# New to me Colchester student mk1.5 lathe



## billd (Feb 2, 2017)

Have been running a little 4- 1/2" South Bend lathe for the last year or so and really enjoyed it. Got the urge for something a little bit more capable .

The primary use I have for a lathe is building a 70's race replica motorcycle, will try and include a picture. 

Because of my shed being in the back garden and difficult to transport the old lathe I had to dismantle it and take it in piece by piece. Not a bad thing really as it gave me the opportunity to get to know the new/old lathe.

Because of the disassembly I'm doing a bit of a rebuild. Sandblasted the cabinet, bed, and drive  end cover, cleaning and repainting and replacing worn parts on reassembly. Installing a VFD drive and using the original 3hp drive motor. Was also able to get a Matrix clutch assembly for the lathe C/W all the control mechanism so taking the drive brake off and installing the clutch in its place on reassembly.

This form is new to me and a real asset for  me as I'm no machinist but like equipment and enjoy the learning process. Will post updates as I go along.

All advise , comments, and suggestions welcomed.


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## John4 (Feb 4, 2017)

Hi, I also have one of these lathes took the easier route, maybe and shifted it in one piece just about the limit of my portable lifting gear at the time. I made a lifting plate that goes under the bed and uses a lifting hook to clamp it in place to provide a single lifting point.
     Mine is fitted with a 4hp two speed motor 400v which I had the windings re-interconnected to provide a 230v three phase motor that runs on a VSD ie speed control and reverse.Quite an upgrade from my previous 1940's colchester.
Cheers and enjoy your machine.
John.


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## billd (Feb 5, 2017)

A couple of pictures from today, making a bit of progress. Have found the lead screw half nut badly worn so will try and source a replacement


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## rbotero-uk (Feb 6, 2017)

Great thread Bill - well done!   I also moved up to an MK1.5 from a Boxford Model A recently.  Have cleaned it and got it running off a Transwave converter at 3 phase in my garage.  I also got a couple of those Sunnex Machine Mounts - they are great! 
Your machine looks great in the original green! 

Roberto


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## billd (Feb 9, 2017)

Just a little update. Lathe is near completion, still a few things to do but ran it for the first time today. The little 3kw VFD has worked out brilliantly! What I'm most pleased about is the Matrix clutch I fitted on assembly   The lathe did not have it originally . It took a bit to figure it out as the parts diagram does not tell you how to assemble it but once I got it it works perfectly. Once the 3hp motor is started there is no need to stop it just clutch out, change the gear selection and clutch in again. Have set max frequency to 75hz which works out to 1800 rpm of the chuck so the down side of the Student mk1 of only 1200 rpm has been negated. Really looking forward to using the lathe but am in desperate need of a lead screw half nut as the one I have is ready to fail and I'm relucktent to do any screw cutting with it. If anyone has a spare there willing to sell I would be greatly appreciative


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## billd (Feb 11, 2017)

Another update, a video I made for a friend showing the lathe running on a VFD drive. Have a look .
https://sendvid.com/vi6kacet


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## billd (Mar 1, 2017)

Just finished off the lathe today. Added a cheap Chine's DRO that seems to work just fine! Cleaned out the coolant tank , coolant on order as of today. Wired the pump to the bottom selector switch next to the isolation switch and VFD, The upper selector switch is used to select 50 hz or 75 hz which gives the lathe a top chuck speed of 1800 RPM. Because I was not under any dead line to complete I actually enjoyed figuring out what the badly written Chines VFD manual was trying to explain. Very pleased with the outcome and will enjoy this lathe for years to come................................................Starting to think about a milling machine


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## mikey (Mar 1, 2017)

Nice job there, billd! I've never seen a Colchester but have heard good things about them. It certainly looks heavy and rigid enough to do good work - thanks for sharing.


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## Swissmat (Dec 8, 2020)

Thinking about a DRO on my Student .. do you have some insights into the install on yours? Did you fit the crossslide scale in the front? Curious to hear from you .. thanks


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## john.k (Dec 11, 2020)

You will never find a used halfnut in usable condition......probably best to figure out how to make one.......The leadscrew will also need attention,cheapest way is to reverse it around,and use the unworn back face of the rear end .


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## wa5cab (Dec 11, 2020)

On turning the lead screw around to put the supposedly worn area near the headstock near the tailstock instead, that may or may not be practical.  I do not know how the left and right ends of the Student's leadscrew are machined.  But if it were an Atlas, it wouldn't really be practical unless the lead screw was off of a longer bed machine.  As the left end is 5/8" diameter with a key way machined in it  whereas the right end is turned down to 1/2" and threaded.  So either difficult or impractical.


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## Arielht500 (Dec 11, 2020)

Not sure about turning the lead screw round but looking at my MK1 Triumph don’t think it would be practical.


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## john.k (Dec 12, 2020)

I used to buy and sell these school lathes in numbers,and turning the leadscrew and making a new halfnut is the only way of restoring the threading capability......if you dont want threading,then just ignore the wear.


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## wa5cab (Dec 13, 2020)

Unless I needed to thread a long way to make something like a lead screw for another machine, I would put new half nuts in it and live with the wear on the lead screw.  If you are making threaded parts where the female part is a standard nut or the same size as, it won;t matter anyway.


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## billd (Dec 14, 2020)

Swissmat said:


> Thinking about a DRO on my Student .. do you have some insights into the install on yours? Did you fit the crossslide scale in the front? Curious to hear from you .. thanks


Yes cross slide scale fit in the front. I attached a heavy duty cover to protest it. The lathe has been in use for 3 years now and the DRO works perfect even though it's a cheap Chines unit. Suspect you may see a picture of the cross slide in one of my photos. If not let me know and will send a photo to you


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## john.k (Dec 14, 2020)

The Master that I was given a year or two ago ,has been machined?-cut away?-for a scale ,but at the back of the saddle......quite a bit cut out too......anyway ,job was never completed,as the owner died......But ,in front is quite an exposed position ,need to be very careful,and be well guarded.


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