Old Korean Lathe needs work

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penfancy

penfancy

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2010
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180
Location
Houston,TX
I mentioned this ole' lathe in my intro to the forum. I've got some pics now. Can anyone with a bit of longevity in turning provide me with any information on this style lathe? This was given to me by a dear friend who had to put her Grandfather in a home. I was given the open opportunity to empty the garage for them and take what I'd like because it was all going in the trash anyway. The manufacture is KFF. Ken Fung Fu. Built in 1985. Did some research on the web. But could only find out that they were an en vogue brand in the 80's. No literature could be found for these tools.
The drill press works great. I hope to have my IAP neighbor (Parson) come over and check it out.


The lathe however could use some fine tuning and some parts. Mainly the tail stock!

There is no morse taper, but a straight shaft, threaded for the adjustment wheel, and a tenon with a bearing and live center on it. I'd love to have one of those fancy oversize 60deg centers. But if wishes were granted, I'd have a new lathe by now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
 
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The Morse taper would be on the inside of the tailstock. Is there a hole in the back of the tailstock? If so, a rod stuck through the hole, should knock out that live center, and expose the morse taper.
 

Here is the rod that comes out of the tailstock. I wish there was a taper. I was hoping that someone might have experience with modification to these type parts. :confused:
 
I would tend to agree, I bet that tail stock ram is hollow, and a rod inserted from the right and smacked sharply will eject the #1 morse taper live center that is obviously in need of replacing. Several suppliers can hook you up with a nice 60 degree live center and matching drive center. I would suggest that you call around and try to find one of each that has a diameter of at least .5 inches, and .56 or larger if you can get it. The latter being the ID of the cap tube for a full size gent. Not mandatory, as you can always use bushings if turning between centers, and if you buy them from Johnny, they will even actually spin on the same axis as the tube (unlike most of the chinese ones I tried) But I turn 90% of my pens directly between the centers, and most mt1 centers are too small to turn the larger kits on.
 
Do you have some vernier/digital calipers to take some measurements?

What is the shaft diameter, depth/width of that keyway, diameter/length of the tenon, thread pitch, bearing outer diameter?

Does the center come off of the bearing, and the bearing off the shaft without a major destructive act?
 
That looks almost identical to the ram from my old craftsman single tube lathe. So here's the $64 question. Look at the end of that ram (threaded end) and see if there is a hole. Betcha there is. If so, squirt a good dose of wd40 or something in there, and stand it up on the other end to soak for a while. Find a piece of metal rod that fits but is fairly sturdy. You will use this alot, so it's worth getting. should be about 6 inches by probably 1/4 or so steel. Put the ram back together and slide the rod in from the right, and rap it several times and hopefully the #1 morse taper that center is mounted on will pop out. You don't wanna get too rough on it while it's in the lathe though. If it don't give up after several good sharp raps with a metal hammer, you may have to take it out and get a little more serious.
 
penfancy said:

Here is the rod that comes out of the tailstock. I wish there was a taper. I was hoping that someone might have experience with modification to these type parts. :confused:
Click to expand...

That "rod" is actually 2 pieces. You are looking at the ram, with a live center inserted into its morse taper, likely morse 1. The taper would be on the inside of the ram, not the outside.
 
Boys... I stand, sit, cower , and smack my forhead (DOH) corrected! It does indeed look like a little morse#1 is hiding in there. I'll soak it with some penetrating oil overnight and try to smack it out tomorrow. And just to think that I've been using this thing for almost 6 months and did'nt have a clue. But that's why I joined this site to begin with. Knowledge!
I met with Parson today and he passed along a 60 deg m#2. I'll have to remove the taper and press the bearings on to my m#1. I'm sure that will work out well. I'll post an update but thank all who have posted!
 
If it's any consolation I have that drill press. My understanding is they were sold by Builders Square about 20 - 25 years ago. I bought it used a few years ago in the Chicago suburbs from a very nice old gentleman who was moving into assisted living.

Almost as soon as I started using it that silly plastic chuck key holder broke. I drilled a 1/4 or so hole through the square end of the chuck key and drove a bolt through it, and am still using it that way today.
 
jskeen, There was definitly a taper in there. It took two days soaking in liquid wrench, one minute with a blow torch and a 22oz hammer to get that damn thing out. Good thing is that I was patient and didn't brake anything or hurt myself.( That's the way it usually goes!)
My old pickle fork won't fit the tight tolerance of Parson's M#2 live center. So I won't ruin it trying that out, unless you have a tip. I'll look on PSI and order something new on payday.
Thank you very much for your help. My Delta midi can go back in fantasy land were it came from and I can concentrate on using what I have with updated accessories.
 
Ok, good deal, so next question, is the inside of the taper in the ram rusty? if so you need to really clean it good, or your new center will never set in correctly. If in doubt as to how, drop me a pm. second, I checked several suppliers and found a couple that can supply you with a mt1 live center and drive center at the same time, however I could not verify online that the max diameter of the taper would be large enough to turn full size kits between centers. You could almost certainly call and verify these measurements with them though. My usual go to supplier for tooling is Shars tools. Page 63 of their online catalog here: http://www.shars.com/files/products/catalog2010/page63.pdf shows both items you need in MT1. However, they don't specify dimensions. I have a call in to them, and the sales dude is going to go measure the items in question and call me back. We'll believe that when it happens.
 
Well, I got a call back from Dave at Shars tools! And the dimensions he gave were;

Dead Center, max OD 0.390
Live Center , max OD 0.469

Not what I would prefer to purchase for myself, but for under $20 for both parts, not a bad deal. I do not know where one would find a MT1 dead and live center with larger diameters for the same money, that would ship from the same place.

Littlemachineshop.com has the live center, but do not carry the drive centers anymore.

If anybody does know where to get a mt1 live and dead center that will spin a full size gent cap tube, I would love to know!
 
I picked up a 60deg mt#1 at Woodcraft on the way home the other day. Cleaned the ram out with an old ribbed t shirt wrapped around an old mandrel. Everything looks real clean and the new live center fits great. The whole lath has stopped bouncing as much too. It's almost as quiet as a Jet. I'd bet it will be a lot less difficult to get a great finished pen now.:biggrin:
I had a dead center already. Also a 4" faceplate that I haven't used yet. Next I want the TN Barracuda chuck. That should keep me busy for a while as I hope to get into turning bowls as well.
 
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