Pics of my "new" Clausing 4904- soon to be project!

[Buickgsman]

Here are a few pics of my Clausing 4904 that I picked up a few weeks ago. It seems to be in decent shape. Its missing the back gear lever and the original switch is missing parts and hanging there. The plan is to use a 110V input VFD to run it. I am going to do a full restoration on it as well. All of the controls move nice and smooth and the lathe seems tight. There is absolutely no wear on the bed under the crud. I wish it had a larger spindle hole like my Heavy 10, but the lathe is going to be really cool when its done. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!
Bob

 

[Kennyd]

Welcome to H-M Bob!

I see your lathe has the taper attachment-those are pretty rare, nice find!

From the pictures I see, the switch could be fixed easily by making a new shaft that goes through the headstock, I cant see enough of the backgear lever to comment. If you call Clausing with your serial number they will sell you a manual so you can see breakdown of parts: http://www.clausing-industrial.com/index.asp


I wonder if the machine fell over since both the switch and backgear lever are broken? I guess once you start tearing it down you'll get a better idea what what it all needs.

As for the VFD, in the PM you mentioned you need to use 120v to power it and you had a 1HP, 3PH motor. Here is a VFD that would work great for you: http://www.factorymation.com/FM50-101-C.html

 

[Buickgsman]

Hi Ken,
Thanks for the info on the VFD, thats probably the one i will go with. I don't think it fell over as there are no gouges or scrapes. My bet is a problem in the magnetic starter or the switch(and hopefully not the motor). I spent the night making a new backgear knob and hope to have it done this week. If all goes well i will have the Vfd soon too. I'm looking forward to getting power to it.
Bob

 

[Buickgsman]

I purchased a taper attachment for my Heavy 10 on Friday so I figured what better way to try it out than cut a taper! I made this lever assembly for the Clausing today. I had nothing here to compare it to so I winged it. I am thinking I might make another one to get the relationship between the in / out exactly the same. I have the same lathe at school so when we get back to school, I can just copy that one. Anyway, it was good practice using the boring bar and the taper attachment. Not bad for a first try. next up is the VFD that Kenny mentioned and I have to clean the ways up and tighten up the gibs and we should be good to go.

Bob

 

[Kennyd]

Looks like a factory part Bob, nice job!

 

[Buickgsman]

I wasn't happy with the way my first attempt at the back gear lever and knob went so I spent a few more hours in the garage today making chips. I ended up with this final version. I was able to increase the taper a bit so it more closely resembles the factory piece and I got all the relationships perfect between the lever, the set screw, and the detent. Also, the detent works way better on this part. As soon as I put it on i could feel the detent click in. I have to admit---I literally stood there for like 5 minutes clicking it back and forth. Then I made my wife come look and clicked it some more. She admitted that ":man:" - and then rolled her eyes. I'm pretty pleased with it. I also wiped the spindle and one of the gears with a rag with brake cleaner on it and was pleasantly surprised by the shine. This should clean up pretty easily.

Bob

 

[Buickgsman]

I made a post in the electrical issues section of the forum about some problems I seem to be having with the VFD I just purchased for the Clausing. If anyone knows anything about VFD's, can you check out my post? I could use all the help I can get.

Thanks!
Bob

 

[Kennyd]

Thread here: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/12527-VFD-wiring-issues-Please-help

I just replied...

 

[architard]

Very jealous of that taper attachment. Any chance you could take some detail photos and measurements of it if one of us 4900 owners wanted to fabricate a homemade version?

 

[Buickgsman]

I confirmed the VFD was wired properly and looked at the parameters mentioned and fired it up and it did improve slightly but it did throw a code and stalled. I called tech support which was fantastic and he informed me that the VFD is only good to around 3.2 amps. My 1hp motor is 4.2 amps so it is drawing more than the drive will allow. SO, it looks like I need a new motor. While it was spinning at full speed I did notice that the bearings are a bit noisy. I had put oil in the cups a few weeks ago and sun it, but they were empty again today. Any suggestions on quieting down those bearings? Once I decided the 1hp motor in the lathe was too amp hungry, I wired the VFD to a 1/2 hp motor I had laying around and it worked great so I know the VFD is good and I am looking forward to getting a proper motor mounted up.

I can probably get some measurements of the taper attachment, but it probably wont be until next weekend...


Thanks for all the insight with the VFD!
Bob