Denford Software & Machines

Hello all,

I'm hoping someone here may be able to help.

We have a 280Vs lathe which has become slower over time. On investigation of the variable speed mechanism, I get the impression it has been 'got at' in some way. Without any useful drawings, it's difficult to figure out what the problem is.

Does any kind soul have such a machine, who could perhaps take a few photos of the mechanism for me? Even better, are there any detail drawings available of this part of the lathe?

Thanks and Regards,
Arthur G

Which VS version do you have - with the motor in the cabinet and a manual speed control shown here, or with the motor mounted on the back of the headstock, and a pilot motor to change the speed via a joystick on the control panel as shown here?

Is there any obvious belt slip / wear?

My VS is an electric version, for which I have several photos and drawings - but I may have some for the manual version also.

Andy

Andy,

that was quick! Thanks for your response.

Ours is a manual version, and I don't think the problem is the belt, as there's no sound of slippage and no rubber dust in the cabinet.

If I could see the area around the thrust bearing on the end of the variable pulley, I think I could figure out what's missing or mucked about with.

Regards,

Arthur G

The assembly drawing for the drive is MVS 100/200 - but I'm not sure it will help you too much, but maybe Admin can scan it for you.

Attached is the equivalent drawing for the Synchro model, along with a picture - I think all the variable speed models used the same pulley set, just mounted in different ways.

I have taken the pullies apart on mine a while ago, but I can't remember exactly how I did it now apart from using a pair of g-clamps to prevent the sprung pulley from flying apart when I undid the retaining bolt/washer.

Hope this helps a bit.

Andy

Thanks Andy,

though the setup on the synchro is different than ours, the principle is the same. It gives me confidence to sort ours out. I suspect the thrust bearing seized on ours in the past sometime and that some there was some collateral damage too. I'll send pictures on Monday if I remember to bring my camera to work.

Thanks again for your help and encouragement, and well done to Denford for having such a useful resource available in this forum.

Regards,
Arthur G