Old Bike Mart Magazine February 2014 Edizione posteriore

First of all, thank you to all who responded to my plea for a Hobbymat MD65 lathe manual and Allan Smurthwaite who sorted me out with a spare one surplus to his requirements. One of my soapbox issues is
the use of manuals, I’m a great believer in them, even for equipment I’m familiar with it’s a worthwhile exercise to glance through
the booklet now and again.

One workshop I was in had a massive old planer thicknesser – for dressing timber – and the three cutter knives need setting
accurately or one will do all the work. There is a nice little setting jig as part of the equipment supplied with these machines. It’s clearly on the manual cover image but no one had used it at all in the 20 years the
machine had been there.

Thanks to the manual I now know what some of the selection of tools in the little box do and also what the switches, knobs and wheels do... so confidently expect to be able to turn something soon. I doubt the
first things I produce with the lathe will be more adventurous than a distance piece or spacer, or maybe cleaning up a bolt head to save an ounce or two here and there. I certainly won’t be delving into the workings of our project engine and producing parts or turning alloy blanks into pistons. This sort of engineering is beyond me, though not
beyond the lathe’s capabilities according to several people who offered assistance.

It seems all manner of intricate stuff can be made with the Hobbymat, the only limiting factor is the skill or experience of the operator. It is comforting to know that certainly for the next few years at least, this
lathe shall bring my metalworking skills on. What it means is a new set of
skills and a challenge is in the offing... and a new challenge is always refreshing. TIM.