Is it possible to shorten lathe bed

Igor · Nov 26, 2010

At the local scrap yard, I came across 12ft Canadian made cone head lathe, very nice. The size of the thing is 12ft plus. I have place for 6ft max. The lathe is out in open for winter, I bet in the spring they will scarp it. Is it possible to shorten the bed to six feet? The price 800$.

karverind · Nov 26, 2010

Yes it is possible

johnoder · Nov 26, 2010

You have to figure out things like where and how to mount the right hand end lead screw (and maybe feed rod) bearing

J.O.

MarkW · Nov 26, 2010

Have you thought about building a 10' greenhouse addition for your wife?

You could T it into your shop.......

Andrew_D · Nov 26, 2010

Sure you could do it, but I'll tell you what...ship it to Manitoba and I'll store it for you till you get a bigger shop!! :rolleyes5:

Andrew

kpotter · Nov 26, 2010

I have done it on a 20ft old as dirt lodge, we drilled holes all the way around the bed right behind the middle leg then with a sledge hammer and chisel we broke the chunk free and ground the break until it was no longer visible then made a new mount for the screws after cutting them down and turning the end it was alot of work but it saved a big lathe from the scrap heap the lathe is still being used. It didnt even look funny since we left about a foot hanging over the back leg and then painted it.

Dave D · Nov 26, 2010

Igor, what is the make of the lathe and/or can you take some pictures and post them

.

Dave

jdleach · Nov 26, 2010

For my part, I would seriously reconsider shortening the bed. Like cutting stock, once it is gone, you cannot (easily) put it back. Especially, this holds true for a lathe bed, due to the material (cast iron), and the construction (alignment issues, etc.).

Too, if the lathe is a rare one, such a modifiction would border on historical destruction, and blasphemy. Well, to me any way.

I agree with the previous poster in that photos are in order to help identify the lathe. Then the collectibility of the machine could be ascertained. If not very rare, as a last resort, the bed could but cut down in order to save the rest of the machine.

J.D.

rusty old tools · Nov 27, 2010

can it be done? yes

should it be done? no

is hacking the end off better than letting the whole thing be scrapped? yes

you cant move some stuff around in the garage? I'd move the whole garage for a lathe that big!

rj1939 · Nov 27, 2010

rusty old tools said:
can it be done? yes

should it be done? no

is hacking the end off better than letting the whole thing be scrapped? yes

you cant move some stuff around in the garage? I'd move the whole garage for a lathe that big!

^
I agree.

I would get it and if nothing else, try to do a trade for a shorter one. I have five lathes and not one of them has a bed long enough for me.

Igor · Nov 27, 2010

If I will not cut the bed, lathe will die. Prognosis for survival is bad. I will go to the yard next week to take pictures and post them. It is rare lathe, almost new, made in late 20. I cannot build greenhouse as I already had issues with municipality this summer and had to give away some of the stuff. I already have two lathes and one of them is in my bedroom, in the house, I had to shorten my bed to fit it in, now when I sleep I have to bent my legs, or they will hang over and get cold, but when I wake up, first thing I see is my lathe, it makes me feel good right away.

Tyrone Shoelaces · Nov 27, 2010

One place I worked we had a large " Craven " centre lathe ( 30 ft between centres ) which the boss had come to dislike. Because we very rarely used the last 6 ft he kept going on about getting it shortened back to the nearest pedestal. One day out of the blue he came in and said to the machine shop foreman - " Either the last 6 ft of that lathe goes through the door tonight or you do ". The foreman took him at face value and involved both me and a welder ASAP. The welder set about cutting the end off the lathe with cast iron gouging rods and I removed the lead screw and feed shafts to have them shortened.
The rough end of the bed was angle ground up nice and smooth and I re-mounted the carrier bracket, the lead screw and and shafts were re-fitted and after a coat of paint you couldn't tell it had been shortened without a close look.
I was a bit concerned about the alignments being altered by the heat but nothing untoward occured. Of course about 3 months later we got a job that needed the extra 6 ft of bed but we had to send the job out ! Regards Tyrone.

gwilson · Nov 27, 2010

Do be careful,not ALL lathes can be shortened. Look at the bed beneath the headstock to see if it is special there in some way.

I saw a Sheldon lathe shortened in a machine shop. It was used daily to make router bits,and the carriage only ever moved about 1 1/2" in the same spot all day long for years. It was a 10" lathe.

fciron · Nov 27, 2010

Igor,

If you're going to do all that work, you should try and get a better deal than $800 bucks. Especially if it's been outdoors and probably minus all tooling.

As to the ethics and possibility of shortening, I'm with RustyOldTools on that. From a certain historic perspective, anyone wishing to investigate the history and development of lathes would still have access all of the important information.

In the unlikely event that a comparitive lathe-ologist investigated your machine this esteemed scholar would still be able to see the construction of the bed, head & tail stocks, aprons and gears. It seems very unlikely that there is some unique feature at the tail end of the bed that would be lost to history.

George Andreasen · Nov 27, 2010

Ironic.........I bought a late 1870's New Haven that was 18' long specifically to PREVENT it from being cut by the owner. That thing took up one complete wall of my shop and was still very accurate, although somewhat crude by today's standards. It has since gone to an appreciative collector.

My point being that such things are starting to get a little scarce. If you must shorten it, examine the bracing under the bed to make sure you leave support. I also agree that the price should be heavily negotiated. Explain to the seller how much work you'll have to do and that it's not worth it for that amount. Does it use change gears or a quick change box? If the gears are missing it may not be worth it in any case.

I admire a man that sleeps with his lathe.......done it myself.

Are you absolutely sure you don't need a nice new greenhouse or "garden shed" ?

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