Nah, this is not a hobby machine. This is a production machine, used in laboratories. It's small but very capable for what it does.
Well the proof is in the pudding. Congrats to you!
The uber solution is to put the Rusnok head on a larger platform, for example a Burke No 4 or similar. This still results in a very convenient size, movable by a single person, but with enough X/Y/Z to do more useful work. The Rusnok heads were designed specifically for this approach, similar to a Bridgeport M head. The DA100 collets work just fine, they are easily purchased, and have very good holding power...the only negative is that they are intolerant of deviations from their spec, so you can't squeeze down on undersized parts as you can with the ER system for example, but other than that they are very fine collets. And, with this kind of machine you are not gonna be hogging huge chunks of metal, this is a finese machine.
Never touched a Rusnok Mill so I'll stipulate I don't have much business talking about them, other than what may be gleaned from a picture.
It’s no Sixis/Aciera as far as watchmaking goes, but it is fairly precise machine and even offers adjustable backlash for xy. The DA100 although I agree is not the most modern collet, at least is readily available unlike the Y type collet used in early rusnok model 70 heads.
Derbyshire turrets are very rare, but I do have a Levin turret and two different model Gilmans. The tool holes are 1/2 inch and the headstocks take 10 mm collets, same as my Derbyshire mill. I understand Gilman gave their lathe designs to Derbyshire after WWII and some Gilman elements are visible in 1950's Derbyshire lathes.Well damn, never too old to learn something ? I always thought derbyshire was from england, because of the name.
That little turret lathe looks cool
Very neat! Thank you for sharing
I've got a South Bend 9" with a turret tail stock with 1/2" tool holes. I was told 1/2" was weird, or at least it wasn't common, so good to know I can look at old watch-maker lathe stuff.
Fortunately, my Levin turret, which the pen company that bought the lathe new apparently never used, came with a bunch of unused Levin turret tools. I have added more over the years, but only bought a boring head direct from Levin. Here are current Levin prices for turret tools. Kind of steep, like $850 for a Jacobs 0 or 1A chuck with short 1/2" shank. They used to offer more types of turret tools. The turret itself is $16,750. They can sometimes be had for somewhat less on eBay.
All good to know. Mine was a special order from SB and was primarily used by the original owner for contract Wright Aircraft gauge work (1960's to the 1980's), so I imagine going with the 1/2" system made sense as most of that stuff was probably designed around watchmaker lathes. I've thought about boring out the turret to 5/8", as I can always use reducers if needed.
