Colchester Chipmaster Restoration

Looks like a later one which is probably a good thing. Third gen maybe. Dave
 
TorontoBuilder said:
I was told the clutch and variator were working fine. The company that had it barely used it. I regret not asking them how long they had it. I will be doing so shortly.
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Clausing did a great job of selling these Colchester lathes to schools. You see them in old videos and pictures.
Mine came from a local community College.
In my opinion, a lathe that was in this environment benefited from light use. Heck, schools are open what, 180 days a year??
They most likely will suffer from chuck jaw marks on the compound :)
I know it would depend on the schools instructors and maintenance staff, I would assume these machines had pretty good maintenance.
Very little wear in my 50+ year old machine.
 
Janderso said:
Clausing did a great job of selling these Colchester lathes to schools. You see them in old videos and pictures.
Mine came from a local community College.
In my opinion, a lathe that was in this environment benefited from light use. Heck, schools are open what, 180 days a year??
They most likely will suffer from chuck jaw marks on the compound :)
I know it would depend on the schools instructors and maintenance staff, I would assume these machines had pretty good maintenance.
Very little wear in my 50+ year old machine.
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Same here in canada. School machines are nice. This one seems good
 
I think there were two versions of the Matrix clutch used. I have a few parts for the 2.5 size so it will be interesting to see what model you have. There were two types of wet plates used on lathes that I've seen. The Smart Brown used smooth copper plates and you could feather the clutch somewhat. Colchester ( at least some of the time ) used a rough finish cross hatched plate that grabbed quickly. I have a few of the rough plates if you find those are what you have- providing the size is correct. Ebay-UK is a place to watch for parts. Matrix still sells some clutch parts but as you can guess, very expensive.

Dave
 
Beckerkumm said:
I think there were two versions of the Matrix clutch used. I have a few parts for the 2.5 size so it will be interesting to see what model you have. There were two types of wet plates used on lathes that I've seen. The Smart Brown used smooth copper plates and you could feather the clutch somewhat. Colchester ( at least some of the time ) used a rough finish cross hatched plate that grabbed quickly. I have a few of the rough plates if you find those are what you have- providing the size is correct. Ebay-UK is a place to watch for parts. Matrix still sells some clutch parts but as you can guess, very expensive.

Dave
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Thanks, I'll definitely let you know if I need any.

It is also nice to know new parts are still available.

Sadly the lathe is being "stored" an hour and a half away, so I wont be going as often as I like to work on it. But when I go it will be long days of intense work. I'm a meticulous planner, I like to have every move to the second planned before starting a stage of work. I actually make a statement of work, and acquire all the parts or materials I'll need before I proceed, so when I get to work I can be efficient and more importantly so I dont botch anything.

First stage will be providing temporary power in order to test everything... so a VFD and my spare swiss made CH3855 208v 1.5 kw 3 phase motor will be installed to test the clutch and variator to see what needs work beyond disassembly, cleaning, stripping and painting. That I can do in a single day.

Then I'll assess what new permanent drive train will be installed. I'm leaning 3 HP 3 ph with the variator, even if I need to rebuild the variator. Would there be any benefit of installing a 5 HP motor? IDK.

Step two will be stripping off all the major components and documenting condition of everything. Then testing the paint for lead and determining the best way to strip the machine down to bare metal to prepare for addition of new filler and then paint.
 
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TorontoBuilder said:
In the items that came with the lathe I have a colchester collet chuck, but it is missing a part or I just didn't see it.

@schor who is now inactive posted this photo of a chuck similar to the one I got.... that (former?) member is only a few miles from me... I wonder what happened to the chuck and collets?

View attachment 425954


i'm pretty sure that mine is a Burnerd Multisize collet chuck with D1-3 mount. It takes EC collets. I'm missing the cap that draws the chuck closed. I hope I find that within the stuff, but I dont recall seeing it.

In case I dont see it, I hope someone can provide me with the information I need to make my own
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I did manage to find a set of collets from a vendor, I'm going to buy them and hope that the chuck cap can be restored to its former glory... good thing I have new cylindrical grinding capacity now...

My brother is on the trail of a Colchester variant for himself... can the chuck itself be restored? Time will tell. Truthfully I dont even know if that chuck can be mounted to a D1-4 backplate of the lathe model my brother wants

EC collets.PNG


collet chuck 2.PNG


collet chuck.PNG

I dont think the whole chuck will fit my ultra sonic cleaner. it will also require my whole supply of evaporust
 
I checked my chuck, the box of all the other small things, no chuck nut.

Only two collets, 1/4" and 3/4". I'd thought maybe there were three. They're stamped with size information rather than having black oxide text on them, making them older, likely came with the lathe new along with the dickson tool post and coolant distribution piping.

IMG_20221109_092055741.jpg

I think before I strip the lathe down I will mount this incomplete chuck and regrind the internal taper since the surface could use being a might smoother.

IMG_20221109_091852657.jpg


The collet closer ring is stuck... it does not look to be corroded but who knows. I'll try to turn it free once the chuck has been mounted in the lathe.

IMG_20221109_091902127.jpg


The D1-3 cam studs look to be in excellent condition, so there is that.


IMG_20221109_091908752.jpg


And the original, perfectly fitting wrench is actually with the chuck.

IMG_20221109_092138608.jpg
 
Next up, cleaning the Dickson tool holders (Size T63), first in evaporust, then in the ultrasonic clearner. No pics of this but it is happening as I type this.

I have two holders for small morse tapers of sizes yet to be determined. I have quite a few bolts missing from these, as well as some snapped height adjustment screws so I need to purchase or make them.

From the look of the tool holders they were only milled and hardened but not ground. So I'll grind them all to improve the finish and accuracy.

The tool post itself is L75mm x W75mm xH63mm hence the T63 designation on the holders.



T63 Holder dimensions (mine vary slightly from info I found published) are as follows:

Width Height Depth Slot Height above compound Slot Height Slot Depth
73mm 44mm 32mm 10mm (11) 22mm 14mm (15)
 
Is the tool holder an original Dickson ? I thought they were imperial. There are clones out there and I don't know if metric sizes came later. I do know that the adjusters between Dickson and clones can be different in the thickness of the collar that tightens against the post. Dickson's tended to be thicker than Algra for instance so a Dickson adjuster needs to be ground down to fit an Algra. Dave
 
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