Super Adept Lathe Chuck needed

[Colmhd]

HI all,
I'm new to the forum and came across you guys whilst trying to source a chuck for my Super Adept lathe.
It had been my fathers and I'm trying to get it back into working condition but have run into a sourcing problem for a chuck.
Anyone know where I might get one or if there's one sitting on a shelf in someone garage or shed waiting a new life?
Greatly appreciate any feedback.
Thanks

 

[kf2qd]

Can you post a picture of you spindle nose so we can have an idea of how it mounts?

 

[goldstar31]

It would help to know where you are.

However, my thoughts are that there were at least 3 chucks for the Super Adept and if my memory is correct, two were independent but one had 3 jaws whilst the other was a four jaw. Again, I think that the register was either 1/2" or 9/16th BSF.
I get confused because the 'Lane' and the Enox were pretty similar. Actually I have both chucks but these and the top slide- either Super Adept or Enox all go on my Quorn and on the radius attachment of my Clarkson.

Frankly, I'd be modifying the lathe to take Unimat spindle-and chucks either 12MM or 14MM. Its all very old stuff- probably 1930 and hardly worth bothering with- unless you are a collector- or have a different application in mind

Cheers

Norman

 

[bazmak]

Make a simple adaptor plt to suit the sieg lathe chucksyou can fit chucks,faceplts or collet sets

 

[goldstar31]

Barry
It's tiny

Cheers

Norm

 

[Tin Falcon]

He is in Ireland so sounds like you guys on that side of the pond need to help him.

If you can measure the spindle nose we may be able to find somthing that will fit . I have made adaptors for orphan spindles before. it can be done.
Or as GS suggested get a new single made in a common spindle thread.
Tin

 

[goldstar31]

Agreed Sir. The chances of finding another set of chucks which came out of the Ark are pretty remote- and I had good reason to suggest perhaps the 14mm Unimat because where we are is a bit unusual. Let me try to explain? This little lathe is pretty ancient ( like me) and will be worn( like me) and if you stuff something in it and if you are not careful it will crack( like me) You see, this little old thing has plain bearings and one clamp on each bearing- and if you don't get it right- you've guessed!

So you have to rebore and make a new spindle to fit the new bore and just nip up the bearings to avoid------------------------------------CRACK.

Ironically, it is all in our Mr Sparey. This is why this old weary keeps mumbling on about reading the classic books. Sparey did not just write about making engines.
No Sir!

Regards

Norman

 

[Blogwitch]

Colm,

Many moons ago, I went through this process after I picked up an Adept lathe at a car boot sale for about £20, and decided to offer it to a model boat making friend of mine for him to make boat fittings with. I wouldn't consider either the Adept or Super Adept (as in Tin's photo) anything more than a basic watchmakers lathe where most of the work is done by hand graving. It just isn't rigid enough to do meaningful precision work.

I already had a small chuck like this one knocking about my shop, but now you would need to purchase one similar to this.

http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/50MM-3-JAW-SELF-CENTERING-CHUCK-12MM-THREAD-29875.html

They have a few small chucks on this site to look at.

http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/45MM_-_65MM_DIAMETER_3_JAW_CHUCKS.html

The lathe itself is now starting to cost you money, and in my opinion, just isn't worth doing as they are sometimes just given away between friends. If you sell in the US you can get all sorts of idiots wanting to buy it at inflated prices, but here in the UK, where we know about them, you will be lucky if you can get someone to take it off your hands for nothing. If it was in my shop, I would just chop it up in the hope I could make a small engine out of the cast iron. But in your case, with it being your father's, only you can decide if you want to make the loss.

Anyway back to what I did.

I can't remember the spindle thread size of the adept but I made a converter plate to go between the two different sizes. The plate was first screwed onto the Adept to face it off (a big and long job in itself), then held in soft jaws in my larger lathe to cut the new nose thread. The runout after doing it was less than 0.002" on a bar about 2" from the chuck nose.

If I was going to do it again, I would buy a chuck with a smaller mounting thread and bore the Adept thread into the back of it or just make a sleeve with the adept thread inside, and the new chuck thread on the outside (in that case you would need to buy a chuck with a larger thread hole). Or like in previous posts, just make a new spindle to fit a new chuck onto.

In all cases you need to find someone with preferably a lathe with good precision to do all the threading and cutting.
Send me an email or PM about your decision what you want doing with it and I will see if I can help.

I hope this helps

John

 

[goldstar31]

I'm wondering about this comment about 'precision' or not. No disrespect, John but the name J. Latta comes to mind. I've got one of these 'Pelmanistic' memories and I can see a Dividing Head for one in my old noddle.

