Found my Lathe !

[Shrek]

I've been looking hard for a quality lathe and I think I found one. I bought a 1995 Colchester Clausing 13" Student sight unseen from an online auction. I took a big chance and although I haven't seen it yet I did talk to the instructor at the college and he commented that it was a good lathe and he wouldn't mind owning it himself. Has a gear shift problem in the head but he doesn't think it is a major problem to fix and the rest is in very good shape. Kind of excited and had to share. I'll post pictures Wednesday when I go pick it up. Thanks to all who helpfully answered my questions here. I'm sure I'll have a lot more when I can get it setup running.
Anyone here running one like it and have any advice about it ?

 

[rardoin]

I had a Clausing Colchester 15x50. Extremely rigid, cut very true but was a little large for most of my 'hobby' jobs. I do miss it however. You will likely be very pleased. The only downside is the cost of parts, if needed. I made a few that were needed and saved a bundle.

 

[Larryh128]

Clausing is a good unit. Sometimes parts can be located at some of the outfits that buy & restore equipment.

 

[Shrek]

Thanks ! If anyone has some good parts suppliers both used and new please post them for me.

 

[rardoin]

Dave, this would be my go to if I still had my lathe: http://www.fdk3co.com/

Located in Houston. The current owner of the lathe found parts for the taper attachment there.

 

[Shrek]

It's in great shape except for not wanting to shift. It shifts but very stiff and doesn't always get the right gear. I hope it's not too hard to fix. The rest is tight and straight. There's a tiny bit of discoloration rust in a couple of spots from the condensation in the shed the last three weeks but it was covered in oil and it wipes off with a rag. No wear in the bed that I can tell.

 

[jaclthr]

Hey Dave,

Now come on no tease here, more pictures, show all of it when you can. Best of fortune cutting chips.

jaclthr

 

[Shrek]

It was drizzling rain and I needed to get it covered asap. I'll get some better pictures this weekend.

 

[Shrek]

One thing for sure , this clausing makes the Logan I never set up feel like a happy meal toy ! This thing is stout !

 

[230grRN]

Hard to go wrong with the Colchester, I ran them in college and after college I owned a South Bend and a Leblond Regal, both are good lathes, but when the chance to pick up a 1987 13x40 Clausing Colchester that was in a tech school came along, I sold the others and brought the Colchester home and didn't look back, and have zero regrets.

There is no such thing as cheap parts on the Clausing though, I live in Kalamazoo area and can run over to the Clausing offices and get parts directly from them and the prices are insane, They charged me $80 for the drive belts as the ones I took off were metric and I could not find them. After picking up the belts, I found out they had cross referenced them to American sizing, which was available on Amazon for $9 ea. same brand and all, so I returned them and went with the $18 option. New way wipers are spendy as well,but there is no aftermarket option with those though.

 

[Shrek]

A few pictures. I just coated everything with oil to protect it while I store it in a friends warehouse. I'm at least three months out from starting on a shop.

 

[rardoin]

Dave...visit it at least once a month and re-oil it. Living near the coast with high humidity can take it's toll with it sitting idle. I have used lanolin based spray products to pickle machine tools and it worked well in south Louisiana.

It cleaned up really well. The ways look like no crashes of significance occurred.

 

[Shrek]

Rardion , I'll visit it just about every day and soak it with oil. I'll also be figuring out what I need to fix it. By the time I get the shop built I hope this will be ready to make chips.
The black streaks on the ways is just old oil coming off the wipers. Other than a two inch spot of rust towards the tail end of the lathe there is no blemishes I can feel when I run my fingers down the ways. There's a very slight wear spot about a half inch long up towards the head but I can only tell because it's slightly smoother than the rest of the ways. When it's set up I'll be able to quantify the exact amount but I think it's very small.

 

[jdh47]

It looks like a pretty good copy of my Harrison M300. Did it come with the change gears? You will need those to switch between course and fine metric& imperial thread pitches.

It's a nice looking lathe. Should give you good service.

Joe

 

[Shrek]

I'm talking with the instructor he said everything ran well but the feed selector dial. It worked but was very stiff and didn't always get the right gear. They were using vice grip pliers to hold and turn the selector. If anyone knows these machines has an idea of what I should look for when I crack open the gearbox please speak up. Fortunately they included the manual so I have the breakdown.

 

[Shrek]

No change gears or any other accessories. I'm going to have to buy a chuck and make a front and back spider for working on barrels. I'm thinking a four jaw independent is all I want. There the Bison four jaw scroll/ independent chuck but it's really expensive. Also need to track down a steady rest.

 

[jdh47]

There is a YouTube thing on that. Mine is a PITA also. They use a set of plastic cams that the knob controls via a bevel gear. Over time oil will slightly swell the cams making it hard to select the correct position. Use no wrench! FORCITS are bad for machines. You can rotate right till it goes no further then go around the other way. The dial has eight positions.

I have not had the time due to a recent move to take mine apart but the fix is to skim about .010 off the outside of the cams and reassemble.

Joe

 

[jdh47]

The gears can be made. They are 1.5 mod gears since it is a metric machine. There is a gear shop in Midlothian TX. That is quite familiar in making them. That's apparently the first thing to throw away on a new lathe.

No fear.everythings good.

Joe

 

[Shrek]

THANK YOU JOE ! Knowing what to look for AND the fix is a huge head start !

 

[hoz53]

THANK YOU JOE ! Knowing what to look for AND the fix is a huge head start !

I know chucks are expensive and it's tough for a home shop guy to spring for them but I think you'll find for general purpose work that doesn't have to be really accurate a 3 jaw scroll chuck is so much handier. If you're like most you'll probably want both eventually. Also for me when I was just starting there were plenty of other things I was trying to figure out and it was better to not have to worry about dialing in the chuck all the time. That said if a guy only want one chuck a 4 jaw will do whatever you need. Good luck with the lathe.