"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
...
Ive got an opportunity to aquire a Clausing Colchester Mod 13..the
square topped machine..I believe its also sold as a Harrison M300

Machine is incredibly low hours..they added a CNC attachment to the
compound and used only that..so the ways are virtually unused/unworn and
it probably has less than 500 hrs on the machine itself.

Old customer of mine, and they would like me to have it, so I have a
definate "in"

http://www.lathes.co.uk/colchester/page17.html

This is probably late 1980s to late 1990s machine. It still has all of
its paint G

Its completely different than my Clausing 1500 and I see mention of it
as the perfect gunsmiths lathe on various message boards.

Anyone have any pluses and minuses of this lathe?

I have a Hardinge HLV-H as well, but its simply too small for
gunsmithing of any serious nature.


We have a Harrision M300 here in our maintenance shop. It is a pretty robust
workhorse capable of very accurate work. This is *really* rigid lathe! Ours
had problems with a couple of polymer gears in the 'box when we got it but
the spares were readily available and cheap. All is fine now. One main
advantage for us was we could get 1.5" matl down through the spindle.

This is our one: http://www.lathes.co.uk/harrison-m/page2.html

JB

On 3/6/2012 3:23 AM, JB wrote:

We have a Harrision M300 here in our maintenance shop. It is a pretty robust
workhorse capable of very accurate work. This is *really* rigid lathe! Ours
had problems with a couple of polymer gears in the 'box when we got it but
the spares were readily available and cheap.

Can you please let me know where you got the gears from? I'm looking for
a couple for my M300.

Jordan wrote:
On 3/6/2012 3:23 AM, JB wrote:

We have a Harrision M300 here in our maintenance shop. It is a pretty
robust
workhorse capable of very accurate work. This is *really* rigid
lathe! Ours
had problems with a couple of polymer gears in the 'box when we got
it but
the spares were readily available and cheap.

Can you please let me know where you got the gears from? I'm looking
for a couple for my M300.
When I needed a few items for my M300 I just looked up Harrison's
contact details on the internet then rang them and ordered the parts.
Might be easier for me as Harrison are in the UK on the other side of
the country.

On 3/6/2012 9:55 AM, David Billington wrote:

When I needed a few items for my M300 I just looked up Harrison's
contact details on the internet then rang them and ordered the parts.
Might be easier for me as Harrison are in the UK on the other side of
the country.

Thanks. I'll be in UK next month.
Prices here, from a company called 600 Group, are mind-bogglingly high.

Is it just me, or is the M300 what inspired myriad Asian copies?
Sure looks that way.

Jordan wrote:
On 3/6/2012 9:55 AM, David Billington wrote:

When I needed a few items for my M300 I just looked up Harrison's
contact details on the internet then rang them and ordered the parts.
Might be easier for me as Harrison are in the UK on the other side of
the country.

Thanks. I'll be in UK next month.
Prices here, from a company called 600 Group, are mind-bogglingly high.

Is it just me, or is the M300 what inspired myriad Asian copies?
Sure looks that way.


Harrison have been part of the 600 group for quite some time. The parts
I ordered were acceptable in price, I wouldn't have called them cheap. I
did ask about a travelling and fixed steady and I didn't think the price
was too bad but as I didn't need them at the time I have bided my time
and bought on ebay since. They did have a minimum order in the UK but
your gears might be more, you'll have to enquire and I expect they're a
standard module so maybe you can fashion from a stock gear if required.

Regarding the steadies I've seen them go on ebay several times for about
what I was quoted for new about 3 or 4 years earlier.

On 3/7/2012 5:38 AM, David Billington wrote:
Harrison have been part of the 600 group for quite some time. The parts
I ordered were acceptable in price, I wouldn't have called them cheap.

I had 3 broken gears in the headstock, replacement quote was over $2000
a couple of years back. I know they are very well made and all, but that
would have made the lathe a write-off, if I hadn't been able to find a
good second hand headstock, luckily.

Jordan wrote:
On 3/7/2012 5:38 AM, David Billington wrote:
Harrison have been part of the 600 group for quite some time. The parts
I ordered were acceptable in price, I wouldn't have called them cheap.

I had 3 broken gears in the headstock, replacement quote was over
$2000 a couple of years back. I know they are very well made and all,
but that would have made the lathe a write-off, if I hadn't been able
to find a good second hand headstock, luckily.
I've got to ask what happened, did it come that way or a major crash? I
can understand why a good second hand headstock would be a good option.
I had assumed it was some of the feed drive gear not those in the headstock.

On 3/7/2012 9:45 AM, David Billington wrote:

I've got to ask what happened, did it come that way or a major crash? I
can understand why a good second hand headstock would be a good option.
I had assumed it was some of the feed drive gear not those in the
headstock.

I got the lathe with the headstock gears broken. A mystery how that
happened, although a friend reckons it could have been deliberate damage
- possibly by a disgruntled employee.
It could be the change gears outside the headstock are a lot cheaper.
I've already bought the 1.5 module cutters so might try my hand at
gearcutting.