Now, I know you guys love photos, but this post is going to be VERY heavy on them. I apologise in advance to those of you on dial-up connections...
After a spot of farting around on a fork-lift truck, the machines are all in their final (for now...) locations:
I've still got the tooling "benches" (an old office desk & an old computer desk) to put in place, and the main workbench to put back, but I'm happy with the machines where they are. One problem, the floor under the lathe turned out to be not quite as level as it appeared; the headstock was free to wobble about quite a bit. So I fired up the mill & bullied a piece of 1/2" flat into a taper, which I hammered under the lathe. Result: No more wobble - although I do need to check to make sure the bed's not twisted:
Interestingly, the Edgwick wasn't made by Edgwick, but by George Swift & Sons Ltd
exclusively (no less) for Alfred Herbert Ltd. Unfortunately, the green paintwork belies the age & condition of the lathe; it's been very badly & excessively painted IMHO. A job for "when I get a round tuit" will be to strip & re-paint, somewhat more sympathetically than just lashing the pea green on. If anyone knows what colour a 30's Edgwick would have been, please do let me know.
Right, on with the pictures. Here's a bit of an overview of the carriage/tailstock. I've slapped a bit of "general purpose" oil on the ways, just to stop them from rusting any more (there was the tiniest hint of surface rust, but that seems to have been from swarf rather than from the bed). The allen keys were to remove the aluminium casting from the front of the carriage (not seen here), which had collected some swarf in a ball between it & the ways. By the time this pic was taken, the carriage & tailstock both slide smoothly and easily up & down the ways, although the carriage does seem to start binding up a little towards the tailstock end: I guess that's either a twist in the bed, or wear in the ways.
What I though might be a taper attachment IS a taper attachment
I just need to figure out how to use it. Doh!
That tool post: It'll take upto 2" thick tool steel. Which is just monsterous in my opinion.
It has some kind of rachet type mechanism in it: As one swings the lever anti-clockwise, the toolpost kind of picks up & rotates 90 degrees, where it latches. The lever is then pulled clockwise to tighten. Repeat until bored... I guess it'll pass for a toolpost until I've made a QCTP.
The top of the headstock lifts off to reveal a gearbox of many gears:
...but not much oil:
It also revealed the first problem:
The picture's not terribly clear, but that's a chipped tooth. There are several chipped teeth on that gear; it's the main drive for the mid-range settings. To get from High to Low range (& vice versa), a gear carrier has to be moved past that gear. As there's no way of disengaging, it has to pass through in mesh. Obviously, over time, the gears have been banged into; maybe an operator not waiting until the gears have come to a complete stop, or maybe just being violent with the gear lever. Anyway; I can turn it all by hand from the chuck, and there don't seem to be any completely missing teeth. I can probably just avoid using the mid-ranges to begin with. Eventually, I will have to strip the headstock & replace that gear.
The only other issue is almost entirely cosmetic: A broken guide between two of the screwcutting gearbox settings:
If those two issues turn out to be all that's wrong with it, I will be a properly happy bunny
And in case you thought I'd forgotten, I managed to get the tool grinder stood up & put in place too:
It's much niftier than I thought when I first looked at it: The tables can be wound in & out using the knurled screw visible in this pic:
The fence just drops into the slot, so I'll be able to make the perfect HSS cutting tools with it. The table can be angled with a screw underneath. You can't see the screw, but the angle gauge is pretty clear:
As it stands, there's no abrasive material on those wheels, they're just steel wheels. I'm not sure what that's about; maybe I'm supposed to put some kind of disk on there? Anyone got any ideas? Here's a couple of detail shots of the right-hand grinding wheel:
Oh, and it has a nifty little coolant tank with dinky drain tap at the back. I guess this should normally contain water, when grinding Carbide; will water also suffice for HSS?
Anyway, having done all that & a little bit of cleaning on the lathe, my back called time on me. So, just a couple more photos to keep you entertained...
This is the mill I made the tapered wedge on. I hadn't cleaned it up when I took the photo, although I have done now. Nothing worse than leaving a bunch of chips lying around.:
And just to prove I still have a load of tidying up to do, this is what's waiting behind me when I'm stood at the milling machine:
Now, for ${deity}'s sake, please don't ask me WHY! Because I might have to mumble & think of an excuse....
