Thread: The Free Sheldon Lathe Saga

Stick or piece of bronze rod would be less likely to damage, but screwdriver is probably just fine. I doubt there was a huge load on it.

If your clutch is in similar shape to the "other" one I linked to... The nut might have been stripped because the clutch had worn until it wouldn't engage. So don't feel so bad if the rod is damaged on removal. A friction clutch works with a taper wedged into a mating female taper on the worm gear. When there is enough pressure applied, it catches and they rotate together. It has a bit of a "safety" factor built in. If you crash, the taper slips and the gears are saved. The issue is, as I found on mine, that this causes wear. To take up the wear, it would seem to me you would tighten the nut on the front of the apron. At least, that is how it is on mine. ...so following this logic, if you wore it out and kept tightening that nut, you would strip it and seize the wedge onto the worm gear such as you have found on yours.

"If you crash, the taper slips and the gears are saved."

Depends on how good a clutch you have. Whoever wrecked my L&S in its previous life broke the apron with the clutch!

Ok guys, made some progress last night. Took my grinder to the stripped nut on the apron and it came right off, not a single thread left on the shaft.



While digging around inside the apron, I found 1.5 broken teeth on the clutch, I do not believe this will be a difficult fix, but you can't even tell they are missing when you turn it...



Next up are the two "broken" shafts in the apron. Now not being a machinist, the damage to these shafts is very small relative to the amount of work it would take to make new ones. Is it possible to repair these shaft?



The upper shaft could just have the end turned down and re-threaded to accommodate a smaller nut. And the lower shaft, which is for the apron hand wheel just need to have the bent portion replaced. Not sure if that is possible or completely re-making the shafts is needed.

Next up was the cross slide



Getting it apart wasn't all that hard. And the damage doesn't appear to be all that bad either. A new shaft is definitely in order, but the damaged handles are salvageable, they just need to be machined down to remove the messed up areas and then can seat properly again. The threaded piece that mates into the cross slide casting will need to be re-made.





Let me know your feedback on the repairs that are needed. I have a couple friends with lathes that I will be calling on to see if making the repairs will be easy, but if not, might go with a local machine shop.

Still having fun with this thing though, I have all the belts now and am ready to pull the spindle and quick change gear box to get the belts replaced.

Ben

I have a 1950's vintage Sheldon 13" I'm parting out. Might have some of the parts you need. If interested e-mail me at: lathemill@juno.com , as I don't come to this site very much these days.

The upper shaft could just have the end turned down and re-threaded to accommodate a smaller nut. And the lower shaft, which is for the apron hand wheel just need to have the bent portion replaced. Not sure if that is possible or completely re-making the shafts is needed.

You might try a little heat on the lower shaft. Slip a piece of appropriate sized pipe over one end and then hold it is a vise. Heat up the protruding stud to a red heat and then put a corresponding pipe over it and use the pipe as a fulcrum to bend it back straight by eye.

You could try an "allnut" (long nut) over the exposed threads to protect them from the pipe.

A couple of tries and I'll bet you can make it almost like new.

Joe

automobiliben:

Great pictures, any chance, please , of a couple more of the half nut area on the far right of the first photo in post # 44? Here or at sheldonlathe...

I am on the road of trying to modify an earlier Sheldon when they only used a single half nut and would like to see more closely what the factory did a few years later.

Thanks, Russ [# L159]

Ok, so over a year later I am finally trying to get back at the lathe now that I am back home. I have been traveling internationally way, way too much with work since my last post and unfortunately didn't make any progress.

I am currently trying to get the clutch apart and can't figure out how to do this. I was able to pick up another apron, so I have enough parts to get the lathe back and working once I can get it all disassembled. Appears that the PO of the spare apron decided that filling/lubing it lithium grease would be a good idea....

If anybody has any tips on getting the clutch apart, I am all ears. I can't figure out how to sufficiently steady the gear and the knurled knob on the opposite side and get them apart. I can post a picture of the parts manual when I get home so you folks have a better idea of what I am talking about...

EDIT: Found my copy of the manual, the red arrows point to the 2 parts that I am attempting to get apart...

I think that it is a left hand thread!

A.T.

I have a lathe that I believe is just like the one in these pictures that I would sell or sell parts off of. I am in Salem, Ohio

Originally Posted by ttok

I think that it is a left hand thread!

A.T.

Are you sure? The "off" arrow is pointing in the typical CCW direction and I would assume the loosening/off for the clutch would be the direction I need to go.

Ben,

Nice to see you going about fixing this lathe right. I love those old machines. You have a nice machine there and it looks like it is getting the love that it needs.

Can you to get a clear picture of the feed chart on the front of the gearbox and post it here if it is not too much trouble.

Thanks.

Tom

Well, it appears that AT was correct, it was LH threaded, I got the clutch out, now to cleaning out all of that lithium grease...

Tom, so you live in coal country I see? I have never been out in that area, but a lot of the machines I design are in your neck of the woods...

Here are the pics you requested (with flash and none):





Russ, I will try and get you those pictures once the apron is back together...

Thanks for the pictures Ben.

You must be a Caterpillar man.

Ok, made lots of progress today, but unfortunately none in the forward direction...

I started the day by removing the headstock so that I could replace the belts



I knew that it was a bronze bearing model, and they appear to be in great shape!



Here is a picture of the main shaft (what is this called?) as well, looks to be good too...



What is the rule of thumb for replacing the felt wicks? These appear to be in great shape, but I can replace them if needed. Also, the bronze on the top caps looks great too.



Next up was cleaning up the underdrive, so that I could pull the middle shaft for changing the belts.



Unfortunately, upon further inspection, the motor needs bearings and was completely (yes, completely) full of chips, so out it came...



Do to the holes in the bottom (it is inverted when mounted) the chips (which somehow came through the hole in the headstock?) filled the motor.

Given the simplicity of 3PH motors, I think I will be fine, but I did even find 2 keys and 1 allen key in the motor. I have never seen a smooth armature before either, I hope this wasn't worn smooth with contact from chips...



Here is what it looked like at the end of the day



I am currently waiting on gasket maker to get the apron back together, I need to get the proper oil for lubrication, will need new bearing for the motor, going to make a plate to sandwich above the motor to deflect chips and THEN setup for the taper attachment. I am not going to do any painting at this time, I want to get it functional and running...