Hercus 260 Metal Lathe Manual
A specially prepared Operation & Parts Manual is available for the Hercus Lathe. Australian Hercus 'Model 260' lathes - a late development of the original South Bend copy - used a slightly different arrangement of screwcutting changewheels. The metric version of the lathe, the Model 260-AM with a 3 mm pitch leadscrew and a (metric) screwcutting.
I'll be collecting my Hercus 260 tomorrow and hopefully will have time to take it out of its crate and get it sat in the garage. The concrete floor is steel float finished and pretty flat.
Ive read a lot about levelling the lathe and making sure there is no twist in the bed etc. Don't get me wrong I can see the importance of this, but in reality, how accurate does one need to be in order to achieve good machining tolerances? If the machine weight 300kg - 400kg, and a regular level shows the bed is level both ways, is that sufficient?
Or does it need to be absolutely spot on to the 1/1000th of a mm? Ive seen many 8' - 12' Starrett machinist levels for sale and they fetch big money. Is this what they are for? Assuming extreme levelling accuracy is required and if the machine has 4 anchor points (one in each corner), I would expect to bolt either none to the ground (rely on self mass), or perhaps 3, leaving the highest leg floating to allow for thermal expansion and contraction.
Once the lathe is level, Ive read about turning between centres and adjusting the tailstock horizontally to ensure tapers are not turned. This makes a lot of sense to me. Any thoughts or general words of wisdom in this regard? Level both ways at both ends means you're in with a chance. You may have to juggle shims to get the machine to turn parallel on a chucked test piece. Lathes in ship engine room workshops - level? Lathes in mobile workshops - same problem.
I was given the 12' Rabone Chesterman Level. The vial was broken and I had it replaced at great expense. I purchased the 8' Starret level 30 years ago. If you want to get your lathe installed level - and turning parallel, you can do it with a couple of plastic asian made levels from the local store.The 2 Asian levels are quite accurate enough to carefully set up a machine. A final check with the precision levels shows you've already got it right- so you can skip that. A few 5 deg 'Fox Wedges' and a pinch bar will speed things up. I simply follow that with a precision test piece in the chuck and a DTI in the toolpost.
Then chuck something at least a foot long and take light skimming cuts to check that its turning parallel. Last thing is alignment of the tailstock - they can drop at either end or, all the way all along the foot. Check that your faceplate is flat and running true, then run a DTI in the toolpost across it to check the squareness of facing cuts. Worst case scenario - some idiot has put the head on crooked or tilted - unlikely but it has happened to a lathe that I bought. With your CAD background geometry won't be a problem - a shim here, a wedge there. I started in plant maintenance exactly 60 years ago.
I still install machine tools, and its no biggie. There is no good substitute for a proper machinist level. A carpenters or plumber level will have a bulge in the vile to make levelling a bit easier by increasing the threshold, this makes them unsuitable for levelling to such a close tolerance. I have tried to work around getting an expensive machinist level by trying to level with a ground plate and loose ball bearing. If any thing this technique is even more sensitive than a starret level, but too unruly.
I later got a proper starett level then an import box level, both from ebay. I would be hesitant to place support the lathe with only one leg at the tailstock end. In theory the bed of the machine will naturally straiten it self out with the end free. I have since discovered when scraping the bed ways of my logan lathe that it had almost 4 thou of twist when at rest. How this came to be could have resulted from a fault in manufacturing or more likely being kept out of level for half a century. Which ever the case, most lathes have two or more legs at the end so that if need be you may forcefully straighten the bed. Thanks guys for all the replies.
The lathe is already bolted to the stand with a bolt in each corner, so i'll leave as is. As Nautilus said though, the stand is folded sheet steel metal and it would appear a long way from square, either that or my floor is more un-level than I thought!! So, my plan to level the lathe is. To upturn 4 x M12 bolt's (one in each corner of the stand) and use the bolt head as a contact with the concrete floor and jack each corner up on a nut and washer, then sandwich the stand in-between another washer and nut on the inside of the cabinet. Thoughts on this method please.
Nautilus, I was looking at a 12' Rabone Engineers level, are you saying the Starrett's are the ones to go for and are in some way better than the Rabone? This is one like I was looking at (Looks just like a Starrett, only half the money!). Supporting the machine on bolt heads is not ideal. Operation that cause intense vibration such as boring or intermittent cuts will cause the machine to rattle on its supports.
I tried this once on a floor mounted drill press and found that using large forcer drills caused it to do a tap dance routine. You can find other forum posts where people had either bolted there machine to the floor and placed shims under it, or use adjustable rubber feet. The jury is still out on deciding which is better. All my machine at home are on the rubber feet as are the CNC machines at my college.
All the manual machines there are bolted to the floor with shims. Nautilus, those magnetic levels that you have are no substitute a proper machinist level. They simply do not have the accuracy needed to properly set up a machine tool. Alexander is correct, too, setting up the machine on bolts can result in relatively poor performance. From a mechanical standpoint, those bolts have a relatively low 'impedance'. They will behave as though they are 'squishy' due to high frequency vibrations (such as those induced by spindle rotation) when you operate your machine tool, allowing the whole machine to oscillate on top of the bolts.
