Hi,
I've kept trying to spend time on this lathe grabbing an hour here and there whenever possible but it's been hard going. Some progress has been made but I've been so unsettled I slipped up big style. I've been working on the carriage and when I started on the top slide I was in a panic to make progress before something else went wrong so set about getting the top slide ready to receive new paint and also polish the parts which would remain bare. I made a lovely job of it thinking this will look decent until I realized I had made a good job of painting the underside; anyway I'll now have a Lorch lathe with a beautifully restored bottom to this slide?
Very little has gone right lately; when I removed the masking tape the tape left most of it's adhesive sticking to the carriage items this alone taking well over an hour to remove without damaging the new paint. This morning I spent a while eliminating backlash from the top slide; the screw was easy enough because it ran through a long thread which could be adjusted but where it ran through the casting the retaining collar had become worn which is to be expected given the lathes age. I assembled the top slide in order to measure the backlash which I found using feeler gauges to measure 18 thou. Given just how hard it is to get time on this Lorch I wanted a quick but effective solution which didn't involve lots of setting up and machining. I settled for a shim and no way did I want to play around turning a shim this thickness on the Clarke so I searched the garage armed with micrometer looking for suitable material. The nearest I found was 15 thou being a transformer lamination which is near enough so I made a shim from this; it worked a treat so I then fully assembled the top slide. I've included a picture for novices to this kind of work because it isn't obvious how to measure backlash; one thing I was aware of was that the worn parts would no longer be dead flat which could only be attained by re-machining but allowing the 3 thou worked a treat in this case.
Again for those unfamiliar with lathes; the two items which are threaded are called "Half nuts" these are mounted on dovetail slides allowing lever operation to open and close them onto the lead screw with imparts the drive to the carriage. This Lead screw is the main sliding drive but on this Lorch there is a second long drive shaft which has a full length key-way; this second shaft also imparts drive to the carriage but this being through the adjustable cone clutch so if I'm correct this lathe actually has two drives to the carriage on sliding mode and a single drive to the cross slide in facing mode; the facing drive did not work so I'll be looking into sorting this out shortly?
I then started to clean the apron assembly items and once cleaned they were generously lubricated before re-assembly; then the Virgin Media technician arrived to sort out our dead phone so that was job over for today; believe me when I say this restoration is proving extremely difficult; a desert island would be wonderful with just the lathe and Bron for company; please don't hold your breath in the hope this is going to be a quick restoration.
I think I've started to understand the function of the metal to metal cone clutch though thinking about it as I've studied it during re-assembly. I think this clutch provides "sensitive feed" both to the sliding and facing functions and it appears adjustable by changing the spring pressure from the front control which if I recall is threaded left hand but now I have an idea of what this clutch is for I can test my theory once the lathe is under power; if I'm correct this lathe then is indeed very special? The picture shows the cone clutch. It's looking promising so far and now the Virgin Media phone and router are fully sorted I hope to spend more time with this lathe which I find so fascinating.
Kind regards, Col.
I've kept trying to spend time on this lathe grabbing an hour here and there whenever possible but it's been hard going. Some progress has been made but I've been so unsettled I slipped up big style. I've been working on the carriage and when I started on the top slide I was in a panic to make progress before something else went wrong so set about getting the top slide ready to receive new paint and also polish the parts which would remain bare. I made a lovely job of it thinking this will look decent until I realized I had made a good job of painting the underside; anyway I'll now have a Lorch lathe with a beautifully restored bottom to this slide?
Very little has gone right lately; when I removed the masking tape the tape left most of it's adhesive sticking to the carriage items this alone taking well over an hour to remove without damaging the new paint. This morning I spent a while eliminating backlash from the top slide; the screw was easy enough because it ran through a long thread which could be adjusted but where it ran through the casting the retaining collar had become worn which is to be expected given the lathes age. I assembled the top slide in order to measure the backlash which I found using feeler gauges to measure 18 thou. Given just how hard it is to get time on this Lorch I wanted a quick but effective solution which didn't involve lots of setting up and machining. I settled for a shim and no way did I want to play around turning a shim this thickness on the Clarke so I searched the garage armed with micrometer looking for suitable material. The nearest I found was 15 thou being a transformer lamination which is near enough so I made a shim from this; it worked a treat so I then fully assembled the top slide. I've included a picture for novices to this kind of work because it isn't obvious how to measure backlash; one thing I was aware of was that the worn parts would no longer be dead flat which could only be attained by re-machining but allowing the 3 thou worked a treat in this case.
Again for those unfamiliar with lathes; the two items which are threaded are called "Half nuts" these are mounted on dovetail slides allowing lever operation to open and close them onto the lead screw with imparts the drive to the carriage. This Lead screw is the main sliding drive but on this Lorch there is a second long drive shaft which has a full length key-way; this second shaft also imparts drive to the carriage but this being through the adjustable cone clutch so if I'm correct this lathe actually has two drives to the carriage on sliding mode and a single drive to the cross slide in facing mode; the facing drive did not work so I'll be looking into sorting this out shortly?
I then started to clean the apron assembly items and once cleaned they were generously lubricated before re-assembly; then the Virgin Media technician arrived to sort out our dead phone so that was job over for today; believe me when I say this restoration is proving extremely difficult; a desert island would be wonderful with just the lathe and Bron for company; please don't hold your breath in the hope this is going to be a quick restoration.
I think I've started to understand the function of the metal to metal cone clutch though thinking about it as I've studied it during re-assembly. I think this clutch provides "sensitive feed" both to the sliding and facing functions and it appears adjustable by changing the spring pressure from the front control which if I recall is threaded left hand but now I have an idea of what this clutch is for I can test my theory once the lathe is under power; if I'm correct this lathe then is indeed very special? The picture shows the cone clutch. It's looking promising so far and now the Virgin Media phone and router are fully sorted I hope to spend more time with this lathe which I find so fascinating.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
