14x36 Hendey Lathe

I recently purchased a Hendey 14x36 lathe. Came with 3 & 4jaw chucks and steady rest.
Machine shop used it mostly for turning synthetic bearing the last few year, but it appears not to have even been cleaned in years. They had moved it to conex box and it was destined for scrap.
Has serial number 31201 on the ways and a brass tag for US Navy Department with Serial number 02634. So I'm assuming early to mid 40s.
I've started a tear down mostly for cleaning, I've already removed 3 gallons of chips and have a lot of degreasing to do. Will get a new paint job as it goes back together.
Interesting original paint scheme appears to be a light blue. Was repainted light gray at some point in the past.
During the move the rigger, (me) broke the handles for the quick change gearbox and the cross feed.
I've been searching the net for replacements with no luck. Are replacements available or will they have to be made?
All of the gears appear to be in good condition as do the bearings.
Some wear in the normal places on the ways.
Reading forum has helped a lot and I'm hoping the experts here can point me in the right direction.

Welcome to forum. Here is manual scan - thanks to Greg Menke for hosting this for me.

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/docs/hendey/1940-Hendey-Op-Man.pdf

If you have all the broken pieces of the handles you should be able to repair them, if you can't find replacements. I'll bet there are millions of lathes, in this country alone, that are sporting braised repaired handles.

My Axelson has a repaired handle. I think it was broken while being loaded via overhead crane as only one handle is broken. I never knew it was repaired until I started striping off the John Deere Green and Yellow...

Follow-up question about "Has serial number 31201 on the ways and a brass tag for US Navy Department with Serial number 02634. So I'm assuming early to mid 40s."

Please look carefully on the right end of the ways for a USN inspection stamp depicting an anchor. The stamp was somewhat faint, which one would expect from an inspector's stamp on the way of a precision machine tool. Look to see if there are any inspector's initials on the stamp, as these can sometimes be identified to a particular individual through historic records.

I once saw one of these USN & Anchor stamps on a large Hendey which I failed to purchase, my to my later remorse. Hendeyman was able to trace its serial number to the year 1923, which was of course a year in which the USA was not at war. That lathe was either equipment for a Navy Yard or possibly purchased as shipboard equipment.

JOhn Ruth

Thanks for the welcome. I joined several years ago and have used the cite for researching several machines. Now that I have a lathe I hope to be here more and to contribute.

Thanks for the reminder on brazing handles. The cross feed handle may be repairable but I do not think the quick change gear box handle is. The carriage handle was previously repaired, found that while I was taking it apart for cleaning.

I will look for the USN Stamp on the end of the ways. The USN brass tag has a spot for an inspectors stamp but it is blank.

I have taken many pictures so I have something to refer to when putting it back together. All are high definition though. may have to photoshop them to reduce the size before posting, if there is any interest in them.

Thank you for the link to the manual, I downloaded it a year or so ago when I first heard about this lathe it has already came in handy several times.

Does HENDEYMAN sell parts? I heave see in several of his replies to other threads where he refers to "In-Stock", If handles are available I would prefer to keep it original and not go the route of building a lever that may be functional but just doesn't look the part.

These old lathes are amazing, the engineering that went into them is simply astounding. the oil galleries alone are amazing. geuss that is one of the reasons they tend to last for 70 years.

Judging from the oil and what appears to be paraffin build up on almost every surface including the motor, these lathes sling some
oil.
Looking forward to making some chips.
mark

WildcatFan,

The USN inspection stamp was next to the serial number on the top of the right end of the bed, between the ways, on the lathe which I examined. It was somewhat faint.

Hendeyman is an amazing resource for Hendey owners. Yes, he does sell parts. He has access to the original drawings going way back. I had him made some gears "to oerder" for a 1912 Hendey, and they are beauties. I am totally satisfied with them.

John Ruth

I have a Hendey 12x54 conehead lathe from roughly 1941 with a serial number of 31xxx (can't remember it right now) and it has the USN anchor stamp on the ways below the serial number. The military brass tag is long gone. It is a seafoam green color.

another Navy Hendey tie bar

Here are some pictures from my 14x6 Hendey SN 19907. Hendeyman says it was scheduled for completion mid-march 1918 which is consistent with the purchase date on one of the tags of 4-9-18 or possibly 4-8-18. You can see the Navy anchors stamped into the bed with the number 970 between them and OBAP (or OBAR?) a couple of times above them. Interestingly, Hendeyman says nothing in the Hendey record says anything about the Navy but that it was sold to the American Radiator Company in Bayonne, NJ. Perhaps they were a Navy contractor and the Navy had it assigned to them.

(Sorry but poor picture for context)







Can anyone decode the OBAP/OBAR or the contents of the oval tag? Thanks.

wildcatfan:

The Serial Number Card for Hendey lathe #31201 was misfiled many years ago at Aable Machine Tool and has not been located. They usually turn up as book markers or in non-related files. I can tell you that this lathe was scheduled for completion during the second week of February 1941. There are still Patterns, Castings and Repair Parts left in inventory for this lathe. Also, all of the original drawings are still in the files, so, parts can be made as required. I will have to check my inventory to determine if there is still
a 14 inch Latch Handle in stock. The original handles were drop forgings, later replaced by castings, which I don't consider to be
of the same quality as the forgings.

Hendeyman

HENDEYMAN, thanks for the Information.
Do you have an email where I could contact you or do you prefer to do so though the forum?
The lever does appear to be forged. I originally thought the handles for the speed change and quick change gear box were interchangeable however the one for the speed change appears to be offset and will not fit quick change gearbox.

I was able to find U S N STAMP on ways, however it appears to have been stamped over and over so many times it is almost illegible.

Still working on resizing pictures.
Maybe with the bad weather predicted for this weekend I will have time then.
Thanks all for the assistance so far.

esbutler said:

Interestingly, Hendeyman says nothing in the Hendey record says anything about the Navy but that it was sold to the American Radiator Company in Bayonne, NJ. Perhaps they were a Navy contractor and the Navy had it assigned to them.

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I found the following in Navy Ordnance Activities: World War, 1917-1918:

"The following plants were either substantially built or rebuilt and equipped under contract with the Navy under direction of the Bureau of Ordnance, viz:
...
American Radiator Co., Baryonne, N. J. Date of contract, June 7, 1917. 1,000 4-inch guns. Supplemental agreement dated July 18, 1918, for additional 1,000 4-inch guns."

So apparently this particular Hendey was used either directly or in support of production of the 4 inch guns for the Navy during WW1.

Sorry Wildcatfan - I do not mean to hijack your thread. It's interesting to see several of these lathes with a US Navy connection.

esbutler said:

View attachment 188838

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Very nice looking lathe, that will clean up into a fine piece of vintage machinery. Congrats!

More than one lathe in thread