Advice sought on a Unimat Metal Line lathe I have

[Ian Major]

John,

 

Your assumption is correct. If it were to cut left to right the top rake ( which slops from right to left in your photo) would tip the opposite way. The cutting point on your tool is top right on your photo - you will note that the front, top and right hand side slope away from this point which indicate the direction of cut.

 

Ian.

Edited October 11, 2020 by Ian Major

[DLT]

Interesting topic, I have a Unimat 3 that I haven't used very much.  Yet!

Cheers, Dave.

[hayfield]

3 minutes ago, DLT said:

Interesting topic, I have a Unimat 3 that I haven't used very much.  Yet!

Cheers, Dave.

 

Dave

 

No time like the present !!,

 

My initial thoughts is to turn up the few odd bits for kits I am building/rebuilding

[Tony Cane]

If you intend turning up chimneys or domes for 4mm scale models then the book Model locomotive construction by Guy Williams has a very good section on doing this along with the simple to make jigs and tools.

There are multiple copies on Ebay, some £6.00 or less

[hayfield]

10 minutes ago, Tony Cane said:

If you intend turning up chimneys or domes for 4mm scale models then the book Model locomotive construction by Guy Williams has a very good section on doing this along with the simple to make jigs and tools.

There are multiple copies on Ebay, some £6.00 or less

 

 

I have an older book by Roche & Templer, just put a bid on one of the Guy Williams books

 

Thanks

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, Ian Major said:

John,

 

Getting parts, as opposed to tools, for Unimat lathes can be challenging. The first thing that you will almost certainly need will be replacement drive belts. Below is a quote from a David (LO) Smith entry on the Gauge 0 Guild Forum on the subject. (David is a member of the G0G Techical Comittee and appears in various guises on several modelling forums). 

 

"Unimat belts are totally ridiculous in my view; they are i) cheekily expensive, ii) far too small/tight and, iii) overly large in cross-section.

... but the solution to all of this is to buy 4mm round belting that you can make up your self (eg Whitsales UK)
 

£4.95 including postage for 1m. I cut the belt to length so that it will be barely tight, heat the ends (I have made a blade the fits in my 40W soldering iron, but most people use a cigarette lighter or micro-flame torch) and I then press them together. After a half a minute or so, it will have cooled to allow the raggedy bits to be trimmed off with a sharp scalpel. The belt is available in various diameters and the 3mm will work just as well, particularly for the auto-feed, if you have one. "

 

The next requirement will probably be motor brushes. 

 

Ian.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

Thinking about spares, getting another belt and motor brushes seem sound advice. Are there any other bits anyone can think of I either need or is useful to have spares

[AdamsRadial]

5 hours ago, hayfield said:

I am struggling to find a UK distributor for Unimat parts, or am I just useless at searching

I get most of my parts for them from Expo, very good service.

 

I've had my Unimat Classic for nearly 15 years, it's a wonderful item, and more than just the lathe/mill/drill. you can use it as an assembly jig when kit-building to get things square, slide a part into position and adjust it, slide it back and add the glue or flux, slide it together again and glue/solder.

 

If you get some small diamond or carborundum slitting disks it will cut steel, just don't expect to turn or mill steel or hardened brass.

 

The jigsaw when used very carefully will slice up tinplate from old cans of pilchards or tuna.

 

An absolute must-have if you're planning to machine plastics is a variable speed controller to slow the motor down so you actually cut the plastic instead of just melting it.

 

 

[hayfield]

I am about to place an order for some short brass and aluminum rods to practice on, I see that PTFE and Nylon are also available, is the odd stick or two worth buying despite I cannot alter the speed, or just stich to ali and brass 

[AdamsRadial]

You might mill or turn PTFE and nylon with no trouble anyway, most of the problems I experienced were trying to work ABS and styrene and recycled video cassette plastic, all of which had a tendency to melt instead of cut.

 

You can try reducing the speed with the reduction gear and belts, if you buy a second countershaft you can get the speed a lot lower. Another trick I realised after buying some secondhand parts is to run them off a 6Volt or 9Volt battery setup. The long bed I bought had a 3-prong socket for the motor plug in one end cap and when I opened it up I found it was designed to have 4 D-cell batteries inside so it was an off-grid system.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by AdamsRadial

[cctransuk]

2 hours ago, hayfield said:

I am about to place an order for some short brass and aluminum rods to practice on, I see that PTFE and Nylon are also available, is the odd stick or two worth buying despite I cannot alter the speed, or just stich to ali and brass 

 

Years ago, when I bought my Unimat 3, I went to my local metal suppliers and asked if I could have a rummage through their non-ferrous metals offcuts box; I was charged very little and I am still using those pieces.

