# New To Me Compact 8 Cleanup Thread



## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

Here goes nothing! This will be my first lathe overhaul but I've been taking things apart and putting them back together since I was 5 (when I took my granddad's drill apart without permission ). The lathe looks much worse than it actually is and it was the best thing I could find on a very limited budget. I paid $435 for it. This will be a nice temporary distraction from another project for a product I'm developing that has been consuming my thoughts every waking moment for the past several months. I need this lathe for machining some shafts for that product so that is how I got to this point. The lathe runs and cuts great but looks like it was pulled out of a scrap pile. The ways look flawless. Here are some pictures. I'm starting work on the chuck first and will move on with it piece by piece. Any tips are always wanted and welcomed!


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## MAKEITOUTOFWOOD (Nov 6, 2018)

Awesome! She just needs a good cleaning and some attention. Good luck with it and enjoy.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

Thank you!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

Slight correction, I paid $425 for it


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

Ok, got the chuck off and apart. Ran it through a couple of cycles in my ultrasonic cleaner using a degreaser. Just a quick tip, if you use an ultrasonic cleaner, put your parts/cleaning solution in a separate container and use water in the ultrasonic cleaner tank itself. Makes cleanup a whole lot easier 
I have it running through a few cleaning cycles again now using Evapo-Rust. More to come...

Chuck before:



Chuck disassembled:



Cleaning in degreaser:
	

		
			
		

		
	




Chuck parts after degreasing:









Parts in Evapo-Rust:


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

Any thoughts on rust prevention for the chuck after removing the rust? Wipe parts down with 30w non detergent?


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

First time using Evapo-Rust, won't be the last! Rust gone after 1 hour in heated ultrasonic cleaner 
I set my oven to 170°F and rinsed everything off after the Evapo-Rust treatment then popped everything into the oven to dry. After everything was dry I coated everything in 30w non detergent oil just enough to dampen the surfaces and then wiped it all back off. I think that should keep surface rust away for a while.
Here are the finished parts:



I'm happy with that, not going for a full on restoration here. Just trying to clean it up and make it look a little nicer.


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## mikey (Nov 6, 2018)

Evaporust is some magic juice, that's for sure. The parts look good, in pics anyway.

I have a few comments/suggestions:

I use synthetic lubricants (Super Lube) on my chuck. They don't cake or harden with age and lubricate well.
I use a rag lightly coated with oil and wipe down every surface on every part before I assemble the chuck. Once assembled, you cannot reach these parts so now is the time. I found that if I failed to do this then some time down the road, something will rust. I live in Hawaii and rust is a real thing here.
You need grease on the pinion nose (the end of the pinion that goes into the hub), the pinion teeth and the back of the scroll. Do NOT grease the scroll itself; use oil only.
You do not need a ton of torque on any of the screws. Just bottom them out and give them a firm snugging, that's all they need. Emco chucks were made by Rohm and are precisely machined; they will stay secure without cranking down on the screws. Next time the chuck comes apart, it will come easy.
You are missing the tail stock ram locking lever and the split cotter that actually locks the ram. Was this left off or is it actually missing? The OEM split cotter is made from aluminum, by the way.

The lathe is filthy but is mostly all there. It will clean up nicely. Pics are your friend and I would take pics from every angle before disassembling anything. An Emco lathe can be fully assembled from just the parts breakdown alone; Emco drawings are very accurate and complete. 

I assume you are familiar with electrolytic rust removal. It is a very good way to de-rust large pieces, including that bed. It removes rust and paint without touching the parent metal, thus saving a tremendous amount of work.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

All the parts look good except the lead in on the scroll for the jaws. A little file work there should clean that up and I don't foresee it causing any issues. The chuck operated very smooth and precisely even in the condition it was in! 
I use superlube oils and grease for old fishing reels that I collect/use so I have plenty of that!!! I am familiar with electrolysis. Believe it or not, the worst of the rust was on the chuck itself. Everything looks like it was kept oiled excessively 
You can't touch the lathe without getting oil all over yourself.
It has one of the aluminum clamping sections for the lockdown mechanism for the quill. I will have to make the other one. The screw was broken that went to that part too but the handle is there. I'm pretty sure I can make those parts, they look fairly simple.
I'm going to document things here as I go in case it is helpful to someone else down the road.

