19-02-2014, 01:28 PM
(19-02-2014, 12:06 PM)Retired Wrote: Hi,
Thanks Ted. I'm not an expert on lathes but know my way around one having had lots of practice.
When I worked at Brooks; our Doncaster and Honley factories made the small motors; Brooks headquarters here in Huddersfield where I worked made motors up to 180 frames as did the Electrodrives factory and Guiseley made the really big motors; Bull made the DC motors. Hansen Gears used to add gearboxes to our motors their factory being a few yards away. Inverters were supplied and fitted across the road in No8 works which was also spares and repairs. Wakefield Control Gear supplied all the starters etc. We here in Huddersfield became a central despatch hub handling goods for all of the above; it sure wasn't boring?
Over the years I must have loaded thousands of "phase changers" these being a motor close coupled to another motor as a complete unit; I'm glad I never had to pay for one of these? If it was made by the Brook company then it most likely came through either No5 Despatch or No6 Export departments. What a shame this once huge company has ended up the way it has which of course applies to lots of our heavy engineering; still we are busy with fast food outlets and supermarkets? My only purpose at Brooks was to get rid of the finished product as fast as possible and my teams were always regarded as not adding anything to the motors because we were in distribution; it was so wonderful to be fully appreciated like this?
This old com motor Ted sort of rumbles under power; it works OK but given it's age and me being critical I can't accept a rumbling motor on anything I rebuild even if it is classed as character; I'll possibly convert to variable speed through a VFD unless I can pick up a decent Brook Gryphon single phase motor but I've a lot of work to do first.
Stripping any machine then not touching it for weeks is sure to end up in frustration once re-assembly starts and is the reason it pays to take lots of digital images and draw sketches with notes; what appears so logical upon stripping suddenly becomes very complicated at rebuild; it pays not to rely on memory alone?
I find the easy way for me to align the head-stock is to simply install the chuck which is used the most and chuck a length of round bar stock about an inch in diameter nipping this up tightly leaving four or five inches protruding from the chuck jaws then take a light cut to true the bar; now using a micrometer I can quickly determine how much run out there is and adjust to eliminate this; old lathes and old chucks are usually well worn so using this method gives a true reading; once the head-stock is running true then the tail stock can be adjusted. On my broken Myford I used to quickly align the head-stock for sliding cuts but as the lathe was so worn I then had to re-align if wanted accuracy on the facing cut; a load of hassle but I achieved accuracy (0.0001") on a scrap lathe.
The sun is shining here now Ted and after dinner I'll be wandering into the garage for another session on the Lorch.
Kind regards, Col.
One company in a similar sector that has done very well is Rotork for whom I did a 4-year turnaround job on one of their subsidiaries. By specialising and innovating, they have kept well ahead of competition and expanded to own most of their supply chain. See them at rotork.com
They continue to keep the City happy with a solid performance year after year.
Colin
