Colchester Chipmaster Restoration

[Beckerkumm]

I was referring to the type of threads for all the screws and bolts ( Metric, Whitworth BA ). I assume that change gears are needed for metric threading but just guessing. Dave

 

[TorontoBuilder]

I was referring to the type of threads for all the screws and bolts ( Metric, Whitworth BA ). I assume that change gears are needed for metric threading but just guessing. Dave

AH... yes there is a whole list of fastener sizes in the manual. a mix of B.A. UNC UNF in a horde of sizes.

 

[Beckerkumm]

Interesting they converted to UNF but kept BA. Dave

 

[TorontoBuilder]

It will be no easy feat finding all the oil and grease seals. I sure wont be able to use a single source... Even Colchester spares lists many of the parts I inquired about as "obsolete"

So far I can only find the clutch housing oil seal from Colchester spares... so I have to due the overseas shipping thing. Here comes a delay

 

[TorontoBuilder]

This will be continued here and once completed there will be a file available for download of the entire refurbishment and where I sourced everything and how I did everything exactly:

Blind Luck Locates a Treasure

If you too spent over a decade looking for a reasonably priced Colchester Chipmaster lathe, you might just want to ask me "How did you find ...

chipmasterlathe.blogspot.com

 

[TorontoBuilder]

ever see the scenes in Saving Private Ryan, with soldiers looking down on their disemboweled guts on the ground?

This gave me a similar feeling of dread....

 

[FliesLikeABrick]

Any updates on this project? I see you linked to an external page that also seems to have petered out around Nov '22 - would love to see more

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Any updates on this project? I see you linked to an external page that also seems to have petered out around Nov '22 - would love to see more

Sorry, I stopped updating my progress, I am not the best documentarian. Then I had health issues for around a year that just sucked the life out of me to the point I wasn't able to make any headway on the lathe restoration until late this spring.

Before I temporarily halted work on the restorations I had a few issues like a spindle cam that was jammed in the spindle and the previous owner bashed the cam to bits trying to remove it with no luck.



I welded a bolt into the bashed up hole, and a wrench was easily able to turn it out thanks to the heating and the bolt not slipping out of the socket. Then I was able to see that the previous owner had lost the retention springs, plungers and cheesehead screws that were original to the lathe and had replaced them with a single long screw that they ground down.

This is the solution you come up with when you run a cnc grinding shop I guess. I had to order replacement parts from 3 different vendors. Cams from Boxford, the retention springs, plungers and screws from grizzly. The screws didn't fit so I had to find correct size at local supplier.

Last month I got the old motor out, because rather than wire it to 220V I stripped out the variator and am going with 3HP 3600 rpm motor and a VFD. I made a new motor mount, and a shaft adapter to be able to remount the timing belt pulley. I also cleaned and degreased the entire lathe and then sprayed the bare metal parts with protectant.

Next up is sand blasting