Thanks for the tips! More to come


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

Got the chuck back together and it feels just as smooth as before but it requires less effort to turn and it looks much better. It is much nicer than my import chucks I use on my little 7x10 lathe.
I think that the stud spacing on the back of these is the same as my really old Harbor Freight 7x10 but the studs are larger in diameter. If that is the case, then that may be a possibility for some people looking for a chuck for a Compact 8. I will do some measurements on the studs and the mounting recess later and see what the differences are.

Here are some after pictures:


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## mikey (Nov 6, 2018)

According to my notes, the spindle nose is built to a DIN 55021 standard. This specifies a register taper of 7 degrees, 7 minutes, 30 seconds. If you use a non-Emco chuck, make sure it has this register in back. The studs might fit but the register may not.


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## TerryH (Nov 6, 2018)

Nice looking lathe and nice buy. I'd seen it on Craig's List for a while. I have a saved search for lathes within 200 miles of me just in case one shows up that I can't live without.  Looking forward to following along with your renovation.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

I just check it against my 4" 4 jaw I use with my 7x10 and they are very different. Emco on left and the 7x10 on the right:


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 6, 2018)

TerryH said:


> Nice looking lathe and nice buy. I'd seen it on Craig's List for a while. I have a saved search for lathes within 200 miles of me just in case one shows up that I can't live without.  Looking forward to following along with your renovation.


Thanks Terry, glad to see a fellow Arkansan here 
I had seen it on there for a while too but couldn't tell much from the pictures. I'm glad I finally decided to go take a look at it. I knew once I felt how smoothly everything operated and how well it ran that it was going home with me! There is a nice little lathe under all the crud.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 7, 2018)

Got the tail stock done today...but I'm waiting on the paint to dry before I mess with it much more (don't want to move it around much trying to take a bunch of pictures while it is drying. I painted it in this stuff and used the recommended hardener with it: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...plement-oil-base-enamel-cub-cadet-yellow-1-qt
Not the exact same yellow but close enough for me 
I didn't remove the old paint. I cleaned up the loose stuff and removed rusty spots. I don't have a lot of extra time to do this project because I need to get back to what I needed the lathe for in the first place so I'm not shooting for perfection here...not even close. I figured since it was going to be dissasembled anyway to service everything that a quick & dirty paint job wouldn't slow me down too much. If I need to do touch ups every once in a while, that will be OK.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 7, 2018)

Before:




Cleaned up:




Painted:


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 7, 2018)

I didn't paint it before I put it back together because I almost ditched the idea of painting it...had a change of heart after I had it put together so I just did a little masking and quick prep/paint.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 7, 2018)

I'm just getting started on the cleanup of the compound for the lathe and I knew it was going to be in worse shape than anything else on the lathe when I bought it. During the inspection I noticed that one of the corners was beaten off by a chuck I'm sure at some point. Still looked like I had plenty of surface area there so that should be OK. I also noticed two of the gib adjustment screws were going to be in need of replacing. What I didn't see was that the adjustment screws had pins under them that actually make contact with the gibs. One is missing and it didn't fall out when I was taking it apart so it was lost at some other point before I got it. I am including a picture of my manual with a pencil pointing at the missing pin. I can make a pin no problem. It is made of steel (magnet sticks to it). I also figured out that the tool holder stud had been replaced by a grade 8 bolt with the head shaved down for clearance reasons. It works fine and the factory roll pin contacts one of the flat sides of the hex head so it doesn't turn.
Cleaning up those parts now...


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 7, 2018)




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## mikey (Nov 7, 2018)

Yup, that pin is steel and has a point that fits into a hole in the gib. Simple to make and important to have. 

The defect on the cross slide is not uncommon. Sad but hey, it happens. 

You can either use what you have or make a new tool post; also simple to make.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 7, 2018)

mikey said:


> Yup, that pin is steel and has a point that fits into a hole in the gib. Simple to make and important to have.
> 
> The defect on the cross slide is not uncommon. Sad but hey, it happens.
> 
> You can either use what you have or make a new tool post; also simple to make.


I was thinking of buying an OXA and making a bushing for a good fit on the smaller stud. What sort of tool post could I make without a mill?


