Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

Hi all,

My task for this year is a clock that has been sitting in a tin for a long while..I need to put a new bush?? Into a contrate wheel, I have tried to make a new insert with a piece of holed brass bushing wire drilled and tapered to arbor, but split the bush reaming it out, so needs rebushing, are these bushes off the shelf?? If not, I need to invest in a small lathe, I have looked at the those on ebay for about £450 are they capable/suitable or do I need a proper watchmakers lathe as they do look a tad big for what I want to do, a Boley? Well that Is out of the question....As usual any help greatly appreciated..

IMG_9117.JPG

lathe600.jpg

Posted

A unimat 3 which is what I have for clocks will do that. I have the milling attachment mine There are some good ones on ebay and you can still get loads of extras. 

Posted

I agree with OH, for general clock work it's hard to beat a Unimat. There's also Sherline and Taig, both quite good for clock work with used examples often on Ebay. What makes any lathe useful is the accessories, the 3 makers above have quite a range available, and your best bet is getting something secondhand with a decent set of accessories with the machine (chucks, collets, toolholders, etc.).

Watch out for the newer Unimat, it the model "1", and is made with many plastic parts and nowhere near as good as the old models. In general I would stay away from the ubiquitous Chinese 7x-something lathes.

Posted

  the original unimat, ( the one made in the USA ).  the used ones most often did not have the chuck amoung the accessories.   BUT the headstock thread was 1/2 x 20 inch and a drill press chuck fit and it works like a collet.  vin

Posted
3 hours ago, oldhippy said:

 The original unimat were made in Austria. The Unimat 3 is the one you want. 

images.jpg

   does it have metric or S.A.E.  or metric threads on the head stock?   vin

Posted

I'm not a Unimat guru but from what I've read the early models had a 12 x1mm spindle nose and the later ones 14x1 like OH has. Haven't heard of one with an inch nose;  perhaps some were made special for the U.S. market as the popular Atlas/Craftsman hobby lathe had a 1/2-20 inch nose?

Posted

Hi All,

Thank you as usual for getting back to me, and for being very informative, I can see why you all recommend the Unimat 3, but a bit out of my price range, I saw a brand new one for £2,5k that is a lot. I also saw a second hand one for starting at £900, for what I want it for I can't justify that kind of money, I am not an engineer and don't know how to make wheels and cogs etc I don't have the know how.. being a pensioner I am too old in the tooth for starting up another part of this hobby..I just need something to mend a few pivots and to make the bush for my contrate wheel.. I saw a bare base for a Unimat 3 but time you add all the motor and parts, it would probably end up being a lot dearer..I will have to keep an eye open for a cheap one, I don 't want to go down the road of the little mini cheapy £100 lathes that I asked about in a previous thread, saw one in action and, I could do a better job freehand..  

Thanks for all your help - Len

Posted
16 hours ago, oldhippy said:

The headstock of the Unimat 3 is solid. The spindle nose is threaded 14x1mm

   thanks;  good to know what thread patern is in the chuck.  vin

Posted
5 hours ago, oldhippy said:

You could send the wheel away and get it repaired. 

I have email a couple on ebay, don't want to know too small a job..I will get my lathe..

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Hi All,

Thank you to OldHippy for all the help and advice and to Nicksilver and Vinn3. All the help was much appreciated.

I have now collected my lovely old Unimat3 lathe, well please with it, all that is needed is a repaint. It was full of metal shavings, etc, I gave it a good clean out, I will strip it later and repaint to tidy it up a tad.

The Unimat3 that I got, has the improved  drive in the way suggested many years ago by Rex Tingey?, in that the supplied motors on both lathe and vertical column have been replaced by powerful dc motors using toothed belt drive..I must say it works very well, I got some extras with it, including 2 more brand new dc motors, a speed controller spare belts and the original Unimat drive pulley.

I have had a little play with it and considering I have not used one before, pleased with what I have achieved, I have made my bush for my contrate wheel, a couple of new tommy bars as the old ones were a bit tired, and a couple of drill centres, apart from the tommy bars, rest made out of recycled clock parts!!!.

Now on my way to restoring my Chiming carriage clock..Need to sort out the platform next before I strip and clean.

