# Colchester Triumph 7.5" (15") Gap Bed 1963



## AlxJ64 (Dec 19, 2016)

Well, I finally was able to pick up my new to me Colchester Triumph. I had been working with an Atlas 12" Craftsman single phase 1/2 HP machine... So going to this 15" (with a gap bed too) 5 HP machine is literally a 1000% HP increase. The purchase was a little cumbersome. The machine was 4 hours north of me, and across a 17 mile long Bridge tunnel that is $17 each way truck, $22 truck and trailer; so I have $78 just in tolls because I went up and looked at the machine the weekend before thanksgiving and then now retrieved the machine this past weekend. If you live North of Richmond, then you know the fun weather of this past weekend too. Luckily I took the eastern shore route north and only ran into the southern edge of the freezing rain once I got to where the machine lived in Eastern Shore Md just east across the Bridge outside of Naptown (Annapolis).




The lathe was being run on a Rotary Phase converter that the older gentleman was actually using to power his whole shop... and I tell you what, there was some nice stuff in there. He had a Prentis Camel Back Flat belt driven drill press in there he had just sold that was to die for. Beautiful machine!  The lathe was one of the first things into the building as it was blocked in by a huge milling machine, another lathe, and lots of cabinets and also had to travel through a 4' wide door inside the building where a wall had been built since the machine was put in place.  The seller struck me a deal on the premise of "I'll move on price, but it is up to you to get this machine out of this back corner, around those other machines, through that door, and out to the front shop door where I can help lift it with the farm tractor, one end at a time because its too heavy and awkward to pick it all at once.

I wish I had taken more photos of my carriage construction but I can still do that as the machine is still sitting on it for now as I am going to be cleaning it up some and want it more movable.

So, my plan to move it was to use a small porta power ram to lift the machine onto timber blocks about 6 1/2" off the ground. I purchased (4) 1k lb rubber lined swivel caster wheels from Northern Tool, and bolted them to some 4" x 4" x 1/4" steel angle that was cut 32" long each.  I then cut and drilled some connection plates that were welded at the ends of the angle to both legs and then drilled subsequent holes in the end of some 2" x 2" x 3/16" angle at 84" long. The entire carriage is 84 1/2" inside edge to inside edge. I brought it in pieces and assembled it under the lathe and then removed the blocking and set the machine down. It steered through the shop with ease.

Loading the machine in the freezing rain was certainly interesting. A friend had given me a roll of construction type floor protection film and we wrapped everything up in that. The trailer deck had some soft timbers so I had brought some 2' x 4' x 1/4" steel plates to set the machine on and then we also lifted it off the casters and blocked it for transport so that we werent creating any weird eccentric shock loads on the caster wheels going down the road.







Got it home in the dark so decided to unload in the morning. I have a group of friends who are just as excited over the prospect of the new machining capabilities for their projects so I had an abundance of help. The trailer backed up to the shop, we set the plates on the ramps, and used some 3.3k ratchet straps at half a click as braking slings to lower the machine down the ramps. Worked really well.







Started to finally get a chance to look at some things on it. The seller said (it shifts into high a little funny, there's only one spot that works but I never looked into it in the 15 years I've head it").  Well, first thing I did was take the top cover off.. and yep, looks like someone got a little too forceful with the shift... But it still shifts. I'm going to change the oil in it, clean the chunks out of the bottom and clean up the edges of this shift rail. If you watch the slider by eye you can line it up with the best spot for the shift to occur so I am thinking about making a clear cover for the gear box so I can just keep an eye on things.







I have a buddy who was an electrician and he helped get the machine wired up and made sure the motor was in fact setup to run on 220V. The motor was tagged as being 230V/400V/440V... so he was stoked to know that it wasn't a 440V motor for sure as it indicated on the tag when we picked it up.

I had purchased a VEVOR brand (re-branded Huanyang or something is what it actually is) 5 HP (4KW) Single Phase to 3 Phase VFD converter back around Thanksgiving after I had committed to buy the machine. I will first off say that the setup manual is comically bad in the translation errors; like reading a menu at a really authentic Asian restaurant. In that sense however; setup options can be a bit troublesome. The motor is a 50 hz, so we got all of the voltage and freq parameters set but could not get the motor to light up. The VFD was only putting out 38V when it should be spinning at 220+ (line voltage at my house was almost 250) so we took it all back to 60hz per some random thread on Practical Machinist.. that got us a little more voltage and gave us a stalled motor sound.. Thought uh-oh.. So we once again messed around and looked through the book and saw where the motor pole value was 4 on default. I remembered some college classes and then looked up a motor pole calculation..  P = (120 x Freq)/Rpm... we did the math and came up with 4.2... and assumed close enough. One friend just decided to bump it to 5 poles and hit the Run VFD button and the motor fired and off we went.. Not sure if I am hurting it or not? Any thoughts on this? Currently we are leaving the contactor button and master power switch in the "On" position and have the contactor zip tied closed and using the VFD Run button as the on off switch (the clutch handle makes this so easy and nice). The motor is amazingly quiet and balanced. The head stock is not noisy at all either. Pleased with that. 

