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Sheldon R15 Is Home

bjorn toulouse

Titanium
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Location
N.E. oHIo, USA
The move was a little tense due to wanting to get the 6X10 hydraulic lift bed trailer back to Sunbelt Rental before they closed at Noon, but we got it handled without major issues.

Ray Behner's skates are the cat's ass, although I would have cut some 2X4 blocks to keep the lathe centered in the skate had I been thinking.

Frontside-1.jpg


CarriageCompound-1.jpg


Backside-1.jpg


HeadstockSkate-1.jpg


Controls-2.jpg


Speeds.jpg


Other than some cosmetic issues from sitting in an unheated NE oHIo garage for the past 5 or so years, things look to be in good order. Head cover will be coming off later today to check gear train, and the quick change gearbox and the apron innnards look good inspected through the fill plug holes. Previous owner was a tool and die man for Ford Motor Co., and by the looks of things he was diligent with his maintenance.

The Sheldon should be a significant upgrade from my 10X30 Atlas.


Rex
 
Rex,
Well, it's about damn time we heard from you. That's a good lookin' South B......er Sheldon. Glad the skates worked.
Rats, I was gonna tell you I clamp chunks of wood to the skates.
 
You may be forgiven once, but only once. It is a mortal sin to say "Sheldon" and that other lathe in the same sentence. The only thing they have in common is a spindle that turns. I have an R15 that came without the motor and gearbox. I installed a 15 hp DC motor and a variable power supply so I have any speed I want. Sheldons are superb lathes. The cross slide design avoids the common problem of chips falling on the left dovetail accelerating wear and has a huge slide area, so wear is minimized. The only downside is that you have to keep walking around the protruding slide and crank, but it is a small price for the advantages. The threading gearbox must have cost more to make than most lathes. One thing to watch for, though, is the wide deck on the cross slide which makes it too easy to run it into the chuck. You really have to watch it. You will love it.

Bill
 
Bill,
I beg your forgiveness. I lost my mind for a moment! Yes, they are superb machines. As for the cross slide sticking out, you're right. But you get used to it in a hurry. I just suck in my belly automatically. Yup, that gearbox is a hoot. I had mine in every piece she'd come in. It even has timing holes for disassembly and assy. Boy, the needle rollers and thrust bearings. They're everywhere! I don't think Rex could have done better. It becomes second nature using the drop outs on long and cross feed, but until you have it you haven't a clue how handy it is.
I'll try to behave from now on.

Ray
 
More R15 Pics

Got the headstock cover pulled off and found all of the gearing to be well lubricated, all teeth intact and no sparkly stuff floating around. There ain't much going on in there compared to pics of other machines I've seen.

Gears.jpg


I mounted the 4 way tool post....seems to be a pretty stout unit. According to the scale attached to the base it indexes in 3* increments. Scale is stamped "OK RUBBER, INC. Littleton, Colo." and "French Pat. Pend." Anyone know anything about the company? Nada on Google.

ToolPostBase.jpg


ToolPost.jpg



Rex
 
Hey Bjorn : Your pics are very interesting. Construction wise, it looks very much like my 15" South Bend Nordic, which was made in France. I wonder if they are half-brothers or cousins or something like that. Do you know anything about where it was made ?

JH
 
Incidentally, now that you have a real lathe, do you know that you can fasten a coffee can to the faceplate on your Atlas and it will make a terrific rock tumbler?

Bil
 
Bjorn,
is that the lathe featured in the cleveland Craigslist ?

I have it's brother, only a longer bed. Mine is missing the gear on the bottom
of the thread dial, if you get around to it, could you measure it up for me ?
 
Rex,
Hey, when I come up for a look see, you'd better have that toolpost fastened tight. It may disappear! The lack of all the gear changes in the headstock is what Sheldon touted for achieving a smoother finish on the workpiece. The changes were before the belt in the transmission. May not be of the 10-EE Monarch ilk but a damn close second.
 
Doug,
I had to make one of those for my 13". They're all the same gear. It measures: 1.307 OD x 26DP x 14½PA x 32T. OAL of gear is .688 w/.450 gear width. Remaining length necked down to .990. It was made of some sort of phenolic material. I used (I think) garolite. The teeth are angled about 2º to mesh with the angle of the leadscrew. This material must have been for a shear factor, but aluminum would probably work. It can be removed and stored in the right side of the apron. 'Least mine can.
 
Incidentally, now that you have a real lathe, do you know that you can fasten a coffee can to the faceplate on your Atlas and it will make a terrific rock tumbler?

Bil


Bill, that's harsh!
Over the years my lil' Atlas has made many times its weight in chips.
Now, I can look forward to making lotsa blue chips! ;)


Rex
 
Bill, that's harsh!
Over the years my lil' Atlas has made many times its weight in chips.
Now, I can look forward to making lotsa blue chips! ;)
Rex

Perhaps so. I realize that some people can do good work with these machines, for that matter, a good craftsman can do creditable work with a sharp rock, but I have a bad attitude toward entry level equipment of the sort that must not be named here. Like most attitudes, a result of my formative experiences. I struggled with a couple of 9" Logans, a light 10 South Bend, all on wood benches, and spent a lot of the time learning bad habits. I especially remember trying to make a cut off tool work in a lantern toolpost on a Logan. Today I was cutting off a bunch of 4 1/2" dia pieces of 6061 T6 on the Sheldon with a 1/8" blade on an Aloris toolpost. Just run the speed up to 700 RPM with the gearbox on E10, make sure the cutting oil is going in the slot, engage the feed and watch the chips fly.

Our Sheldons are medium duty machines, not in the same class as the big Monarchs, DS&Gs and American Pacemakers, but unless you are doing really heavy work, they are great.

A beginner doesn't need a top quality toolroom lathe, but neither should he be unnecessarily handicapped. If I was to set out to teach someone to run a lathe, the lowest I would want to go would be the smaller Clausings.

Bill
 








 
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