Once again thank you all for the help and advice..

 

Len  

IMG_9138.JPG

IMG_9145.JPG

IMG_9215.JPG

  • Like 2
Posted

good for you, they're a solid little lathe.  The motor upgrade is nice, imo they were under powered.  I've got two of them for the moment and just converted one to a Consew motor (DC Servo).  Those motors are so nice (the great combination of seemingly decent quality at a low price), I've plans to buy 3 more and put them on a bunch machines.

  • Like 1
Posted
1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

There will be no stopping you now. I always look on ebay to see what is about when it comes to accessories.

Hiya,

Must admit I made a few of the bushes before I got it right, taking off too much metal on the collar, they will do as spares if needed, but put down to practice and experience. I am glad I kept all those clock pillars, they have come in handy..

I had a wood lathe, but never a metal lathe. I think I done pretty well in getting this lathe so cheap with all the extras, oh and I forgot there was a brand new chuck as well.

What do you use for holding collets is there something special??

Once again thanks for all your help, its much appreciated.

 

Posted
30 minutes ago, measuretwice said:

good for you, they're a solid little lathe.  The motor upgrade is nice, imo they were under powered.  I've got two of them for the moment and just converted one to a Consew motor (DC Servo).  Those motors are so nice (the great combination of seemingly decent quality at a low price), I've plans to buy 3 more and put them on a bunch machines.

Hiya, 

Yes these motors are so smooth using the toothed belt drive, apparently you can take a bit more metal off each cut, but I am in no rush so take it easy. the other two spare motors are 150w dc, so a bit more powerful, I don't suppose I will use them. I am very happy with my purchase..

Len 

 

Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, Lenj said:

What do you use for holding collets is there something special??

 

yes, not so easy on the unimats.  The U3 is going to be great for clocks but doesn't serve the same function of a watchmakers lathe, at least collet wise.  There is a spindle mounted (screws on like any other chuck) ER style chuck you can get as an accessory.  I've got one, it works, but while ER collets are great for holding tools, they're less so for work holding.   With the older db200 unimats there was a ww spindle accessory, basically you swapped spindles out for it.  They're somewhat rare, I've not seen one, and it won't work with the U3.  Spindles for the db200 are magneto bearings in a tube, the whole tube is easy to swap by loosening a clamp whereas the U3 is deep groove ball bearings contained with the headstock casting with snap rings and bellville washers - not swapable.    (Still, you got the better lathe, by  a good margin imo).

For concentric work, turn between centres or dial it in in the four jaw.  The 3 jaw is also a good little chuck with not too much run out

 

 

 

Edited by measuretwice
  • Like 1
Posted

I have a selection of the unimat collets and use the unimat collet holder. I do tend to use the three-jaw chuck a lot, not so much the four Jaw.  

  • Like 1
Posted

I have been upt north with the family for the weekend, so not had any "playtime" I will have a play tomorrow!! going to have a go at the platform.

I was wondering if OK to put wheels in the three jaw chuck, a little scared in case it rips the teeth off....I had a look on Ebay and saw this collet holder, ended now, but is this what I should look out for? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unimat-3-lathe-collet-holder-chuck-E16/264162907662?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

Hope you all had a good weekend..

 

Posted

Its as safe as houses to use the three jaw chuck to hold clock wheels. I prefer that to the collets. Yes that is the collet holder. Be careful of poor imitations from such countries as India and China. Watch out for high postage costs if you buy from the U S A.

  • Like 1
Posted
14 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Its as safe as houses to use the three jaw chuck to hold clock wheels. I prefer that to the collets. Yes that is the collet holder. Be careful of poor imitations from such countries as India and China. Watch out for high postage costs if you buy from the U S A.

Thanks OH, I will keep an eye out for one, and will use the three jaw chuck, with caution!!!

