Colchester Lathe (1964) Re-furbishment Part 1 

Very pleased to have been able to help.

Do you know if there existed any repair manuals for these machines?

No problem, Despite many thousands of these lathes being built there isn,t a lot of information on how they work so decided to make step by step strip down and rebuild video to help people.

Thank you John, yes it is very much a matter of common sense, these are basically heavy duty Meccano kits, good to know the video will be of help, if you have any questions not in the video,s let me know and I will try to answer them, the only part of the lathe not stripped down was the main head unit as it was totally clean and had no suspect noises and the wear on the main shaft was well within limits, regards to you and hope all go,s well.

@@MrNigel1340 Thanks Doc, I think my Triumph is in quite good condition as there seems to be little wear on the gears or the leadscrew. There's a leak from the output shaft on the back of the headstock so I'm hoping the oil seal can be replaced from the outside without dismantling the whole headstock. The starting switch mechanism is in a sorry state so I'll have to sort that out. I may lift the lathe off it's stand to repair and paint the stand. When one thinks of what the machine must have looked like when it was first delivered it's sad to see it now. Hopefully it's in good hands though, like yours. I will get in touch if I'm stuck, thank you, and perhaps should make some videos for RU-vid, John

Glad to hear the video,s have been of help Tom, that was the idea of making them, very little in depth information on the internet, don,t forget to put up some photo, of the lathe re-build and first shots, hope all goes well, if you need any more information just drop me a line, Kind regards.

Just posted my first photos . Found something common to anything stored in an old barn.

Where are they Tom, I am intrigued now.

Pleased to be of help.

Hi Chris, have just checked my video, you will have to remove both drive shafts, these come out from the right, the lower one is just a roll pin that needs driving out but the top one will need the locking screws loosening and the top row of gears in the box removed, not too bad a job. on mine six allen bolts hold the apron onto the cross slide carrier then the apron can be dropped down, hope this helps, regards Nigel.

@@MrNigel1340 Thanks Nigel, there is a wall on the right side of the lathe. I had to remove the wheel on the tailstock to be able to slide it off. Would removing the rack do it? Chris

@@TheTanfieldKid Hi Chris unfortunately removing the rack won,t help, if you can,t move the lathe it will have to come out from the left, this isn,t as bad as it sounds, take the top and front off the gearbox for better access, remove the top row of gears and the locking nuts, the shaft bushes are held in by allen grub screws, once loose the bushes can be gently knocked out with shaft, a bit of a fiddle but not too bad a job, come back to me if you are still having problems.

If you go toColchester lathe refurbishment part 1 at 7:15 this shows top gear set removal.

@@MrNigel1340 your a star. Thank you for your advice. The gearbox has an oil leak so I think we might as well make a proper job of it and strip the whole thing down. I was envious of the chap. Who did the restoration job, painting his blue. I have restored some motorcycles and a Series IIA Land rover to a high standard and would love a shot at this lathe, unfortunately its not mine. Perhaps he will will it to me one day. Regards Chris

Thanks Jim, I think a lot of the parts are very similar because..."If it isn,t broke, don,t fix it" I have also had problems finding information so decided to make these video,s to try and help other people with Colchesters, There was a fair bit of sludge in the oilways but luckily not much wear apart from one shaft and bush which will be the subject of a later video,

Doc Cox can you recall what you done with the middle bush to get the tumbler gear shaft out? Currently doing same lathe resto. The end plug on my tumbler shaft is well seized, puller not shifting it so will need to draw tumbler shaft out to the left as you did. However the middle bush needs to come left too. What did you use? Thanks again

Hi Nick, this is a constant speed motor and the speed variation is done through the gearbox.

Hi Toby, Every thing on the bed including the leadscrew ran in bushes, the large drive gear for the gearbox also sits on a bush, despite the age only the leadscrew bush in the gearbox had any appreciable wear, this was repaired by turning out the old bush, soldering a brass sleeve in it and then boring to size, still doing tweaks to it but really pleased with it so far.

Doc Cox , The condition of the bushings is amazing! And I was wondering about the feasibility of "re-bushing" the bushings. The amount of dirt and debris was staggering ... and to have so little wear! I have been toying with the idea of buying a round head Colchester but fear of $1000+ of precision ball and roller bearings plus major bed and saddle wear and perhaps hundreds of hours of time were frightening me. Then some have major electrical logic controls too. You say the spindle bearings were brass too? Thanks for your reply!

My pleasure, I did also pull down all the electrical switches and the minimal amount of wear was amazing especially in the large three phase relay, as you can see in the video these can be removed and cleaned, if you get any electrical problems give me a shout and will do my best to help you.

Most of the bearings are bronze or bronze coated steel plain bushes, the only part not pulled down was the head assembly as the oil was clean and runs very quietly.

Thank you for your comment, sorry for the delay, had to look back through my video to re-fresh my memory, once the locking collar has been loosened and removed the castellated locking nuts have to be loosened as well, the lead screw can then be removed to the right through the end bush....7.30 minutes on the video, as my lathe was so close to the wall the lead screw was moved enough to the right to remove the castellated nuts then as I had stripped the whole gearbox down and removed all the bushes the lead screw could then be removed left through the gearbox casing, if this is isn,t clear enough please get back to me and I will try to put it in a different manner, hope all goes OK

Thanks it came out. I have to move lathe away from wall to get shafts out.

Good news Nico, while working on the lathe it is well worth while checking the main starter switch and the crabtree starter relay, these both had oil contamination in them, and the Crabtree starter relay carries the high current, both are explained in my other videos, to remove the front switch panel use two large screwdrivers and prise it out evenly and firmly, once removed it is totally isolated from any electrical current, I had to make an umbilical cord to put power back in to check the circuit.

Thanks but i changed mine to vsd so only use the electricals to start and stop water pump. The rest is on the vsd controls.

Sounds good Nico, Any photo,s of it ? whereabouts in the world are you ? this could be the start of an international lathe community.

Hi, let me go back to my video to refresh my mind.

Have you removed the lowest gear in the left hand compartment and the bushes, once the gear is removed the tumbler shaft can then be moved out to the left , give me another call if you are still having problems.

Luckily it was nowhere near as bad as it looked and cleaned up nicely, have done a few jobs, runs quietly and cuts accurately.