hat
Active Member
Posts: 48
|
Post by hat on Mar 5, 2007 16:57:53 GMT
I am considering buying (new) a Cowells ME lathe - they look, on paper, very good - does anyone have experience of them and what accesories would you buy, as must haves.
|
|
John Lee
Part of the e-furniture
Posts: 375
|
Post by John Lee on Mar 5, 2007 18:37:28 GMT
I have one; very good indeed and excellent for fiddly little bits. They are very acccurate, and as you know are a proper BGSC lathe, just smaller. It depends what you want to use it for really as regards accessories. Collets and a holder are good given its accuracy, The 3 jaw has very limited capacity as its a scroll chuck, and the 4 jaw projects beyond the gap bed so that limits that. The file rest is handy I bought it second hand a lot of years ago, and luckily it came with just about every accessory going. So what I don't use might be better. The steadies, and the vertical slide. As you probably know, you don't necessarily need Cowells accessories, but they are very well made. However, I use it as a "horses for courses" adjunct to a larger lathe. And they are shockingly expensive now!!!. I won't sell it because its just so useful, but that is probably why they are like rocking horse s*** on the secondhand market  Regards, John |
|
|
|
Post by the_viffer on Mar 5, 2007 19:50:19 GMT
And I've got a Wakefield which is very much like a Cowells. Lovely to have and use but unless you are doing small scale stuff only you'd want a bigger lathe too. As John says shockingly expensive new and whether you'd do better with a different and bigger lathe s/h I leave to you and your accountant.
|
|
hat
Active Member
Posts: 48
|
Post by hat on Mar 5, 2007 21:43:54 GMT
Yes they are expensive and thats been part of my indecision for the last couple of years. My current lathe is a Myford /Drummond M type, ex Navy 1947. Its complete and in good condition but its a bit cumbersome for small components, the feed dials are difficult to use even on the cross slide. I'm a bit reluctant to part with it because it was my fathers "best friend"- he nursed it for 40 years. I regard it as a good work horse but difficult to use and achieve precision. So I have looked at Far Eastern lathes and I don't think that I would be any better off. I also have a space problem in that my workshop is already "stuffed" My current project, and my first engine is - Rob Roy - but I might have a bash at a clock! ( In the future) So the Cowell is still looking good and a better investment than a change of car. Unless one of you folks drops the no-no bomb shell!
|
|
|
|
Post by jgb7573 on Mar 5, 2007 21:49:51 GMT
I've got one of these too, though it's currently on loan to a friend. I got the plain lathe as I couldn't afford the screw cutting version. In fact it lived on a board under the bed in the bedsit I lived in at the time and I learnt a lot in using it.
Very good. Very well made. But expensive.
|
|
Myford Matt
Statesman
There are two ways to run a railway, the Great Western way, and the wrong way.
Posts: 621
|
Post by Myford Matt on Mar 5, 2007 21:54:20 GMT
Oooh they look nice! Their jigsaw looks handy too. Wish I'd read this a week ago. Look what went on ebay for £645. See item no. 260088401642  |
|
|
|
Post by the_viffer on Mar 5, 2007 21:56:50 GMT
So the Cowell is still looking good and a better investment than a change of car. Unless one of you folks drops the no-no bomb shell! 8 years ago I paid 10k for a car. Now the value is strongly dependent on how much fuel is in the tank. My guess is 10k of Cowells lathe will be worth more than that in 8 years time. I have to tell you however that even in top gear a Cowells is slow on the M25. |
|
|
|
Post by jhaines on Mar 5, 2007 22:05:28 GMT
|
|
John Lee
Part of the e-furniture
Posts: 375
|
Post by John Lee on Mar 6, 2007 5:46:40 GMT
Oooh they look nice! Their jigsaw looks handy too. Wish I'd read this a week ago. Look what went on ebay for £645. See item no. 260088401642 Thats one of the older ones Matt, it looks just like mine including the accessories, in fact it could be mine!!! Swiftly checks in the workshop...... Something to be careful about if not buying all new is that they changed the spindle thread (I would guess so that Unimat bits fit). The older ones are 1.5mm pitch, the newer ones are 1mm I believe. Regards, John |
|
|
|
Post by spurley on Mar 6, 2007 7:29:47 GMT
Be all right on 'turns' though? ;D ;D
Brian
|
|
|
|
Post by Laurie_B on Mar 6, 2007 13:14:00 GMT
Their jigsaw looks handy too. It does.If it's good on sheet metal I might buy one. The lathe does look a very good little machine indeed,and the price list didn't look too frightening! |
|
John Lee
Part of the e-furniture
Posts: 375
|
Post by John Lee on Mar 6, 2007 18:43:30 GMT
Laurie,
hat has fully explained his reasoning, and it seems very logical in his position, but in reality they will be heading towards £2,500 when kitted up. That seems quite enough to me for what is a very small bit of kit in the flesh
However they do say that the price of quality is forgotten, and I suppose there is just about as much labour in manufacturing a small lathe as a larger one. If they are compared with the cheaper alternatives (Unimat, Taig/Peatol, Sheerline etc) they are a class act.
