This one has been bolted to a smart wooden workstation with a lamp attached;
Note the tin of Humbrol, to give an idea of size.
Here's the post and bed, used to convert the machine into a mill, and a couple of clamps and spare lathe toolpost;
The original manual was included, along with a usefull looking book (on the left);
And finally a new set of turning tools;
I haven't tried it out yet, but it looks like a well looked after machine which I'm sure will be usefull to me.
I'm actually a skilled turner, I spent 19 years working in various machine shops, but I haven't touched a lathe in about 7 years. Despite my experience using this machine will be a learning curve, being a lot smaller than the machines that I worked on before, the smallest of which was a Harrison M300 (which most hobbyists would find huge). Mostly I worked on Harrison M500 (nice) / Colchester Mascot 2000 (shite) sized machines, although I sometimes worked on larger lathes. At the time I hated turning anything under 40mm diameter, prefering to get my teeth into a nice big billet of EN3 or similar, so using such a tiny machine will I'm sure seem odd!
Paul.
What a fantastic purchase. I've always hankered after a Unimat, although realise that I would only ever use it at a fraction of it's potential. The fact that you are a skilled machinist gives you a massive advantage...I can't wait to see the models you will turn out now. (no pressure...) When I was at the shipyard in Glasgow I would often go and have a look in the machine shop....some of the lathes there would have suited you, they were huge, although they also had a "little" old Myford in the corner.!
ReplyDeleteHi Paul, Looks like a very useful tool to have.
ReplyDeleteI almost acquired a small Myford lathe when I finished work but it needed a lot of work to bring it back in to a half decent machine.
looking forward to seeing some home brew turned components on this blog now.
Thanks for the comments guys.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Myfords, I also own a Myford ML3(?) of 1939 vintage which belonged to my grandfather, who was the man responsible for my interest in small trains. He used it for modelling, for example making catenery for his model club's layout (he wrote an article which featured in the August 1965 Railway Modeller) and he was using it to build a live steam loco. It was passed onto his old model railway club when he died in the 1970s. It saw little use there so one of my uncles who is still a club member re-patriated it. Another one of my uncles kept it in his garage and made motorcycle spares on it before passing it my way. It needs a good service and a new stand, my grandfather made a wooden cabinet for it to sit on but its seen better days and wobbles when the machine runs.
However, at the moment it lives down in Bedfordshire at my Mums (along with my engineering tools), there's simply no room here for it at the moment, we haven't even got room for another shed (the one we've got is full of bikes). One day it will be resurrected, and maybe I'll build a live steamer.
Wow, what a fantastic bit of kit. It would be completely wasted on me but I look forward to seeing what it can turn out in skilled hands.
ReplyDeleteI've got a few little jobs lined up for it already Chas, and I'll be sure to post about them on here.
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