# Enco 405GX1500 Manual ???



## smoky4712

Hello all
   I am new to the forum. I was just given an Enco 405GX1500 Looks to be in good shape, Other than at some point being tipped over onto its face. I have been desperately looking for a Manual for this machine. It looks to have most of what it came with steady and follow rest, 3 and 4 jaw chucks . It is shoved back into a corner, and I have no idea how long it has been there. If anyone has an Idea where I could source a Manual I would be great full. Also if any of you have a similar model lathe it would be great to talk to you.

  The next task at hand, getting it out where I can really inspect it, build a skid and figure out how to ship it 1800 mile to my home. Any advise on that would also be helpful.
   Thanks in advance, Mike


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## smoky4712

Wow... Not even a hello, good luck with that.
 From what I can tell it must not have been a big seller. But someone must know something about it. Not even MSC has anything on it when I told him it was from the 80's he said well we wouldn't have anything that old. 
   Bottom line it's a machine, I will be able to figure it out. But it sure would be nice to have some reference material.


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## DiscoDan

Try www.lathes.co.uk. You might have luck there. That's a big machine. Do you need something that big? 1800 miles is a long way.


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## smoky4712

Hello 
   I was looking for a lathe about that size. I just happened to stumble across it in a storage building on the job site that I'm working at. I asked about it and they said get it out of here. So the price is right. It's nearly worthless as it is, but the only damage I can find is the carriage hand wheel, cross slide handle and the carriage stop brackets are broken and some minor cosmetic stuff. 
    I have, since my first post possibly found a way to get it shipped for free. The company I work for has trucks going back and forth to within ten miles of my house. So the cost may just be the material for the enclosed skid that I will build for it. 
Thanks for the tip on a place to look for the manual. BTW I was just chatting with a friend in Cardiff. When I told him how far away from home I am working. He said "1800 miles would d be several countries away for me"


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## smoky4712

Im still having no luck on finding a manual.  I guess I will just have to wing it. 
   I hope to drag it out of the corner this weekend so I can get all the way around it, and build a skid to ship it. I will post a few more pictures when I get it out in the open. If anyone is interested.


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## markba633csi

I'm interested, don't know how I missed your first post. Free lathe stories are always hot topics around here. It looks like one of the larger Encos that were made, but I've only seen manuals for a couple smaller models.  I'm sure you will need 3-phase power for it- 5 horsepower or more?
Can't beat the price tho! Be careful moving it
Mark


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## smoky4712

As I said hoping I will have some time tomorrow to drag it out. I may even have some help. Once I get it out in the open, I have a 5000 pound forklift I can use. I have an engine hoist that I will likely start with. I think I can see saw it up onto some cribbing then get some skates under it. I also have a pair of toe jacks, large pry bars all kinds of rigging. I think I'm set.


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## smoky4712

Hello all 
   I finally managed the time to pull the old lathe out of the corner. I did notice after it was out that the chip pan is in the machine backwards. as you can see the name plate from the back side. Now it seems to be more clear the 405G x 1500 obviously millimeters, and the G is for Gap bed. Still no luck with the manual, but not giving up. Every time I go near the thing, I end up covered in sticky black filth. Really looking forward to getting it cleaned up. 
   For those that are interested, I will try to post pictures as I progress. Crating, shipping, cleanup, and repair.


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## markba633csi

That's some chuck of iron for free! Wish I had the space for something that big (although some of our members would call that a baby)
If Grizzly makes a lathe that big you may find some parts that interchange like handles and gears, etc.  I believe Precision Matthews also makes a 16" lathe so they might be able to help with parts also.
Mark


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## smoky4712

Well its been more than a month since I have posted. I had some time today so I decided to do some more research. Minor progress, I think I figured out who made the lathe for Enco. 
   I knew the Lathe was made in Taiwan. so after an hour or so I found this picture. It is a Chien Yeh CY 405G x 1500 it appears that they also made a 
CY 405G x 1000 I haven't given up yet. Also maybe a Chinese company has made its clone.


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## smoky4712

Well I finally had some time today to put the base of the skid together. I stripped off a few parts for ease of crating. Coolant arm, splash pan the remaining covers at the tail stock end. Digging around in the chip pan, I found the missing cover for the sump. I plugged in the sump pump and it still works. I think I found all of the parts, That's encouraging. Thought I would post a few pictures if anyone is interested. 
   I will post more as I make progress.    BTW The skid is oak and so far weighs about 300 pounds.