You can in fact build a 3 1/2 inch guage loco on one with a bit of ingenuity, it's been done, so it will certainly get the OP's "Rob Roy" finished if he has his old lathe just to tackle the wheels and such perhaps.
Regards,
John
|
|
hat
Active Member
Posts: 48
|
Post by hat on Mar 6, 2007 20:17:37 GMT
I am heartened by the interest that this has created and thanks for all the positives I have decided to go ahead and buy the new Cowell. To add a bit more to my previous EM, I am relatively new to Model engineering - 45 years ago I did my apprenticeship as an ecclesiastical Builder, mainly the woodwork side but some actual building - I then moved into Project management and there I stayed in various disguises for 38 years -but I grew up in and environment of engineering through my father. When he gave up his workshop through ill health I inherited the lot - now I have retired - I just wish that I had taken a bit more notice of my fathers skills on the Drummond M type - he had the experience to make it sing, he understood all its foibles and could turn out perfection. I suppose its the same the world over - when you are 16 your father knows nothing - by the time you are 30 he's learned an awful lot! Great site by the way! Hat |
|
John Lee
Part of the e-furniture
Posts: 375
|
Post by John Lee on Mar 6, 2007 20:47:56 GMT
Very true Hat,
With my kids I know nothing...and I thought the same when I was 16...
Enjoy your new machine, a nice bit of kit if treated with consideration
Regards,
John
|
|
Myford Matt
Statesman
There are two ways to run a railway, the Great Western way, and the wrong way.
Posts: 621
|
Post by Myford Matt on Mar 6, 2007 21:14:51 GMT
In a similar vein, there are two Amolco mills going on ebay at the moment. I can recommend them - very nice gear, especialy if you have a Myford, because the pillar can be mounted directly on the bed and it has a Myford-type spindle with the same thread and 2MT bore. One of them (mislabelled as Almolco if you are doing a search) also has the very rare two axis table. Built like brick wotnot and with Myford-size Tee-slots it's a nice bit of Brit' gear. See www.lathes.co.uk for a brief overview. Usual disclaimer... MM |
|
|
|
Post by Laurie_B on Mar 6, 2007 23:10:56 GMT
John.
Even at £2,500 all tooled up that looks like very good value for money.The specified accuracy is impressive.I would have thought anything bigger than a Rob Roy would probably be pushing things,but then a lot of folk build some great live steam locos in Gauge3.I think it would be ideal for clock making which Hat says he might attempt.
|
|
|
|
Post by jgb7573 on Mar 7, 2007 9:22:53 GMT
One of our club members, sadly now passed away, built a 5" gauge simplex on a Simat lathe. The loco was very successful and ran on our our club track many a time. It's amazing what some people manage to achieve on very small gear!
I'm sure hat will have a lot of pleasure from his Cowells. And the first thing I'd buy for it would be a 'how to use it' type book. My favourite is 'The Amateurs Lathe' by Sparey.
|
|
hat
Active Member
Posts: 48
|
Post by hat on Mar 7, 2007 11:27:11 GMT
Thanks jgb  - I have the Sparey Book but I prefer - if looking for lathe work, the Lathework Complete by Harold Hall and of course the Geo Thomas Workshop Manual. Cowells offer a manual as well but I suspect that its a bit machine specific. |
|
John Lee
Part of the e-furniture
Posts: 375
|
Post by John Lee on Mar 7, 2007 18:27:29 GMT
Thanks jgb - I have the Sparey Book but I prefer - if looking for lathe work, the Lathework Complete by Harold Hall and of course the Geo Thomas Workshop Manual. Cowells offer a manual as well but I suspect that its a bit machine specific. It is machine specific hat, but is has some useful bits precisely because of that; screwcutting gear combinations for one which gives you a quick lookup instead of working it out, and some setups specifically illustrated because of it's "smallness" Regards, John |
|
lancelot
Part of the e-furniture
Posts: 471
|
Post by lancelot on May 28, 2007 17:44:35 GMT
Hello all,
looking at investing in a 90ME...can they be obtained in ''IMPERIAL''...have not been able to contact ''COWELLS''as yet,
All the best for now,
John.
|
|
- I have the Sparey Book but I prefer - if looking for lathe work, the Lathework Complete by Harold Hall and of course the Geo Thomas Workshop Manual. Cowells offer a manual as well but I suspect that its a bit machine specific.