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## mikey (Nov 7, 2018)

I meant that a new tool post stud is easy to make if you needed one, and you would use your lathe for that. Once you buy the OXA qctp, you will see if it will work with the post you already have. If it won't then make one that will fit. 

The original stud has a round bottom and a hole was drilled in the side of it and the edge of the cross slide so that a roll pin locked it in place and prevented any movement. The diameter of the stud was a light press fit in the hole in the cross slide and the pin just kept it from turning.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 8, 2018)

Well, I found a problem. The lead screw mount for the cross slide came apart and I didn't notice someone had tried to solder it together at some point and painted over it. I totally missed that when I looked it over. It worked fine but I saw this as I was taking it apart. 3 pieces and it show signs of cracking in other places as well. I'm sure this part is zamak. There was a smaller plate mount for the compund slide lead screw I noticed when I had it apart and it looked like Zamak as well but it is in great shape.
A used cross slide is crazy expensive on eBay ($250 + $25 shipping). Not sure what to do about this part right now. Any ideas on how to attempt to make one from aluminum? I don't have a mill. I haven't attempted to make a part like this before. It almost seems like it could be made in sections.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 9, 2018)

Well, I've gotten a lot done but still have a ways to go. I haven't been taking as many pictures as I planned on because I'm in a hurry to get it done. At this point, I have the tailstock, cross slide, compound, apron and 3 jaw chuck all cleaned, rust removed and painted where they needed paint. That is most of the business end of things. I have moved on to the pulleys/motor/electrical area of the lathe today. I apologise for a lack of pictures, I will make sure to get some as I start putting things back together (hopefully next week).

This has been a great experience! I will know exactly how to do all of the needed adjustments and have developed a better understanding of this lathe and how everything relates to each other. This may even be better than just buying a new lathe in some ways. I will know everything there is to know about the parts and I've made mental notes of areas that I will want to be mindful of as I use it.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 9, 2018)

Got everything tore down completely today. The only parts that I'm not removing is the headstock from the bed and races that are in the headstock. Other than that it is completely disassembled. I took the bed/headstock and the base cabinet to the carwash and got the bulk of the grime removed that way. I know that is probably a big no-no, but guys...this thing was unbelievably filthy! I drove about 20 miles with the parts I cleaned at the carwash in the bed of my truck and that air dried everything nicely.
Now I need to paint the base cabinet and headstock, clean the motor up and gears/pulleys and other miscellaneous parts. Hopefully everything will start being put back together by mid-week next week.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 9, 2018)

BTW, somehow the bearings and races are in very good condition. I'm planning on reusing them. They may have been replaced at some point because they look like they haven't seen much use and the spindle was tight as a drum when it was installed, no play at all.

Any recommendations for lubrication of the various areas of the lathe (bearing grease, lead screws and other parts)? Anything that is easily overlooked when reassembling a lathe. This is my first time doing a teardown of a lathe and I think I have been pretty lucky so far because the lathe sure seems to be in much better shape than it looked. Most of it was just filth, functionality wise everything is looking really good so far!


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## mikey (Nov 9, 2018)

Look at the manual. It has a lube chart with all the lube points and recommended lubricants. 

Personally, I substitute Super Lube grease for all the grease points and use DTE 25 Hydraulic oil for oiling. I use Vactra2 for the ways. 

Reassembly is just the reverse of the teardown, nothing to it. Pay attention to the parts breakdown in the manual to make sure it all goes back in the right order. The manual will tell you how to adjust what needs adjusting. When you get to the part where you need to adjust the gibs, give a shout out.

Don't worry, you can easily handle this. Again, do NOT force stuff. Emco machines their parts precisely and it should all go in easily; if it doesn't, its not the part that is the problem.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 9, 2018)

Thanks! The ways weren't "flawless"  after all, but they aren't wrecked either. They will be perfectly serviceable for the type of work I do. Dirt on the ways filled up some little dings here and there but nothing major and the cross slide and tail stock move over them without any issues. No raised metal around the dings so that is good.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 12, 2018)

Got the bed/headstock cleaned up and painted. Again on the paint, not going for perfection. Just wanted to make it look nicer than it was before. Here is a picture of the ways. You can see some of the little dings on the ways. None have any raised metal around them so I assume they were smoothed over by someone already. Nothing major, just not a smooth as they looked when they were dirty.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 12, 2018)

The base cabinet cleaned up pretty well so I don't think I will be painting it.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 12, 2018)




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## mikey (Nov 12, 2018)

Looks good! That cabinet looks to be in good shape.

