Are you Serious?

[Mr Vic]

My friend Mike, from work, has been talking about a whar he thoughtwas a lathe or something his day had given him years ago. He said his dad had one he used al the time for modeling. He was storing it in his crawl space after lugging it around for most of his 20 year military carreer and retiring back in the late 1990s.

Well over the weekend he cleaned out his crawl space and brought it in. I asked and he wouldn't sell it and it's next stop was Good Will...That was unless I wanted it as a thank you for helping him out when he first started and being a good friend over the years. All I could do was stutter yes and I owe you a pen.

All it needs is a bit of cleaning and maybe a touch of oil...Time for some research and reading....Oh and how do you center work in a chuck with for adjusting/tighting screws

 

[Tom T]

Wow very cool, and old looking. That has to be a good tool. They do not make wood box's like that any more.
What a good friend

 

[mredburn]

A unimat sl1000? and with the milling attachment. I had one just like it and gave it to my dad years ago. You will need a dial indicator to use the 4 jaw chuck properlyly. You have to touch the indicator to the work and turn it by hand adjusting it untill it reads "0" all the way around. There are lots of parts on Ebay. The thread on the spindle if I remember right is m12. I believe sherline also makes 3 jaw chucks for that lathe.

 

[mredburn]

It will be a little small for pens but not for small pen parts. Like washers and nose cones, finials etc.

 

[Mr Vic]

As I always tell the wife..Nothing you get for free...IS...:biggrin:...Add a dial indicator to the list. I'm still a bit in shock...I'd have paid him some reasonable money.

I think I can fit a single pen section between centers but my first thoughts follow Mike's assesment of smaller parts like nibs and center bands. Besides, I rarely turn a pen that doesn't have a bit of a curve..

 

[nava1uni]

That is a nice little metal lathe and mill. I have been looking at them online and on Ebay. You are lucky, to say the least. Congratulations.

 

[Chatham PenWorks]

You must be a very good friend. He definitely is.

 

[plantman]

Vic; If you want to know a little more about your lathe. Go to this web site www.dirkfassbender.de/emco-unimat.sl.html . Jim S

 

[plano_harry]

That is a very precise watch maker's Unimat. I used one for model railroading. Sold it for $500 on eBay and bought the HF 7x10 (for $375) which is much more flexible. As you can imagine, the accessories for this model are pretty expensive and a little hard to find outside of ebay. I believe all these units were made in Austria.

Harry

 

[Haynie]

Friends can be a real PIA sometimes can't they