Tools for Commercial Motor Users.
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The practical and up-to-date user of one or more corn:rcial motors cannot fail to be interested in such tcols as mid be of value to him when making the monthly or fort4-htly examination and adjustment of his vehicles. Many tails are left undone during these inspections owing to the Itthat the car may be laid up for some days, and the ;ult is that the faulty or worn part is allowed to remain in ice on the chassis ; the condition of this rapidly gets wse and, in all probability, damage is caused through it other parts, and the life of the vehicle is consequently ortened. If the dep6t contained a really useful and pracal foot, or power, lathe, capable of dealing with almost y part of the mechanism, many renewals or repairs could quickly and effectively executed by any mechanic. Until :ely, the high price of such a tool has stood in the way of 7 purchase by many van owners, but the productions of 7ummond Bros., Ltd., of Ryde's Hill, near Guildford, will of especial interest to those who do not see their way to Ong out a large sum of money. We have heard many iod reports of the usefulness of Drummond lathes, and, in der to exarnine thoroughly the various models made by at company, one of our representatives visited the works Ryde's Hill to inspect them. The works are well uipped for the rapid production of the company's three odels; many of the machines are of Mr. A. Drummond's vn design and have been built specially for certain details, ne of these is a double-motor, screw-milling machine on hich all lead screws are accurately and rapidly produced .orn bright, steel bars. Two very fine shapers, by Gould nd Everhardt, were seen at work, and Mr. A. Drummond .as full of praise for their performance. No less than 14 laning machines are kept busy on lathe beds and other arts. The largest machine is one of Bateman's trebleeaded planers with a stroke of g feel ; the heads are arlived for either cross or vertical traverse. Amongst other seful machines arc: a Brown and Sharp, No. 4, universal, tilling machine with" all-gear "head; a Brown and Sharp, ertical ; a special gear cutter which generates the )oth form ; a Gisholt lathe ; and a Jones and Lamson, flat, irret lathe. A large Norton grinder is at present being istalled. All the machines are conveniently arranged, alEiough they are somewhat crowded, and the necessity for xtensions of the works is now being felt by the company ; nese are now under consideration. Electrical transmission of ower is employed throughout. A 54-kilowatt, Crompton renerator supplies current at i r5 volts and it is driven by a 4-inch, leather belt direct from the to-foot flywheel of an oh.p., Diesel, heavy-oil engine. The water-cooling arangement in connection with this engine is rather novel. :le hot water is delivered from the engine to a pipe on the oof of the engine-house and it is allowed to trickle dowel he north slope of the roof, and thence through a gutter and all pipe to the top one of three tanks ; from this tank the vater overflows and drips off louvres to the middle, and inally to the lower tank, from whence it is pumped back o the engine. This arrangement, although primitive, is Try efficient and assists in settling the solid matter which is wesent in the very hard water of the district, About I5o
men are engaged in the works of this company and the lathes and accessories are made of the best material, and are of excellent workmanship. Every operation, from the preparing of the designs, and the making of the patterns, to the turning out of the finished article, is done in the works. In the foundry, the metal is reduced in an Evans furnace in which the metal commences to run within 13 minutes of starting the blast. After leaving the foundry, all lathe beds are " skinned " en a planing machine and are then allowed to rest for at least a month before being finished off. The castings are thus allowed to resume their natural shape and overcome the elTect of the initial strains set up whilst cooling.
The company's 31-inch lathe has been a great success amongst amateurs and others who required a really practical yet small tool, and over 5,000 examples of this size have been sent out from its works. The demand for these is still great and the average output is about 13 per week. The 5-inch-centre, self-acting, sliding, surfacing, boring, and screw-cutting lathe is a more useful tool and is capable of dealing with most of the work required by the van owner. The general capacity and power of this lathe is much greater than that of any other lathe of its size, and it is fully capable of dealing with work for which a 6-inch, or even a 7-inch, lathe of ordinary pattern is usually employed. It will take a good, deep, cut in rough, hard, cast iron with the scale on, on pieces as large as 14 inches in diameter, when driven by treadle. The bed and saddle are two of the best features of this lathe : the bed is of very stiff formation, the section of which we show in a small line drawing, whilst the view, looking down on the bed at an angle, gives a good idea of the saddle with its T slots. The saddle may be run along over the gap in the upper portion of the bed
and, in that position, is well supported on the broad faces of the lower bed. The shape of the tail stock, which is another feature of this lathe, permits the longitudinal traverse of the compound slide-rest to move much further along the bed than the general pattern would allow. An excellent illustration of the usefulness of this lathe is that which shows a
in cylinder, ;tea iii engine ;astingbeing )ored. The 6-inch, ' W ork man 's " :the is a fine example of a ma:bine that is built :o withstand a lot rif rough usage. It is stripped of a 11 refinements ind complica_ :ions, and it is specially adapted Or the requirenents of the van )wrier or motor -epairer whose >usiness does not 'arrant the purchase of inure elaborate machinery. Stiffness md accuracy are the two strong points to be urged for this athe. There is no gap-in the bed, but, for occasional use The box-section lathe bed on the 5-in. and 9-in. "Drummond" lathes. for larger work, patented raising blocks are fitted; these are tongued into the base and the heads may thus be raised to 9 inches and yet maintain alig,nability. Fine finish (except for wearing parts) has not been attempted. The main object has been to produce a really serviceable lathe to meet all the requirements of the repairer, at the rock-bottom price of fj3o. All the gears on this, as on all other machines turned out by the company, are machine cut from solid blanks. The principal point of difference between the design of this lathe and that of the 5-inch model, illustrated on the previous page, lies in the disposition of the lead screw, which is central with the lathe-bed.
Our representative was permitted to examine the designs for a new model, the first of which, it is hoped, will be exhibited at the forthcoming " Machinery Exhibition," at Olympia. This latest pattern will have 9-inch centres, with a gap bed 9 feet long; the gap will take work up to 30 inches in diameter. It will have a single-belt drive with two, treble, back gears, which, in combination with a gear box, will give 44 different speeds, whilst an extra attachment will render it possible to cut any metric or odd-sized thread. The bed of this lathe will have the same section as the 5-inch model but will, of course, be much heavier. The total weight of the machine will be about a tons and it will be suitable either for he manufacturer or for large garages or depots. We should advise all van owners and repairers. to Aibtain copies of the various catalogues issued by the company, as it would be impossible, in the space at our disposal, fully to describe every detail of these useful tools.