Hafco AL900A lathe, is anyone able to identify what it really is?

Barry,

Indeed it is, I am being patient.........................
Points about **** noted.
Curiously I have just been exchanging emails with a Hong Kong supplier regarding an electronic part. I had 2 choices, them for AU$21 postage included (dear little sucker) or US seller US$15 plus US$219 postage (I kid you not) via **** Global Shipping. I have encountered this before and it is a consolidator contractor where everything gets sent to a central warehouse, unpacked, shoved in an air container and despatched - when full - which delays things.
Then unpacked at destination country, repacked and posted. They lost a water pump on me a while back, the address probably did not get assigned during the unpack/pack/repack fiasco.
Chinese supplier quoted 22 to 30 BUSINESS days delivery, so they did warn me. But those are the only 2 suppliers I can locate
anywhere for that item. So went ahead thinking they were just being very pessimistic.
They provided a tracking number, so I have been watching it and it spent 6 days being packed! Far out, how can popping something the size of my thumb nail into an envelope take 6 days to pack???
I have upped them about it today and they are very worried I will give them bad feedback. I have told them I don't do the extortion feedback thing like you see so often on Tripwhinger and those other travel sites, I just want to know why it takes them 30 days from China and everyone else 5 to 12 days.
They have just told me it is out of their hands and is a registered requirement of ****. Something to do with the **** "Global Shipping". Groan, not that again.......
So, the point of all this, be thankful for the sellers who somehow have avoided GS and can use normal postage.
In the mean time, I have a large heavy device in pieces on my bench waiting for the **** slow junk from China to arrive.

Providing all goes to plan tomorrow, I can get the lathe, not looking forward to the experience of transporting it in a 6 x 4 trailer ratchet strapped but still on its stand so very high centre of gravity......
Then use lengths of pipe as rollers and travel it from under the strong back in my shed the 15 odd metres to its home spot.
Then to level it.
Then to clean it.
A good distraction from not being able to progress with the project on my bench
 
G'day Doug, sorry for delay, took a a new pic but having trouble loading into computer. managed to take pic from the other day and enlarge it. I hope this is clear and legible.

Yes Doug I'm in Adelaide and I'm happy to help where I can. I've got to say that materials supply here is not brilliant, You've probably heard we've shut down almost all our manufacturing. But I've learned to scrounge. Surely you have a steel merchant in the Hill, some will sell you offcuts and bar ends cheap, they may also sell other types of metal. I'd avoid Bl'ods like the plague, way too expensive. Where do you get your welding supplies from, they may be able to help.

Do you know any of the machinists that work in or for the mines they'll know. Ask the local scrap metal recyclers, some will sell to you, some won't.

Look around for a heavy fabrication shop they will sometimes let your forage in their scrap bins. I've found one close to me here that for a slab of beer a year I can forage in his bins whenever I want, I have picked up some amazing finds, some really big chunks of steel.

Brass, CI and ally are harder to come by. also look for small private machine shops they will often help out. What materials are you actually looking for? Ask them for bar ends that they are going to throw out.

Another good source for high tensile steel shafting is car and truck repair shops, ask for old axles these are awsome steel, you'll need carbide tips to cut them. I found a guy here that makes band saw blades he made me a HSS blade for my little 5 x 5 band saw it cuts these shafts very well.

What are the holders you have for carbide inserts, if you can identify them its easy to buy inserts and HSS tool bits online, you just have to know the style and size. Are the makers numbers on the holders you have still readable if so post a photo. One place here in Adelaide is General tools at Cavan do have a range of HSS tools.

DSCN8095.JPG


DSCN8095 (2).JPG
 
Doug I've found eBay rather infuriating sometimes many of their suppliers will not post to PO boxes in Aust. and its probably something to do with the consolidated shipping. lately I've been buying from Banggood and Kogan The quality of the chinese made stuff is still very variable but I can't fault the shipping if they say 21 days its usually within 10%. Also you are only dealing with one seller and that is Banggood. there is no middleman like ebay.
 
Chinese supplier quoted 22 to 30 BUSINESS days delivery, so they did warn me. But those are the only 2 suppliers I can locate
anywhere for that item. So went ahead thinking they were just being very pessimistic.
They provided a tracking number, so I have been watching it and it spent 6 days being packed! Far out, how can popping something the size of my thumb nail into an envelope take 6 days to pack???

Day 1, accept your e-mail in some random city; create warehouse order form and transmit.
Day 2, order for arrives at warehouse and is placed at the end of the current work list
Day 3, still on to do list
Day 4, finder-worker assigned, goes through 20 acre warehouse looking for obscure part, finally finds part near end of day
Day 5, found part waits for packager-worker
Day 6, package worker packages part and drops it in the post.
 
Bob

Picture is now very clear thanks.

Mines, very different situation these days. Effectively you can't even buy stuff off them, way too much paperwork.

The fabrication place does mostly the heavy stuff, building up bucket teeth, welding railway wagons, RSJs etc. Not anything that is turned on a lathe.

Good point about mechanics. I had thought axle steel would be just too hard to be practical.

See pic of holders, hopefully there are markings under the dust and fluff.

Regards
Doug

G'day Doug, sorry for delay, took a a new pic but having trouble loading into computer. managed to take pic from the other day and enlarge it. I hope this is clear and legible.

Yes Doug I'm in Adelaide and I'm happy to help where I can. I've got to say that materials supply here is not brilliant, You've probably heard we've shut down almost all our manufacturing. But I've learned to scrounge. Surely you have a steel merchant in the Hill, some will sell you offcuts and bar ends cheap, they may also sell other types of metal. I'd avoid Bl'ods like the plague, way too expensive. Where do you get your welding supplies from, they may be able to help.

