Questions?

gasman · 31 Aug 2013

Evening all
Go easy with me as up to now, I only ever turned if I really had to.... but I have inherited my father's green coronet major lathe which is so much nicer than the Perform lathe which I used to have. I have so far turned a wooden dog for my bench and it is all so solid. It came with lots of bits including a Precision Combination Chuck which I have only managed to find out a little about. I did offer it for sale in the For Sale forum but non one was interested. However it actually looks amazing in terms of how well, precise, it seems to be. I wondered if anyone has a manual for this they would be willing to give / lend / sell to me?
Also, I can't see how to do long-boring on this setup - Dad had a lovely handled long augur bit but I can't see how it mounts. On my old Perform lathe I used to be able to remove an 8mm mounting piece from the tailstock end and feed the augur in from there - the tailstock on the Coronet has no such thing - but he must have been able to do it.
Sorry if I am being very dim but would love some help
Thanks alot
Mark

Phil Pascoe · 31 Aug 2013

On my old ML8 there was a fitting like a hollow, threaded cylinder with a cup centre, that screwed through a post that mounted in the toolrest slide. The main downside was that it was easier to use a hollow centre in the tailstock, as the tailstock had to be removed to get it out of the way of the auger otherwise.

shaver01 · 31 Aug 2013

If you have a 5/16" auger, you would normally use this in the tail stock, and this in the head stock.

You would begin with a standard drive centre and the tail cup centre. Bore half way though the work, then reverse the piece and use the 'counter bore drive' to fit into the bored hole to drive the work. Then use the auger to bore through the second half.

gasman · 31 Aug 2013

Thanks guys for your replies
The trouble is I do not think the coronet major tailstock can have any sort of hollow centre - certainly nothing I have inherited would allow that
I think Phil maybe you're right that there is something that mounts on a tool rest which allows the augur to be passed through it
Thank again
Mark

KimG · 31 Aug 2013

I had a coronet elf, that had a separate device that fitted into the slot for the tool rest, it looked like a stem for the slot with a big hex bolt welded to it with a centre that had a sharp edge around the hollow, so you set that to the end of the piece and fed the augur through the hole.

Dunno if the Major is the same, but you might be able to get one second hand.

Jaypee · 29 Sep 2013

Hi, KimG is right. Coronet supplied a long hole boring kit which consists of:
5/16" drill
Jig with bush
Centre finder
5/16" auger
1" counter boring tool with 5/16" shaft
I have a maroon Major that I have just finished restoring and a manual which describes how to use this but is a bit long winded to type up fully on here. Basically you turn the spindle between centres as normal. Then remove and fit the jig with bush into one of the saddles. The centre finder is a 1mt with a long 5/16 shaft point which fits in the tailstock. The jig/ bush/saddle assembly is slid toward the tailstock so the centre finder passes through the jig and into the work. Then the bush, which is really a cup centre, is unwound until it bites into the work. The tailstock is backed out and swung out of the way leaving the work supported by the jig, the auger used to bore to about halfway. Remove work, fit counter boring tool in head stock, turn work through 180 deg. The hole just drilled centres on the headstock drive fitting and the tailstock end is supported as before. You can then drill the remaining half. Sorry if that is a bit confusing! I have an illustrated coronet parts price list and a copy of the manual which would help you identify any parts you have. New to this forum so apologies if I have jumped on to the end of an old thread. You still thinking of selling the chuck?