Viceroy TDS1/1G.B.L service

[dazz]

Hello

I am now the proud owner of a Denford Viceroy lathe.

I was able to trace the history of this particular lathe. It was purchased by the first owner in about 1979 and imported to New Zealand. That was at a time when obtaining foreign currency required a special import license. Those were the days when you could buy a new Porshe, and sell it 2 years later for more than new price. Import licenses and foreign currency were very difficult to obtain. There was lots of bureaucratic red tape to hack through in a system designed to constrict the flow of imported goods. For that reason, there may only be a very few of these lathes in NZ.

The lathe was purchased by a fitter & turner who owned/maintained a bottling company in New Plymouth. His work gave him the justification he needed to be permitted to import a lathe. He only used it for model engineering. When he passed away, a friend, a fitter & turner and fellow model engineer then purchased the lathe from the estate.

From there, it was sold to a "dealer" who was also a model engineer. He only kept it for a short time until on-selling it for a significant profit. About 4 years ago, it was sold to a production engineer in Warkworth. He used it for rebuilding racing kart engines.

I purchased the lathe a few weeks ago. I live in Wellington, NZ so I had to drive 1480km to collect the lathe and bring it home.

On the whole, this lathe has seen light service despite its age. It hasn't been thrashed in the educational system like many similar lathes of this size. There is no chuck rash on the cross slide. It's in generally good condition and includes:

4 way plus 2-way tool posts.
an old modular quick change tool post system (not a Denford item)
Denford taper turning attachment,
live centre (but no dead center)
3 and 4 jaw chucks
face plate
driving plate (but no dogs)
2 drill chucks
boring table (made by the second owner for the first owner)
Denford travelling and fixed steady
Denford lead screw dial indicator
Jacobs chucks

It needs some overdue maintenance so I have begun to strip it down for a clean and relub (photos to follow). After speaking to the previous 3 owners, I know that it hasn't received to much in the way of maintenance.

Anyway, my intention is to strip down the lathe, clean, relube and reassemble. I aim to post progress with how-did photos and notes with some questions as I go along. I have a basic workshop and I don't have the time to do anything to fancy like repainting. The original condition of the paint indicate how little use this lathe has seen. Repainting would remove this "evidence" and may devalue the lathe.

The name plate specifies Esso Firmax 3 grease and Conray 65 oil. These aren't available any more. Based on advice from the Mobil technician here, I will use Mobil XP222 grease instead of Firmax. The local tech said no one makes grease with specs as bad (by modern standards) as Firmax.

I'm going to use straight 80/90 gear oil (not EP) for the apron and enclosed gearbox. Semi-liquid grease for the open but covered gears on the head stock. Bedway oil for the exposed sliding surfaces.

I just want to give a good service so it will last another 27 years.

[dazz]

First thing to look at was the electrics. It looks like the transformer has been replaced and some of the wiring wasn't up to standards.

An electric coolant pump (automotive water heater pump) was fitted by the previous owner who powered it with a battery. I still have the original belt driven pump. The electric pump is too noisy but it will do the job. I fitted a modified computer power supply (free and powerful) to provide 12Volts.

I have also fitted two white 12V trailer running lights within the right hand cupboard. These are powered from the 24V transformer and switched on when the door is opened. I will never have to rummage in dark corners.

I have also modified to coolant tank so that it can be removed without access to the back of the lathe. I will be locating the lathe against a wall.

[Denford Admin]

I like the use of cheap and modern equipment (PSU). At Denford we are always looking to use popular technology in our training machines - as know schools are not always rolling in money

PS - do you think it eould be better creating a new topic for each stage of the conversion ? I think one long one will become a pain - maybe keep the same topic heading so people can spot your progress easily

How did you get on with the oil specs ? I found a couple of manuals on the (i think) newer viceroy, which had totally different oil grade specs - I'll post those up if your still interested ?

[dazz]

Hi

I have also used a PSU to make a hot-wire cutter. Standard PSUs have a 3V, 7Amp output. If that is applied to taunt resistance wire, the hot wire can be used to cut polystyrene foam without any mess.

[GeoffW]

Hi I am looking for the pulley and motor configaration in the left hand cabinet under the gear box mine has been modified to take a .75 kw single phase moter the pulleys r wrong it only has a single pulley up to the cluster
Any help would be greatly appreciated
regards
geoff
cape town
south africa

[dazz]

Hello

The reason why you have a single pulley is because the original group of pulleys has a habit of working its way off the end of the motor shaft. My pulley set has a rethreaded set screw as an obvious result of the previous owners attempt to tighten things up.

I have just started to retro-fit a 3 phase motor and VSD so I can fit a single pulley. Long term aim is to fit a polly Vee belt to give quiet smooth running.