Emco compact 8 manual

[jon38r80]

I have recently acquired an emco compact 8, bit more robust than my compact 5 I have to say. As the advice given on here many times, buy bigger than you think you will need/use came home to roost. 
One thing I didn't get with it was a user manual, the ones I can find on E....y are extortion for what is only really a photo copy and while the one from Lathes Uk is more comprehensive it's still pretty steep. My natural Scrooge like behaviour kicks in. 
I wondered if anyone on here has that lathe in English and in pdfformat they could let me have?

[deverett]

Is there a Yahoo group for this lathe? If so, you may well find a copy in the files section.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

[bambuko]

Yes, there is Yahoo group to cater for Emco and they have both the manual and parts list.

[jon38r80]

Thanks gents for your replies. I have seen the Emco Larger lathes groups but so far all my attempts to find out how to join the group have so far failed. Yahoo is a complete mystery to me. My other lathe is a compact 5. The group for that was easy to join and very helpful. I'll probably end up buying the lathes uk offering. The ones on eBay are obviously poor photo copies or expensive and from the states.
one of the main things I want to get to the bottom of is the strange rotary switch for reversing the motor which has positions either side of centre that don't seem to do anything. I suspect it's a replacement that has been wired up  badly.

[bambuko]

[dscott]

My new lathe!! And we go down to view and she turns out to have had a short life of Brass and a brassed off
previous owner due to the shear stiffness of the crosslide?
Yes, you do have to clean off the protective grease and use a thinner oil for best results!!

Just taken everything off the bed (Except the Headstock) as this usually is shimmed to perfection at
the factory! The electrics are easy to get at via 4 m3 socket screws.
Mine is the electronic version so there is not much space inside this box. 4 screws to take it off
plus an annoying hidden one via sliding out the printed circuit board!!

Now to put everything back once we have put it or her as she is in red and grey onto a gardening
plastic tray intended for Grow Bags... See my bad joke!!!
David and Lily.

[jon38r80]

Thakyou Bambuko, I haven't had time yet to check that diagram against the machine but the switch I have has many more terminals so I will have to see what the previous owner did
Dave , my machine is much older, vicious yellow not red and grey and is covered in dried oil and grease, no pub no socket screw, just slotted machine screws. It's not I bad nick though and has four jaw self cantering chuck! Fisrst one of those I've seen. Will make a back plate and fit my ER40 chuck in stead.

[jon38r80]

There are two yahoo groupsthat are about this ort of lather. The first I tried to joiner, for larger Emco lathes proved impossible for me to work out how to join. The second covers Emco lathes and their clones. This proved to be much easier to join and more helpfull/generous with information. It had an English version of the manual and a French one. Both wit useful information.
Another person had generously posted dawg files of the bed section and the spindle nose. I have yet to check they match mine but it was their generosity that impressed me.

[jon38r80]

After much searching and joining two yahoo groups I have a manual. The ones that seem to prevail on web sites are poor copy pdfs and German or French versions so with a bit wizardry care off google translate, adobe word and paint I now have a reasonably legible English version of a manual and the spares diagrams. Took quite a bit of time to do but I don't like manuals covered in grease and scribble.
I have dismantled the lathe and started assembling new bits, replacing bolts and reprinting it. It's a weird bright yellow now rather than dirty emco yellow. It has had new lead screw half nuts and cross slide spindle carrier. Sadly the nuts are zamac not the latest bronze versions so they will have to go when funds allow. It's so much more robust Thant the compact 5 that I have that I expect to be able to drive it harder. The 5 rattles and twists if you push it.
Jon

[dscott]

I have found bits missing on mine tonight which are two of the 3 transfer pins from the gib strip on the crosslide.
made these from a bit of piano wire as it is hard but didn't paint them black to match???
Though found an interesting fact about how the half nuts wear out quickly. The leadscrew is very rough and after
several hours of cleaning and polishing works like a dream. Fit a power screwdriver on the Headstock end and run
a needle file up and up. You may find it snagging quite badly.
Another area of doubt is on mine there are 4 M8 tapped holes in the Tee slots just waiting for fine swarf to enter
and work into the saddle. I stuffed and screwed some paper towel into them and soaked in plenty of oil!
David and assistant Lily.

[dscott]

Today we found that the crosslide nut fouled the slot casting at the back so out with the tile file and all was well...
The m6 feed screw had a curve in it... And it snags in a certain place??
Now on my Chinese lathe straight out of the box this part is perfect. The saddle needs work.
So tomorrow out comes 2 precision rails and the measuring device to see if it tapers?

The best lathe I have met to date is a Hardinge and coming in second is an Alfred Herbert!!!

David, ready after breakfast to deal with the new snag.

[jon38r80]

I have slowly been accumulating bits and pieces , replacement bolts, belts etc. Stripped the tatty paint off quite a lot of the smaller bits, bought some bright yellow enamel paint, it's not Emco yellow but I like it. Yesterday I made a key for the four jaw self centring church that came with it. It's been slow cos I was abroad for all of October. It's so much more substantial than the Compact 5 which is why I bought it. The top slide on the 5 is so flimsy it waves about in a high wind.

[dscott]

And this week we find I am not happy with the spindle having got a superbly fitting top slide?
The Spindle comes out quite easily and the mess of the transport grease oil muck gets everwhere!
This is the reason for the stiffness and indeed some WD40 melts it out of the bearings.
5 paper towels and 5 hours to stop my hands smelling of the oil.

While it is off I fancy turning some chuck backplates to superbly fit!
Lets turn this to our advantage!! TURN oh never mind.

David.

[jon38r80]

By the way I put together a manual from the odd bits I have found on the internet and translastions (quite funny sometimes) using google translate and cleaned up the diagrams of parts. I have them as PDFs which I can email if wanted rather than have to buy an overpriced photocopy through E**y.