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## smoky4712

I had a few minutes yesterday. Its on the skid.


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## mmcmdl

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/sold-engine-lathe-for-sale.50723/
		


Looks somewhat similar , but not the same .


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## smoky4712

I wish... the manual was in the picture.


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## smoky4712

Finally had some time to finish the crating. I fly home at the end of the month, I hope to have it waiting for me when I get there.


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## smoky4712

Getting pretty close to shipping this beast home. It will be traveling in a refrigerated trailer. I was thinking of taking a sheet or two off of the crate to spray some of the surfaces down with WD 40 or something. It will likely sweat pretty bad when it hits the warm air after transport.
    The other thing is getting it off of the trailer and in to the shop. I'm considering renting a forklift. Not sure how much that would cost for a day but it might be the easiest way to go.
    I was also thinking of putting a beam up, well shored then backing the trailer under that then hoist the lathe off of the crate. If anyone has any great ideas feel free.


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## markba633csi

Hey Mike, I was wondering how you were making out with that thing
I wouldn't worry too much about the rust, it can't get too bad in less than a month
Looks like a sturdy crate- not sure whether it's better to put vent holes or not as far as the "cold storage" issue


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## smoky4712

Good to hear from you. Yes shouldn't be too bad, although it may sit like that for a week or two.


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## dgehricke

Check out this site for manuals for Encoring < https://enco-lathe-manuals.blogspot.com/p/lathe-manual-downloads.html >
Regards
dgehricke


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## dgehricke

One more item < https://archive.is/XrsJH > try to find an Enco number something close to what you have may be on enco archive site.
dgehricke


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## dgehricke

This is the last post from me
 < http://www.greasymachines.com/warehouse/Catalog/Listing/1902 >
You got yourself a keeper that's a damn good lathe .


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## Silverbullet

Hell that's a super freebie , what'll it cost to get home a few hundred . I bet she cleans up and works well. Good luck lucky.


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## smoky4712

Free trip form Kansas to Oregon, on a company truck. As its crated... Just guessing that it weighs about 3500 pounds. I built a box to put into the chip pan to fill with the Chucks, Rests and a bunch of other parts and pieces. Also thew in a pile of random material. 
   I never did check on a price to ship. I suspect it would have cost over $1000


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## smoky4712

Well I dropped it off at the distribution center this afternoon.


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## NCjeeper

Should be a nice machine once cleaned up.


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## smoky4712

Well good news. I got it shipped free of charge. And got it home today. It was quite a task.
    Started to disassemble the few broken parts. For the most part it should be pretty easy to repair.  As I see it now, the hardest piece will be the hand wheel for the carriage.   
   Don't tell my Wife that I have old lathe parts on her table.


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## Silverbullet

She will never know they were there. Hand wheel you might find a substitute on eBay or even craigslist. Good luck I think you'll enjoy the lathe.


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## smoky4712

Good morning,
 The problem I am finding is that the dial is mounted on the inboard side of the hand wheel. the bore is 62mm and a depth on 20mm . I can find the same size and offset but not enough material on the back side to machine for the dial location. 
   I may have to do a two piece to get it to work.


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## smoky4712

I may have found a the descendents of my Enco. 
   I was shopping new knee mills. Sort of fond of the Acer. While on their site, decided to look at the lathes. They are not a clone of mine but the gear box layout is the same and many of the parts look to be the same as well. 
   If anyone here has an Acer 17G series I would be very happy to talk to you.


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## smoky4712

Good afternoon. We'll as soon as I got the lathe in the garage. I decided to build a shed, I really needed to get my garage back. 10'x20' I decided would l work.  So the garage is nearly cleaned out. 
   I have some parts, just need to do some machine work to get them on. I worked on the cross slide and compound. Every thing is nice and tite. The nuts look great, no wear. I'm thinking that I should pull the cross slide back off. I really need to take off the carriage to get it Cleaned up. 
   I'm trying to get most of the work out of the way before the electrical work is done. Sub panel ect. 
   I will try to remember to snap a few pictures, for those that are interested.


