How'd I do?

Tony Baideme

Member
Messages
1,100
Location
Honolulu, Hawaii
Hi friends,

I just picked up a neat little lathe from Craigslist here in Honolulu. It's an older Taiwan made 6" variable speed machine but it's in real decent shape. The seller couldn't find the tailstock but they're still looking. It did come with a bunch of stuff though,
like:
the lathe as shown in the ad,
Carba-teclathe01300x127.jpg


the lathe as I received it today,
asreceived4-28-07notailstock600x450.jpg


some of the things that came with it,
2 - 3" universal chucks (both new) & a set of tools made by Crown Tools of Sheffield, England,
2universalchucks5minitools600x450.jpg


and,
a 2" x 8" pneumatic sanding drum and 15 new sleeves,
2x8airmandrel15sleeves600x450.jpg


and,
more than 10 pen kits & some blanks,
10pluspenkitsblanks600x450.jpg


I tried a small piece to see if I remembered how,
ah-itworks600x450.jpg


Umm, I only paid $75.00 for it, before I even knew it came with all the extra stuff.

So, How'd I do?

Aloha, Tony
 
I'd say you did pretty good there, Tony. :thumb: Looks like you also turned the requisite bonker. I think you're already slipping into the Abyss.

If the seller is unable to find the tailstock, you might be able to get one from Penn State Industries. They still sell that lathe. (For $269.95. Yeah, you did alright.) ;) The tailstock may cost about as much as you paid for the lateh, but you'll still be money ahead. :)
 
Hi Vaughn,

I'm happy with it. I saw the PSI sticker (right below the Carba-Tec decal) on it so I figured to check them out for parts if needed. :rolleyes: That particular model is not listed on their website, but a newer version is.

I have one question about the speed controller on this. :dunno: The motor is 110 volt DC with a potentiometer (sic). It is fairly steady in speed increases as you turn the knob, but sometimes speeds up then levels down a bit. Also, at any particular speed setting the motor will speed up considerably when a load is placed on it, as when you sand the piece turning. Is this a normal charactistic for small variable speed drives? :huh: I'm entirely new at these and will be asking questions.

Thanks for your reply. I was really surprised when the lady I got it from (It was her father's) showed me all the stuff that came with the deal. I would have been content with just the lathe, but those two new chucks, and the sanding drum, well, that was the icing on the cake. :p I'm going to make something on the lathe and give it to her in appreciation of that good deal. ;) I can even practice on some pens without having to worry about spoiling one or two learning. This is going to be fun, I can see real fast. :thumb:

Aloha, Tony
 
Tony, I have a little Wilton mini-lathe that's similar (but a bit lighter-duty). The speed controller is very similar. (For all I know, they're all coming out of the same factory.) I haven't seen mine speed up when a load is put on it, although sometimes I can hear the motor straining a bit harder. I do see a bit of "settling down" when I change the speeds, but not a considerable amount.

You might have a bit of dirt and grime inside the potentiometer. One old trick I use on electric guitars with dirty pots is to "exercise" the knob briskly for 30 seconds or so. Just crank it back and forth from one end of its range to the next for a bit. This will often loosen up the gunk and get things working more smoothly.
 
Ya did good Tony. With all the extra's you probably got at least 3 times what you paid. Like Frank said you got your money's worth just in the chucks. Turning looks good. Keep'em coming.
 
How'd I do

Hi all,

Thanks for the good ratings. :D I'm just getting into turning and have a lot to re-learn. It's been over 50 years since I was on a wood lathe. (High school)

I've also got an old Craftsman, all apart, in storage, to be restored someday. I don't have any space for anything bigger than this mini now. I think it's going to work good for me. I like how smooth this lathe runs. Feels well balanced and built pretty well. :thumb:

It's a Carba-Tec, model HM-1V. Anyone else have any experience with one? There is a sticker from the original dealer, PSI, and I have checked their website. Like Vaughn said, they still sell one that is just like it, so it can't be all bad. I was thinking of fabricating a tailstock if I can't find one. I'll check with PSI to see what a replacement will set me back. Most of my experience has been in metal work anyway.

More on this later, as I get time to work with it.

Aloha, Tony
 
Welcome to the Abyss Tony! I'd say you got a good buy.

One thing you might try is as Vaughn suggested.