 

The Unimat 3 is quite capable of turning and milling small components in steel. My 'learning-curve' project was a scale chassis for a BR Booth PW diesel crane; (aka the Airfix / Dapol Booth Rodley crame kit). The frames, deck, bufferbeams and pivot ring are brass, but it has steel draw-out stabilising beams, with working steel screw jacks on the ends - talk about jumping in at the deep end! (If buying steel rod / bar, ask for bright mild steel).

 

John Isherwood.

[hayfield]

11 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

Years ago, when I bought my Unimat 3, I went to my local metal suppliers and asked if I could have a rummage through their non-ferrous metals offcuts box; I was charged very little and I am still using those pieces.

 

The Unimat 3 is quite capable of turning and milling small components in steel. My 'learning-curve' project was a scale chassis for a BR Booth PW diesel crane; (aka the Airfix / Dapol Booth Rodley crame kit). The frames, deck, bufferbeams and pivot ring are brass, but it has steel draw-out stabilising beams, with working steel screw jacks on the ends - talk about jumping in at the deep end! (If buying steel rod / bar, ask for bright mild steel).

 

John Isherwood.

 

 

John

 

Thanks for the advice, I have no idea if there is a local metal supplier near me (at least one who supplies small sections) I live near Chelmsford

[John Harris]

On 11/10/2020 at 13:24, Ian Major said:

John,

 

Getting parts, as opposed to tools, for Unimat lathes can be challenging. The first thing that you will almost certainly need will be replacement drive belts. Below is a quote from a David (LO) Smith entry on the Gauge 0 Guild Forum on the subject. (David is a member of the G0G Techical Comittee and appears in various guises on several modelling forums). 

 

"Unimat belts are totally ridiculous in my view; they are i) cheekily expensive, ii) far too small/tight and, iii) overly large in cross-section.

... but the solution to all of this is to buy 4mm round belting that you can make up your self (eg Whitsales UK)
 

£4.95 including postage for 1m. I cut the belt to length so that it will be barely tight, heat the ends (I have made a blade the fits in my 40W soldering iron, but most people use a cigarette lighter or micro-flame torch) and I then press them together. After a half a minute or so, it will have cooled to allow the raggedy bits to be trimmed off with a sharp scalpel. The belt is available in various diameters and the 3mm will work just as well, particularly for the auto-feed, if you have one. "

 

Ian.

 

 

From memory, the Unimat 1 uses toothed belts, which are much better than the round belts used on the Unimat 3, but as I have the latter thanks for the lead.  I tend to use cheaper (and I feel better) O rings as belts on mind.

 

Although they are long out of print, there was a book (possibly a couple) by REX TINGEY, which detailed a conversion for the Unimat 3 to toothed belts.

 

REX TINGEY and GERALD WINGROVE both published books with practical projects for the Unimat, probably not projects directly applicable, but full of hints and tips about using the lathes.  Sadly the books are getting pricey, Tingey and Wingrove

 

jch

[Giles]

Many years ago I replaced my Unimat 3 belt which was cracking (it was the third belt if I recall) with a Hoover belt, which has lasted 25 years so far......

[Barclay]

44 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

 

John

 

Thanks for the advice, I have no idea if there is a local metal supplier near me (at least one who supplies small sections) I live near Chelmsford

Brand & Howes are a long established local scrap metal dealer that might be able to sell you some bits. I have no connection with them and it's only a guess but when they had premises in the town you could always see interesting chunks of non-ferrous metal lying about..

[cctransuk]

3 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

 

John

 

Thanks for the advice, I have no idea if there is a local metal supplier near me (at least one who supplies small sections) I live near Chelmsford

 

Try some of these https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=metal+suppliers+chelmsford

 

John Isherwood.

[Jol Wilkinson]

Brass is available in different grades, so look for a free cutting brass if you can get it. It has a high lead content. The first time I discovered it (by accident), I found it made life much easier with my Unimat 3.

 

 

[dhjgreen]

26 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Brass is available in different grades, so look for a free cutting brass if you can get it. It has a high lead content. The first time I discovered it (by accident), I found it made life much easier with my Unimat 3.

 

 

"High lead content" would worry me,  but it is only 2.5-3%

[hayfield]

On 10/10/2020 at 15:12, Mike 84C said:

Hello John,

    Albion Alloys are good for bar and sheet stock in brass/ aluminium.

