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Emco Maximat Standard Mk. 2 & Mk. 3 Lathe
Models M-3100  MQ-3000  M-3000 & 4000 & 4100
Carriage, Gearbox, Grinding    Vertical Head    Accessories   
Emco Home Page   Back to Early Maximat Home Page   Later Maximat Lathes V10 and V10P

A comprehensive Handbook and parts List is available for these Models. E-mail for details 

The text below is repeated from the early Maximat Page:
By 1962 (having run through 4 versions of the original Maximat) the angular-styled Mk. 3 "Series 3000" was in production and being sold in three versions. The best was the MQ-3100, with a full screwcutting and feeds gearbox and equipped with two headstock-motor units - so it was always ready for vertical milling and drilling. A cheaper version, the cheaper M-3100, was mechanically identical - and with two headstocks - but with changewheels for screwcutting. The entry-level model, the M-3000, came with changewheels and only one headstock that had to be shared between lathe and milling column.
Unchanged at 9/16" bore and with a No. 2 Morse taper centre the spindle nose was hardened and carried either a 1.125" or M27 spindle nose. However, on the better-specified lathes supplied with a non-sliding quill assembly in the lathe headstock (i.e. the "Maximat Compact" with a powered milling head in place) there was more room in the casting and they were equipped with a larger assembly carrying either a 1.5" x 8 t.p.i or M4 x 39 metric nose, a No. 3 Morse taper and a 20 mm (3/4") bore with an adaptor fitting to accept ordinary draw-in L20 collets. In all cases the spindle now ran in a Class 7, double-row roller bearing at the front and two Class 7 angular-contact (ball) bearings at the rear whilst the overhung pulley that drove the spindle ran on two angular-contact ball bearings. However, variations on this theme have been discovered, and it is entirely possible that not only were lathes originally supplied with a vertical-milling head (MQ-3100 and M3100) fitted with a "lathe" headstock that lacked the sliding quill mechanism, but the headstock supplied for milling was altered to accept collets similar to the ER type, which had a much better grip on milling cutters.
With the new headstock, spindle speeds dropped in number from seven to six and, with a 1725 rpm, 0.5 hp 1-phase (or 3-phase) motor, these were: 125, 210, 370, 620, 1100 and 1900 rpm. Alternatively, a slower single or three-phase 0.5 hp, 1120 r.p.m. motor could be ordered to give: 80, 140, 250, 420, 720 and 1250 r.p.m. Again, variations from the catalogue specification have been found in production machines with some examples using a 1/2 h.p. split-phase, single-phase motor (fitted with a 560 mf start capacitor and a 40 mf run capacitor) on both the lathe and milling head. 
Of the two speed ranges, the slower 80 to 1250 rpm would have been the better for both screwcutting and large-diameter turning - if still nearly 100% too fast on the bottom speed for comfort and safety. However, in later versions of the Maximat (the much better known V10 and V10p Models) things were considerably improved with the employment of an all-geared headstock driven as standard by a 2-speed motor - in addition to being fitted with the 4 or 6-speed all-geared milling head from, respectively, the U2 and FB2 vertical milling machines. 
Fitted with 2 T-slots arranged to run at a right-angle to the bed ways the robust 10" x 4.75" cross slide was adapted from that on the Mk. 2 and retained the feature whereby the top slide could be slid backwards and forwards in the slots and bolted down in any position - this part of the design continuing unaltered on the V10 series in later years.
Able to generate 24 threads and feeds, the Norton-type screwcutting gearbox featured the standard controls of a sliding tumbler lever on the front, a three-position lever on the top and a push/pull knob sticking out of the end cover to select either screwcutting or fine feeds for sliding and surfacing. As an indication of the quality of the lathe, the screwcutting gearbox was fitted throughout with ball bearings and the leadscrew (0.75" x 8 t.p.i Acme form) was both hardened and ground and could be adjusted so that it was tensioned between its angular-contact ball bearing fitted support brackets.
Although models equipped with screwcutting by changewheels had an entirely adequate range of fine feeds, Emco persisted in fitted a modified version of the original belt-drive 2-speed feeds' gearbox.  Based on designs as commonly employed from the late 1800s until the 1920s, the new box held an expensive ratio-lowering worm-and-wheel assembly with a pair of bevel gears to turn the drive through 90-degrees. Just before sales of the entirely new V10 range began a Mk. 4 version was introduced as the two-model 4000-Series - again, a machine rare in the UK but one that met with some success in the USA when sold through the Edelstall Corporation. Modifications over the Series 3000 appear to have been few (though the headstock was modified to take a No. 3 Morse taper) with the Model 4100 having a screwcutting gearbox and the 4000 screwcutting with changewheels - both models being supplied with two headstocks as standard. All-metric versions - gearbox, leadscrew and compound slide rest screws and micrometer collars - were given a suffix M, as in 4100-M. Additional features offered as extras on these later-model machines included a choice of a single-speed 1120 or 1725 r.p.m. motor (U.S.A. specification) - that gave top speeds of 2250 and 3400 r.p.m respectively - and more sophisticated SCR electronic variable-speed control of the spindle from 0 to 35000 rpm and with instant reverse. A useful variable-speed electric motor and gearbox unit was also available to drive the carriage and so allow the optimum sliding speed to be obtained for virtually any job.

Tony Griffiths
Back to Early Maximat Home Page

Maximat MQ-3100 - the best specified  of the range fitted with a screwcutting gearbox and two headstock motor units so that the machine was always ready for vertical milling and drilling.

M-3100 - still with two motor units but with changewheels instead of a screwcutting gearbox.

MQ-3000 - with a screwcutting gearbox but only one motor headstock unit.

M-3000 - the basic unit with one headstock unit to share between the lathe and milling column and changewheels for screwcutting.

A clear picture showing the disposition of the belt-drive system - and gear drive to the screwcutting gearbox.


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Emco Maximat Standard Mk.2
Models M-3100  MQ-300  M-3000 Circa 1962
Carriage, Gearbox, Grinding    Vertical Head    Accessories   
Emco Home Page     Back to Early Maximat Home Page
Later Maximat Lathes V10 and V10P