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

Hi Doug,
It looks like there are enough legible numbers to use on the data plate to work out the ratios.
If you take the thread on the data plate that is the same pitch as the leadscrew and the teeth on the change gears you can work out the starting point to calculate the rest. Pretty easy once you get going as most of it is just progression.
Most of the information looks like it is legible so might pay to just make a new data plate. Nothing worse than trying to decipher faded letters/numbers on a Winter night.
Attached is a program called 'Lathe Gears'. Once your ratios are entered into the appropriate place you can find threads that are not on the data plate and it will also tell you what change gears you will need.
 

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Barry. Excellent, thank you. Looks reasonably straight forward other than I need to work out whats in the change gear box. Thanks Doug.
 
Barry. I entered all the data, very straight forward. Any suggestion as to why the programme will not let me save on the first page?
It wants to write to a file named LatheGears.ini. I have installed the programme multiple times, but no file of that name appears. So I created one, that did not work either.
I cannot get the "Calculate Gear Ratios" to work even when I dial it up to 20% error?
So looks like the missing LatheGears.ini file is crucial.

UPDATE:
Figured our the problem the install programme puts everything in the root area of c:\Program Files (x86), but this is a protected area and I would have to open it up to allow disk writes. Probably not a good idea. So I made a new directory elsewhere and then pasted the files into that area. All works good now. I can now input and save my ratios. Looks like there is no magic to be had, my existing cobs won't do 1.5mm laid out the way they are although the programme is telling me to swap the 40T and the 127T. Will investigate that as worth a try.
Doug
 
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Next question. On top of apron/carriage there is an oil filler plug, very nicely marked "Oil". But no sight glass and no obvious drain plug.

So how do I know how much oil to put in there?

None of the manuals mention quantity.

Providing I can find a drain point I will multi flush that too.
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Oh, other success was a magnetic base dial indicator. I was sure from the last time I was around lathes (about 3 decades ago) that they were spring loaded to give a dynamic run out reading. This thing was quite firm and stayed where ever I pushed it to. Hmmmm. Gave it a liberal dose of WD-40 (no INOX yet) and got it working. Chuffed!
It does however want to rest at 20 thou before zero and is at full travel 20 thou after 1". Is that normal?View attachment 269808

Doug, that oil cap looks very similar to one on my lathe that is situated on the front face of the saddle, it also has a sight glass, but then it is a later model. There is another one, smaller on the top of the norton feed box, but no sight glass, the book says to add oil until it overflows. there is an oil reservoir hidden out of sight that the gears dip into and spread it around that way. So I guess your saddle one works the same way.

The dial indicator that hangs at .020" can have one or more of a couple of faults.
1. the shaft is very slightly bent, usually caused by dropping. Look for wear marks on one side of the shaft in that area.Put a very small amount of polishing compoud on it and work it in and out, then clean and lube it.
2. A small amount of dried oil, on the internal gears, or even a tiny splinter of something on the gear rack. Clean out internally, lube and your back in business. Often caused by being opened up in an unclean area.

Fine clock oil is the best to use in these things, any really light oil will do, I again use my trusty inox. also use it on the internals of mic's.
 
Bob
I went looking after reading your email and there is a flip top oiler snuggled up alongside the lower 40T cog under the side cover on the Norton box. It is mounted on an elbow so feeds horizontally into the GCB. It does seem to be an overflow design.
It took probably 10 oil can squirts. But no way to know how much was still in there.
I did see on a Youtube video that some brands have a felt strip with holes in it to drip the oil onto the gears. Seems very rudimentary to me.

It is not that the dial indicator hangs, it now has nice movement over the whole range. Maximum down travel is -.020" and maximum up travel is 1.020". May just be the way it is designed so that you can snuggle it up to the job and apply pressure until it reads 0. Likewise if running an eccentric of up to 1" with 20 thou overrun so that you know that you have overrun rather than think it is spot on at 1" and it actually going over?
 
Did some boring today on mild steel hollow bar.
I had to abandon the axle steel as the 3/4" morse taper drills bounced off it. The material seems to get harder the further out the diameter. The inner 1/2" of the diameter cut lovely, once I changed up to the 3/4" bits, even with resharpening, they would not bight.
Using a carbide insert tool that came with the lathe gave a very squeally experience, so much so I resorted to both ear plugs and ear muffs. Looking at the photos I took to post here, I now see why, damaged point on the carbide insert. Does anyone know why my photos get stood on edge when I upload them?
20180619_161929a.jpg


As the finish was so rough, I changed over to the tool in the next photo.
20180619_161859a.jpg

The result using power feed at a slow rate is below. You are looking at an I.d of about 49mm.
20180619_161948a.jpg

I do have this tool, pic below.
20180619_162042a.jpg


But as it is around 5/16" dia and I need to bore, well, clean up the bore, to a depth of 85mm I do worry it will chatter even worse than the first carbide tool due to flexing.