The only solution to that problem is mass, and you achieve that by bolting the machine securely to the floor and adjusting with shims. Of course, it's all about the weakest link. I too have a sheet metal stand for my lathe, although it was intended for a larger machine. I could make a super-rigid beefy connection between the stand and the floor, but the stand itself simply would become the setup.
For a smaller machine, such as my 8x12, one can get away with flimsier supports, and I use the rubber feet that Alexander mentioned (homemade from hockey pucks & 1/2' carriage bolts). The real question is, what do you plan to make with your machine? I would suggest getting it set up and making sure that it is secure (more of a safety concern than an accuracy one.), and then have some fun with it.
When you get to the point where you need more accuracy, do a good job levelling the machine. I will point out that when I levelled my lathe & aligned the headstock, I noticed that heavier cuts became much easier to take. Be warned, you can get really carried away with this, casting custom lathe benches out of concrete (search the internet for some of those), or even rescraping your machine's ways to make it as precise as possible! It's important, too, to remember that 'level' in and of itself is not that important. What really matters is that the machine's ways are parallel and in the same plane, with the headstock parallel to them. It just happens that 'level' is an easy reference to measure this alignment.
On a ship, where 'level' is an illusive thing, optical inspection tools can be used to verify the setup of a tool. OK, so type of precision level aside, thought I'd update on how Ive got on. I don't have a precision level, but I do have a combination square.
One of these to be exact: Against advice, in part because I was impatient to get the lathe up and running but also because of the lack of any other level and proper levelling feet I got 4 x M12 bolts and 8 nuts and with the aide of the combination square set about levelling the lathe (on its cabinet) on my steel float finished concrete floor. For clarity I did not adjust the lathe on the cabinet, simply levelled the lathe by adjusting the feet of the cabinet.
I got the headstock end level front to back first, then levelled up laterally using the the front tailstock end foot, then adjusted the rear tailstock end foot until there was no detectable free movement in the tailstock. A quick check front to back on the tailstock end showed the bubble in the same position as the headstock end. In an attempt to check bed twist, in accordance with the Hercus book of Turning, I put a 29mm DIA mild steel bar in the 3 jaw with approx 5 inches protruding, put the live centre in and skimmed & faced the bar. The indicator suggested I had about 0.02mm - 0.03mm runout.
Manual Metal Lathe
Next I removed the live centre and took two fine passes under powered feed and measured the difference in diameter across the 5 inch bar. Measuring with the digital callipers I got 0.04mm difference in diameter. Im not 100% sure now because I can't remember but I think the outer end had the smaller diameter. My technique can still be somewhat improved because Im finding it very difficult to get the HSS exactly on centre. Using an Allen key and the like as a shim is not exactly accurate (Needless to say I don't have any shim-packs)!
Hercus 260 Metal Lathe Manual Pdf
I think I need Santa to bring me a QCTP! My question now is this. With the dimensions noted above, is my lathe level enough?
I think to get it any better Im going to need to focus on centre height cutting and a better, more accurate level. Are you looking for free metalworking projects? You've come to the right place!
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The model A lathe (above) features a quick change gearbox for screw cutting and feed selection and an automatic power feed apron. The gearbox provides 40 screw pitches, the feed changes by shifting two levers in accordance with a direct reading index chart on the gearbox. A further coarse thread from 4 to 7 T.P.I.
May be obtained by transposing one gear in the change gear train. The power feed apron provides powered feeds both along the bed and across through a worm drive and friction clutch. Power is transmitted through a spline machined along the leadscrew, leadscrew threads being used only for screw cutting. A built-in safety device prevents simultaneous engagement of halfnuts and power feeds. Hercus 9' (Inch) Model B - Roller Bearing Headstock Model (BR) shown The Model B lathe (above) has an automatic power feed apron but is not fitted with a gearbox. Power feed rates and screw thread pitches are obtained through a set of conventional pick off change-wheels, arranged in accordance with an index chart on the lefthand end cover. The set of change-wheels provided with B model lathes comprises 13 change gears, one idler and two compound idler gears, the larger gears being cast iron and the smaller ones steel. The model C lathe (above) has plain apron and is not fitted with a gearbox, thus considerably simplifying the machine.
Mini Metal Lathe
A set of conventional pick off change gears, together with an index chart, give a screw cutting range from 4 to 160 T.P.I. And provides 14 feed rates through the leadscrew. No power cross feed is provided. The set of change-wheels provided with C model lathes comprises 13 change gears, one idler and two compound idler gears, the larger gears being cast iron and the smaller ones steel. Is a precision machine tool, built to high standards of accuracy and workmanship, established during more than fifty years of manufacturing experience. Designed to modern principles of safety and compactness.
This lathe is ideally suited for both Industrial and Technical Training purposes. Many years of dependable service with a minimum of maintenance is built into every lathe.
The lathe was supplied in several models to suit various requirements and a wide range of attachments and accessories were available to increase the scope of work that could be performed.