I am interested in getting into model engineering and have been buying small machine tools as they have become available. I bought this little Centec 2a mill just before going away have just now had a really good look at it. It has disclosed an interesting history.
The machine was reclining in a dirt floored shed in the Adelaide hills where (there was no power) it had never been used. It was being sold as part of a property cleanup and no one knew how it had come to be in shed that was otherwise full of total rubbish.
Getting it, mounted on a very heavy stand into the ute with a tractor that had little in the way of brakes and then up a steep slippery track was great fun as was the very wet drive home.
The Centec was made in the 1950s and is well documented on Lathes UK, see http://ift.tt/1te51UU There are plenty of references to then in British model engineering sources, they seem to have a good name.
I know that there is at least one other in Australia and would be very interested to hear from anyone else who has one?
When I saw it it was a couple of inches deep in a mixture of cast iron filings and oil, these proved to be a remarkable preservative and there was little rust. Once all the crap was removed it has turned out to be very tidy and I wont bother painting it.
Cleaning it up disclosed a WRE (Weapons Research Establishment) asset number. The WRE was formed in 1955, see http://ift.tt/1u7mEDS
and the Centec seems to be exactly the sort of laboratory/proofing machine that would be purchased for such an organization.
It came with a really useful range of accessories, sadly few of them genuine Centec. I imagine that it was separated from the original vise and dividing head etc when it was auctioned by the WRE. It came with a chinese K vice with horizontal swivels where the fixed jaw should be - it may work...? There is also a dividing head with a chuck that has never been mounted. The full horizontal head and all of the shafting and a selection of cutters are with it. It has a churchill chuck and a full set of collets. The is also a very nice key less chuck for drilling with it but in a machine with limited clearance over the table it seems to me to be the wrong chuck as it is quite long. I will probably use the one from the lathe with it.
The stand is a monster, dwarfing such a small machine, it is 700mm sq with a 1/2" plate top and 1/4" sides. If anyone wants such a monster let me know. My next step is to make up something smaller and easier to handle.
The original 3ph motor had been ripped off in the roughest possible way and a 1.5hp 1 ph cap start cap run motor tacked on. This seems to be quite a good motor but was installed without any switching. It is a reversible motor but I am not sure if it is worth going to the trouble of getting the switching - is this a useful feature?
If people are interested I will put up some pictures as I get it sorted?
Regards
Ian
2014-06-01 17.55.47.jpg2014-06-01 17.55.28.jpg2014-06-01 17.55.00.jpg2014-06-01 17.57.16.jpg2014-06-01 17.59.23.jpg
The machine was reclining in a dirt floored shed in the Adelaide hills where (there was no power) it had never been used. It was being sold as part of a property cleanup and no one knew how it had come to be in shed that was otherwise full of total rubbish.
Getting it, mounted on a very heavy stand into the ute with a tractor that had little in the way of brakes and then up a steep slippery track was great fun as was the very wet drive home.
The Centec was made in the 1950s and is well documented on Lathes UK, see http://ift.tt/1te51UU There are plenty of references to then in British model engineering sources, they seem to have a good name.
I know that there is at least one other in Australia and would be very interested to hear from anyone else who has one?
When I saw it it was a couple of inches deep in a mixture of cast iron filings and oil, these proved to be a remarkable preservative and there was little rust. Once all the crap was removed it has turned out to be very tidy and I wont bother painting it.
Cleaning it up disclosed a WRE (Weapons Research Establishment) asset number. The WRE was formed in 1955, see http://ift.tt/1u7mEDS
and the Centec seems to be exactly the sort of laboratory/proofing machine that would be purchased for such an organization.
It came with a really useful range of accessories, sadly few of them genuine Centec. I imagine that it was separated from the original vise and dividing head etc when it was auctioned by the WRE. It came with a chinese K vice with horizontal swivels where the fixed jaw should be - it may work...? There is also a dividing head with a chuck that has never been mounted. The full horizontal head and all of the shafting and a selection of cutters are with it. It has a churchill chuck and a full set of collets. The is also a very nice key less chuck for drilling with it but in a machine with limited clearance over the table it seems to me to be the wrong chuck as it is quite long. I will probably use the one from the lathe with it.
The stand is a monster, dwarfing such a small machine, it is 700mm sq with a 1/2" plate top and 1/4" sides. If anyone wants such a monster let me know. My next step is to make up something smaller and easier to handle.
The original 3ph motor had been ripped off in the roughest possible way and a 1.5hp 1 ph cap start cap run motor tacked on. This seems to be quite a good motor but was installed without any switching. It is a reversible motor but I am not sure if it is worth going to the trouble of getting the switching - is this a useful feature?
If people are interested I will put up some pictures as I get it sorted?
Regards
Ian
2014-06-01 17.55.47.jpg2014-06-01 17.55.28.jpg2014-06-01 17.55.00.jpg2014-06-01 17.57.16.jpg2014-06-01 17.59.23.jpg
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