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Post by bantamman on Apr 18, 2008 22:20:52 GMT
After it being many years on my wish-list, I have just fired-up my newly-arrived Colchester Bantam (Mk 2 1600).
It's a lightly used ex-college machine. I'm very grateful to the Health and Safety people who are promting many schools to "upgrade" their lovely British-built lathes for foreign-built "safe" machines!!!
I have plenty of experience with small engines, bikes, car engines etc, but not much machining experience to date. I would like to equip the Bantam for straightforward milling jobs. Looking at the flat cross-slide (no T-slots) on the Bantam I was wondering if some more knowledgeable folk on the forum have experience of mounting angle plates or milling slides on this machine. Do I have to drill and tap holes to suit?
Any advice on method, procedure etc. would be welcome and I won't be offended, no matter how basic it is.
John
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wayne
Seasoned Member
Posts: 137
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Post by wayne on Apr 21, 2008 11:35:26 GMT
Tony At lathes.co.uk sell a slotted boreing table for your lathe,
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Post by circlip on Apr 21, 2008 11:51:12 GMT
Also worth a look John is the specialist sites on Yahoo, there may be a Colchester user group on there Regards Ian.
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Post by freddo on Apr 21, 2008 15:38:03 GMT
I've got a chinese milling machine and want to turn round bars - c'mon circlip, how do I do that........ For goodness sake!! Or even I've got an AC Cobra but want to keep my waistline down    |
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Post by circlip on Apr 21, 2008 17:49:24 GMT
Dependant on the spindle bore and size of collets you can fit it may be possible to fix a tool carrier block on the table and turn bushes or boiler fittings,don't know if you have to do a lot of conversions though. Is it an Imperial Chinese machine or metric? Also are you aware that some users of Chinese machinery are going to stop using their gear for the duration of the Olympic games as a sign of human rights protest? The problem you have with the Cobra is relatively easy, if the fuel prices in Oz rise like they are doing over here, PUSHING the Cobra to the gas station should take care of your waistline. Regards and best wishes Ian.
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Post by bantamman on Apr 21, 2008 22:32:30 GMT
Wayne,
Thanks for the ref. to lathes .co.uk. I had been on the site but hadn't seen the table you mention. Must look closer!
Circlip, thank you also. I will have a look, see if I can find anyone chatting on the subject.
Am I right in thinking that the Bantam is not that widely used outside of schools? I paid considerably less for it than for similar condition Myfords that were on offer. Are there other drawbacks with it that I am not aware of?
John
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Post by mutley on Apr 22, 2008 7:06:30 GMT
Ive got a Bantam and love it. A good solid machine with a footprint that is virtually the same as a Myford & on its industrial base. The diffrence is that you use tipped tools with the corect designed cutting loads and speed with a Bantam.
Andy
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Post by bantamman on Apr 26, 2008 13:41:00 GMT
Hi Andy,
Good to hear that. I liked the solid look of the machine first time I saw one. It looks capable of tackling most jobs. Really looking forward to getting working on it.
Mine's a three phase and I have eventually got kitted out with a Transwave converter so as to keep all the switching as was. It worked straight out of the box (when I got the wiring right! It didn't like it's L1 being swapped with it's L2). I'm well pleased with it so far and I found their staff knew their stuff when I made enquiries.
Can I ask you what is probably a basic question? Is it essential to stop the lathe before switching from the High to the Low range of speeds on the H-L switch?
I have a damaged bedwipe or two that I would like to replace with the proper original type. Do you know of a source?
Was there ever an operators manual specifically for Bantams that was any more detailed than the "Owners manual" of the type currently on Ebay?
Best wishes
John
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Post by mutley on Apr 27, 2008 14:35:26 GMT
Hi John
Mine is still three phase and in need of a new phase convertor. It doesnt like running for long at its top spedd of 1600 rpm.
I have never tried switching from highto olow whilst the motor is runing, instinct says it would be a basd thing to do! I have no idea about the spare parts supply, have ou thought about usign some heavy weight felt or rubber strip?
Ive only got teh standard owners manual and have never been able to find a maintenance type manual.
Andy
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Post by bantamman on Apr 28, 2008 22:32:45 GMT
Hi Andy,
Yes I thought you might say that! I must admit that if half-way through a job I got prodded to double my output, it might do my old cogs no good either!
My converter is a static one. Inverters wouldnt work on my motor. I did a bit of checking before I bought and kept coming up with people saying how much a bother it was having to reset the static machine for load etc, but in fact it's no real bother. Mine seems to run smoothly at 1600. Hope it stays that way.
Re the wipes, I saw someone on a forum somewhere suggesting the use of neoprene rubber. I'm a bit wary of felt since it's inclined to trap and carry swarf in its fibres.
The reason I asked about the manual is that I have no lathe training except what I study from the usual reference books. I live in the back-end of nowhere. (You should see the fun I had getting the converter here) There's no one within miles that you can bounce questions off when you are curious about something. Like, what's the idea of the two deep grooves across the saddle each side of the topslide? It might be something simple like for parking my pencil, .....but I get curious about things like that.
Maybe I should get out on my bike more.
Best wishes,
John
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