The Compact 8 was intended to be bolted flat to the cabinet and the lathe was leveled by shimming/leveling the cabinet itself. Needless to say, this is tedious. On my friend's lathe, we installed leveling bolts under the feet to greatly ease leveling adjustments and I would highly recommend you consider doing the same. 

This is what sits under my Super 11CD and also under my friend's Compact 8:




You would need to do a little drilling and tapping but it is well worth doing, and now is the time.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 12, 2018)

mikey said:


> Looks good! That cabinet looks to be in good shape.
> 
> The Compact 8 was intended to be bolted flat to the cabinet and the lathe was leveled by shimming/leveling the cabinet itself. Needless to say, this is tedious. On my friend's lathe, we installed leveling bolts under the feet to greatly ease leveling adjustments and I would highly recommend you consider doing the same.
> 
> ...


This one had some thick rubber under the part where the lathe attaches to the base. The cabinet is sitting on a finished concrete floor and I checked the bed for level and it looks good. Would you still recommend making the leveling feet?


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## mikey (Nov 12, 2018)

I would absolutely recommend doing it. No rubber should be used. Optionally, you can use shims under the feet but it is a royal PITA to do it that way. Trust me; the leveling bolts are the way to go.


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## mikey (Nov 12, 2018)

Have a look at how @TerryH implemented this idea: https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/is-a-bench-classified-as-tooling.72303/#post-607114


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 12, 2018)

That looks like a good idea! I just looked at my diagram for the bench and those rubber pads actually go under the bench tops not under the lathe bed.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 13, 2018)

I have started reassembling the headstock and noticed a missing part on the spindle nut. I have attached a picture of the missing part I found in the parts manual. It is part #10 on the illustration and labled as "Disk". I'm assuming the disk is made of aluminum, plastic or brass to protect the threads on the spindle from the steel set screw. Is that correct? If so I can make a new one without any problems, but I'm just wanting to make sure I'm understanding what it looks like I'm seeing correctly.
Thanks for any thoughts about this part!


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## plunger (Nov 13, 2018)

The Fishing Hobby said:


> I have started reassembling the headstock and noticed a missing part on the spindle nut. I have attached a picture of the missing part I found in the parts manual. It is part #10 on the illustration and labled as "Disk". I'm assuming the disk is made of aluminum, plastic or brass to protect the threads on the spindle from the steel set screw. Is that correct? If so I can make a new one without any problems, but I'm just wanting to make sure I'm understanding what it looks like I'm seeing correctly.
> Thanks for any thoughts about this part!
> 
> 
> ...


I looked at mine and I see it has been painted. I guess you are right, a small piece of brass to prevent the thread from galling. I soppose you would need to preload the spindle bearings.I ddont know if you have a manual or if its mentioned in the manual but I guess you tighten the nut untill you get no axial and radial play and run it at the fastest speed for fifteen minutes. If it gets warm but not hot you are good to go. I dont want to break the paint seal under mine but I am sure its just a protective insert.


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## plunger (Nov 13, 2018)

I hope my crosslide is not made of the same poor zink? as yours.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 13, 2018)

It sure looks the same. I ordered one from Grizzly and the holes line up just right but it is 3mm shorter in length. I'm going to make it work with a spacer block. It is solid steel, something to keep in mind if yours ever gives you any problems.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 13, 2018)

The one from Grizzly is for a G4000 model.


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## plunger (Nov 13, 2018)

The Fishing Hobby said:


> The one from Grizzly is for a G4000 model.


Im from darkest africa.it takes ten days for something to reach our shores from eg China. Then it takes three months to travel 60km. If you are lucky it wont get lost. I will just make one but I think mine is okay. I am happy you found a solution.Its really a good way to understand your lathe by completely breaking it down and building it up again. They are seriously good quality. I never use mine but havent he heart to get rid of it.


