Arundel E5 lathe questions

[WoodMangler]

Gentlefolk,

I have an old wood lathe I picked up at a local auction for a fiver a couple of years ago, and I'm finally getting round to putting it together. I've found a maker's name 'Arundel', and a look at the 'lathes.co.uk' site indicates it's an 'E5' model (http://www.lathes.co.uk/arundel/index.html about 1/2 way down). It's a bit rusty but I don't think there's anything disastrously amiss with it - although I suspect that getting the faceplate off, and shifting the centres in the headstock and tailstock might yet prove me wrong... (Edit: To my surprise, they all proved easy to remove.)

I do, inevitably, have some questions...

1) It has a 4-step pulley in the headstock, but I don't have the corresponding pulley from the motor - can anyone suggest a likely source of such a thing ?

2) The headstock spindle spins smoothly with very little lateral play, but has a considerable amount of along-axis play - how do I adjust the thrust bearing ?

3) What's the best oil to use in the wick-feed oilers for the plain bearings ?

4) Does the separate bowl-turning attachment ever appear on the open market, or are they like hen's teeth ?

5) Is there a manual or handbook available for this lathe ?

I've tried to attach a couple of pictures, one of it's general condition, and a detail of the headstock pulley.

 

[WoodMangler]

Bump ??

 

[dickm]

1) It has a 4-step pulley in the headstock, but I don't have the corresponding pulley from the motor - can anyone suggest a likely source of such a thing ?

2) The headstock spindle spins smoothly with very little lateral play, but has a considerable amount of along-axis play - how do I adjust the thrust bearing ?

3) What's the best oil to use in the wick-feed oilers for the plain bearings ?

4) Does the separate bowl-turning attachment ever appear on the open market, or are they like hen's teeth ?

5) Is there a manual or handbook available for this lathe ?

OK, to start the ball rolling.
1. Try your local power transmission/bearing suppliers. BeeLine in Milton Keynes used to be able to get pulleys of all sorts, so I'm guessing similar outfits in other towns are the same.
2. Not sure; possibly look at postings about old Coronet lathes which may be similar.
3. Almost any thinnish oil - someone has suggested their grannie's sewing machine oil, but you'd probably get away with some 30SAE four-stroke oil.
4. Never seen a hen's tooth. Ditto bowl turning attachment for an Arundel!
5. and ditto for handbook.
Sorry if this isn't very helpful.

 

[Blister]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arundel-Wood- ... 43aadd3543


May be an alternative and it has the outboard attachment :wink:

 

[WoodMangler]

OK, to start the ball rolling.
1. Try your local power transmission/bearing suppliers. BeeLine in Milton Keynes used to be able to get pulleys of all sorts, so I'm guessing similar outfits in other towns are the same.
2. Not sure; possibly look at postings about old Coronet lathes which may be similar.
3. Almost any thinnish oil - someone has suggested their grannie's sewing machine oil, but you'd probably get away with some 30SAE four-stroke oil.
4. Never seen a hen's tooth. Ditto bowl turning attachment for an Arundel!
5. and ditto for handbook.
Sorry if this isn't very helpful.

1) - Since found one on Ebay, at RDGtools.
2) - Thanks, I'll start searching.
3) - EP90 Gear Oil too thick ?
4&5) - No great surprise there - but having seen a picture of the bowl-turning attachment, I'm sure I can bodge one up.

...and it's been very helpful actually, thank you.

 

[dickm]

3. EP90. Not recommended - it probably wouldn't flow sufficiently freely. Not even sure SAE30 would be "thin" enough, but it's nearer the spec.

Bodging the bowl turning attachment should be pretty simple if you can bash metal. I fabricated a bowl rest for my old, old Gamages/Coronet out of angle iron and bits of a lawnmower, and it did a great job on a 20" spinning wheel rim.

 

[WoodMangler]

3. EP90. Not recommended - it probably wouldn't flow sufficiently freely. Not even sure SAE30 would be "thin" enough, but it's nearer the spec.
Bodging the bowl turning attachment should be pretty simple if you can bash metal. I fabricated a bowl rest for my old, old Gamages/Coronet out of angle iron and bits of a lawnmower, and it did a great job on a 20" spinning wheel rim.

OK on the oil, I just happen to have some EP90, and nothing to use it in.

I bash metal with gusto, and regard angle iron as a personal friend

 

[TobyB]

It looks very similar to the Arudel Junior I have - my first lathe, that my Grandfather got in 1975 when he retired. I got it after he died ... cleaned it up (I used bicycle oil and WD40 mainly), got a copy of Keith Rowley's book, bought a few tools ... and dived down the slope! I bought a bigger and more modern lathe when the motor died ... but I still have the lathe, and I think that will include the pulley from the motor (when I was looking at a replacement). If it's useful, I can try to find it, measure it up and send you a photo?

Grandmothers and eggs perhaps ... but my lathe was mounted on a base board, and on this was a second base board for the motor, aligned with the pulley unit, and mounted on hinges so it hung off the back at between 20 & 40 degrees (so so) depending on which pulleys were selected with the weight of the motor keeping the belt under tension. Sure there are other ways of doing it, but it was simple and effective for my Grandfather and me.

The other thing I recall was that the thread on the drive was something odd (maybe a British Standard, but not Whitworth) ... I had a couple of face plates and a 1 MT drive but no chuck ... I bought a SuperNova because of the choice of inserts, but none fitted and I ended up taking the faceplate and a blank insert to a local engineering shop to get one custom made ...

Have fun ... I did!

 

[WoodMangler]

...got a copy of Keith Rowley's book, bought a few tools

Me too, for both - Ebay's seen a lot of me the last few days...

...and I think that will include the pulley from the motor (when I was looking at a replacement). If it's useful, I can try to find it, measure it up and send you a photo?

Yes please, I've got one that will probably do, but it would be nice to know what it actually should be.

but my lathe was mounted on a base board, and on this was a second base board for the motor, aligned with the pulley unit, and mounted on hinges so it hung off the back at between 20 & 40 degrees (so so) depending on which pulleys were selected with the weight of the motor keeping the belt under tension.

This is, indeed, my own cunning plan.

The other thing I recall was that the thread on the drive was something odd (maybe a British Standard, but not Whitworth)

Mine is 1" 10TPI BSF.

... I had a couple of face plates and a 1 MT drive but no chuck ... I bought a SuperNova because of the choice of inserts, but none fitted and I ended up taking the faceplate and a blank insert to a local engineering shop to get one custom made ...

Mine came with a very rusty faceplate, 1 MT drive and a 1MT live centre in the tailstock. I have a lot of 1MT drills from an old metal working lathe, and a couple of chucks I could use, for which I can turn backplates on my metalworking lathe (I'm not new to turning, just to turning wood). I'm also going to try and make a LH-thread faceplate for bowl-turning on the other end of the headstock spindle, should be interesting...

Have fun ... I did!

Thanks, I'm sure I will.

 

[TobyB]

Sorry - just spent nearly an hour trying to re-connect or re-register with Flikr that I have previously used to post photo's here ... not prepare to spend any more time being messed about with and rejected ... happy to PM photo's though ...

 

[WoodMangler]

Sorry - just spent nearly an hour trying to re-connect or re-register with Flikr that I have previously used to post photo's here ... not prepare to spend any more time being messed about with and rejected ... happy to PM photo's though ...

Thanks TobyB, PM sent.