Welcome to ModelEngineMaker !If you have problems registering or logging in, please use the contact menu option to request assistance.
Jim, I would be interested to know what Collin says when he replies.
Though I like the little Cowell lathe ( it came from Cowell's of Norwich in the early 1980's, so this is going back a way, ) and use it for small jobs, when I got it, there were things that needed some sorting out. The tailstock, despite the manufacturer's check chart that claimed otherwise, , was unacceptable, it had side play in the ways, and the barrel bore was o/s, wouldn't lock up the barrel. I returned it, and was sent another complete tailstock, but I wasn't very impressed with the new one, for the same reasons. In the end, I refitted the tongue myself, and bored out the front end of the half inch bore in the casting, and inserted and bored a closely fitting ( split ) bush that fits the moving barrel closely. I also fitted slide locking levers, dowelled the gib strips, and put extra gib screws on the cross slide. As I haven't fitted any digital or dial readouts ( yet!), it's a pity that the lathe hadn't featured adjustable index dials, essentials really. Realistically, it is a nice step above the small Far Eastern type of lathe, and everyone clucks over it when they see it, because it does look like a proper miniature lathe. For real engineering quality, one might look at German and Swiss watch and instrument lathes.. I have got a Lorch watchmakers' lathe with its accessories that came from Germany immediately before the IIWW closed trade ( my father did some watch restoration ): the quality of engineering in every aspect of it is simply astonishing, it's as much art as engineering! Dave
.. eventually realised the bore was "on the scunt" ...Simon.
Quote from: sco on September 13, 2017, 01:22:19 PM.. eventually realised the bore was "on the scunt" ...Simon.Now there's a phrase I've only ever heard my wife use and she caught it off a boss from the Black Country. It's a favourite in our house in the effite south.Cheers,Rod