Ammco Brake Lathe Restoration

[Rodnok1]

So I picked this up in August.
Had an Uncle Morty's spray can resto with plenty of metal and dirt under the paint. It leaked gear oil badly also.

Wire wheel along with steel wool and oil to clean and protect any non painted surfaces such as adpaters and tools.
Parts replaced: main switch, plug end, Led light, 4 oil seals, 6 bearings(motor included), shaft protection boots, one brass part in rotor feed box.
Waiting for parts took as long as the resto. Oh we have those in stock.... And 4 days later they say the parts will ship in a month.
The main drive pin was broken and it was 2 months to get a new one so I made one instead of waiting.

Picked up a brake drum and rotor dial indicator pretty cheap.
Welded on some large caster I had laying around so can push to back corner when not used.
Pretty simple to restore it, strip and clean, paint everything and polish the shiney parts.
Info on setting the bearing end play is non existant so some liberties were taken and past experience used to setup bearings and backlash.
Overall it was in very good working condition when I got it.
The only remaining issue is high speed rotor feed jumps, believe it's the grease I used is the issue(too thick). Not a big deal just takes an extra couple of minutes to turn a rotor using low speed.
I did dial in the main hub adapters I will use for minimal runout on spindle and marked them.
I need to get an extra shear gear and an extra main belt.
Haven't cut a drum yet as I don't have any extras laying around at this point. I may have sold all my scrap iron couple of years ago which included a dozen plus drums.

[Rodnok1]

More pics

[Yadkin]

Very cool. A machine like that was designed to last basically forever. Nice to see that you've done the required maintenance and repairs.

[MadInNc]

I’m coming to you for resurface vs buy Chinese. Good job Rod 🍺

Have the;
2020 F150
73 Eldo, drums and disk
69 M1, drums and disk
2012 Jaq XJS all disk
2005 FGT all disk

See ya sooner than later bro, and I’ll bring the shine/ booze etc…

[gs568]

Very talented.

[Rodnok1]

I don't have the large rotor extension so may not be able to do larger truck rotors or the like unfortunately. I can't recall the max it does currently.
Drums suck to cut from the harmonics even with the silencer.
I don't miss cutting those.
Learned to cut drums at a friends grandfather's house as he had an drum only Ammco. We forgot to put the band on once...

[LATB]

Impressive.

[Vandelay Industries]

Sweet!

[Bill]

Very cool. Thread delivers, plenty of pics......nice work!

[ZipZap]

I can smell that machine running...

[markids77]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

I can smell that machine running...

Me too, but I bet it has been 40 years since I cut a rotor. Bedard Bros Dodge, Saab Honda Volvo.

[JRD77VET]

Nice job

[Mr Hole]

I put many hours on one of those back in the mid to late 70's.

[RMVette]

Nice job!

Not many shops cut rotors anymore nor do they put enough metal on a rotor for it to be turned.

[04 commemorative]

[Jughead]

I remember using that machine back in the early 70's

[Newby]

Nice

The round carbide inserts do a nice job and are very cost effective.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by Rodnok1

So I picked this up in August.
Had an Uncle Morty's spray can resto with plenty of metal and dirt under the paint. It leaked gear oil badly also.

<SNIP>

If you like restoring things, you can have these machine tools FOR FREE. Just come and get them (near Rochester NY). I'm going to put them on Craig's List soon, all FOR FREE.

Built in mid-'80s:




Electrical Discharge Machine, bought new in 1989:




Eltee Pulsitron EDM, early-mid '80s era:




Some of these hand tools have been sold, still have a lot left:

[Rodnok1]

I would have driven a truck over and purchased alot of your machines if I was closer. I'm a good 12 hrs away unfortunately.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by Rodnok1

I would have driven a truck over and purchased alot of your machines if I was closer. I'm a good 12 hrs away unfortunately.

Not an easy job to do by yourself. The CNC mill weighs about 3,000 lbs. The EDMs are 1,500-2,000 lbs.

I doubt I'll ever get rid of them, even for scrap. It will cost too much to move them, probably more than the scrap price is.

We'll see.