Big Balls Required....

Tim.243

Well-Known Member
I was asked to help out on a rush job for an agricultural engineering firm I do a bit of turning for,

Usual cardboard cut out pattern and a rough sketch!!

Quite often you never know what these things are for, but it was for a pilling rig mast foot!

Having done a lot of contract welding for a pilling firm I knew exactly where it went!

For scale the ball is 5" diameter.

The owner of the firm was shaking his head as many years ago when they brought the lathe second hand it had a copying attachment but the guy wanted as much for it as the lathe so they never brought it!

I made a radius tool at home with some carbide I've had for years...

The rest was all by eye and the cardboard pattern...(the spare I will do next week)

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Tim.243
 
You can't better an older op on an older bit of kit,... at least you were working under cover on your rig bit, I did all mine outdoors!:cool:
 
You can't better an older op on an older bit of kit,... at least you were working under cover on your rig bit, I did all mine outdoors!:cool:

Oh plenty of hours rebuilding 6mtr strings up to size and then hard facing on site!

I made up 2 stands, one had grove marks on a 500mm dia plate so you could get the teeth in the right place every time on the cutting head. Get the subbies in to do the tricky work then employ a man on the cards!!

Don't miss the London traffic or the induction course from a spotty faced pup in a hi-viz jacket lol...
One question I was asked was what is the worst thing that can happen....


I got it in one word... "Death" know can I get on with the repairs please lol


Tim.243
 
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Yeah!, I miss my 600 amp Lincoln Nomad DC set, it was old when I bought it & I'm 60 this April, weld beads like from a silkworm.:cool: (believe it's still working now on Holyhead dockside!)
 
You can't better an older op on an older bit of kit,... at least you were working under cover on your rig bit, I did all mine outdoors!:cool:
Exactly. I did my apprenticeship as a turner fitter. Most of the lathes were from before WW2. They were solid bits of kit. The new fangled CNC stuff (speaking start of the 1990s broke down regularly).
One old lathe though always smashed its gear shafts most Fridays, till we figured out the old fu**er who operated it would sometimes put an Allen Key between 2 gears and engage the drive, to get a lazy afternoon. :rofl:
 
I've just bought a 30+ year old refurbed Colchester on the basis that no matter how much I was willing to spend on a new one from any manufacturer, they just dont look like they will last more than 10 years.
 
Thats a nice job Tim, I have an old Steadall badged lathe in the shed, its actually a Lorch from the mid 1930's. Cant do anything fancy and that includes me, but ideal for shooting bits and pieces
 
Very nicely done.

Picked myself up an old Hendy 12x5 back last year after keeping an eye out for something of a useful size for a while. Just need to replace the main drive belt and get some tooling - could do with a three jaw self centering chuck for it too.

Will be useful to be able to knock up spacers and odds and ends as required. Save having to find time after work to do them.
 
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Thats a nice job Tim, I have an old Steadall badged lathe in the shed, its actually a Lorch from the mid 1930's. Cant do anything fancy and that includes me, but ideal for shooting bits and pieces

Thank you, the one I have at home has a 22" swing on the gap bed flat belt, done some big stuff on it..

Had to nibble a bit out of the shelf to get the clearance lol

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Very nicely done.

Picked myself up an old Hendy 12x5 back last year after keeping an eye out for something of a useful size for a while. Just need to replace the main drive belt and get some tooling - could do with a three jaw self centering chuck for it too.

Will be useful to be able to knock up spacers and odds and ends as required. Save having to find time after work to do them.

Ta very much.....

I would love to have a go on a really big lathe before I hang up the Thor hammer...
 
I was asked to help out on a rush job for an agricultural engineering firm I do a bit of turning for,

Usual cardboard cut out pattern and a rough sketch!!

Quite often you never know what these things are for, but it was for a pilling rig mast foot!

Having done a lot of contract welding for a pilling firm I knew exactly where it went!

For scale the ball is 5" diameter.

The owner of the firm was shaking his head as many years ago when they brought the lathe second hand it had a copying attachment but the guy wanted as much for it as the lathe so they never brought it!

I made a radius tool at home with some carbide I've had for years...

The rest was all by eye and the cardboard pattern...(the spare I will do next week)


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Tim.243

Fun job! Fine job!

I find free hand ball making much easier on one of my lathes than the other...the thread pitch on saddle and cross slide seem better matched somehow. I usually finish them off with the 120grit angle sander whilst spinning them in the lathe. Mine have been for bowl forming press tools or die forming blanks for forging the spring ball tools which in turn will forge the balls on the end of a bar.

A friend near Leatherhead has a similar vintage Stanley which I have used a few times, lovely lathes.

I have ended up with a gap bed Woodhouse with all the change wheels, and a wonderful Ward 7D Prelector which I think was one of the last of the pre CNC lathes. The Ward definitely has all the grace and elegance of a greyhound....a 4.5 tonne greyhound...but a greyhound none the less! £150 for the lathe and £200 pounds to get it home 20 years ago!

What is the make of the your gap bed at home? I had a similarly configured one with the rear lay shaft and flat belt drive which I seem to remember was American from the first world war period. The make evades me. I seem to remember releasing a locking plunger on the main shaft pulleys in order to engage the back gear. I sold it to a farmer neighbour thirty years ago when I bought the Woodhouse from the local tech.

Each time I have bought a lathe I have spent more than lathe cost on a Pratt Bernerd self centring four jaw chuck for them...most of my blacksmithing is square bar stuff, so a self-centring four which will also do round and octagon is a great time saver for me.

Alan
 
Hi Alan, The home lathe is a WOTAN!! metric pitch but only one set of change wheels, Dads had it nearly 50 years good solid lathe, I keep the oilers on a fast feed so it drips oil like a BSA lol

Tim.243
 
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