'38 Pools Special Metal Lathe

[28A]

Hey fellas, newbie here but boilermaker by trade so not new to metal working as a whole.. Have just picked up a '38 Pools Special lathe for doing all the small jobs i need in relation to building my Model A. I got this off ebay quite cheap, drove out and picked it up and once i had it home i gurny'd the stand and then cleaned the whole lathe with paper towels wiping any old oil and gunk off it. Its now very clean and it works great.

Only issues i've found is that as you wind the carriage? I think its called (Still learning the names of bits) up and down the lead screw it has a bit of a tough spot once every rotation of the handle so will look at that.. have wire brushed the lead screw and the gears but there might be something i'm not seeing in there..

Other than that, the saddle i think.. the part under the tool holder that winds left and right had a bit of backlash so i've pulled it apart and will drop it down to the local machine shop and they should be able to make a new screw and i'd imagine they would drill / ream / bush / retap the saddle so it doesn't have any slop and wear in it.

Aside from that.. this seems like a great little machine and an old friend of my old mans who has been a machinist for forever had a look and said it was a great little lathe. Also came with a 4 jaw chuck, a spare 3 jaw that is a big smaller than what it has on it and a single tool holder.

Heres the only pic i have of it at the moment. I had not yet put the tail stock on in this photo but it is on now and works beautifully. The auto feed gears and bracket I have them but will need to make up a spacer or two i think for it.. so will wait until i get the saddle back to be able to get that all sorted and working. I have a few photos from the lathes.co.uk website that gives me an indication of how the gears go on the side.



If anyone has any other pictures of this model lathe or information i'd LOVE to hear it. Have not been able to find anything really about them on the net.

Cheers,

Nick.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

that is a cool little lathe - looks like a jeweller's lathe on steroids Check out www.lathes.co.uk to see if yours is on there or if Tony knows anything about it. That's the best resource I know of.

 

[28A]

I have had a look on there and that is the only information i can find about them at all. I tried having a play this arvo and i don't know if its a mixture of slow feed rate (as i'm currently doing it manually) or that i have not ground the tool correctly (will have another go tomorrow) but the cut it produces is incredibly rough. Also seems like it cuts a little and then pushes the tool away. I don't know what is doing it.

Guess i have a lot to learn here..

 

[mattthemuppet2]

sorry, that was my best shot

Your tool/ work pushing out of the cut could be a bunch of things. Is the end of the work supported by the tail stock with a center? Is the tool on center or slightly below center? Is the tool hanging a long way out of the holder/ tool post? Have you given the tool a hone with a stone/ diamond hone? Try checking out all of those then give it another go. Also start with some aluminium stock too, it's much more forgiving on learners - I've made a bunch of things on my "lathe" and I haven't even touched a piece of steel stock yet. Kinda nervous about it to be honest!

 

[toolman]

Very cool! Good luck with the learning curve, some of this stuff can be pretty perplexing. BTW, welcome aboard!

 

[velofelo]

Hi, i have a Pools Major 4" x20" the cross slide and power feed are separate to the leadscrew, i rebuilt this m/c 3/4 years ago and really like it. if you go to ; www.lathes.co. uk you will find photo,s + info, With the original change gears i could not cut a 26 t.p.i. thread( a must for vintage/classic m/c,s) so converted it to use Myford change wheels.

 

[28A]

sorry, that was my best shot

Your tool/ work pushing out of the cut could be a bunch of things. Is the end of the work supported by the tail stock with a center? Is the tool on center or slightly below center? Is the tool hanging a long way out of the holder/ tool post? Have you given the tool a hone with a stone/ diamond hone? Try checking out all of those then give it another go. Also start with some aluminium stock too, it's much more forgiving on learners - I've made a bunch of things on my "lathe" and I haven't even touched a piece of steel stock yet. Kinda nervous about it to be honest!

I will give all of these a go next time i have a play with it up in the shed. I am thinking the tool itself may be part of the problem as what my old mans friend sharpened up for me looks nothing like the tech info i looked up the day before.. and even what i remember the tool looking like when i made one years and years ago before my apprenticeship.

Very cool! Good luck with the learning curve, some of this stuff can be pretty perplexing. BTW, welcome aboard!

Thanks mate! Yep it sure is. Its frustrating because its like learning a trade all over again and it definitely makes you feel like an idiot haha.

Hi, i have a Pools Major 4" x20" the cross slide and power feed are separate to the leadscrew, i rebuilt this m/c 3/4 years ago and really like it. if you go to ; www.lathes.co. uk you will find photo,s + info, With the original change gears i could not cut a 26 t.p.i. thread( a must for vintage/classic m/c,s) so converted it to use Myford change wheels.

Mate i'd love to see some pics of your lathe. I only have two change gears for mine, along with the bracket and the really small gear so i've gotta figure a way to make them work. I won't be cutting any threads on mine as i would just use a tap and die (or alternatively, would put the tap / die into the tail stock and do it that way) but would love to be able to do the other basics of machinging on it.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

could well be the tool grind or lack of sharpness, though in my limited experience a blunt tool will just rub and smear without doing much of anything. There are a whole bunch of sources online about grinding HSS bits and it's really not that hard to do.

 

[28A]

Well fellas i can safely say the tool grind was most definitely the issue. I reground another to what i believed to be right, gave it a hone as suggested above and wala! It was cutting FAR nicer.

Now my next thing to do is get the auto feed working so that it'll cut a hell of a lot smoother than i will do it manually.. and then i think i'll be onto a winner!