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## plunger (Nov 13, 2018)

What are you planning to do on the lathe. ? It has its drawbacks.It cant do left hand threads. I made a reverse tumbler for mine. I have an emco milling attachment,not the column ,a 3 piece collet set and both steadys.I have an emco four jaw but no faceplate.I made some toolholders in this little lathe before I got my mill.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 13, 2018)

I'm mostly turning diameters for small motor shafts. I'm not too concerned about threading at the moment. I can use a die for that as needed. I just figured out I don't have a full set of change gears anyway . Mine had several gears on it but they are apparently more for the fine feed of the leadscrew and not threading.


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## mikey (Nov 13, 2018)

Yes, part 10 is brass, about 2mm thick.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 13, 2018)

The motor cleaned up great! It was such a filthy mess on the outside, but it ran great so it just needed a good cleaning. Bearings must be in good shape, everything is tight no play in the shaft, no noises and purrs along nice and quiet while running.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 14, 2018)

I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 14, 2018)

I think I have the bearing preload set about right. I give the chuck a spin by hand and it goes around just shy of 1.5 turns with no play in the headstock.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 14, 2018)

Well I'm not painting the sheet metal parts. They all are still well protected by the original paint and in good shape I just don't see any point. They cleaned up nicely and the paint job is better than my brush painting.
At the end of the day, it is a tool meant to do work so a slight mismatch in color won't hurt a thing. I won't have any trouble identifying it if ever gets stolen


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 14, 2018)

I went in and replaced some wireing covers (it was very nasty and was going to be a major pain to clean) with some large heat shrink tubing and got the electrical section back on so I could test the motor, forward and reverse both work as they should. I'm no electrical guru but I don't ever recall seeing an AC motor that can be run in both directions like that. Common for DC motors but any AC motor I can recall that used a start capacitor would only run in one direction. 

Does anyone know why there is an intermediate position on the switch for both forward and reverse directions? It is in between the off position and the run position on both sides. Does it just energize the capacitor? Seems kind of odd to me.

Here is my mismatched paint scheme


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## mikey (Nov 14, 2018)

I think the intermediate position is a pause position where you wait for the motor to stop turning in one direction before you go in the other direction.

The color mismatch doesn't impair function. If it doesn't bother you, why worry about it? It would bother the hell out of my friend so he went all the way and painted everything the same color - orange!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 14, 2018)

That makes sense about the switch, thanks!
If it weren't a tool, If probably be more concerned about the paint matching. I'm kind of a function over form type but the majority of the lathe just looked awful so I'm glad that I painted it. The sheet metal all looked fine so that works for me. I was actually really surprised at how well those parts cleaned up. I was fully expecting to need to paint those parts but I got lucky. Not much fun watching paint dry!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 15, 2018)

Sounds good to me!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 15, 2018)

Two-tone paint job


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 15, 2018)

Leadscrew cleaned up nicely.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 15, 2018)




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## mikey (Nov 15, 2018)

Coming along nicely!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 15, 2018)

Thank you sir! I'm very happy with it so far but I don't want to jinx myself! I realized it was missing a clip and screw on one of the change gears. I went back and looked at the picture of when I brought it home and realized it wasn't there when I bought it. I had to improvise a bit but it should work just fine:


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 16, 2018)

Update on the leadscrew mount for the cross slide that I ordered from Grizzly that is made for the G4000 lathe. The part is 3mm shorter than the Compact 8 version but works perfectly fine without a spacer block to make up the difference in the shorter part. The only thing I did was add a thin washer that I made out of HDPE between the handwheel and the leadscrew mount. The reason I did this is because the Grizzly leadscrew mount is made out of steel and has a surface that almost feels like it is etched. When you turned the handwheel (which is aluminum) it felt like sandpaper was between the two parts. HDPE wears well and really smoothed out the feel while turning the handwheel. Smooth as glass now and works great! If you take a look at the picture you can see there is a gap between the handwheel/micrometer collar. That is where the HDPE washer is between the two parts. The only other thing I had to do was open up the hole for the leadscrew shaft about .15mm on handwheel side of the new part. The hole is fine throughout most of the length but about 3/4 of an inch from the end where the shaft comes through was just a bit too small in diameter for the shaft to fit through.
It wasn't exactly a plug and play part, but it was easy enough to make it work and the part should be much more durable than the original!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 16, 2018)

I forgot to mention this, the part may not be steel. It may be cast iron or possibly even 3d printed metal???
I know magnets stick to it and it is heavy. When I drilled the hole out slightly larger it didn't make any curls or chips like steel normally does. It drilled very easily and made a fine black powder instead of cut bits of metal. Any ideas? I'm not very experienced with metal work but I have drilled steel plenty and this didn't seem like normal steel when I drilled it.


