Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Quite remarkable Rohan!

Having seen your photos I just had to do copy-cat, you will surely see the similarities of our gear.

Could we be Antipodean Elan.net Cousins

Cheers
John

I think you workroom looks a little more organised than mine

GrUmPyBoDgEr wrote:Quite remarkable Rohan!

Having seen your photos I just had to do copy-cat, you will surely see the similarities of our gear.

Could we be Antipodean Elan.net Cousins

Cheers
John

Bless you, John!

Next time I get "GBH of the ear" for leaving something on a kitchen worktop, I'll refer her to your pics!!!

Have no fears guys; I've just moved in & have just about organised my new Hobbyroom.
It'll look a bit different when I start making swarf & pulling geary, pistony bits apart.
The garage is also looking pretty tidy, but it's early days; lots of bits need fixing on the Elan over the winter (not, of course the Zetec), so chaos anticipated & parts may wander into the conservatory, there's lots of light in there;

Cheers
John

Hi Dave,

Lots of good ideas so far, as with everyone else I would add another item...

Try an engine hoist. In the middle of a rebuild and a secondhand hoist has come in useful.

Enjoy

Brian,

I don't mean to be mean but a hoist is not quite a machine tool!

Very usefull, but not a machine tool.

I was also meaning a pillar drill rather then a bench drill (drill press?), too, if you can afford the space.

So, if we are doing workshop pics now, then........


Just getting it sorted then, looks typically workshoppy now!

Thanks to everyone that shared their opinions on this. Circling back with an update.

After doing a pro/con list for each option, I went with the budget/space friendly choice of a 3-in-1 machine. I know, I know, total compromise piece of crap that won't do anything right. But for better or worse, I've determined to learn that lesson the hard way. Hopefully I can at least build some skills along the way and an understanding of what I'd like in better quality machines some day in the future.

What I now own is a great hunk of iron from the People's Republic of China. Still need to find/build a bench for it, so it sits on the garage floor for now.



Got it with tooling, tailstock, quick-change tool post and vise. I'll be back to report when I've actually made something.

Again, thanks for the input,

Dave

Well done, that man!

Amongst all of the confusion you bit the bullet & bought what you had in mind.
Looks like it needs a bit of tidying up & when you've got it on to a bench you'll be able to join those of us who enjoy making swarf.

Hope you also got a 3 jaw self centering chuck with it.

Enjoy your new toy!
John

Ah yes! Thanks for reminding me, John. I did get a 3-jaw chuck that I don't believe has ever been installed.

You're right that it needs some tidying up. I'm desperately trying to keep myself focused on the car, rather than the new project of "restoring" a cheap machine hardly worth the effort. Wipe off the filth - Yes. Disassemble, strip, repaint - NO! (I'll have to keep telling myself this.)

Many items, like the chuck currently installed, have surface rust on them. They aren't bits you'd typically paint. Suggestions on how to best remove the rust and prevent it's return? Steel wool, then light oil? Not sure I've had to address this issue before.

Thanks,

Dave

Yes steel wool is available in several grades & used with paraffin should do a nice clean up job without being too aggressive.
Be sure to remove all of the residue & then use light oil on everything.
Clean up & smear everything with oil after every job to keep it free from rust if you have rusty fingers like me.
I would advise taking at least the cross slide off for a good clean, lube & adjustment of the slideways (if possible)
You'll be surprised what an improvement a bit of fine tuning can produce.
Your "cheap machine" could well turn out to be a pleasure to use with the right care; after all the basics are there.
It's surprising that only the independent 4 jaw chuck has been use on your lathe; I wonder what the previous owner used it for?
The 3 jaw self centering chuck is the one you should to fit for nearly every job you'll want to do

For what it's worth; I learned my turning "skills????" on a primitive, smaller & much older lathe than you have.(no such luxury as a 4 way toolpost etc.)
I managed to make throttle bodies for model aero engines; tungsten darts; removed the cam lobes & shortened twincam jackshafts on it.

"Where there's a will there's away"

Happy swarf making
John

<Many items, like the chuck currently installed, have surface rust on them. They aren't bits you'd typically paint. Suggestions on how to best remove the rust and prevent it's return? Steel wool, then light oil? Not sure I've had to address this issue before>

Scotchbrite pad and paraffin or mineral spirits works well for cleaning. I keep a jar of EP90 and a paintbrush next to my lathe. A quick dab all over after I use it. I found light oil ran off the vertical surfaces too quickly.

Great ideas, gents. Thanks.

Joh

GrUmPyBoDgEr wrote:
"Where there's a will there's away"

John

John, don't you mean "Where there's a *mill*, there's a way?"

The machines' PO was a 65 year old machinist that's been in that trade for 35 years. I'm sure he always had access to top notch equipment, but wanted something affordable for little jobs at home. He claims to only have used it for 5 or 6 jobs over the 15+ years he owned it. Much like an Elan, it's probably suffered far more from disuse than abuse.

To your point about what the benefits of a good cleaning, I bought the unit at a very low price, partly because the electric drive motor was suspect. It would labor for 30-60 seconds, never really getting up to speed, then tripping a breaker. The PO thought it was probably the capacitor, and a relatively easy/cheap repair that I could handle. He's a really decent chap, and he promised to guarantee the motor if it was something worse than that. So, I took a flyer on it.

After pulling apart the motor, confirming the capacitor was good, having a repair shop look at it, then replacing a suspect bearing, I ran the motor independent of the lathe, and it spun right up and sounded great. I popped it back on the machine, only to get the same laboring and tripped breaker. HA! It wasn't the motor after all. What a dummy I was for following someone's assumption.

The motor drives a series of pulleys that don't use bearings of any kind, just sit on shafts with what was 20 year old glue, previously installed as grease by someone in a Chinese province as Reagan was leaving office. I removed the pulleys, did a quick wipe-down, and Voila!, it works. Just goes to show it's always good to pull back for a moment and see the forest rather than just the trees.

Why did I tell you all this? Oh yeah. I plan to disassemble enough to get it all clean and as smooth as possible. I see why that would be a good thing.

Cheers,

Dave

I'll add a belt linisher to the list and a good polishing set up is also handy. The linisher is def' one of the most used bits of kit I have. Used constantly. A good heavy duty grinder is also a must IMHO....

And..Another awfy handy tool is the little power band hacksaw I bought about 10 years ago too. Again used every day without fail.

Here's something else.. I bought everything three phase and put in a Phase converter from Power capacitors ltd. It will run up to 25hp motors and works very well. No issues with it in over 10 years (what was the noise just then??) + Cheaper machinery and more power.

Keep up the good work boys...

Al'....

There you go John talking about old stuff. My 1939 Southbend. Re furbed in 1946 after its war effort.

I love it. Bit worn but it aint half handy. Mike

OH come now Alex, you really use one of these "constantly"?



Truth be told, I had to Google "belt linisher". Is that a Brit term? I think I might refer to that as a table sander, or stationary stander.

Is the "hacksaw" you reference something like a hoizontal bandsaw?



We had one growing up, and I can see many times in my near future where I'll be wishing I had one, so perhaps I should cross that bridge sooner than later, right?

Dave