Mc Dougall massive lathe

[aaronpadilla]

I there, I am interested in this big old lathe, it is massive, about 11' overall and I am guessing 8000 lbs at least

The ways looks relatively good, they are damn dirty but after cleaning a bit I have measured the drop of saddle with my dial over the tailstock way, it goes up about 10 mils at the middle of ways, I am guessing that it could be better after a good scrub, it is maybe not that bad for a this size lathe

I put my dial radially over chuck and I was able to move it about 1 mil applying the belt tension, the lubrication vases of spindle bearings was replaced with grease zerks I am supposing excessive wear, but it is may be just normal for a century old lathe.

Besides the ordeal of moving it, would it be useful?
This spindle play would make it chatter?
Is it hard to change the spindle bearing? is it a babbit?

Thanks

 

[WCraig]

You might be able to glean some information from the following:

R. McDougall Co. Ltd. - History | VintageMachinery.org

http://www.lathes.co.uk/mcdougall/

In particular, it seems that someone on Vintage Machinery has a similar model:

Photo Index - R. McDougall Co. Ltd. - R. McMacdougall Co Ltd Metal Lathe | VintageMachinery.org

HTH

Craig

 

[brino]

Old machinery doesn't scare me.
It was built in an age when things were built well.

To me the big issues are:
1) moving it
2) powering it (is it 3-phase?, is is 480V?)
3) having room for it

It is certainly dirty, but the rust isn't severe.
The chucks, and steady could be soaked in evaporust or run thru electrolysis.

You may want to invest in a quick-change tool-post.
Be sure to go thru that (Kennedy?) tool box too to find any other useful bits.

It certainly is big! Do you have need of such a large machine....not that that really matters......sometimes, saving it is more important.

-brino

 

[Shootymacshootface]

I would give it a go. You can always work around a little wear.

 

[SLK001]

Is the bed gap insert there, or has it gone MIA?

 

[aaronpadilla]

Is the bed gap insert there, or has it gone MIA?

The gap in picture is always there but apparently you can remove an insert to make it bigger, check the pictures, the saddle is assymetrical in order to reach the chuck even with a permanent gap

 

[craniac]

That sure looks like babbit bearings to me. You could pop off the bearing cap of the spindle and see if there are any shims left. Removing a shim allows you to tighten the bearing cap more to take up some play there.

Tim

 

[aaronpadilla]

Old machinery doesn't scare me.
It was built in an age when things were built well.

To me the big issues are:
1) moving it
2) powering it (is it 3-phase?, is is 480V?)
3) having room for it

It is certainly dirty, but the rust isn't severe.
The chucks, and steady could be soaked in evaporust or run thru electrolysis.

You may want to invest in a quick-change tool-post.
Be sure to go thru that (Kennedy?) tool box too to find any other useful bits.

It certainly is big! Do you have need of such a large machine....not that that really matters......sometimes, saving it is more important.

-brino

Thanks craniac, very useful, I am checking for a mover, about needing it, well, my wife is convinced that I don't need any of this **** but I feel it makes me happy

 

[FOMOGO]

You absolutely must have it, even if it has to go in the kitchen. Mike

 

[markba633csi]

Early lathes like that often have relatively small holes thru the spindle. Other than that it has most of the modern features. I'm sure this one has some wear but that's to be expected. It's larger than most "hobby" lathes for sure, way too big for my garage
-M