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## plunger (Nov 16, 2018)

The Fishing Hobby said:


> I forgot to mention this, the part may not be steel. It may be cast iron or possibly even 3d printed metal???
> I know magnets stick to it and it is heavy. When I drilled the hole out slightly larger it didn't make any curls or chips like steel normally does. It drilled very easily and made a fine black powder instead of cut bits of metal. Any ideas? I'm not very experienced with metal work but I have drilled steel plenty and this didn't seem like normal steel when I drilled it.


cast iron?


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 16, 2018)

I'm not sure what it is


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 16, 2018)

So close to being finished now!!!


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## mikey (Nov 16, 2018)

Cleaned up nice! 

I have some suggestions for accessories:

Make a rear mounted parting tool post for your lathe. It will part from the front but it will part much better from the rear. The cross slide T-slots will make it simple to attach.
Make a good carriage stop. You will need this for any precision boring you do in the future.
Make a height gauge for setting tool height on center. You will use this frequently.
Take really good care of the register (the sloped part on the spindle nose). Emco spindles are not that easy to find if they are damaged and the register is an odd DIN spec. Any damage or defect will affect the accuracy of anything you bolt to the spindle. Be especially careful when mounting chucks; be sure the mounting surface in back of the chuck that sits on the register is clear of dirt, debris or defects before you mount the chuck. This applies to any lathe but take extra care because new spindles are not available.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 16, 2018)

Thanks Mikey, you have been very helpful!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 16, 2018)

Not much of a first project, but I needed a pin that contacts the gib strip on the compound so I tested the rebuilt lathe out and it did great! Definitely going to have to get a QCTP


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 17, 2018)

Mikey was right, those Emco 3 jaw chucks are very accurate! I was making a new shear pin for the leadscrew because I mangled the old one getting it out. I just found a piece of aluminum and turned it on one end to size and then flipped it around in the chuck to do the other end (if it were off a little it wasn't a big deal) and for the first time ever, I couldn't tell where I had stopped and turned it around to do the other side. Usually I can see a slight difference because a 3 jaw isn't terribly accurate. I can do that with a 4 jaw and some setup time, but never had that happen with a 3 jaw. The whole pin looked like it had been machined continuously from end to end all at once. Crazy! I was playing around with some aluminum in these pictures. I was using the wrong sort of tooling for aluminum but just wanted to make some chips and the indexed carbide cutter needed the least shimming so I grabbed it. Not a bad finish for using the wrong tooling and feed rate AND spindle speed . I know I'm going to love using this machine and the zero backlash is something I'm going to get spoiled by very quickly!


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## mikey (Nov 17, 2018)

I know Rohm built the chucks for the larger Emco lathes and I also suspect they built them for the Compact 8, too, so it should be more accurate than the average bear. But its not just the chuck. The design and build of the lathe is supposed to meet a DIN8606 tool room spec. At first, I thought this was just marketing hype to justify the relatively high cost of this lathe but it really is built quite well and is very accurate, at least in my experience. I spoke to one of the engineers at Emco USA about this lathe when I was restoring my friend's lathe and he seemed to be rather fond of the Compact 8, saying it was one of the best little lathes Emco built and that it is certainly one of the most copied/cloned lathe designs ever.

Your yellow Compact 8 was built by Emco in Austria, unlike the later models that were actually made by Profi Heim until they went out of business in 2001. All Compact 8's that are in current production are built in China, although they are badged as the Compact 8E.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 17, 2018)

It is a great little machine! I'm really glad a bought it. Major pain to take every single piece and clean everything up because it was in such a filthy state but it was worth it in the end. You were also right about the book. It has the specs for each screw. I didn't have to be super careful with everything and could clean big batches at a time because the book had everything laid out perfectly. It was no trouble at all figuring out what went where.