Made a few passes and am happy so far. I am going to rewire the switches on the machine to enable the reversing switch and a remote run switch on the digital controls on the inverter. 

As it sits, still on the carriage cart. Sunday night ran late and Monday work came early. Waiting on weather to clear this AM so was able to start this thread.


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## FOMOGO (Dec 19, 2016)

That should be quite the upgrade from the Atlas. Nice job on the dolly frame, and the successful move. Does it have a removable gap section or just use extended chucks? Would it be practical to use mechanical stops to control shift lever position? Cheers, Mike


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## Bob Korves (Dec 19, 2016)

Nice lathe and good job on getting it home.  It is a good idea to run external controls for the VFD.  The cheap VFD's are known for the keypads failing if you use them much.


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## AlxJ64 (Dec 19, 2016)

FOMOGO said:


> That should be quite the upgrade from the Atlas. Nice job on the dolly frame, and the successful move. Does it have a removable gap section or just use extended chucks? Would it be practical to use mechanical stops to control shift lever position? Cheers, Mike


Thanks! I was pleased with the dolly working so darn well. 
Yes, it has a removable gap, that actually was not in the machine when I bought it. I had read that running the machine much without it in place will create extra wear in the end of the ways and I believe this machine may have a little bit of that as you can feel it free up some. The Gibbs on this thing were so tight that it took two hands to move the compound slide and the cross slide was nearly as bad. I backed them out some but still kept them fairly snug.  The shifts when they are fully engaged are still very positive and it doesn't seem as though the handle or handle gear are binding or riding. I don't forsee any further damage happening as long as it is shifted like a normal human being. I'm sure a lot of not so careful operators have had their hands on this machine since it was built in 1963, which the Motor name plate also confirms what the SN indicates.  Off the top of my head I believe the SN was 4/4607. 



Bob Korves said:


> Nice lathe and good job on getting it home.  It is a good idea to run external controls for the VFD.  The cheap VFD's are known for the keypads failing if you use them much.


I already love this machine, even with its few little blemishes and potential issues. I feel the price I paid is still relatively fair given the mechanical issues as the headstock is still very quiet as compared to what I was expecting from reading about these machines. Also, the clutch is such a neat feature when compared to the Atlas. Don't get me wrong, the Atlas was a great machine to hone my skills on as some of the largest jobs on it were quite sensitive to setup, feed pressures, etc so going to this big machine will hopefully have taught me more patience and finesse in my manual machining... and I won't take the HP for granted as there were times that I really needed that extra umph to turn a chip, especially when parting off.


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## AlxJ64 (Dec 22, 2016)

So I've turned out a few small things on this machine. I've noticed the parting blade has a beveled top and bottom which is not what I am used to seeing. Is this the "Type B" blade? The one that came with it has quite a good bit of life left to it, but I'd like to pickup a spare... However the toolpost I have is missing the boring bar holder, and also one of the 3 tooling holders is missing from the block itself. I am on the fence about selling off the Dickson setup in pieces and then buying a big Aloris for the sake of running more modern tooling. Dunno. This appears to be an S.4 size block based on Tony's website.

The other thing is the crossfeed nut appears to be worn pretty heavily. I was wondering if anyone has messed with making or has found a source for a replacement one? This one doesn't appear to be the split wedge type that is adjustable. I split the lead screw nuts on my Bridgeport and used that to take the backlash out of it and it worked. I am considering doing that on this screw setup using some small machine screws tapped into the body around the nut. Anyone know the Acme size for the cross slide on these machines?


