Chinese Lathe CO6230A

[Davo J]

Hi Gerry,
Good to hear you go it up on the stand and all is going well.
Have you checked the gear box and apron for sand or painted over sand?
Also John H just found out filling his lathe up with oil going by the sight gauge was to low, so I would be worth taking the top off the head stock to check yours.

Dave

[GerryB]

G.Day Dave,
Thanks for the come back.
I did wounder at first as to the level of the oil in the headstock.
I did also wounder as to why the level sight is right under the main bearing,very dificult to see.
When i first filled the head stock with oil i placed two button magnets in the base.
The other day i decided to have a look at the inside of the box due to a new noise that had occured and was causing me to sweat a little.
I found out that because i had just changed the gearing to cut some metric threads and had meshed the gears too close together.
My own fault for being too complacent,i should have placed a sheet of writing paper between the meshing gears.
Back to the oil.
The inside was very well covered with oil and i also inspected the magnets.
Not too bad,a little fury but otherwise nothing to write home about.
I decided to run the lathe and have a look at the gear's going around in the oil,big kid.
Of course i got my comeupance by being sprayed with the stuff.
Re. the missing paint on certain parts.
It was during the dismantling that i found that various parts of the lathe(the parts that you do not see) were devoid of any paint,just bare  metal.
Also there was some places that had not had the molding sand removed and had just been painted over (sprayed)
I applied suitable paint to the offending areas.
I am not disapointed with the lathe,in fact i am very pleased and glad that i dismantled the unit inorder to fit it in my workshop.
I am fiddling with the Photos,i think that they should be a little larger.
GerryB

[Davo J]

Hi Gerry
You will probably get a bit more stuck to the magnets as it runs in and the gears settle in. I did that oil trick with the cover off myself years ago, LOL so your not alone.
Did you see the link that I put up for John H? It gives a good look in and around parts as well as a few mods. It also shows the casting sand that had been painted over.
http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/albums/member_photo.asp?a=13378&p=225751
The Chinese will take short cuts where ever they can and I think most machines are missing paint in places.
How did you end up getting it on the stand?

It is also a good idea at this stage to mark the spindle and the face plate/chucks in their most accurate or machined running position.
I used the letter V out of my punch set, but a centre punch mark or scribed line works just a good.

Now that you have it up and running we want to see some projects.

Dave

[GerryB]

Hi Dave,
Yes i also mark every time i fit a new chuck to my lathe.i stamp No.1 in line with the the origional mark on the headstock mount.
Ihave just fitted a new 5C Collet Chuck also removed the 6jaw Griptrue i had on the South Bend,striped cleaned and fitted to the new lathe.
The 6 jaw is only 5" but i like using it on most turning jobs that are usually no larger than 3/4'' in dia.
The 3 jaw chuck supplied with the lathe is very good especialy for larger dia. pieces.
Dave.how do you view the picture i placed of the lathe?
I realise that it is condensed but can you enlarge it as is.?
I can enlarge my copy to any size by selecting 'Workshop' that is printed underneath.
GerryB

[Davo J]

I can do that or right click on the picture and click open in new tab and it's fine.

Dave

[dickda1]

I have a 300x610mm Chinese gearhead lathe from Grizzley. 

The basic layout of these machines seem to be about the same.  There was time in early 1980's when Chinese table saws were showing up with Powermatic and Rockwell part numbers on the castings.  Apparently some original non-dimension critical parts were being used to generate the sand castings.

Had read many horror stories about metal debris and sand in the gearbox.  I keep a Teflon coated magnet at the bottom of the box.  Didn't find any obvious sand there, but there definitely were a few metal fragments in there.

-Dick

[Bogstandard]

Gerry,

If you search thru a few of my posts, I have done a few mods that might be needed on yours.

The main one is the cross slide lock, needed if you have the DRO read head mounted on the tailstock side of the saddle. Plus if yours comes with the three metric drop in gauge gears (for the threading gauge), plus an easy to make method of zeroing up the readout on the drop in gauge. Those bits will not be needed of you make yourself a swing up threading tool.


Bogs

[GerryB]

G.Day Bogs,this is the forth attempt to get something on line.
The third time i accidently nudged the Mouse and lost everything writen so here goes again only this time will shorten the reply and Post.
Yes Bogs i do have a DRO fitted to the Cross Slide.
I will look up your mods and see if i can apply them.
I fited the DRO unit myself,purchased from China,very pleased.
GerryB

[GerryB]

Here we go again,with luck.
During the rebuild of the lathe i took a few photo's.
Starting with the sight for the lathe it was after mooving the Myford that i realised that i could place the lathe end on to the bulkhead as apposed to being up against it there by not having the trouble of repositioning the Electric Control Box,also no problems getting to the Motor if needed.
The instruction book gives dimentions for drilling the floor but when i inspected the Cabinets i found that the holes for securing to the deck were well out of true so i measured the base of the lathe and placed the cabinets accordingly and marked the floor for drilling.
GerryB

[GerryB]

continuation.-
Drilled the holes .fitted the security bolts and secured the cabinates,keeping fingers crossed.
Invited the Lads arround for a BarBee and before knocking back the plonk got them to manhandle the Bed and Head Stock from the trailer.
All went well so on with the BarBee.
The first photo i sent for you to see was of the complete rebuild.
It seemed a little small so asked Dave to see if he could enlarge it,no problems just Right click the  photo and click the 'open new tab' and away you go.
So here are some more photo's of the rebuilding.
GerryB

[GerryB]

First photo's the setting up of the cabinates and base.