Do you know any of the machinists that work in or for the mines they'll know. Ask the local scrap metal recyclers, some will sell to you, some won't.

Look around for a heavy fabrication shop they will sometimes let your forage in their scrap bins. I've found one close to me here that for a slab of beer a year I can forage in his bins whenever I want, I have picked up some amazing finds, some really big chunks of steel.

Brass, CI and ally are harder to come by. also look for small private machine shops they will often help out. What materials are you actually looking for? Ask them for bar ends that they are going to throw out.

Another good source for high tensile steel shafting is car and truck repair shops, ask for old axles these are awsome steel, you'll need carbide tips to cut them. I found a guy here that makes band saw blades he made me a HSS blade for my little 5 x 5 band saw it cuts these shafts very well.

What are the holders you have for carbide inserts, if you can identify them its easy to buy inserts and HSS tool bits online, you just have to know the style and size. Are the makers numbers on the holders you have still readable if so post a photo. One place here in Adelaide is General tools at Cavan do have a range of HSS tools.

20180606_164137.jpg


20180606_164155.jpg
 
Mitch

That is as good an explanation as any, sounds feasible to me.

Regards
Doug

Day 1, accept your e-mail in some random city; create warehouse order form and transmit.
Day 2, order for arrives at warehouse and is placed at the end of the current work list
Day 3, still on to do list
Day 4, finder-worker assigned, goes through 20 acre warehouse looking for obscure part, finally finds part near end of day
Day 5, found part waits for packager-worker
Day 6, package worker packages part and drops it in the post.
 
Bob

Never heard of Banggood, will check them out.

Son had a phone issue with other company you mention, a warranty claim is frustrating but eventually happened. Main problem is that they make it impossible to phone them, so everything has to be via email and when they answer.

Regards
Doug

Doug I've found eBay rather infuriating sometimes many of their suppliers will not post to PO boxes in Aust. and its probably something to do with the consolidated shipping. lately I've been buying from Banggood and Kogan The quality of the chinese made stuff is still very variable but I can't fault the shipping if they say 21 days its usually within 10%. Also you are only dealing with one seller and that is Banggood. there is no middleman like ebay.
 
Good news, the lathe is now mine and is in my shed. Still sitting in the trailer, so still to unload.

It came with 4 micrometers, 2 in cases, small and medium. Also 2 smalls, which are unloved, gunked up and lying in the bottom of the drill
bit box.

Now for a stupid question, the oil level is at the bottom of the LHS sight glass, where do I put more in?

For those who would like to see it, attached a photo of the head gears and pulleys.

Would anyone have a threading data plate that even if it doesn't have the same appearance as mine, has the same data?
Bob kindly took a photo of his for me, but when comparing it to mine, the data is different.
As you will see below, parts of the data are not readable.

.
20180615_160911a.jpg
20180615_160924a.jpg
20180615_160929a.jpg
20180606_163920a.jpg
20180606_164125a.jpg
20180606_164155a.jpg
20180606_164137a.jpg
 
Doug, Not sure which sight glass you are referring too. I don't see any sight glass in your pics. Obviously not on the headstock as you've got belts in there. mine is a geared headstock and the sight glass is under the chuck. there is another one on the saddle, but where is yours.

The two small gunked up unloved micrometers are they good brand names, if so they will probably clean up ok, just don't use anything corrosive, that bottle of domestos in your pics is a worry. I'd soak them in INOX similar to WD40 only much better IMHO. or similar. then dismantle and clean.

The "T" type bore hole gauges look ok just a basic clean and put away somewhere clean and safe. All the drill bits can be cleaned up and sharpened and put in a safe place.

Not sure what you mean when you say my thread chart is different to yours. The imperial one is identical, the metric side of yours is too hard to read will need a better photo. The only two numbers I can read are the same, and I bet the rest are as well.

The gears, belts and pulleys all look to be in fairly good condition I think overall you're in luck, especially if the price is right.
 
Bob
1) There are 2 sight glasses on the front of the headstock either side of the name plate. See photo.
20180613_114057.jpg

2) One of the mics is Mitutoyo, which IIRC was a good Jap brand in its day. Bottle of domestos is in photo taken at previous owner's shed, it did not come with the lathe. ;-) INOX I need to look up, never heard of it.

3) Drill bits have a coating of light rust. I will need to go over them with say 600 wet and dry. Hopefully this won't affect retention powers of morse taper?

4) Have found a really good image of what appears to be the full thread chart in a PL-300 CZ1237 manual I downloaded from somewhere. So ignore this question please.

5) The price. I will PM you that. My logic was the following. One of those Port Adelaide landed-on-the-dock lathes costs about $1700, with a bore of IIRC 20 or 25mm and a minimal tool set. You do get a 4 jaw and steady rest etc.
Such things as T bore gauges, morse taper bits, boring bars etc are all add ons to the above, but included with this lathe.
But what really settled me on this lathe was that it has a spindle bore of somewhere around 36 to 38mm (I have yet to properly measure it). As far as I know, a new lathe of this capability would be in the 5 grand price range.
This lathe appears to have done little work, but unloved, so a + and a - in the same sentence.
Added to that, it was in town. Cost to get something like this shipped to BH from ADL, which spans 2 pallet spaces would be at least $300 with all the attendant trucky risks.
 
Back
Top