19-12-2013, 09:09 AM
Hi,
Thanks Gary for your excellent advice regarding viewing a Boxford lathe before I buy it. Many of these lathes are ex-school and advertised as in good condition; Oh yes; sure; lots of novices dropping chucks on beds and running the tooling into the chuck; much better a one owner lathe if possible but as you rightly say; view before buying.
When I recently bought the Graduate I was offered the chance of hearing it under power which I declined; these Graduates are tough lathes and a visual inspection was good enough for me to realize I could rebuild it to a high standard; with dirty grease oozing out of the head-stock bearings it was obvious work and parts would be required but this isn't a problem to me. I had been informed when I sent my offer of full asking price that the Graduate had been sold. A short while later I received a second reply saying the Graduate was once again for sale if I was still interested? I believe the first buyer pulled out after hearing the lathe under power because when I powered it up at home it was very rough indeed. Not many will take on this kind of project and to have a lathe rebuilt professionally is expensive and justly so given the amount of labour involved. I have ended up with a top class upgraded Graduate at a very fair price and with lots of very expensive tooling thrown in for free.
An engineering lathe though is totally different to rebuild taking a great many more hours and involving a lot of expense; just having the lathe bed re-ground is eye wateringly expensive; this is why I decided to let both my Myford's go at a huge loss; a good decision as it turned out.
Spraying your TX shrouds as you say Gary should have been easy and of course it is once they are prepared and given a decent spraying day (rare). If you are suffering from poor gloss Gary whilst applying the top coat may I suggest you simply spray over with "Clear Gloss" this should give a mirror finish and is what I do if a top class spray job is needed; I'm not a fan of spray cans because they are expensive and the paint is like water but for small projects they are ideal; I've bought many spray cans of grey undercoat and black gloss from Poundland and always have a number of cans in stock; I also now buy the bigger 400ml cans when I visit Rufforth Auto Jumble as these only cost around £2.50 each.
The UK is not a place for home workshop spraying; I've got compressors and assorted spray guns but can seldom use them. You mention Gary painting with the garage doors open? A few weeks ago I had a terrible time whilst brush painting the Graduate; garage doors open; no way; I even had to place wooden battens at the base of the closed doors to prevent the blast of wind blowing me over; add to this not only terrific wind but lashing rain bouncing off the doors and all in the usual black hole. I've since installed lots more lighting so at least I'm in with a chance in painting this bandsaw; snow is on its way so I should feel at home in the garage because many of my projects are done during adverse weather conditions.
http://www.paragonpaints.co.uk/Customer-...de=preview
Everyone who has to date seen the restored Graduate thinks it is spray painted but in fact it is brushed and the paint I used took some tracking down but was well worth the effort; due to the cold weather I had to thin the paint to make it flow but once I got it right it went on very well indeed. Using this Paragon paint Gary I found absolutely no adverse effects in using it in the garage with the doors closed; I didn't even notice the smell; I'll be using the left over paint from the Graduate which is Code RAL9001 Cream/white.
I'm with you Gary in that "good enough" is inferior and just knowing something isn't quite right upsets me until I put it right to my full satisfaction; if we are going to the time and trouble to restore something then the only difference between a mediocre job and a first class job is a bit more time and patience which many people lack but think it's something we have in abundance? I'm my own worst critic.
I'll have a quick pot of tea then I'm off to collect a stock of round BMS before the snow hits us?
Kind regards, Col.
Thanks Gary for your excellent advice regarding viewing a Boxford lathe before I buy it. Many of these lathes are ex-school and advertised as in good condition; Oh yes; sure; lots of novices dropping chucks on beds and running the tooling into the chuck; much better a one owner lathe if possible but as you rightly say; view before buying.
When I recently bought the Graduate I was offered the chance of hearing it under power which I declined; these Graduates are tough lathes and a visual inspection was good enough for me to realize I could rebuild it to a high standard; with dirty grease oozing out of the head-stock bearings it was obvious work and parts would be required but this isn't a problem to me. I had been informed when I sent my offer of full asking price that the Graduate had been sold. A short while later I received a second reply saying the Graduate was once again for sale if I was still interested? I believe the first buyer pulled out after hearing the lathe under power because when I powered it up at home it was very rough indeed. Not many will take on this kind of project and to have a lathe rebuilt professionally is expensive and justly so given the amount of labour involved. I have ended up with a top class upgraded Graduate at a very fair price and with lots of very expensive tooling thrown in for free.
An engineering lathe though is totally different to rebuild taking a great many more hours and involving a lot of expense; just having the lathe bed re-ground is eye wateringly expensive; this is why I decided to let both my Myford's go at a huge loss; a good decision as it turned out.
Spraying your TX shrouds as you say Gary should have been easy and of course it is once they are prepared and given a decent spraying day (rare). If you are suffering from poor gloss Gary whilst applying the top coat may I suggest you simply spray over with "Clear Gloss" this should give a mirror finish and is what I do if a top class spray job is needed; I'm not a fan of spray cans because they are expensive and the paint is like water but for small projects they are ideal; I've bought many spray cans of grey undercoat and black gloss from Poundland and always have a number of cans in stock; I also now buy the bigger 400ml cans when I visit Rufforth Auto Jumble as these only cost around £2.50 each.
The UK is not a place for home workshop spraying; I've got compressors and assorted spray guns but can seldom use them. You mention Gary painting with the garage doors open? A few weeks ago I had a terrible time whilst brush painting the Graduate; garage doors open; no way; I even had to place wooden battens at the base of the closed doors to prevent the blast of wind blowing me over; add to this not only terrific wind but lashing rain bouncing off the doors and all in the usual black hole. I've since installed lots more lighting so at least I'm in with a chance in painting this bandsaw; snow is on its way so I should feel at home in the garage because many of my projects are done during adverse weather conditions.
http://www.paragonpaints.co.uk/Customer-...de=preview
Everyone who has to date seen the restored Graduate thinks it is spray painted but in fact it is brushed and the paint I used took some tracking down but was well worth the effort; due to the cold weather I had to thin the paint to make it flow but once I got it right it went on very well indeed. Using this Paragon paint Gary I found absolutely no adverse effects in using it in the garage with the doors closed; I didn't even notice the smell; I'll be using the left over paint from the Graduate which is Code RAL9001 Cream/white.
I'm with you Gary in that "good enough" is inferior and just knowing something isn't quite right upsets me until I put it right to my full satisfaction; if we are going to the time and trouble to restore something then the only difference between a mediocre job and a first class job is a bit more time and patience which many people lack but think it's something we have in abundance? I'm my own worst critic.
I'll have a quick pot of tea then I'm off to collect a stock of round BMS before the snow hits us?
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
