Change Wheel Calculator for Warco 918 Lathe

Here is a spreadsheet to calculate all the thread pitches possible on a Warco 918 lathe using the change wheel set provided with the machine :  XLSX (newer versions of Excel) and XLS (Excel 97 and 2003, also works in LibreOffice/OpenOffice).

The cells are all locked except D4, which should be set to “y” or “n” depending on whether the 120/127 tooth gearing will be in use (see the plate attached to the lathe). Note that there are three worksheets for mm/rev, inch/rev and tpi.

Use should be self-evident, but in case not, here is an example.

Looking at the “mm per rev” sheet:

  • Put “y” in cell D4 because that gives results in nice round numbers
  • Assume you want 1.5 mm/rev
  • See this appears in four cells: I13, I14, F19 and C24
  • Choose F16 (on a whim, or maybe you already had a 36 tooth wheel in position b)
  • Change-wheels (where a and b are as on the plate attached to the lathe) to use are: a=45 tooth and b=36 tooth
  • The gearbox should be set to no. 4
  • Note that the Warco lathe-plate gives the C24 configuration.

If unsure, check you understand it by choosing a few of the pitches given on the lathe-plate and confirming that the change-wheels and gearbox settings you determine from the spreadsheet match the “right answer”.

Warning: I might have made a mistake so always try out on a piece of scrap and measure the result.

 

2 thoughts on “Change Wheel Calculator for Warco 918 Lathe

  1. Brilliant job Adam. I was looking to cut a 5 BA thread, and it had me foxed. Now sorted thanks to your spread sheet!

    Thanks

    Pete H.

  2. Thank you so much Adam for providing this spread sheet.
    I need to cut a 42 tpi thread for a 1.25″ telescope eyepiece and with your program discovered my 918 lathe is able to produce that thread pitch.

    Regards
    Larry

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