I'm in the middle of Probates and all sorts of nasties but I'll try to root among my files as well. You see, there is a 'Lane' which was also once a Wizard and there was an Enox( which no one has heard about, except me) but latter( pun not intended) was a relative of James Watt's and a local doctor who built Gauge1's. 'Cos I got one from his estate.

Watch this space, eh?


Norman

 

[goldstar31]

OK, Model Engineer indices have a range of write ups on the Adept and Super Adept dating from 1932 to 2009 and there is things like Wheelcutting, dividing heads filing rests and vice set ups listed. 'Latta' does, amongst other things, lathe alignment.

Ned Westbury and Terry Aspin have contributed. Can't be bad, can it?
Hope this helps

Norman

 

[Mike1]

You may find some Info here http://www.stubmandrel.co.uk/adept-register

Mike.

 

[Blogwitch]

Norman,

Anything can be turned into a super machine, I did the same with a banana shaped mini lathe, but it took a lot of time and effort, and I am sure those chaps did it by the use of other machines like a mill, surface grinder etc. to fit better bearings and to reshape slideways and leadscrews.

But at this time, Colm, as far as I can understand, wouldn't stand a chance modifying one of these machines to high specs. So I am just telling him the truth about what they are like.


John

 

[goldstar31]

John

Agreed with your comments and the little Enox was warped and I flipped it on its back, blued it to a bit of plate glass and scraped it. I did much the same with an older Myford belonging to a Northumbrian pipe maker and then did several ML7's etc with only a top Blancharding. Wrote one up for ME. For £25 or £50, I got a banana of a friend's ML7 to half a thous in 6".

My present Super7B only cost £250 to have professionally slideways ground and to Turcite the saddle. It had been used to turn mahogany and had had a dry gearbox full of dust and several gears smashed in a seize up.


I would think that your new surface grinder would lick a baby lathe into shape in double quick time. I recall watching a Myford bed in a Lumsden on the big magnetic chuck and realising just how little metal needed to be removed. My Clarkson only cost a ton( 100 quid)

This lathe lark is a doddle to what I'm on= and have been on for the last three months. Actually, it really is three years or 15 years come the 19th of this month

Norman

 

[bazmak]

If i understand it the lathe is very small,and you wish to improve it for fun or sentimental reasons,not commercial or for making lots of accurate chips
As for my previous reply.Will the large accept the std 80mm chuck ???
If so make an adaptor plt to fit the nose/55mm dia fittings of the sieg lathe
if not feasible step down to the sx1 fittings

 

[goldstar31]

So there is no one able to chuck their hat into the ring. Chucks are about £45 each and there is a spindle/adaptor to find which will not be cheap.

So there is a bit of the UK's largest charitable organisation( apart from the Lottery) which could do a contribution to wards a project in which I'm an auditor- apart from anything else.

How much for my two chucks? I'm losing - in a manner of speaking.

Norman

 

[Blogwitch]

Norman,

There is charity about, I for one have offered in a previous post to do any machining if Colm is willing to contact me. If I had any spare chucks in the size he requires, he would be quite welcome to them, but I haven't.

John

 

[goldstar31]

No response from poster. As far as I am concerned- I've more problems.

 

[Colmhd]

Norman,

Anything can be turned into a super machine, I did the same with a banana shaped mini lathe, but it took a lot of time and effort, and I am sure those chaps did it by the use of other machines like a mill, surface grinder etc. to fit better bearings and to reshape slideways and leadscrews.

But at this time, Colm, as far as I can understand, wouldn't stand a chance modifying one of these machines to high specs. So I am just telling him the truth about what they are like.


John

I realise they are not a high spec lathe, but just trying to get it back up to speed as it's been rusting in the shed for the best part of a half century.
Thanks for the help.
Cheers.

 

[Colmhd]

So there is no one able to chuck their hat into the ring. Chucks are about £45 each and there is a spindle/adaptor to find which will not be cheap.

So there is a bit of the UK's largest charitable organisation( apart from the Lottery) which could do a contribution to wards a project in which I'm an auditor- apart from anything else.

How much for my two chucks? I'm losing - in a manner of speaking.

Norman

When you say you have two chucks do you mean ones that would fit the Super Adept and am unsure about the spindle/adapter.
What would I have to do to get the chucks fitted to the existing spindle or would it behest to get someone local to turn me a new spindle?
The spindle I have is 3/8".
Cheers.
Thanks.

 

[Colmhd]

Norman,

There is charity about, I for one have offered in a previous post to do any machining if Colm is willing to contact me. If I had any spare chucks in the size he requires, he would be quite welcome to them, but I haven't.

John

Thanks for the offer of machining for me but I need to get the chuck sorted to see what route I have to go from there. I would take you up on the offer as soon as I get my head around this wee lathe!
Thanks.