Webb/Takisawa TSL-800D, curious if there are other owners here

It lives! Not knowing which group of wires I had, it turned out I had the low speed ones. I'm going to try and load a video.


I am very pleased with the initial test. I'll wire the high speed and set everything at that point for parameters.

Mark
 
In the spirit of Halloween just around the corner, I'm reviving this thread from the dead to chime in as another Takisawa TSL lathe owner. Mine is a Yuasa branded machine that I am currently in the process of tearing down to clean off 30 years of grease, grime, crud, swarf, sweat, and whatever else is caked on it. I swear it has never been cleaned in its life.

My first question is...does anybody have a picture of a follow rest? It seems they are extremely rare and I would like to make one at some point for my lathe.

OP, any other updates to the rebuild project?

Thanks!
JJ
 
After seeing Paul Debolt talk about his
I became interested as there was one for sale a few hours from me.
It has been for sale for a very long time, asking price is probably too high, $2795. I may go look at it.
 
That's a great video, thanks for sharing it!

I haven't really tested mine out thoroughly before beginning the tear-down for cleaning, but based on its weight and the design, I really like it (in theory) so far. Hopefully it will be worth the time I am taking to clean it all up. I just can't afford a decent quality new/recent lathe. My previous Enco 12x36 was crappy.

My next step I am contemplating is removing the apron to deep clean it. That's big step for me as it would involve removing the lead screw and drive rod, or at least removing the bearing pillow block at the tailstock end and sliding it off...something I have never done before.

JJ
 
Well, now I can say I have done it. It was actually quite easy. I used a 2x4 resting across the mounts for the carriage stop rod and mounted it using those threaded holes. The apron rested nicely on it with a little plywood shim. I drove the tapered brass pin out of the lead screw, drove the roll pin out of the drive rod, removed the three socket head cap screws holding the pillow block onto the side of the bed, then gently pulled the block away from the bed (it had locator pins) and slid it off the end of the screw and rod. Finally just pulled the screw and rod out from the apron.

Now that I have it broken down this far I am trying to resist a strong urge to repaint the damn thing. I certainly wasn't planning on a full restoration, but it could use a coat of paint (and some bondo).

JJ
 
Greetings,
I just joined the forum, but I'm not new to machine work. I recently swapped my 14X60 lathe to go to a "smaller" 14X32 (at a svelte 2500lbs). This little diamond in the rough, is a Takisawa TSL-800D imported by Webb in 1979. I have been surprised at how little discussion about these lathes exists. I spoke to Webb and they said they had imported 3500 of them until 1985. They were also imported by Yuasa and one or two other names and I have no idea how many more that accounts for. It's built like the proverbial brick outhouse and if I ever meet the engineer that drew up the plans, I'll kiss him! It is one of the most sensibly assembled machines and everything goes together logically for easy maintenance. The company got its start in Japan, but moved production to Taiwan in the 1970's.

As seems to be typical, this one was suffering from paint lifting from the underlying filler and casting, so since I hadn't any pressing need to put it into immediate service, I have torn it down for paint and maintenance. Once I got below 38 years of grime, I am finding all of the surfaces to be in extremely good shape with virtually no wear. What it lacked in cleaning was offset by being kept well lubricated. The only item I have yet found was a slight noise from the front bearing on the 5HP, two speed motor. A set of premium bearings set me back all of $59 with shipping and should be here today. I also have gotten three new panel switches as the originals look a bit hammered, however I found out current 30mm switches are a tad wider than the originals and a bit of cast iron will need to be trimmed back for clearance.

I am almost done with paint removal and will be reapplying body filler to keep the smooth finish. I had planned on a mundane coat of Battleship No.5 which I have in alkyd enamel, however, the evil squirrels told me I need to paint it Deutz Spring Green. I located a supplier that will ship some "evil" alkyd enamel industrial paint to earth conscious California. Oddly enough, you can purchase 3 one quart cans, but 1 gallon is banned (high capacity assault paint?) I have taken photos up to this point, but can't access them from this computer, so I will add some later.

If there are other Takisawa owners out there, chime in and say hello. I'm starting to think the lack of info about these lathes might be because they are new enough and stout enough to still be in active service with large facilities and not many have leaked into the hands of hobby/small shop environments. There are a few that turn up on Fleabay, but fairly uncommon. Even on the Practical Machinist forum there is little to be found, other than positive comments about them. So if you have one, let your presence be known and let's hear your story.

Mark
 
Crank I know this is a ole post & I just found it & this form. I have a Webb/Takisawa TSL-800D lathe I bought new in 1978. Great lathe but
I need to ask you about where to get a magnetic starter relay for mine?

Fly
 
Crank I know this is a ole post & I just found it & this form. I have a Webb/Takisawa TSL-800D lathe I bought new in 1978. Great lathe but
I need to ask you about where to get a magnetic starter relay for mine?

Fly
Fly,
For some reason I had no idea that anyone replied to this thread a few months ago, but your post notified me. I'm drawing a blank on what you need. It looks like you just PM'd me.

Mark
 
JJ,
Glad you made progress. If I were to give one belated piece of advice, it would be to avoid stripping the finish unless there is no way to avoid it. I have run the lathe for a number of projects here and there, but I still need to finish programming the features of the VFD and I need to make some block-off plates for where the old controls originally were. I did discover an oil leak, which turned out to be a bolt hole drilled in the side that went into the open area of the headstock and only leaked when the RPM was high enough to sling oil out. Sealed the bolt and no more leak. This is the smoothest cutting lathe I have owned to date and after finding a 6" Bison chuck, it's easy to do small work on it. One day I'll tidy up all of the little details, but for now it's just a pleasure to operate.

Mark
 
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