The only thing left to do is figure out the tailstock ram clamp situation. I don't have the screw and one half of the aluminum clamping setup. It has the handle and half of the clamp. I don't understand what keeps the screw from turning  inside the housing. Once I sort that out, I will be completely finished.


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## mikey (Nov 17, 2018)

The Fishing Hobby said:


> The only thing left to do is figure out the tailstock ram clamp situation. I don't have the screw and one half of the aluminum clamping setup. It has the handle and half of the clamp. I don't understand what keeps the screw from turning  inside the housing. Once I sort that out, I will be completely finished.



Simple. Have a look at page 20 of the IPB. The split cotter is just two pieces of aluminum with a through hole through both. There is an angle of approx. 30 degrees on each that faces the ram. A bolt slips through both and threads into the locking lever on top. When you tighten the lever it pinches the cotter pieces together, trapping the ram and keeping it from moving.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 17, 2018)

I have looked at the drawing and figured that it worked something like that but I don't see how the bolt doesn't spin in the tailstock housing as you tighten the lever from the top which would keep it from tightening up. I don't see anything in the housing that would keep the bolt from turning as you try to tighten the lever/handle.


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## plunger (Nov 17, 2018)

The Fishing Hobby said:


> It is a great little machine! I'm really glad a bought it. Major pain to take every single piece and clean everything up because it was in such a filthy state but it was worth it in the end. You were also right about the book. It has the specs for each screw. I didn't have to be super careful with everything and could clean big batches at a time because the book had everything laid out perfectly. It was no trouble at all figuring out what went where.
> 
> The only thing left to do is figure out the tailstock ram clamp situation. I don't have the screw and one half of the aluminum clamping setup. It has the handle and half of the clamp. I don't understand what keeps the screw from turning  inside the housing. Once I sort that out, I will be completely finished.





The Fishing Hobby said:


> I have looked at the drawing and figured that it worked something like that but I don't see how the bolt doesn't spin in the tailstock housing as you tighten the lever from the top which would keep it from tightening up. I don't see anything in the housing that would keep the bolt from turning as you try to tighten the lever/handle.


I think it naturally keys to the hole by the mere fact that the cotter is cut at 30 degrees and the flat part prevents it from turning.


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## mikey (Nov 17, 2018)

Found the measurements for the cotter half: 0.588" OD X 0.868" long, hole to fit your bolt. Angle at the nose is 30 degrees.

I don't recall anything locking the bolt in place. I did make a Delrin washer to go between the upper cotter and the lever to reduce friction. It locks solidly with 1/8 turn after contact.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 17, 2018)

I just picked up an m6 bolt x 50mm like the parts manual calls for and I will make the bottom half later this weekend. I had the top cotter and the locking lever. After that, the whole project will be complete! 
Everything runs great. The only thing I noticed is it is pretty loud at 1700rpms. Not loud like something is wrong with anything, just louder than all the other speeds. I'll have to get the change gear set at some point. The gears it came with cover the 2 feed speeds and that is it. The way the gears are changed is very simple and easy to do. Not as convenient as a quick change box, but pretty quick to adjust and change gears on. Very well designed lathe.

Does anyone have information on fitting a backgear setup to one of these? That is really the only other thing I can think of that would be nice to have.


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## mikey (Nov 17, 2018)

No info on the backgear thing but I know others have set up a reverse tumbler to enable LH turning. You should look into it.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 17, 2018)

Yes the reverse tumbler is what I meant, my mistake!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

Mikey, I thought about your Delrin washer and I had some 1" Acetal rod, so I decided to make the top cotter out of that instead of aluminum. I had to play around with the cotter/quill contact angle to keep the cotter from getting wedged into the quill and being unable to come lose...got that worked out and then the bolt spins while trying to tighten the lever 
For the life of me, I can't figure out what would keep it from turning in there when you tighten down the lever and mine did. I did notice that there are different part numbers for the top and bottom cotter halves, maybe one has a hex shaped recess to trap the bolt head??? Problem solved with just a drop of super glue where the bolt head contacts the aluminum cotter on the bottom side. I can always break that bond in the future if I need to for some reason. Bolt doesn't spin and the quill locks down just fine. I'm happy with it


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## mikey (Nov 18, 2018)

