Hi Andy,
I'm sat in isolation reading this fascinating posting and feel the need to join in !
I share your love of Proxxon kit and own 2 of their table saws, love the mini A4 sized brilliant for striping up planks etc,
and I also own the very same Unimat SL in light green Hammerite finish as above - picked up in the 90's for £40 from the local model shop with a ratty sewing machine motor.
Replaced said ratty motor a brand new motor (flat pale green gloss finish) from Emco for a whopping £95, an engineer friend machined up the vertical milling stand conversion parts from simple chunks of Ali rod, and I buy replacement rubber O rings from a local bearings suppliers for drive belts -
which it eats regularly because of a sharp dink out of the main pulley casting, I know not how to repair,
and thats about it, the thing works ok for the small boat fittings I need.
This is the interesting bit - my brother-in-law and cousin (aeromodellers, living in different areas of the country) have both recently been GIVEN the same green Unimat SL lathes - one from an ageing friend, one in payment for work for a friend, this came with circular saw attachments and all manner of accessories !
so they are out there !!
I wasn't aware of how much they command value wise? staggering is the word I would use for an ancient 1950's item, but hey food for thought,
I have the original brochure with the multitude of accessories Emco produced in the 50's? I could scan and post if anyone's interested ??
regards Paul
The unimat sl/dB were made in 1968-72, 3-4 versions were 80-90’s.
They command a really high price now I paid £400 for mine I see them go on eBay £4/800 regularly depending on quality and assesories, I was looking at the Proxxon range but the one I wanted was £1200+ extras which was fine, but it also smacked the 2nd hand Myford price range... if I could fit a Myford 10 I would have as that has the mill attachment, but due to limited size of workshop space I had to rethink... anyway I phoned my old man as the story goes and he suggested looking at the unimats as he not only had one when he was younger, but when he worked at Chatham dockyard they had one in the machine shop which was used to make screws as the threading attachment ment they could make 1”bolts with the same thread every time instead of the match’s pair nut and bolt that the boxford machinist we’re knocking out.
That said I went hunting came across a few unimats some in worse conditions than others, and won the one I currently have, it was hammerite green and rusting steel, The paint was very flaky and would chip or flick off just running your finger over it, in the end I was getting some chattering on the work parts and given the sharp hss bit set I had just brought I knew instantly it was the headstock bearings, so I took that moment to strip and restore the machine and repaint it something more fitting for my shop instead of ugly green. Anyway that restoration didn’t cost much about £30 of paint and etch primer, new headstock bearings which were £20 and the motor clean. Then replaced all bolts for stainless.
Since then I’ve got two new live Centers, a max 13mm drill chuck, insert tooling etc.. I’m still after a independent 4 jaw, but the lathe is a 12x1 thread so finding ones that attach are rare or expensive, I’ve also got an ER16 collect chuck in order but delayed from Germany at present which was another £70 +£100 on the collect set itself up to 10mm, problem with all lathes is they are a money pit for a beginner starting out, in my case restating, but I was lucky enough I had a lot of extras with the lathe including face plate and dog, for square stock or milling without needing a 4 jaw if push came to shove.
I look at it as a labour of love for the machine, it gets good use nothing heavy but stainless and brass are common cutting materials and with insert tooling I have an easy time of it, it’s just a shame I’ve spent £200 on decent top end insert tools for the machine none of that cheap chinese rubbish!
I’m still working on other parts for specific jobs, round off/ball cutters, but much of those is a case of grinding blank hss stock to shape.
For what I do on a regular basis the unimat is a great fit to my workshop, off there are times I wish I had a Myford again, but I’m no longer knocking out the larger work of my past, for the odd jobs where I think I need a bigger machine I tend to find that other shop tools can do the task usualy just more time consuming.