Metal lathe — EMCO Maximat Super 11

No brake — the chuck keeps spinning after stopping. Never leave the chuck key in the chuck.

Manual centre lathe for turning metal and unreinforced plastic. Fitted with a Ditron D80 digital readout.

EMCO Maximat Super 11 with DRO and work light


Location	Metal room
Access	Free use, first come first served, no logging
Materials	Metal and plastic without fibre reinforcement
Speeds	55–2200 rpm, 8 steps
Help / faults	Slack #metallrummet
Owner	On loan from Sten Barkman

Materials

Allowed: metal, plastic without fibre reinforcement.
Not allowed: wood, glass fibre, carbon fibre, ceramics.

The ways are unprotected and covered in way oil. Wood dust soaks up the oil and forms a paste that stops lubrication; fibre and ceramic dust is abrasive and wears the machine.

Safety

Never let go of the chuck key while it's in the chuck. Always check it's removed before starting — a chuck key thrown from a running lathe can kill.
No gloves. No loose sleeves, jewellery, hoodie strings or necklaces. Tie back long hair.
Safety glasses. Use the chip guard when possible.
Turn the spindle a revolution by hand before starting, to check that everything clears.
Work and tools get hot.
Learn how to hold files and emery cloth safely before using them on the lathe.
Know where the first-aid kit and alarm are.

How to use

Set speed and feed on the gearbox with the motor off. Turn the spindle slowly by hand while shifting — the feed gears in particular may need the spindle turned quite far before they engage. No lever needs force.
Make sure every lever sits fully in its detent.
Switch the red/yellow safety switch on (only possible when the machine has power).
Select direction and speed with the motor switch.

Cutting data: manual pp. 24–25.

Tooling


Spindle taper	MT4
Tailstock taper	MT2
ER25 collets (Nov 2015)	3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16 mm
Drills	15–23 mm

The vertical milling attachment was removed on 1 August 2025.

Digital readout

Ditron D80 with 5 µm scales on the carriage (700 mm) and cross slide (150 mm). The top slide has no scale — it is often replaced by a riser block for rigidity.

Check X-R / X-D before reading the cross slide: radius mode shows slide movement, diameter mode shows twice that.

Ditron D80 DRO

More: Ditron D80 page.

Maintenance

From the manual:

Lubricate per manual pp. 26–27 — most important: way oil on the ways, and on the lead screw when threading.
Never clean with compressed air — chips get blown into the motor, bearings and ways.
After using water-based coolant, wipe dry and oil the machine.
Keep the drive belt correctly tensioned.
Never hammer on the spindle — it damages the precision bearings.
The lead-screw shear pin is a special alloy. Replace only with the correct part.
The tailstock thrust bearing is a 51100.

Maintenance and repairs log — includes the old milling attachment instructions and removal.

Specifications


Model	EMCO Maximat Super 11
Centre height	140 mm
Distance between centres	650 mm
Swing over bed / cross slide	280 mm / 170 mm
Bed width	155 mm
Top slide / cross slide travel	100 mm / 135 mm
Lead screw	Ø20 mm, 3 mm pitch
Spindle bore	26 mm
Spindle nose	DIN 55021 size 3
Spindle taper	MT4
Spindle speeds	55, 110, 200, 300, 410, 600, 1100, 2200 rpm (2 motor speeds × 4 gears)
Tailstock	Ø30 mm quill, 80 mm stroke, MT2, set-over +10 / −8 mm
Chucks	3-jaw Ø140 mm, 4-jaw Ø152 mm, face plate Ø254 mm
Weight	170 kg

Ownership

On loan from Sten Barkman since 2013. The agreement is that If Stockholm Makerspace closes down, the lathe goes back to him; if he passes away first, it passes to Makerspace. (Sten is currently 93 years old, 2026).