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## smoky4712

Hello guys
   Well, I have been cleaning, and repairing. The selctor for the lead screw/ power feed would not turn. I had to take the levers and cover off of the lower gear box that controls feed speed. the slider would not slide. I found some distortions on the shaft around the key between the slider and drive shaft. I just cleaned that up and reassembled. I was thinking that it was due to a crash, but I can see no evedence of a crash. But may have been due to the state of the lead screw thrust bearing. When I removed the bearing block at the tailstock end, the bearing pocket resembled a rock crusher. One of the thrust bearing races was broken into little pieces and a few loose balls were left. I will add a few pictures. I'm afraid that I will have to turn the threaded end of the leadscrew down and rethread. I will also need to clean up the counterbore where the thrust bearing seats. I picked up some _ Devon Liquid Steel. _I hope that will work to build up the bearing seat.
   I did remove the entire carriage/saddle. As it turns out all of the oil passages were blocked with old hardend oil and dirt. had to repace the ball oilers. Also cleaned up and replaced the oilers and seal on the tailstock.
   As a buddy of mine said "no better way to learn about a machine than to take it apart" and he is right.  

On a side note. While on my roadtrip, 24 states 6,498 miles, almost 4 weeks. I was driving through Pensacola Fl. and decided to swing by the Booth Machine shop. I did try to contact Adam before I started the trip. I didnt get a response. I concluded the worse that can happen, is he can tell me to get lost. So we stopped by and met Abom79. He was very nice, didn't seem to mind us stopping by. And I got a tour of the shop.


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## smoky4712

I forgot to mention. I just ordered a multifix toolpost as the lathe only came with an old lantern style. It was kind of difficult to figure out what size to order. I ended up with a B set I do have a feeling that I will be ordering more tool holders. The ordering process seems kind of clunky. 
   If anyone is interested I will take a few pics when it arrives.


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## smoky4712

Good news, and bad.
   I found a manual. In the process I figured out that I am missing most of the change gears. I was hoping that they would be an off the shelf item... no. I talked to the local gear suppler they will all have to be made. The set that is on the machine is not good for any threading that I can find. To have a complete set I would have to have 10 gears made. I wonder what the price tag on that will be. Depending on the price, I may opt. for just a few that will get me the most common combinations. And once again, when I took the gears in to be sized. They asked me if they were brand new. The outward apperance of the lathe would tell me that it has been used to death. But all of the common spots for wear are pretty much pristeen.
   I did order a multifix tool post set size B. I sure hope that it is the correct size. I probably should have orderd a few more tool holders. I will post a few pictures


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## markba633csi

You might want to look at Boston gear and Martin gear catalogs- maybe some off the shelf gears could be made to work?  
Probably save some money compared to making them from scratch
Mark


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## smoky4712

I went to the local Martin gear. The other option is to change all of the gears, then I could buy them off the shelf. I would just have to bore and broach them. They are I think a module 1.5 metric. I would have to change them to the similar standard type to get the similar gear sizes. I guess that is still an option.  Even then, I'm not sure they would have all of the oddball tooth counts. 
   All in, before the gears will have around $600 into the lathe. That's including new tool post and VFD
   If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.


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## zamboni2354

Hey smoky,

I just picked up a 405gx1000 at a local auction. i haven't picked it up yet, but was wondering how your coming along on yours. it's been a while since you posted an update. 

jeff


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## smoky4712

I am fairly close. But crummy things like work gets in the way. 
   I just changed the oil last week. I should have some time this weekend to work on it some. Nearly ready to put some leveling feet on it, and set it in place. I am anxious to get it going. I need it from time to time. 
   You will have to post some pictures when you pick it up. 
    Don't forget the change gears lol.


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## zamboni2354

Here's the auction pics. I'm hoping I'll find some change gears in all the crap in the backwards installed tray. Lol. 
Jeff
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	













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## smoky4712

Yes looks very familiar. How long has it been sitting? mine was for many years. I am glad that I disassembled the carriage and apron, most of the oil galleys were clogged with what used to be oil.... I think. Besides , as my friend said "No better way to get to know your machine" 
   I'm no machinist, and I guarantee the people that ran mine weren't either. some of the things I found wrong with mine were inexcusable. 
   Good luck and keep us posted, I am looking forward to seeing your progress.   BTW Now I'm motivated to get mine running before you do.


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## Silverbullet

Nice lathe it has the feed kick off on it too. Great feature even for threading.


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## zamboni2354

Silverbullet said:


> Nice lathe it has the feed kick off on it too. Great feature even for threading.


Nice! What else do you know about this lathe? There does not seem to be very much information about it. Do you know if it has a one shot Case Lube system for the ways? I'm looking forward to picking line up next week and checking it out.

