feeds or tool grinding Also, easy to machine materials are fairly forgiving about tool angles; Within reason, a few degrees either way shouldn't be a job stopper.

For feeds and speeds as a starting p[oint, with a well ground tool, thunk in terms of 100 fpm and aim to feed at about 0.004" / rev.

(Another skill to learn, rotating a handwheel at a fairly steady, consistent rate ).

Don't despair, you'll get the hang of using both hands to keep the wheel rotating at a fairly steady rate.

HTH

Howard

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