Enterprise El-2 Help Needed

lowlife

lowlife

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I am a total noob as you will be able to tell soon enough, I just dragged home an Enterprise EL-2 lathe. I am looking for an instruction manual. I have searched far and wide for one with no avail. I thought I would try all avenues before posting. I just heard back from a company in India that can replace nearly any part I need but has no manuals. I would be more than happy to buy one, I am not asking for free.

As a second option if anyone has experience with this lathe and can tell me what the knobs, dials and levers are for and how they work that would be great as well. I would prefer not to shove lever "B" forward before putting dial "A" in the upside down position and taking out all my gears in the process. I have/am disassembling most of it to clean and inspect it, while doing so I am also trying to see what lever is doing what to what, it helps a bit but not enough. If this is a "if no pics posted then it didn't happen" forum I will be happy to post pics ASAP. TIA. JK
 
Please post pictures. Enterprise (I assume this is one of the Mysore Kirloskar machines) made quite a few mid-sized machines (say 13" to 22" swings). I've had one of the 1550 machines for quite a few years - I like the machine. It is not a heavy pattern delux machine, but a very servicable commercial product. The knobs/dials/levers on my machine are pretty much the same as any typcial gear head (the different manufacturers like to move the controls around, but they all do about the same things). I'm sure you won't have trouble sorting things out.

The only dealer I know of is HH Roberts in Canada (you can try Modern Tool, but I think they dropped the line years ago).
 

Attachments

  • Enterprise 1550 Brochure.pdf
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Will get pics ASAP. I don't have any online storage account so I will need to register for one.
 
Hi LL,
That is a nice looking machine. I see you have posted on HSM as well, and there is a good chance you'll get some helpful information. It looks like the main info you are looking for is the feed/threading chart. Making a replacement is a very reasonable project. There are numerous posts on different approaches on most of the web sites that cater to the home machinist. I made one for my milling machine (I used MS Paint, then printed onto a self adhesive transparency, then made a new plate from a scrap of sheet aluminum) - not the same as the original, but looks great.
DSC02653.JPG
 
I have an Enterprise EL-2 Lathe. I was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions for me?
I bought mine needing some repair.
what i'm wondering is right now i do not have reverse (cannot get the spindle to turn backwards) i've looked all over and traced wires, to me it looks like the handle on the apron is what would turn the spindle on in reverse (push handle down for clockwise rotation,Reverse. and pull up four counterclockwise, forward)
it works if i pull up to get a counterclockwise rotation.

What i find odd is that there is not middle notch on this handle(neutral if you would). so you would go straight from forward to reverse without stopping the spindle.

is this correct?

Thanks, in advance.

-Jim
 
walser said:
I have an Enterprise EL-2 Lathe. I was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions for me?
I bought mine needing some repair.
what i'm wondering is right now i do not have reverse (cannot get the spindle to turn backwards) i've looked all over and traced wires, to me it looks like the handle on the apron is what would turn the spindle on in reverse (push handle down for clockwise rotation,Reverse. and pull up four counterclockwise, forward)
it works if i pull up to get a counterclockwise rotation.

What i find odd is that there is not middle notch on this handle(neutral if you would). so you would go straight from forward to reverse without stopping the spindle.

is this correct?

Thanks, in advance.

-Jim
Click to expand...
Sort of (how's that for a clear definitive answer?). I cannot really speak to the EL-2, I have never seen one, much less worked on one. On my 1550 (and the two other 1550 that I have seen are the same arrangement) the control down on the lower right of the apron is only of "On" rotation. It is the only "On" switch and it is not set up for shutting the machine off. Mine is spring loaded so I push down for forward rotation (the handle then returns to the mid point but the seal in contact keeps the machine running). If I pull up I get reverse rotation (again momentary with a seal in contact). The machine is rated for "instant" reversing - if you wish to call it "instant". Of course you have to use some common sense when instant reversing that there isn't too much inertia. The manual gives some sort of a recommendation on what speed limitation is okay to use the hard reverse. I very rarely use that feature (sometimes when metric threading - depends on the set up).

I agree that an apron "Off" button would be nice. I often use a light tap on the foot brake, just to drop out the contactor - that works fine so I have not bothered with making some other set up.

Hope that helps. David
 
It's looking like somone may have changed my setup a little bit then, I'll just have to wire in a reverse switch. Thanks everybody!
 
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