Newbie with an EMCO Compact 8

[BanjoDude]

Hi all - I'm new to the site. I've been restoring cars all my life and have always wanted a lathe to make parts here and there that are hard to find or no longer made. I recently picked up an EMCO Compact 8 in great condition for $1,200 with a ton of tools, etc. (not sure if that's reasonable, but it seemed to be) and am looking forward to learning! I've never run a lathe, so I'm starting from the ground up. I'm not afraid to ask dumb questions, so here goes:

1. I've cleaned everything up as best I can. I used the oil in the can supplied with the machine to lightly oil all unpainted surfaces after cleaning it. What oil should I buy? Is there a place that would tell me where to oil what on a regular basis?
2. I would like to buy replacement belts just to have a set on hand. Is there a preferred brand for those? How would I know which part numbers to buy?
3. Are there other maintenance items I should check or do right out of the gate? The machine was allegedly used very little over the last several decades, and only had a few small spots of surface rust that easily cleaned up with 0000 steel wool.
4. The 4-jaw chuck is rusted, though not badly. What's the best way to clean that up? Can I use Evaporust, or is that a bad idea?
5. As far as I can tell, it came with a full set of change gears, which I understand from reading here are hard to find / expensive, so perhaps I lucked out there. I have no idea how to use them, but would love to learn to make threaded parts after I get the basics down.
6. There was another EMCO yellow attachment that came with the lathe. Pardon the ignorance, but could someone tell me what it is and what it is used for?
7. Same question for the doodad with the red ball on the end of the handle - does that go with this lathe?
8. There are a bunch of other accessories, chucks, etc. Not sure all of them go with the lathe, but they were in the buckets of stuff that came with it. Any help you could offer in identifying what I have would be greatly appreciated.
9. Is anything obvious missing? I can always ask the seller to have a look around if so to see if he can find it.
10. Any pointers on a good project to start with that would help me get to know the machine? Any good YouTube channels for total lathe newbies?

Sorry for all the questions - I just don't want to mess this thing up right out of the gate. Looking forward to learning from you guys!

Wes

 

[markba633csi]

You got a great deal- those accessories are hard to find and expensive.
The yellow thing is a milling attachment- again, very rare. First time I've seen one.
The other thing looks like a drill sharpener gadget but it's probably not related to the lathe- works with a bench grinder
Speaking of grinders: plan on learning how to grind your own high speed steel toolbits- best type for small lathes like that one, and
it's a valuable skill to acquire- beginners often have trouble with cheap carbide tooling being dull and having wrong profiles

Not sure what way oil to use- someone here probably knows. To remove small amounts of rust you can use a light oil like 3 in 1 and some
elbow grease with a scrubbing pad like Scotchbrite blue ones.
Have you fired it up yet? Is it wired for 110 volts? The belts should be available online- try Amazon
You can't really do anything to hurt it except crashing the toolpost into the chuck- but we won't be doing that will we? LOL
Trivia: That machine was also sold by Sears Roebuck in the 70s under the Craftsman name with a different paint scheme

 

[BanjoDude]

You got a great deal- those accessories are hard to find and expensive.
The yellow thing is a milling attachment- again, very rare. First time I've seen one.
The other thing looks like a drill sharpener gadget but it's probably not related to the lathe- works with a bench grinder
Not sure what way oil to use- someone here probably knows. To remove small amounts of rust you can use a light oil like 3 in 1 and some
elbow grease with a scrubbing pad like Scotchbrite blue ones.
Have you fired it up yet? Is it wired for 110 volts?
You can't really do anything to hurt it except crashing the toolpost into the chuck- but we won't be doing that will we? LOL
Trivia: That machine was also sold by Sears Roebuck in the 70s under the Craftsman name with a different paint scheme
The belts should be available online- try Amazon

Thanks for taking the time to respond! It seemed to be well cared for, so I sprung for it. Pardon my complete ignorance, but how does the milling attachment work? I assume the work piece goes in the vice on the attachment, and the cutting tool goes in the chuck - is that correct?

It's 110. I was able to fire it up before buying it, and it works great. Super quiet. It does have a very faint rhythmic tick - I'll pull it apart tomorrow to see if it's just something in the belt compartment or perhaps a bearing with a bad spot.

I did finally find a manual in PDF form which had the belt numbers, so have those one the way.

Crashing this thing is my worst fear. I'll do everything I can to avoid it for sure! It makes me wish the shield was there. I'm going to see if I can find one.

Craftsman! That was back when their tools were actually worth something...

 

[markba633csi]

Yes that's how the milling attach works- you can do light milling- it will have a hard time with steel. Non-ferrous mostly.
You might want to invest in a collet set eventually- not sure what taper the spindle is- Morse #2 or #3 I think
Collets are good for doing multiple cutting operations when you need to remove and replace the part without losing accuracy
Collets also grip endmills better than a chuck
Lots of good info online and here- enjoy
Tip: use slow spindle speeds at first till you get familiar

 

[Nutfarmer]

Find a manual for your lathe. It will have better information than anyone can give. Looks like a lot of tooling came with the lathe. It’s a good thing. Tooling can cost more than the lathe

 

[Steve-F]

Nice find, love mine! Here's the manual for it. I had a bunch of help from members here because mine was missing almost everything, great support!!

 

[Choiliefan]

You got a terrific lathe complete with the floor stand, change-gears, milling attachment (with Emco milling vise), fixed and traveling steady rests, chucks, etc. Looks like a Brown & Sharp magnetic indicator holder and the Delta/Rockwell drill grinding jig too. I don't see a threading dial but it may be hidden in the wonderful mix. Congratulations!

 

[skogkatt007]

You got a good deal especially considering the extra attachments. I hate you. I'll have this greenish complexion for some time.

 

[Aaron_W]

Should be a nice lathe. These were copied and enlarged in Taiwan and China, then sold as a 9x19" lathe. The Grizzly G4000 is one of the more common of these. Won't be 1-1 but you may find some useful information looking at posts for 9x19" lathes. Many of the issues / solutions will likely carry over to your lathe.

As far as information, South Bend's How to run a lathe, and Atlas / Craftsman Manual of lathe operations (MOLO) are both good books, and long out of copyright so you can find physical copies cheap, and online versions for free. While not made for your Emco, much of the information is universal so not lathe specific.

As far as Youtube Blondihacks and mrpete222 are the usual recommendations.

Blondihacks has a "start here" playlist that will go over super basic stuff, setting up your machines, tools you will want to have available etc. There is also a "Lathe skills" playlist that will go over all the basics of running a lathe.

mrpete222 is a retired high school shop teacher that has been on youtube since the dawn of time (at least on the youtube scale) and is approaching 2000 videos. Best bet there is to enter a topic into the search bar to find one of his videos on a topic you want to know about (drilling, tapping, etc) or just start perusing his videos. He covers a lot of ground from auction hauls, visiting other people's shops, foundry work, random tool videos, and even the occasional old man yelling at clouds videos.
His video quality is not as flashy as many more recent youtubers, but he is a wealth of knowledge.

You can look for his "Machine Shop Tips" and "Machine Shop Projects" videos if you just want how to run a lathe / mill subjects.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Op welcome to the board!

You did good.