Bought a Lathe for myself on my Wife's Birthday --- and Survived...barely

When you tear into that lathe, I think it will surprise you. Emco lathes are simple in design; they only include what has to be there to do the job well but they precisely machine what has to be machined. Everything fits without force and tolerances, where they need to be tight, are very tight. I suspect that the quality of this machine will surpass that of other machines you have restored. Well, at least that has been my experience with Emco lathes.

This lathe uses the same cross feed leadscrew nut that comes on the later model Super 11. It is a Zamak nut with a 1/2-10 LH BSWhitworth thread so it can be adjusted to have zero backlash. The compound nut is similarly capable. This zero backlash thing is why an Emco lathe can take cuts that similarly sized lathes cannot. The typical Emco compound feed is capable of tenths accuracy, and you can confirm it with a dial indicator.

The spindle on Emco lathes tends to be heavier than comparable machines. Preload is adjustable and you should see very little spindle run out, on the order of a tenth or less.

Congratulations again. You got a smoking deal on a fine little lathe. Only the Super 11 and the V13 surpass it in Emco's manual line.
 
Thanks again for the feedback and info Mike, much appreciated!

Funny you mention runout. I was making some test cuts in steel and aluminum after tearing the chuck apart and was noticing that the material was staying surprisingly concentric as I was taking in and out of the chuck. I took my .001" test indicator to it and saw almost no movement. Grabbed my .0001" test indicator. .0002" runout on this little 3 jaw right next to the chuck and 3" out. Crazy. Maybe this is why the 4 jaw look unused.

 
Check the spindle concentricity; that is what you need to accurately assess. It should be well under 0.0002" TIR, or under 0.0001" actual run out. Typically, Emco used a hardened and ground spindle on their better lathes like the V-10P.

Emco used to make their own chucks way back but I think by the time the V-10P came out, all their chucks were from Rohm. This is one of Europe's best chuck makers so I'm not surprised at your results. It is only a 3 jaw chuck but Rohm makes really good ones as these things go. Their 4 jaw chucks are of even higher quality. Not sure which spindle you have. The later V-10P came with a 3-stud arrangement but a specific spindle taper register. Commonly, Emco used a 7 degree, 7 minute, 30 second taper but you should check. While cheap chucks may fit your spindle, the register may not so you may want to stay with your fine Emco chucks.

I own 2 Emco 3 jaws, 2 Emco 4 jaws and multiple others but they are all D1-4 camlock chucks. Funny thing is that I mostly use the simple Emco 3 jaw that was standard fare on my lathe; it is just as accurate as my Yuasa and Samchully chucks. Go, Emco!
 
I tested the spindle right when I got it. Less than .0001". Needless to say, I was happy. The spindle is ground 1.5x8 tpi (ground and hardened) with a L20/MT3 bore. I'm a little bummed that L20 collets are impossible to find but I have 5C on my Clausing so I can use when needed. The chucks have a couple relief cuts made around the thread with a bolt to tighten everything firmly around the spindle nose so the machine can be ran in forward and reverse. I was pretty happy about that because I thread away from the chuck with the machine in reverse.

Really fantastic machine. Now I get all the hype around them. Once a new base has been built I'd like to install a DRO similar to this approach: https://lensprojects.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/touchdro-machine-position-digital-readout/ and figure out a way to effectively lock the spindle.

I'm really looking forward to testing out this little mill too. I had to order a M8-1.25 x 120mm flanged bolt (drawbar) since it wasn't with the rest of the items. I'll have to do some research but I wouldn't mind an airspring on there to assist with raising/lowering the head.
 
I assume you have the user's manual and IPB. You can completely disassemble an Emco lathe with just the IPB, which is very accurate.

You might check your spindle preload. With the lathe cold and a glove on your hand, spin your 3 jaw as hard as you can and count the number of revolutions it makes before stopping. It should make 1 to 1-1/2 revolutions, max. If it goes more than that, tighten the preload nut to bring it into specs. Then check concentricity again. Might surprise you.
 
Nice score. Your wife will get over it.

FWIW... my son tells me that Craigslist and EBay is like crack for me.
 
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