Author Topic: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?  (Read 10292 times)

Offline Jo

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When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« on: November 06, 2013, 02:11:47 PM »
As many of you know I have been living with two Cowells Lathes now for a few months. And I thought a few notes about the differences might be of use. And before anyone asks no neither are up for sale. (They have forced me to look for a home for my Hobbymat which they have made redundant). So the two Cowells:

My older one C1, serial number 285, made in 1979 is one of the first Cowells made under that name:



The other Cowells is a much later machine, serial number 3514, made in 2003



As you can see I have fitted dial gauges to both machines.



Initially the larger dials, on the later machine, annoyed me but I have got used to them and now don’t notice the difference when I go between machines. What still annoys me is that fibre/plastic cover and I have nearly reached the point of removing it, in the meantime it is permanently left hanging at the back.

Physically the older machine has the coarse 1.5mm by 14mm thread and the later one has the 1mm thread. What this means is you can buy cheaper accessories to fit other lathes that will also fit the later machine. But you get what you pay for.. I have a few Unimat 3 chucks and they are not a patch on the Bison/Prat & B ones that came with the two Cowells.



I have heard bad noises about the earlier Cowells 3 jaw one but other than often catching my fingers in the chuck key teeth, I cannot fault it (but it is brand new).

Jo
« Last Edit: November 06, 2013, 02:16:55 PM by Jo »
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Offline Jo

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2013, 02:13:41 PM »
I have also fitted a 4 jaw SC Sherline chuck to the Cowells



This was initially fitted to the older machine and I have now moved it over to the later machine as I do more complex work on that machine. It is a beautiful little chuck to use and would recommend it to other Cowells owners.

The collet chuck… Ok Cowells collet chucks are not all the same. I have two for the older machine and one for the modern one. This is the modern one:



It is a DA200 collet chuck and it is in every way excellent and the set of high precision DA200 collets are the icing on the cake. The earlier collet chuck comes with either a metric or an imperial set of collets which are limited in their gripability



The earlier one is ok. I have now moved back to using the 3 jaw and a drill chuck in the lathe nose for my studding rather than using the collet chuck.

The second part of the studding is the need for a mandrel handle:

[

Here the handle is fitted to C2. She can in seconds be taken off and fitted to C1. The thread cutting gear set is compatible between both machines, but so far I have only ever machine cut two threads to enable me to fit the Sherline chuck between machines.

Jo
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Offline Jo

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2013, 02:15:12 PM »
So what do they feel like? It is like comparing my old S7B Myford with my modern Prazimat: the older Cowells is full of character and a real sweetie for turning up studs, the later one gets on and does the business and is very capable. I happily cut 1mm deep cuts in steel on the later machine using tipped tooling, the earlier one I would not dream of pushing that hard.

I have been very pleased with both machines and interestingly I will take a piece of work from one to the other to finish it because of the difference between the feel of the two machines. Now I just need that matching milling machine (or a second BCA  :naughty:).

Jo
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Online sco

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2013, 02:23:44 PM »
Jo,

Are the jaws reversible on the Sherline 4 jaw?

I'm still thinking 2 Cowells is hogging it a bit  ;)

Simon.
Ars longa, vita brevis.

Offline peatoluser

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2013, 02:38:54 PM »
Any chance of some close up photos of the DI mounts ? I'm thinking of doing something similar to my peatol ,although I'm thinking of using digital indicators - may be useful to be able to go between metric and imperial. you seem to have used a different mounting system for the carriage DI on the two machines. any reason why?
you are right the earlier one seems more characterful and in keeping with making steam engines!

yours

peter

Offline Jo

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2013, 03:13:55 PM »
Peter,

The dial gauges fit on simple stainless bars that on C1 are go through a hole in the aluminium base:



And on C2 I have made 2 "p" clips for the bar that mounts under the rear lathe mounting lugs  ;).

Simon: Yes they reversible but are soft jaws rather than hard jaws.

I did move the Hobbymat in to the house to see if I would prefer to sell C1 rather than her and C1 is still winning. As the winter progresses it will be interesting to see if I use the Hobbymat, she is better equipped than C1  :shrug:. But if I sold C1 I would have to think about what I should do with that Cowells dividing and the indexing head which matches the older nose thread... 

Jo
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Online sco

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2013, 03:29:12 PM »
It's odd that they are soft - doesn't explicitly say hard or soft on the Sherline website but from the pictures they look like steel and the blurb describes them as being ground to size.  When you say soft do you mean Ally or mild steel?

Simon.
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Offline Jo

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2013, 03:30:16 PM »
They are steel.

Jo
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Offline PJW

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #8 on: November 06, 2013, 04:11:57 PM »
I fell in love with you little cowells when I first saw it, I even checked to see if my pockets would take it, but sadly no, having two, is that   not overkill :lolb: 
still waiting for you to get that infernal combustable started.
Old Guys Rule the Dark Side of the Shed!

Offline PJW

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #9 on: November 06, 2013, 04:31:34 PM »
there is a Cowells 90CW Lathe on one of the big auction sites for £1,000, it looks a lot more basic than yours & doesn't seem to have a screw cutting gears, is this an older machine than both of yours?
Old Guys Rule the Dark Side of the Shed!

Offline Jo

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #10 on: November 06, 2013, 04:57:15 PM »
Peter, That is the clock makers version it has a nose that takes collets and no power feed. It is not one that you would want  ;).

Jo
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Offline Alan Haisley

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #11 on: November 06, 2013, 09:03:41 PM »
Simon,
Stock Sherline chuck jaws are hard and reversible. The soft jaws are a different order number. Generally they are all factory installed since Sherline does custom fitting of the jaws to manage the fit.
I have both a 3 jaw and a 4 jaw from them. The 4 jaw is independent and is what I use when I need either accuracy or offset for lathe work.
surfing around on their web site for a while can get a lot of detail on all of their offerings.
Alan

Online sco

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #12 on: November 06, 2013, 09:41:34 PM »
Alan,

Thanks that's really helpful - thinking about getting one of the 4 jaw independents for use on the rotary table.

Simon,
Ars longa, vita brevis.

Offline Jo

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #13 on: November 07, 2013, 07:25:33 AM »
The little Sherline 4 jaw self centering is a rarity as it comes with the soft jaws, the slightly larger one comes with hard jaws. (I do like 4 jaw self centering chucks ;D)

Simon you might want to keep your eyes out at the shows for a chuck for your table I picked up a brand new P&B 4" 4 jaw independant that had a boxford back plate on it for £60 from one of the more expensive second had tool dealers. The fact that it was a 4" meant that no one wanted it for a lathe but it is ideal for my Elliot indexing head or for mounting on a rotary table and it is nice and thin, much thinner than my TOS chucks of a similair size.

The smaller P&B 4 jaw independants fitted to both Cowells are also very nice ;). I don't know about the quality of the latest version of 4 jaws that come with Unimats.

Jo
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Offline swilliams

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Re: When is a Cowells a different Cowells?
« Reply #14 on: November 07, 2013, 08:09:03 AM »
They look nice Jo

Unacceptably and obscenely clean  :stir:, but nice!

Steve

 

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