Criticisms/suggestions etc please?

Regards
Doug
 
Bob
I went looking after reading your email and there is a flip top oiler snuggled up alongside the lower 40T cog under the side cover on the Norton box. It is mounted on an elbow so feeds horizontally into the GCB. It does seem to be an overflow design.
It took probably 10 oil can squirts. But no way to know how much was still in there.
I did see on a Youtube video that some brands have a felt strip with holes in it to drip the oil onto the gears. Seems very rudimentary to me.

It is not that the dial indicator hangs, it now has nice movement over the whole range. Maximum down travel is -.020" and maximum up travel is 1.020". May just be the way it is designed so that you can snuggle it up to the job and apply pressure until it reads 0. Likewise if running an eccentric of up to 1" with 20 thou overrun so that you know that you have overrun rather than think it is spot on at 1" and it actually going over?


All good. Drip feed is sufficient for the application, those gear in the norton box are not highly loaded some chinese lathes use plastic gears.
 
Carbide inserts - are the Chinese ones on ebay ok or cheap rubbish?

They're usually ok for what we do, they'd be no good in a production shop, but for hobby mostly they're good enough.
 
Did some boring today on mild steel hollow bar.
I had to abandon the axle steel as the 3/4" morse taper drills bounced off it. The material seems to get harder the further out the diameter. The inner 1/2" of the diameter cut lovely, once I changed up to the 3/4" bits, even with resharpening, they would not bight.
Using a carbide insert tool that came with the lathe gave a very squeally experience, so much so I resorted to both ear plugs and ear muffs. Looking at the photos I took to post here, I now see why, damaged point on the carbide insert. Does anyone know why my photos get stood on edge when I upload them?
View attachment 270043

As the finish was so rough, I changed over to the tool in the next photo.
View attachment 270044
The result using power feed at a slow rate is below. You are looking at an I.d of about 49mm.
View attachment 270045
I do have this tool, pic below.
View attachment 270046

But as it is around 5/16" dia and I need to bore, well, clean up the bore, to a depth of 85mm I do worry it will chatter even worse than the first carbide tool due to flexing.

Criticisms/suggestions etc please?

Regards
Doug
That axle steel will be softer in the middle, because when it's heat treated the centre doesn't cool as quickly when it's quenched.

Jumping From 1/2" to 3/4" is a big step for that hard material, try 5/8" what speed are you running? is the drill properly sharpened? What are your drill sharpening skills?

Re chatter and squealing. When boring always use the thickest boring bar that will fit, and keep the overhang (stickout) of the bar from the holder to as little as you can get away with.

You will also need to have a very sharp tool, those broken carbide bits are not really good enough. can you dress them up with a diamond lap, a sharp tool can make a world of difference. Also check the gibs on the crossfeed and compound slide, make sure they are as firm as you can without binding. Make sure the compound is wound back so that the tool post is as near as you can to directly over the compound swivel. check that the tool post is locked down tight, sometimes you can get a situation where the tool post doesn't actually sit on the top of the compound but rather sits on the step on the hold down bolt, allowing it to rock.. Check you are running the right speed for the metal and the tool. experiment with depth of cut and feed, increase one and reduce the other.

Check that the tool is exactly on center, what top rake do you have, also front and side clearance, and that the bottom of the bar is not rubbing, Boring is always more critical than outside turning.
 
Here are some photos of a 10 x 24 lathe I bought/restored/sold last year. It is a Kin Shin, which is essentially a clone of the Jet P1024. Note from the photos the main hand wheel, like yours, is on the RHS. From the photo on the nameplate, you can note: 1. it was made in Taiwan; 2. it was built in 1976; 3. it was originally sold in Australia. I bought this lathe from the man who bought it new in Australia and has had it sitting in his shop - unused - for decades here in Georgia, USA. The comment above about the main hand wheel location applying to an English or Commonwealth market will most likely also apply to the Australian market.

This turned out to be a VERY nice lathe. I bought it because it looked like it would be an interesting project to restore (it was), and I sold it because, with two other larger lathes, I didn't think I would miss it much (I did). Wish I had it back.

Yours is clearly a larger version, but I suspect it's essentially the same lathe. As I understand it, in the mid- to late seventies, several Taiwanese mom-and-pop operations were competing for the US/European market. Jet won, and the others simply went away. Since all were acquiring raw parts from the same manufacturer, the assembled units were nearly identical except for cosmetic differences and nameplates.

I have loads of other photos I can send you if it will help. Just send me a PM.

Also, I engaged in a handful of posts seeking information on some restoration issues. Not sure how to attach them here (any counsel from other members?), but I assume you can do a search on my member ID ('tjb') and find them. If that doesn't work, we can try a Plan B. I have noted no appreciable differences between my lathe and the Jet P1024.

Regards,
Terry
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