This is going to be a long post and I have limited experience about this topic. I was contacted yesterday by a friend who works at a small machine shop that is closing down. He said they had several items for sale and one of them was a DoAll 15 lathe. Overall length is about 78", probably a 36 or 40" between centers. He said he didn't know a lot about it but he did know that it worked a year ago. The person who last ran the lathe has since retired and has no connection to the shop anymore. I went in this morning to check it out. Now before I go any further I must say that I am retired and have limited experience running any manual lathes other than my own Smithy 1220. I did run G&L CNC lathe at work, but for the most part I had very few hours on a manual lathes and that was 14 years ago. I also didn't have a way to take pictures that I can post.
The machine was very dirty and it was evident that it hadn't been used lately. We were able to get the motor turned on and the spindle to run through different speeds but were unable to get the carriage to traverse under power. The lead screw (I think that's the proper term) didn't rotate and couldn't get it to no matter what levers we engaged. I was able to get the carriage to engage on the screw and this of course made it so the carriage wouldn't travel manually. I think this tells me that the problem lies in the gear box and not the carriage. For what it's worth I tried the feed rate levers in all the positions, there was also a lever with arrows pointing left and right, I tried them in both directions. I assumed these were for feed direction and I could also get the cross feed slide to engage but of course it would move because the feed screw wasn't turning.
My question is where can I find some information on the DoAll 15? I find info on the DoAll 13, 16, and several others but nothing on the 15. For $500 and free delivery I would think I could get my money out of it for scrap if nothing else, but would surely like to get it running. It has with it several 3 jaw chucks a four jaw, a face plate centers, a QCTP and several tool holders plus quite a few turning tools. Does anybody know by the limited info I have provided what is wrong. Perhaps a lever or combination of levers. Or does anybody know where I can find an operators manual. Like I said I have spent several hours online last evening and this morning after looking at it to no avail. I did tell him I would buy it. Thanks for any help.
LaVern
P.S. I hope this is the correct place to ask these questions.
The machine was very dirty and it was evident that it hadn't been used lately. We were able to get the motor turned on and the spindle to run through different speeds but were unable to get the carriage to traverse under power. The lead screw (I think that's the proper term) didn't rotate and couldn't get it to no matter what levers we engaged. I was able to get the carriage to engage on the screw and this of course made it so the carriage wouldn't travel manually. I think this tells me that the problem lies in the gear box and not the carriage. For what it's worth I tried the feed rate levers in all the positions, there was also a lever with arrows pointing left and right, I tried them in both directions. I assumed these were for feed direction and I could also get the cross feed slide to engage but of course it would move because the feed screw wasn't turning.
My question is where can I find some information on the DoAll 15? I find info on the DoAll 13, 16, and several others but nothing on the 15. For $500 and free delivery I would think I could get my money out of it for scrap if nothing else, but would surely like to get it running. It has with it several 3 jaw chucks a four jaw, a face plate centers, a QCTP and several tool holders plus quite a few turning tools. Does anybody know by the limited info I have provided what is wrong. Perhaps a lever or combination of levers. Or does anybody know where I can find an operators manual. Like I said I have spent several hours online last evening and this morning after looking at it to no avail. I did tell him I would buy it. Thanks for any help.
LaVern
P.S. I hope this is the correct place to ask these questions.