¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

ctrl + shift + ? for shortcuts
© 2025 Groups.io
  1. Unimat
  2. Topics

Emco Unimat 3 Keep Plate Material?

 

Hello, All. I'm new to the forum. I need to make new keep plates for my Emco Unimat 3 lathe cross slide. Any suggestions about what material would work best? Thanks!
?
 

You might not be aware, but issues with the effectiveness of the ¡®keep plates¡¯ have been discussed a few times in the forum, most recently (just the other day) in this thread

If you¡¯re having to remake them then this a good time at try to fix this annoying trait.
?
Brass has been suggested, I plan to use oilon, mildly rebated at the contact area with the carriage, and then shimmed so that the plates make a good grip.
?
Like so many things, I have yet to get round to it¡­ ?:-)
 

What size of "oilon" is used?? Has anyone here used this before, and where do you buy in the US?? The cheapest that I found on Ebay is $105 for 12"x12"x.250.
 

As far as I know it¡¯s oil impregnated nylon¡­ I¡¯m in the UK so had no trouble getting it, no idea about the US. Maybe there is an equivalent brand.
?
Personally I¡¯m planning on using a thicker section than the original keep plates, there¡¯s quite a lot of room but you¡¯d need longer bolts.
 

Oilon is a lubricated cast nylon material made by Nylacast, which is a UK company.? The only place I found this online here is Ebay, at the minimum $105 price that I stated.? I am not going to spend anything like that for a little sliding around on a Unimat.
 

All good ideas, Thanks. Looks like the Oilon equivalent is called? Nyloil in the US? Found it on eBay -??- I just bought 1 piece, they accepted an offer of $8.50 (YES, I am a frugal one!)
 

Nobody said Nyloil and I do not know equivalents.??
 

Lignum vitae might perhaps do it? ?the tropical oily wood that was once used as water resistant and very strong bearing for the main shaft of ocean going ships. Very expensive these days, ?but I just so happen to have a stash. I might be tempted to try that ¡­

Verzonden vanuit
?

Van:[email protected] <[email protected]> namens John Hutnick via groups.io <johnhutnick@...>
Verzonden:?zaterdag, december 14, 2024 11:12 PM
Aan:?key2theattic@... <key2theattic@...>; [email protected] <[email protected]>
Onderwerp:?Re: [Unimat] Emco Unimat 3 Keep Plate Material?
?
Nobody said Nyloil and I do not know equivalents.??
Andrei
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/oil-impregnated-nylon/

Get

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of John Hutnick via groups.io <johnhutnick@...>
Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2024 2:09:10 PM
To: Peter Brooks <peter@...>; [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Unimat] Emco Unimat 3 Keep Plate Material?
?
What size of "oilon" is used?? Has anyone here used this before, and where do you buy in the US?? The cheapest that I found on Ebay is $105 for 12"x12"x.250.
 

Nylatron is moly disulfide impregnated nylon. It¡¯s very good engineering plastic, tough and slick.?

Delrin af is delrin impregnated with Teflon if I am not mistaken. UHMW ultra high molecular weight polyethylene is quite tough and very slick.?

McMaster Carr has quite a selection of all these plastics. UHMW is also available as thin stick on strips that can be used backed by metal. It is used on tables saw tools and is cheap.?

Steve

On Sat, Dec 14, 2024 at 5:22?PM Andrei via <calciu1=[email protected]> wrote:

Get
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of John Hutnick via <johnhutnick=[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2024 2:09:10 PM
To: Peter Brooks <peter@...>; [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Unimat] Emco Unimat 3 Keep Plate Material?
?
What size of "oilon" is used?? Has anyone here used this before, and where do you buy in the US?? The cheapest that I found on Ebay is $105 for 12"x12"x.250.
 

Yes, Lignum Vitae was used for propeller shaft bearings in ships, quite remarkable I think.
?
Policeman¡¯s truncheons and bowling balls (lawn bowls) attract attention at auctions as they are sometimes made of Lignum Vitae. I guess the wood turners like a challenge!
?
It doesn¡¯t float in water!
 

Excellent! ?Good to hear you can get an equivalent over there ¡®across the pond¡¯. It¡¯s even green!
?
I don¡¯t use oil on my U3 (not on the bed anyway), and as the original keep plates were a plastic material, an oil-impregnated nylon seemed like a good idea.
?
The ¡®lifting¡¯, or play, issue in the carriage on the bed is a subtle one but very annoying.
?
I have no desire to file away at the carriage, so using thicker material, lightly rebated then shimmed gives me the option to try out solutions in a non-destructive way.
 

Andrei,
The links you posted are not active and therefore non functional. It would be better if you give us all that we can actually link to.
--
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/?OFF-SET-tailstock-center-65965#post105972
?SMALL TURRET TOOL POST PLANS?
?LARGE TURRET TOOL POST PLANS
?MINI-LATHE CARRIAGE LOCK PLANS
?SMALL QC TOOL POST PLANS?
?QUICK CHANGE LATHE TURRET
?MINI LATHE COMPOUND PIVOT MODIFICATION
 

The links worked for me, no problem.
Peter B.

On Sun, Dec 15, 2024 at 7:12?AM OldToolmaker via <old_toolmaker=[email protected]> wrote:
Andrei,
The links you posted are not active and therefore non functional. It would be better if you give us all that we can actually link to.
--
forum/?OFF-SET-tailstock-center-65965#post105972
?SMALL TURRET TOOL POST PLANS?
?LARGE TURRET TOOL POST PLANS
?MINI-LATHE CARRIAGE LOCK PLANS
?SMALL QC TOOL POST PLANS?
?QUICK CHANGE LATHE TURRET
?MINI LATHE COMPOUND PIVOT MODIFICATION
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Hi Gang:

At a hydro electric dam they use wedges of Lignum Vitae for the main shaft bearings. As it slowly wears they just push the wedges farther in. It was cool, the shaft only turns about 12 RPM and water is the lubrication.

Carl.

On 12/15/2024 1:26 AM, Peter Brooks via groups.io wrote:

Yes, Lignum Vitae was used for propeller shaft bearings in ships, quite remarkable I think.
?
Policeman¡¯s truncheons and bowling balls (lawn bowls) attract attention at auctions as they are sometimes made of Lignum Vitae. I guess the wood turners like a challenge!
?
It doesn¡¯t float in water!
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

It opened for me in UK





-------- Original message --------
From: "OldToolmaker via groups.io" <old_toolmaker@...>
Date: 15/12/2024 12:11 (GMT+00:00)
To: Andrei <calciu1@...>, [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Unimat] Emco Unimat 3 Keep Plate Material?

Andrei,
The links you posted are not active and therefore non functional. It would be better if you give us all that we can actually link to.
--
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/?OFF-SET-tailstock-center-65965#post105972
?SMALL TURRET TOOL POST PLANS?
?LARGE TURRET TOOL POST PLANS
?MINI-LATHE CARRIAGE LOCK PLANS
?SMALL QC TOOL POST PLANS?
?QUICK CHANGE LATHE TURRET
?MINI LATHE COMPOUND PIVOT MODIFICATION

1 - 16 of 16