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## Holt (Dec 25, 2016)

I just saw this now, congrats on the homebringing, I hope my measurements was of help, and I am sure you will love it


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## save the lathe (Dec 25, 2016)

AlxJ64 said:


> Well, I finally was able to pick up my new to me Colchester Triumph. I had been working with an Atlas 12" Craftsman single phase 1/2 HP machine... So going to this 15" (with a gap bed too) 5 HP machine is literally a 1000% HP increase. The purchase was a little cumbersome. The machine was 4 hours north of me, and across a 17 mile long Bridge tunnel that is $17 each way truck, $22 truck and trailer; so I have $78 just in tolls because I went up and looked at the machine the weekend before thanksgiving and then now retrieved the machine this past weekend. If you live North of Richmond, then you know the fun weather of this past weekend too. Luckily I took the eastern shore route north and only ran into the southern edge of the freezing rain once I got to where the machine lived in Eastern Shore Md just east across the Bridge outside of Naptown (Annapolis).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## save the lathe (Dec 25, 2016)

HI   JUST   got   one of  these   1960 , but  had to  take  it  to  bits  to get it out of   the   factory    not   been used  for   15  years  due to  fault ,   main shaft   very   stiff   but  have   good  second   Gamet  bearings  (they cost  lots of £ as we say)   it also  has a Ainjest    quick  threading   attachment   on it.    All the  best  with  yours     bye the  way  the factory  made  trumpets ,  by  hand   very interesting


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## AlxJ64 (Jan 3, 2017)

save the lathe said:


> HI   JUST   got   one of  these   1960 , but  had to  take  it  to  bits  to get it out of   the   factory    not   been used  for   15  years  due to  fault ,   main shaft   very   stiff   but  have   good  second   Gamet  bearings  (they cost  lots of £ as we say)   it also  has a Ainjest    quick  threading   attachment   on it.    All the  best  with  yours     bye the  way  the factory  made  trumpets ,  by  hand   very interesting



Good to know I'm not the only one out there still digging up old machines. Thank goodness for forums like this!

So I was able to bypass all of the primary switch electronics and setup the panel to run the VFD. I used the drum switch on the front as the primary switch for the on/off run feature. I was then able to isolate the Fwd/Rev switch leads and use that switch as my forward Rev control. The VFD will start the motor running in either direction the switch is set to, and I can switch it on the spot (however the VFD does require some DC braking to prevent overload). So now all I have to do is flip on the switch to the 220 outlet that the VFD is plugged into (so that I can use the outlet for other things too) and all of the controls for the lathe are right at the machine. If anyone goes to set theirs up, I can try to explain it a little more clearly and give exact directions. 

In the meantime I have a question and I think I'll post it as a new topic in the Colchester Section.


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## save the lathe (Jan 3, 2017)

Jolly   good   show, mines  a  440 volt   motor, but cant use yet   due  to   very  very  very   stiff   main  shaft,   motor  will not  turn it   over.  also    got  this one , no  idea  of  make   but  its   old  any  ideas .  bye
	

		
			
		

		
	







	

		
			
		

		
	
  just   been told  this is a F. E.  REED  LATHE  from  the  USA


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## AlxJ64 (Jan 9, 2017)

^ I'm not sure what that machine is but its old and its cool!

I've been using mine for some heavy work. I have a friend who has a Mega-Truck, that we are always tinkering with. Its a 1,000 HP '56 F-100 on Alcohol, 43" Ag tires, and 2.5 tons Rockwells. Well, he wanted to lighten up the wheel hubs, because evidently thats a cool thing to do. So, we threw a test one on the lathe. The hubs are being run flipped out to make the truck wider so in the photo the hubs are flipped backwards to the tailstock is holding the inside on a large bullnose live center.




Also, my wife is into a lot of art stuff, vintage art stuff and she found me some replication prints of some old ads from a Popular Mechanics Magazine. Pretty cool. Going to frame them and hang them in the shop near the machine.







And lastly, right after I started turning on the Rockwell hub, the L1 draw nut on the spindle let loose suddenly and the chuck tried to eject on me. I got everything stopped before any major damage but I had tightened that nut down with the wrench really hard, and it came loose. I went ahead and tightened it more and hadn't lost any alignment on the work piece but it was really weird, and scary. Also, I began the process in ordering a new chuck, the 3 jaw that came with the machine is just too far gone to really do much with. I tried to regrind the jaws and it works for the diameter that it was set too for grinding but then if I go larger or smaller, the runout is excessive again, meaning the scroll must be damaged. Ohh well. So I have a Bison 6 Jaw 8" on the way, plain back and am now looking for an L1 adapter plate I can machine.


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## Fortis64 (Jan 14, 2017)

I get to use one of these at work ... very stout machine ,great for heavy or light delicate work .


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