Hi All
I have recently acquired a Colchester Chipmaster as my primary lathe by trading in my ML7 and related rooling. I have had this niggle for some time now of not getting a decent finish using negative rake carbide, positive rake carbide or even with a tangential cutter or super sharp hss. I started playing around with tipes of material im cutting too. Known stock that used to give a mirror finish on the Myford doesnt even come close to shiny on the chippy. So i started checking all the gibbs and other adjustments that can have an effect. Still same old. Even locking cross and topslides makes no difference.
I then tested a 0,01mm finger guage against the spindle bore and i get no movement on the guage whatsoever. But if i slowly rotate the spindle by hand i can feel little rough spots while turning, and the rough spots are at random places, ie not repeating on the same place.
Can someone who know these machines perhaps give me a pointer as to what direction to go in now?
Could it be the bearings in the counter shaft that the clutch and brake system utilizes that makes such an impact on finish?
I have already contacted Nobilla tools in Uk and they quoted me £420 excluding shipping to SD!
If i convert that to our currency its more than what i paid for the whole machine! In fact i can buy a similar new asian machine for the price of second hand bearings.
Sorry , rant over.
Can somebody please direct me to an alternative make of bearings as nobody in SD or SA can even find these Gamet bearings.