# Offshore Metal Lathe



## Anonymous (Mar 12, 2010)

Some of you may be aware of a recent problem that occurred with my 14" x 40 metal lathe, the company was quick to send replacement parts. The repair is underway.

The quality of the new gears surpasses that of the OEM in that they show evidence of heat treatment, the faces finely ground as opposed to the rough looking OEM gears. Will have to perform a Rockwell hardness test against old and new.

The woodruff key rocks in the slot cut on the cluster shaft, this came about from using the foot brake at high RPM bringing the lathe to a sudden halt, all that kinetic energy from the revolving chuck and the larger gears affixed to the main spindle plus any work piece in the chuck itself had to be displaced somewhere and that small woodruff key took the brunt.

Very efficient braking system on the lathe, they used a set of brake shoes suitable for a motorcycle. To lesson the braking efficiency I have added lubriplate to the brake shoes.

The cluster shaft should have been splined instead of being keyed with one small woodruff, the brake should be relocated nearer the source of kinetic energy the revolving mass of the chuck.

Re and Re of the gears and shafts do have some surprises, luckily I worked in an shop rebuilding automatic transmissions long ago and learned a lot about hidden set screws and snap rings. Other than having a to efficient braking system the lathe is well built and suitable for the hobbiest or the more robust machinist willing to adapt to how the machine is operated.

Glad that I was able to carry out the repairs myself, as I have learned the weakness's of this lathe and now know how to accommodate them, would I purchase another yes. The manufacture was very quick to send the necessary parts with out question sent everything on my list, once the youtube video had been reviewed by the powers higher up the food-chain.


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## Irons (Mar 12, 2010)

I'm glad you were able to get that straightened out. It bummed me out thinking about it.


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## Anonymous (Mar 12, 2010)

Irons said:


> I'm glad you were able to get that straightened out. It bummed me out thinking about it.



Remember the old Brylcream television ads, a little grease goes a long way, or was that a little dab will do ya. Putting grease on the brake shoes worked, the lathe does not come to a halt so suddenly anymore. 

Had the lathe running for the first time since the tear down, it starts much easier and sounds good. Now to run it for a day then recheck the pre-load on the taper bearings.

ttys
Gill


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## Oz (Mar 13, 2010)

I am glad it worked out for you, and yes grease does wonders to brakes. Your Achilles heel will always be that drift key instead of having a splined shaft. It may be a limitation for you yet not a problem as you are aware of the limits of your machine after being forced to become intimate with it by rebuilding it. A mixed blessing.


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