You might be right. I cannot remember if there is a recess under the lower cotter. I would need to look at my friend's piece, which I will do the next time I'm there. Main thing is that it works. I'm not sure if plastic will hold the ram solidly but time will tell.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

You might be right, but I have aluminum rod if I need to use it later. It is working great right now, but it may wear quickly. I know that the aluminum on the other cotter half is a very soft alloy of some sort. If it doesn't work no out long term, no big loss.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

Now I'm 100% done. Took almost 2 weeks!!! I'm extremely happy with how well this machine runs.
Awesome experience. I learned a lot and have a knowledge about this particular machine that I wouldn't have gained to this extent without going through this process.
Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and advise along the way, it really helped me out!


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## plunger (Nov 18, 2018)

You have done an amazing job on this lathe. I will try dig up what I made as a reverse tumbler for this lathe. I haven't used this lathe in about eight years. When you have its big brother you dont want to play with it anymore


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## mikey (Nov 18, 2018)

Sure came out purty! Nothing like a complete tear down to familiarize yourself with your machine. You did a fine job on this one - congrats!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

plunger said:


> You have done an amazing job on this lathe. I will try dig up what I made as a reverse tumbler for this lathe. I haven't used this lathe in about eight years. When you have its big brother you dont want to play with it anymore


Thank you! I'd like to see how you set your tumbler up! I would imagine that is true about the larger lathe. Coming from a little Chinese 7x10 Mini Lathe, I feel like I'm driving a Ferrari now though


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

mikey said:


> Sure came out purty! Nothing like a complete tear down to familiarize yourself with your machine. You did a fine job on this one - congrats!


Thank you!


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## francist (Nov 18, 2018)

The Fishing Hobby said:


> For the life of me, I can't figure out what would keep it from turning in there when you tighten down the lever and mine did. I did notice that there are different part numbers for the top and bottom cotter halves, maybe one has a hex shaped recess to trap the bolt head???



For what it's worth,  Atlas used a similar arrangement on the tailstock ram of the six inch lathe and perhaps other models as well. They solved the spinning bolt problem with a square-head fastener and matching socket in the lower half of the cotter. I know this Emco is not an Atlas, but the feature in question is very similar.

-frank


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

francist said:


> For what it's worth,  Atlas used a similar arrangement on the tailstock ram of the six inch lathe and perhaps other models as well. They solved the spinning bolt problem with a square-head fastener and matching socket in the lower half of the cotter. I know this Emco is not an Atlas, but the feature in question is very similar.
> 
> -frank


I'm betting this one had a hex recess in the bottom cotter. I didn't have that part, but that is the only way I can see that working out right. Thanks for the info!


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## francist (Nov 18, 2018)

A Dremel tool is your friend if you want to cut one in. Very easy to do, and it need not be a flawless fit to do the job.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

Before and after pictures:


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

francist said:


> A Dremel tool is your friend if you want to cut one in. Very easy to do, and it need not be a flawless fit to do the job.


I may do that at some point!


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## plunger (Nov 18, 2018)

With regards to the bolt spinning the bottom piece of the cotter is keyed by it being broached for the hex of the bolt.With reagards to the reverse tumbler its such an unused accessory I never spent much time on it. All you have to do is introduce a gear of any size in between the gear train.I think the emco comes with a spare 40 t gear which is what I used.It was a simple piece of flat bar with a spindle on it and about two thirds of the way another flat bar bolted to it which bolts onto the headstock.
I found for threading it is useful to make a spindle crank because the lathe goes to fast. I will send pictures.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

Thanks Plunger!


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## TerryH (Nov 18, 2018)

Great work and a beautiful result!


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 18, 2018)

TerryH said:


> Great work and a beautiful result!


Thanks!


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## plunger (Nov 18, 2018)

Here are some pics.The left hand thread gizmo is real rough but you get the picture. It was before I owned a drill press never mind a mill. I just chain drilled it to make a slot.


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## plunger (Nov 18, 2018)

Another view.


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## plunger (Nov 18, 2018)

The cotter.


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## plunger (Nov 18, 2018)

steady rests.


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## The Fishing Hobby (Nov 19, 2018)

Mystery solved, thanks Plunger! Thanks for the other info as well, I'll have to see what I can come up with...


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