Useful books; The Compact Lathe by Stan Bray. pub; Special Interest Model Books. ISBN 978 185486 227 3.

Unimat III Lathe Accessories  by Bob Loader. W.shop practise Series No32 pub; Nexus Special Interests. ISBN  1 85486 213 8.

The Book of the Unimat  by D.J.Laidlaw- Dickson pub; MAP technical publication . ISBN 0 85242 591 0 

  Looks like you have the full set of kit there! with quite a new machine, mine is much older and I have fewer accesories.

  All three books have been useful in parts and there is overlap in what is covered but there are hints and tips in all three. Two of mine I bought s/h the Book of the Unimat cost £3!

   I cannot give you guidance as I am just a novice with such a small machine and my turning is limited to 2ft gauge wheels!. I have had fun with mine and you will with yours.

           Mick

 

 

The book you advised (The Compact Lathe) arrived this afternoon, bed time reading 

 

On 11/10/2020 at 14:18, Tony Cane said:

If you intend turning up chimneys or domes for 4mm scale models then the book Model locomotive construction by Guy Williams has a very good section on doing this along with the simple to make jigs and tools.

There are multiple copies on Ebay, some £6.00 or less

 

I won a copy last night £1.99, postage was twice that amount.

 

Thank you all very much

[Pandora]

A similar micro lathe is the Taig system from the USA

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrkA0wk0Kwo

 

Does anyone on the forum have a Taig, if so any opinions?

[polybear]

I have a Taig, also known as a Peatol in the UK (apparently Taig is a very derogatory word to the Irish, hence the name change).  I've little experience of using it so far (I normally have access to much bigger stuff at a Model Engineering evening class at a local college, but that's all on hold at the moment ).

The Taig is capable of some very accurate and fine work - a search of Google turns up some pretty amazing stuff.

[hayfield]

On 11/10/2020 at 14:18, Tony Cane said:

If you intend turning up chimneys or domes for 4mm scale models then the book Model locomotive construction by Guy Williams has a very good section on doing this along with the simple to make jigs and tools.

There are multiple copies on Ebay, some £6.00 or less

 

 

The Guy Williams book arrived today, £1,99 + postage

 

Thanks for the tip

[hayfield]

On 13/10/2020 at 12:42, cctransuk said:

 

Try some of these https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=metal+suppliers+chelmsford

 

John Isherwood.

 

John

 

I found a model engineering company in a village close by, he exchanged emails and may be able to supply me with some useful offcuts/short pieces. Thanks very much will call in with some cash.

[RedgateModels]

I had cause to fire up my little Clarke CL250M at the weekend, nothing toy train related, needed a plastic spacer with a 15mm hole in it to fix an outside PIR light. Managed to get by with the tools that I had, but bought these in any case

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9-Pcs-8x8MM-Carbide-Tipped-Lathe-Metal-Cutter-Bit-Cutting-Tool-Set-Yellow/264439596038?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

Probably made of finest Chineseium but will be fine for plastic and brass. 

 

Luckily for me I was taught lathe work in school and was also tutored in my fist job on a Myford "Super 7". Bit like riding a bike, you never forget the basics. 

 

My advice, just practice, make sure your tool is never above the centre line of your work and don't leave the chuck key in the chuck ever

[AdamsRadial]

3 hours ago, RedgateModels said:

don't leave the chuck key in the chuck ever

Well, there *are* occasions when you might for example be using the chuck key as a lever to slowly work a piece of round bar to and fro with a die held in a tailstock holder, but the thing to do in such cases is unplug the machine.

 

I have found this method useful when making long threads because you can reverse the rotational direction to break the chips inside the die. My first attempt, when I thought I'd be very clever and just slowly power the work around mangled the threads when the swarf in the die blocked it solid. Using the chuck and key to go half a turn forwards and then a quarter turn back to break the swarf did the trick.

 

There is a lot more you can do with the lathe than just spinning something with a tool up against the work. Broaching square holes with a small cutter clamped to the cross-slide and rotating the work through 90 degrees after chopping out a side, for example...

Edited October 19, 2020 by AdamsRadial

[RedgateModels]

Oh agreed, but even with the interlock on the chuck guard on my Clarke I would never leave the key in the chuck. There was a broken window incident at school, no -one injured thankfully .....

 

This is a far safer option that I stumbled on the other day, look at the second 3d printed item that this chap made for his Clarke (same machine as mine)

 

https://hydraraptor.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-toy.html