"New" Hendey lathe, in need of suggestions on some repairs.

I should say hello as this is my first post, finally had a reason to speak up after lurking for years. I picked up a 16x6 Hendey last week from a distant relative. This seems to be the place to get info on them and it seems some guys really like to see this old iron. Naturally it has a few issues that are beyond my experience, any help with them would be greatly appreciated.

1. The half nuts are missing, well, I have the lower iron shell with no Babbitt. I'm fairly sure that a replacement is impossible to find. Would making a new halfnut assembly with bronze nuts be a reasonable? Seems to be the only option as I see.

2. The lead screw is 1-6 acme the best I can tell?

3. Any hints as to the taper in the tailstock?

4. This is the most concerning, the spindle itself is extremely hard to spin. As in I need a 28" pry bar in the chuck to spin it. I removed spindle gear that drive the feeds from the rear and it is no easier to turn. Having never had a machine this old I have no idea what is normal.

For your viewing pleasure



It appears to be the original 4 jaw chuck with a patent date of 1901 (last digit is unclear), has an intact and mostly complete shaping attachment, and not in the photo is a 4 speed Drive All run by a 3/4 GE motor. Serial is 18066 if hendeyman swings by, I'd really like to know who the original owner was.

Welcome to the forum.

I believe Hendeyman can supply new halfnuts.

John Oder has put a copy of the handbook on this site.

My Hendey catalogue says the 16 inch lathe has a no. 3 morse taper in the tailstock as standard, and the leadscrew as 1-3/8 x 6, but this can vary if the lathe was a special order. The headstock taper is listed as 4-1/2 Morse-Hendey. A sleeve is available for Grizzly lathes, part no. P97302912. But check first, as the taper could be non-standard (for example, my 14-inch Hendey has no. 11 Jarno taper in the spindle).

The spindle should turn freely but often doesn't in a Hendey. The remedy is a shim behind the thrust washer. There are details on this site if you search for Hendeyitis.

Hope you enjoy using the lathe. It looks nice. These old Hendeys are good, rigid machines and work well with hss tooling. The limited top speed means hss is more appropriate than carbide. Screwcutting is particularly easy with this type of lathe.

David.

Approx 1920 manual scan - thanks to Greg Menke for hosting

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/docs/hendey/1920-Hendey-manual.pdf

May be some useful info here on the spindle issue

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...tUVBfKyG-hw9sX9tA&sig2=GEz7IOs8HeLQYr_9SWxy4A

Make sure to check out the unique operation of the apron on Hendey lathes as it is different from most lathes from that time having a forward/neutral/reverse lever on the lower right side of the apron.

Best of luck with the machine.

bob

I believe a better fix for the spindle instead of shimming is to lap the bearings with Timesaver Lapping compound. If you search the forum, I have posted about this before.

My write up on same from years ago.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...ory/hendey-lathe-emergency-113621/#post421468

eelspike said:

Make sure to check out the unique operation of the apron on Hendey lathes as it is different from most lathes from that time having a forward/neutral/reverse lever on the lower right side of the apron.

Best of luck with the machine.

bob

Click to expand...

However you fix the spindle, first you need to know how it comes apart.

roachie:

Hendey lathe No.18066, a 16x6 Cone Head model, was scheduled for completion during the first week of January 1917. It was shipped with
a Taper Attachment and has a Double Walled Apron. The original owner was the Ingersoll Rand Company, Athens, Pennsylvania. There are
no longer any Castings, Patterns or Repair Parts left in inventory for this lathe, but all of the original drawings are still in the
files, so, parts can be made as required. If you would like to have your Half-Nuts rebuilt, PM me and I will send you cost and scheduling information.

Hendeyman

Gads I hate loose abrasives in bearings. Especially taper bearings since no oscillation can occur to preserve the cone shape.

It may just be that the bearings need adjusted, However, it is likely that in all the moves, rust, or "crud" got in there, so given the sypmtoms, it's worth inspecting.

Take it apart, clean and polish the journals, and see what you have. If the bearing surfaces on the spindle are not scored too much, blue it up, put it back together, adjust the bearings, turn it a few times, take apart and inspect. Depending on indications, scrape the high spots, and do it again a few interations.

If it takes more than a few iterations to get a uniformly supported free-spinning spindle, Clover never would have fixed it anyway. If OTOH it is a "mess" scraping will get it back right, faster. Or you will see where making new parts might be needed.

Interesting/fascinating how machine tools get around. Athens is close to me, and they only closed that plant a few years ago (Not suggesting the lathe was not gone a much longer time ago.)

smt

THANK YOU ALL! I got the spindle loosened up and running free, though now I get wrestle that chuck off.

While I'm thinking, does a 3/4 hp motor sound about right for this machine? I

SMT,

Time Saver and Clover are very different compounds.

I would look for a 2-3 hp motor preferably 3 phase. Nice lathe by the way.

One and a half horsepower is pretty much the limit that the flat belt will transmit on your lathe.