I like the Chippie - they have a great range of speeds, and if in good
condition, can do accurate work. Mine has been well used since it was
built in 1963, but I have had it for almost 20 years and has well and
truely paid for itself.
The chuck being D1-3 mount is a bit harder to find replacements than
D1-4 chucks. With the VFD, you don't quite get the speed range of the
Kobb variator, but i have never found it to be an issue. Mine shows
it's British origins by leaking oil.
I am going to sell mine sometime next year, as I have been given my
father in laws Taiwanese Colchester Student clone, whcih is a bit
bigger and tighter condition. He can no longer use his workshop
equipment due to health reasons, so I have free run of it when I can
clean out his workshop and arrange transport, and sell the rest.A tool
score I would rather not have.
I would recommend a Chipmaster for any home shop, with the provisio
that the variators are old, so keep some money aside for a VFD.
My VHF is mounted in the motor housing,beside the2hp 3ph motor. It has
a remote panel with an on - off switch and 10k pot for the speed
control. Works great.
A Usenet poster many years ago sent me a photocopy of the manual if
anyone wants it and I can find it after moving house a couple of times
in the interim.
Geoff
On Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:10:07 -0400, Brian Lawson
wrote:
Hey Geoff,
OK...thanks for that. I'll pass it along.
How do you like the ChipMaster. I thought it was a pretty good
machine. I only sold it because I had 4 other lathes that are either
120 single-phase or 220 3-phase, and it was 575 (a standard in
Canada).
Take care.
Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
On Thu, 25 Oct 2012 21:27:52 +1300,
wrote:
I have a Chipmaster as well - best thing I did was replace the
variator with a VFD (PDL Xtravert 800). I was forced into it when the
well worn variator died, and parts are not available. I should have
done it years ago.
Geoff
On Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:13:43 -0400, Brian Lawson
wrote:
Hey all,
I sold a Colchester "Chipmaster" to a friend a while back. He wants
to do some maintenance on it, and can't find "Shell Vitrea 21" for the
variator. Because of the delicacy of the variator, he wisely wants to
get the proper oil. Anybody have either a supplier, a cross-reference
to it, actual/factual specifications for it, or a known good
substitute?
Take care.
Thanks.
Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
ps...here's the text of his email to me
=============================================== ============
Hi Brian. I need your expertise. Several weeks ago, I was using the
lathe, and cutting at a slow rpm to re-thread a soft bolt, and the
lathe went ffffttt. And quit. Got a hold of my friend Dan
Steinwender that owns Techlor Controls, and he came over, replaced two
fuses, and it runs. So I thought I'd do a service. Don't know what
to do about the oil in the machine, so I looked in the manual. No
help. So, I e-mailed the company in England. They sent me the same
page out of the manual. No help. So, I'm asking you and your friends
in the groups if they know what I can use in the Variator. Specs call
for Shell Vitrea 21. Shell doesn't help. Non-existant. What do you
think? I don't want to ruin anything. I appreciate the help.
Thanks, Bruce ps hope Frances is well, and you too.
=============================================== ============