[GerryB]

Here we go again ,that was the last photo of the series so wll tr again.
Fingers crossed,
GerryB

[GerryB]

Sorry about some of the photo's being on their side,i did not reolise that you cannot upend them in 'new tabs'
If you click the 'Workshop' at the base of the photo you will be able to turn and enlarge
I will make sure that any photo's in future will be in the correct orientation.
GerryB

[Bogstandard]

Gerry, I have done the work for you, here are a few links to items you might like to carry out. The last one is a definite yes to do.

Cross slide lock

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=950.0

Drop in dial gear fix

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=870.0

Gear fix revisited

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=973.0

The ending of tailstock blues

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=424.0


Bogs

[GerryB]

Good on ya Bogs,
I have just spent the last hour trying to trace your input(which is enormus) but no luck.
I was just about to ask you for some guidance on their whareabouts when i loged on and there you were ahead of me.
Many thanks,will let you know how i get along.
GerryB

[GerryB]

Hi Bogs,
I had deko at the Tailstock of my lathe and it would seem that someone has heard you and done something about it.
My Tailstock is already accepting 3 morse tanged  and the not tanged tools.
They eject correctly when the handle is wound back also they have a slot in the shaft so that tools that have become jammed can be unjammed by the usual method of tapping a tapered tool into the slot and thereby forcing the jammed drill or whetever out.
Am in the process of checking the other recomended mods.
GerryB

[GerryB]

G.Day Each,

You will notice in the last lot of photos that the last photo together with photo 4 is the attampt to fit the Foot Controled Brake unit.
In photo 4 the leaver that transfers the movement from the foot unit to the Brake unit is in place.
The last photo shows the Micro Switch in position but not secured as i was still finding out how it fitted and operated.
There was no mention of it in the Instruction Manual delivered with the lathe.
I finaly set it up and secured the various shafts etc. to how i think it should be.
On final set up it worked very well,it will stop the machine dead no matter what speed i set it to run at.
I dont purposely stop the operation with the foot  brake as i think it should be used in emergency.
I do use it on the lowest speed though when cutting threads,its a God send.

[GerryB]

Here we go again,
The next step in setting up the lathe was to paint the unpainted arears of the Apron and the  Drive Gear Box.
I was luucky that the Gear Box that drives the (thread cutting) Apron has been modified so that the security bolts that hold it in place are not now a part of the internals thereby allowing the removal without losing the oil.
The drive shafts were fitted together with the Apron,so far no problems.
Went to fit the Saddle Unit only to find that it has to be secured to the Apron,so undo the drive shafts etc and leave in place whilst the Sallle is connected to the Apron.
At about this time i received the DRO unit that i had purchased from the manufacturer in China.
This unit was identical to the one i had purchased from a company in Singapore,but was cheaper.
I did have to pay $15 extra for the supply of a smaller sized unit to fit on the side of the  Saddle,as they recomended.(see photo)
I do not know wether the previous models of this lathe have two unmachined lumps on the back of their bed but mine has.
I do not know what they are for but they caused me to mount the 'X' DRO unit lower lhan i should have liked,but i have had no ploblems.
The suppliers of the DRO units also supply you with well machined pieces of Aluminium angle and plates drilled and tapped to fit the units plus capped bolts.
The only problem i came up against when fitting the RDO unit to the Saddle was that the armoured cable would not go straight out from the end of the unit but fouled against the  top of the Saddle.
I had to remove again (third time) the SAddle in order to mill a small slot to allow the cable to go straight back.
I know that i could have let the cable bend out and over the saddle but i prefered to allow it to go back unhindered.
At this point i decided to mount the DRO Read Out Unit on the top of the electric box also fit an outlet to supply the unit with power.
After all that i fitted an angle poise lamp to the top of the electric box,this i have found very usefull as i can swing it around to give extra lighting to the lathe operations also the Milling Machine and a Piller Drill.
Here are a few more photos of the rebuild.
GerryB

[Davo J]

Hi Gerry,
Looks like you got it all organized now.
I wonder if unmachined limps in the bed is the type of bed to take a milling column like the Grizzly lathe combo?
http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-x-36-Metal-Lathe-w-Milling-Head/G0492

Just wondering where you bought the lathe from?

Dave

[GerryB]

G.Day Dave,
I purchased the lathe locally,from a guy that is into the ebay selling.
I have purchased quite a number of items from him at reasonable prices.
GerryB

[Bogstandard]

Gerry,

Yours is definitely the updated version of mine.

