Paint and Use

With it all cleaned, I just whapped a coat of paint over the top. The blue paint was clearly not original, as various parts had been overpainted at the edges - so I wasn't bothered about retaining it. I just wanted to clean it and use it. So I used a green metal paint. Eventually I'd like to do it in a machine room enamel, but this was fine for now, and has been pretty hard wearing.

           

Then I readjusted everything by doing the "two collar" turning test and shimming the legs.

The lathe has done great service so far in my kit car build. I can turn items down to the thou without difficulty, so accuracy is still there. I daresay it's not properly adjusted all along its length, but I'm only turning items a few inches long - if I ever want to align-bore a block or gun barrel or something I'll worry about it then! At present, it does exactly what I need.

In the near future I do plan to strip it completely, change all the felts etc, replace the broken parts, maybe even a replacement leadscrew. Given that it's cost so little (in the US people expect to pay 1-2.5 thousand dollars for these machines, so easily four times what I've paid), I'll be happy to spend a reasonable amount of money on it.