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Similar Content

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • I was wondering because of the alum idea. 
    • just a reminder about this test is it's not a perfect test it's a quick test. In other words you can adjust the banking pins that are both the same and visually this test will pass everything looks the same but both banking pins can be in the wrong place. although the majority of time when people are playing with banking pins I don't put them in the same place. one of things have to be careful of is I believe some of the pallet fork measuring tools that actually give you the roller jewel size are actually size so that I get confused? What I mean by this is if you inserted a whatever size in and are always told to go a slightly smaller I thought that the gauge itself its number corresponded to give you the exact number. So a lot of it depends upon the gauge itself I think you do want the roller jewel slightly smaller because it does have to fit in the slot and it does have a little bit a play. But if it's too small you will lose energy so does have to be sized right. Oh other things to check is? I'm attaching an Elgin sheet on checking the escapement I've seen references in the past to making sure that the slot in the four corn is nice and smooth and apparently you can end up with a rough slot and then the recommendation is to polisher clean that up. Not sure how well that's really going to work even if it has been the recommendation of other reference materials. yes art full plate watches fun when they don't work. This is where it's nice to have another set of eyes sometimes as maybe they'll find something you didn't  although that can add other issues. The owner of the shop provides himself on his skills of so now two of my watches have relocated to his bench to solve problems both real and imaginary I'm sure that will get fixed eventually hopefully. But still sometimes another set of eyes might see something that you're not. yes this sort of thing can be quite frustrating. Also makes for an interesting problem unless of course you're the one trying to solve the problem that it's a Escapement Elgin setting up the escapement.PDF
    • I’m not to sure mate! I’ve sent a picture! The crown is off a Tissot 1853 automatic limited edition T115427 A GP19 moto go watch!   
    • For years and I'm still using it I've been using something called SeaMonkey? It's a Mozilla product Basically outscore its Firefox plus an integrated email program. But not the same problems here a lot of times when things are upgraded they tend to be now aimed at very specific browsers like Firefox so I've had to switch to Firefox to respond to any of the messages on the group. So yes they do seem to be getting more browser specific and that may be a reason for others having complications especially if whatever you using hasn't been updated. So yes the world is getting more browser specific perhaps for security reasons. Even though I use a product that is updated on a regular basis is still has problems. So whatever you using for browser should be up to date and if is not recognized it's going to be a problem.
    • I did remember to ask at work and minor complication? Well I suppose technically two separate complications. First off glass mineral glass versus Seiko's Hardlex Glass. Don't know if other companies have their own class or not and a basic class for crystals is probably not the same as window glass it would be more transparent. It becomes obvious if you're looking at a sheet of flat crystal glass versus window glass it's definitely more transparent you can see it when you look at the edges of it window glass looks green. No idea how that changes physical characteristics other than optical. Then we also have thickness like the Seiko five's there crystals are really sick compared to other things and I'm guessing that makes things different. In the first link it talks about Sapphire versus mineral glass. One other thing is bothering me though when I'm reading this is where is the source material? What I mean by this is could we end up with multiple generations of salespeople quoting the same sales tactic or information and we don't actually know because you don't have a source reference? Let me quote something off the website it's brittle oh dear I was sad? Except it's not immune to damage it can crack where shatter under extreme force or impact. So what is the definition of extreme force or impact? Then is that more or less extreme then mineral glass?  Then regarding the price difference while back I had asked the owner where the Sapphire came from and basically wherever he can get the cheapest. So typically ordered from a variety of online supply watch parts in the US and  aliexpress China.. Then yes it does make a difference because we go through a lot of glass crystals and sapphire https://thehorologylab.com/sapphire-crystal-vs-mineral-glass-which-is-best-for-your-watch#google_vignette Then I guess one is glass not glass when it goes by another name? Hardlex Looks like it's purely a Seiko product but now I wonder if other watch companies have their own special glass? I didn't remember from past experience my favorite was people exposed to welding you can find little blobs a metal stuck to the watch case the crystal still intact but there's little burnt holes were bits of metal had actually burnt into the crystal but it was still there. Okay website below starts off with Sapphire sounds good but Apparently it can shatter easier then Hardlex. https://theslenderwrist.com/hardlex-crystal/ One other thing is what I'm reading to websites would be back to I want to see the test results? Often times weren't looking for a subject will find websites where I basically called them these are better than that by the way but sometimes I'll find websites that I will call book review websites were basically the review other websites other material and don't really introduce anything new to the subject. As I said these websites look quite nice which is why I'm giving you a link but where's the test results the definition of extreme how extreme to break a sapphire versus a glass or Hardlex?  
×
×
  • Create New...