For a start, they have swapped the apron about to the more civilised UK preferred edition, where the main feed handle is not in the way of hot swarf coming from the cutting tool and they have an access door in the box below the tailstock. I can only access mine from the back, and because my lathe is back to the wall, I have completely disconnected the suds pump as I would need to pull the heavy lathe out to clean it out. Plus of course, you have the heavily modded tailstock ram.
Whereas yours, I think, comes with a 9 speed spindle, mine has an extra couple of motor and gearbox sheaves, which gives my machine 18 speeds.

You have mounted your read head in exactly the same position as my one that came as factory fitted, but what they have done on mine is to put in a large cap screw underneath it, that protrudes out, and acts as a stop for the tailstock, to prevent it crunching into the DRO head when it is slid forwards.

When I fine adjusted my brake, I set the micro switch up so that the motor was turned off a fraction before the brake came into action. Ensuring there was never any chance of having the motor power on when the brake was applied. This also allows me to turn the motor off from the brake pedal by just a tiny touch, and if I want it, the brake by any further movement.

The very latest of these machines have gone from a d14 to a d15 mount, with a much larger spindle and thru hole, plus variable speed and larger tailstock sizes.

http://www.chesteruk.net/store/crusader_variable_speed_lathe.htm


Bogs

[GerryB]

G.Day Bogs,
Yes it was pointed out to me by one of the  guys that helped me with the bed instalation,that the Apron traversing handle was in the prefered position.
I did not realise the worth of the position untill i went to the South Bend and rembered the times when hot swarf would pepper the back of my hands.
The brake unit works very well,i have not had to alter the sequence since i found out how it was installed.
I did have to work on the electrics for some time tracing what does what and installing the connections for the Suds Pump,Foot Brake,Halogen Lamp.
There was no information in the instruction manual so it was in my favour that i was once employed as an electronics engineer so could find my way arround.
I will have to take a look at the Tail Stock/DRO contact posibility,i never thought of that one,thanks for directing me and others who may be reading these conversations.
I have only the 9 speeds on the headstock,no problen so far.
GerryB

[GerryB]

G.Day Bogs,
Sorry for being a little late in reply but my computer is giving problems(ar'nt they fun)
I checked out the possible problem with the Tail Stock/Saddle contact and found that the two caped screws that secure the DRO pick up unit are about 25 thou proud,so contact the front of the Tail Stock ok.
I envisage a problem with the DRO unit being damaged if i should attempt to run off the top slide before removing the DRO.
I shall  have to devise a suitable stop arrangement to prevent screwing the saddle too far forward.
A few more photos of the rebuild showing the backs of the Apron and Gear Box before i painted them.
I do realise that even if they did rust that it would not impart too much of a problem except for the disconnecting  items on the Apron.
You also can see what i was on about back awhile when i saw possible problems with the lubrication of the shaft that drives the worm.
You can see now that the worm is semi enclosed in a cast iron surround that gives a sump like surround for holding lubrication.
This was what i wanted to fit a suitable oil feed pipe to before fitting to the Top Slide.
Any way i did not fit any lubrication feed but did subject the unit to plenty of oil,will keep an eye on it though.
GerryB

[GerryB]

  :doh
I don't know what has happened there,two of the same.
Hears the other one.
GerryB

[GerryB]

G.Day Each.
Well i have finally got every thing up and running smoothly,well satisfied with my purchase.You may see in some of the photos that i have not secured the rear splash guard.
This is a bit of lazyness but also its a little too large,i mean you only need it about where you do most of your machining.
I do fit a Pespex shield to the rear of the chuck area which works very well.
I will have to fit something similar  to the front area as i usually get sprayed with coolant when it hits the chuck.
I am toying with the idea of deviding the suds supply to enable two separate units squarting their contents.
One that is usual,to follow the cutting tool and the other to aim at a fixed point regardless of where the cross slide is.
I had trouble with the Suds Pump set up.
During extensive operation it was noted that Suds was coming from the base of the cabinet that houses the Pump.
After many attempts to locate and rectify the problem i finely found that spray was coming from the Pump half of the unit.
I removed the whole unit and removed the Pump,inspected and could only find a cotter pin fitted in a hole in the shaft just above the impelller.
I could see no use that the cotter pin was having so removed it,that cured the problem.
There must have been some reason for the cotter pin to be there,only thing i could envisage that it afforded some king of circulating effect on the suds.
If i do have to replace the pin i will have to provide a baffle/lid to stop suds splashing up.
I did do a mod on the electrics due to the suds unit being connected to the electric control box without any form of being able to disconnect.
I fitted a suitable socket inside the cabinet at the top out of the way and fitted a plug on the pump  cable.
So now when i wish to remove the pump unit as a whole,to clean and service i am not encumbered by the length of cable .
Speaking of 'Suds' or coolant i read that there was available a new concoction out that was user friendly to both Lathes and oneself.
I made enquiries at my local merchant and low and behold the just had delivery.
The mixture for general machining was 20 to 1.
Pour the liquid into a container of water,give a couple of stirs with the old paint stirrer (screw driver) and away you go.
It turns a pale Blue in colour,oily to the touch,no smell and works ok.
The first time i tried it i decided to see what it did if left over night on the lathe ways and chucks etc.
Nothing,just wiped off with no marks,just an oily deposit so am very delighted.
GerryB