Another suggestion is to turn the lathe on and use the handle of a screwdriver or even a piece of wood and tap near the brush holders on the motor and see if it causes the speeds to change. I've seen dc motors where the brushes get worn and thus too short. They then make a poor/intermittant contact with the armature of the motor. If the speed changes with the tapping I'd remove the brushes and compare their length.

Even if you have to do some repair I think you got a good buy!
 
How'd I do

Vaughn,

I checked with Penn State and they had ONE complete tailstock, of the original design for my lathe, in stock. ;) (They have several of the newer style for the red lathe)

I found out my lathe is the prototype model which is about 16 years old. There have been a few updates made to the design but the headstock/spindle assembly remain the same. Must be a good one.

Oh, and the price of the COMPLETE tailstock is: $30.00 plus $7.50 priority mail shipping, to Hawaii. :thumb: I'm happy with that. It should be here in a few days.

More later.

Aloha, Tony
 
$37.50 shipped! :eek:

You should be buying lottery tickets, man. Either that, or wearing a mask as you rob these people. :D That's a great deal...looks like your stars were lined up just right. Congrats! :thumb:
 
Vaughn,

I checked with Penn State and they had ONE complete tailstock, of the original design for my lathe, in stock. ;) (They have several of the newer style for the red lathe)

I found out my lathe is the prototype model which is about 16 years old. There have been a few updates made to the design but the headstock/spindle assembly remain the same. Must be a good one.

Oh, and the price of the COMPLETE tailstock is: $30.00 plus $7.50 priority mail shipping, to Hawaii. :thumb: I'm happy with that. It should be here in a few days.

More later.

Aloha, Tony

I'd say you got double lucky. :thumb:
 
Hi folks,

It's me again. I have an update on this thread. Seems I tried to do some turning (just playing) on this Carba-tec lathe I bought, but that speed variance was driving me nuts.

I have been keeping my eyes open for the lathe I originally wanted, a Jet Mini 10". Well, today I found one on Honolulu Craigs list. The man wanted $115. for it. The pictures he had in his ad looked pretty good so I called him. After a little talking I offered him $100. for it, and he accepted. I went to pick it up tonight. I will post pics later. (I know, no pix, didn't happen) It's the six speed model and about 5 yrs old. I got a spur center, a live center and a new 3" face plate. That little thing is heavy too. Sounds like I will need to replace some spidle bearings soon. Whatcha think?

Aloha, Tony
 
Sounds like you did well. :thumb:

I think the Jet machines are a little better built than the Carba-tec, but that is just from stuff I read on the internet :rolleyes:

Maybe you could set the Carba-Tec up at one speed, for things like pens or something?

Waiting for them pics! :wave:
 
Hi Stu,

You know, I have tried to set it at one speed and turn a piece with it, but every time you load the motor, it reacts by speeding up. Heck, one time I had it set just a little above the slowest setting and all of a sudden it took off running at a higher RPM than it normally would run at the highest setting. I hit the off switch quick. Lucky I didn't have a piece of wood in it at the time. I really don't know how fast that thing was going, but screaming would put it mildly. I'll look into the controller components more sometime, but for now, I'll just set it aside and use the Jet. I'm going to like that lathe.

I've had the controller box opened up and cleaned everything including spraying some contact cleaner into the potentiometer. I did what Vaughn suggested too. I have even tried putting side pressure on the speed knob while it's running (no change happened then) so I am thinking it has to be something in the controller PC board. It's like it senses the current draw from the load on the motor and changes the voltage, which speeds it up. I have to contact Penn State to see if this has been a problem with others. Too bad because it is a really nice smooth little machine. It is perfect for turning pens. (I don't have a pen mandrel yet either, so I haven't spent any more money on anything untill I bought the Jet lathe)

Aloha, Tony
 
Tony, could you just kill the speed control and put it on a switch?

Or would that also give you "MAX" speed?

What kind of motor does it have, if it is a universal motor, and the wattage is not too high, what about one of them speed controller things, like for a router?

Good luck with the Jet, I'm sure you will enjoy it! :wave:
 
Congrats, Tony. :thumb: That sounds like a great price for the Jet. Even if you have to replace the bearings, I think you'll do well money-wise on it.

On the Carba-Tech, Stu might be on to something with the suggestion to bypassing the speed control, then adding one of the $25 external speed
controllers.

So...how soon will we start seeing koa pens, bottle stoppers, and bowls? :D
 
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