Jeff

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## zamboni2354

smoky4712 said:


> Yes looks very familiar. How long has it been sitting? mine was for many years. I am glad that I disassembled the carriage and apron, most of the oil galleys were clogged with what used to be oil.... I think. Besides , as my friend said "No better way to get to know your machine"
> I'm no machinist, and I guarantee the people that ran mine weren't either. some of the things I found wrong with mine were inexcusable.
> Good luck and keep us posted, I am looking forward to seeing your progress. BTW Now I'm motivated to get mine running before you do.


I'm going to shoot you a p.m. with my number. I grew up in Oregon and I'm flying my daughter up there Friday so that she can go on a camping trip with my dad. I will be spending Saturday and Sunday in Portland before flying back home. If you're not busy maybe I can swing by and check out your lathe?

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## smoky4712

Pressurized lube system in combination with splash. So it appears to hold around 3 to 4 gallons of oil. As it pumps up to the head it overflows down to the lower gear box for the lead screw/power feed. Then drains back down to the lower sump. Screened pick up for the lubrication pump. 
   The apron is splash, and a few ball oilers.


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## zamboni2354

smoky4712 said:


> Pressurized lube system in combination with splash. So it appears to hold around 3 to 4 gallons of oil. As it pumps up to the head it overflows down to the lower gear box for the lead screw/power feed. Then drains back down to the lower sump. Screened pick up for the lubrication pump.
> The apron is splash, and a few ball oilers.


Oh, i like that it does the quick change gearbox! I have a takisawa lathe that has a one shot for the ways which is nice bummer this doesn't have that. Is yours a 5hp motor? 7.5hp? My taki the kick out is just for powefeed. Is this the same or does it do the half nuts as well?

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## zamboni2354

Sorry, duplicate


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## Silverbullet

zamboni2354 said:


> Nice! What else do you know about this lathe? There does not seem to be very much information about it. Do you know if it has a one shot Case Lube system for the ways? I'm looking forward to picking line up next week and checking it out.
> 
> Jeff
> 
> Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk


I dont have first hand experience with the  lathe but have seen many copies with the options it has. Really im jealous of one for myself.  I too would take things apart and ck oil ways  and any damage to bearings n surface's. I would guess theres pressure lube system on it. Good luck with  her too.


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## zamboni2354

Mike,
Time to here yours run. Mine's alive!! Lol 





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## Silverbullet

Impressive machine i really like the feeds directions . Sounds good to me. Your right the limit switch is late.


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## zamboni2354

Mike, 

Chips!!


__
		http://instagr.am/p/CDHPYaJJVXH/

It's cleaned up and cutting, but our enco Brotherhood will be short lived as I picked up a Whacheon 17x40 that was bought new in 1982 and never used. 

Jeff
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





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## fergymoto

Smoky, I was wondering where you were able to find the manual for your lathe. I just got myself the same lathe, a 1985 Enco 405Gx1500. I got mine from a machine shop down the street who was using it daily, but it has been sitting unused since they upgraded to something newer and bigger a couple years ago. It's really a mess. Whatever fluids they used have become all sticky and nasty after sitting. It really needs to be torn apart and gone through. Just looking for some help, and a manual would help a lot. I'm a very novice lathe user, but a good mechanic in general and should be able to handle it. More information always makes something like this easier though.


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## smoky4712

I was sent one by a nice fella that had purchased one from a used dealer.
   I will look for the file and pass it on. Don't get too excited, it has limited information. Still nice to have.
   I'm having a hard time sharing from my phone. Send me a PM with your email and I will pass it on. I will send you a PM as well with my email. That might work better.


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## smoky4712

I just love motivation.
   I have been very busy, so no time to work on much of my stuff. Well I have some time but I'm older than I used to be and the desire for some well deserved rest overrides.
   I hadn't done much on the Enco for a long time. Then I ran across an add for a Sharp HMV Knee mill, "Motivation". I really needed to get the Enco moved into its location so I have room for the mill. Made some feet up and it is set and leveled i believe within  .001 I'm not sure how thw machine will react. I'm certain that it had never been set and leveled
    I have a lot of work to do in the next 3 to 4 months. I just signed up for another 1 1/2 year high pressure, fast moving job. That should take me across the line of retirement.


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## TorontoBuilder

I got to the end of the thread and expected to see you done....

Did zamboni guy sell his Enco? 
My brother wants a larger lathe, I wanted to see how yours are fairing


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