Boxford Model B lathe rebuild

[JAZZCNC]

jealousy levels rapidly rising! do you by chance remember the vf500 championship?

I remember blowing them upon test rig to find out why they where eating cams like they'd gone out of fashion. . Lol

Didn't follow the road champion ships much, to be honest most of my work was with the motox side engine tuning. Did the occasional work on some problem bikes like VF's and early VFR's when they where warping crank cases and eating main bearings.!!
Thats how I met freddie because his engine technicians where based in our workshop for a time using my test rig because it was more setup for 2 strokes, also the NSR500 and NSR250 used a lot of similiar motox technology we had on our bikes, electrics etc. Ended up at silverstone for 3days helping with setup it was great.!
I actually had the chance to join main race team and turned it down because I was all loved up.!!!! . . . . . What a silly bastard. Thou Motox was my first choice(love) anyway and that got me about a bit.!!

[jonnydeen]

I remember blowing them upon test rig to find out why they where eating cams like they'd gone out of fashion. . Lol

Didn't follow the road champion ships much, to be honest most of my work was with the motox side engine tuning. Did the occasional work on some problem bikes like VF's and early VFR's when they where warping crank cases and eating main bearings.!!
Thats how I met freddie because his engine technicians where based in our workshop for a time using my test rig because it was more setup for 2 strokes, also the NSR500 and NSR250 used a lot of similiar motox technology we had on our bikes, electrics etc. Ended up at silverstone for 3days helping with setup it was great.!
I actually had the chance to join main race team and turned it down because I was all loved up.!!!! . . . . . What a silly bastard. Thou Motox was my first choice(love) anyway and that got me about a bit.!!

wow you truly have had such an interesting career. the reason i asked about the vf500's is because i have one. 84 500f2e the earliest year if my memory serves me correct, 36k miles and no infamous chocolate cam syndrome (no service history) love the bike but its an absolute pox to work on

[JAZZCNC]

wow you truly have had such an interesting career. the reason i asked about the vf500's is because i have one. 84 500f2e the earliest year if my memory serves me correct, 36k miles and no infamous chocolate cam syndrome (no service history) love the bike but its an absolute pox to work on

Yep they were right camels to work on.!! . . To be honest the first early bikes had big problems they where snapping cranks but this was quickly sorted and changed so only a few hundred (In UK) I believe had the trouble and those engines were changed for the updated engine. But they still had issue's with snapping rocker arms and wearing cam lobes away but this was largely caused by user error and not letting the engine warm up enough before wringing it's neck.!! . . . . Thou to be honest it's such a nice fun bike it made you want to wring it's neck. . Lol

Edit: Eh eh funny how things come back to you when you sit and think back.!!
The reason they were eating the cams was that the gearbox and topend shared the same oil thru pressurised oil ways but what was happening was the oil was draining back out the galleys and oil pools when stood back into bottom end. So when starting there wasn't enough initial pressure to push the oil up to the cams before damage was done.!
Also the cams where much more finiky about clean oil than the gearbox so after a few 1000 miles contamination was creating pickup on the journals.!! . . . . So change the oil often and spin engine over a couple of times before starting to pressurerise oil system.

[rnr107]

I thought you would have inferred from context.
of course i meant boxford but not necessarily the 260
as much as id love a 125 tcl what i really need right now is a mill although il consider it, fancy pm'ing me an idea on price and some specs?

I said VMC260 because this is what I have... :-) Looks like you are going for the exact machine I went for! Must be a Northern Irish thing... :-)
(I lived in Belfast for almost 10 years before moving to England)

PM sent...

RNR

[jonnydeen]

I said VMC260 because this is what I have... :-) Looks like you are going for the exact machine I went for! Must be a Northern Irish thing... :-)
(I lived in Belfast for almost 10 years before moving to England)

PM sent...

RNR

not so much a northern irish thing, it was completely by chance that i got that particular lathe, i know that boxford make good machines and i think it would be peachy to have a collection
im not particularly fussy on brand, i cant afford to be
i wouldn't even mind an emco f1/pc50 or a denford nova/star mill, i just need some machine to bring my ideas of grandeur to fruition, then i can have my collection

[jonnydeen]

by chance, would any one know how much these lathes weigh? i only need a good estimate as i have decided to mount it on castors
it would certainly make moving it back into the shed easier but i also plan on putting in a bigger shed in the future so it'd be a god send!
can anyone think of any downsides?

[JAZZCNC]

can anyone think of any downsides?

Yes loss of accurecy.?? The lathe needs to be sat level and true, if the floors uneven it will/could put the bed in twist lossing paralleismmmmm.

[jonnydeen]

very good point
do you think that would be such an issue? the heavy steel cabinet would be on castors and the lathe itself is on adjustable feet.
is there any precautionary counter-measures you can think of, that allow me to safely use castors?

[JAZZCNC]

very good point
do you think that would be such an issue? the heavy steel cabinet would be on castors and the lathe itself is on adjustable feet.
is there any precautionary counter-measures you can think of, that allow me to safely use castors?

Depends to what degree of accurecy you want.? I've got an AUD and know setting level flat made a difference to my accurecy. To do it right you need a parallel test bar and you'd be surprised the difference just an thin shim can make so I positive castors would have a negative affect on accurecy.!!

Personally I would try to find it a permanent home, even if you had lift up down castors it would be an hassle and not fun job setting true every time you move it.!

[jonnydeen]

i think im going to have to re-evaluate my working conditions as i can't imagine the shed floor being particularly level
jazz i believe you have saved me from a novice pit-fall