The Harrison M250 lathe (also sold as Colchester Bantam with a different gear change and control lever layout) was designed to appeal to schools, training establishments, repair shops and those needing a strong, properly-built but compact lathe for light production work.
The M250 is a full-function machine capable of the entire range of turning operations, and through the available range of accessories its scope and versatility can be increased even further. Quality, reliability and response make it one of the most outstanding lathes of its kind especially in industry, the toolroom, training and secondary and tertiary education.
To request an induction please post on the forum. The induction takes about 1.5 hours.
Pre-Induction Study:
If you are new to lathe work, please prepare for the induction by watching the first 5 videos of BlondieHacks Lathe Skills on youtube (apx 35 minutes). We highly recommend the whole series.
The Metal Lathe is very happy cutting most common engineering materials. including:
On very rare occasions, when there is a case for using metal lathe to cut hard wood precisely. If this is the case, please take care clean off all traces of wood dust when you have finished. After clean up, anoint the lathe with copious amounts of ways oil, repent for your sins and consider sacrificing a small mammal to the metal gods.
If you have any doubts as to whether a material is suitable, or whether it needs HSS or Carbide Tooling and coolant, please ask on the forum.
Daily maintenance is to be carried out every time you use the lathe. A some documents and links on how to do things on the lathe. Metal Lathe Maintenance
See the forum thread for the Metal Lathe Team.
In the event of anything urgent please post on the forum or contact Drew or someone from the committee.
In the event of the lathe being unsafe to use, please add a note clearly marking it to warn other members and explain why and alert on the forum or contact the committee on committee@bristol.hackspace.org.uk