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Clausing 5914

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Gmikehall

Plastic
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Jan 9, 2018
I am looking at purchasing a Clausing 5914 lathe and I figured I would ask if there are any key areas that I should inspect before dropping the cash and hauling it home. The owner stated that he does not have the ability to power it up and I am assuming due to 3 phase power needed on these lathes. I know I will not be able to operate the variable speed drive which seems to be the only thing I have seen that are problematic on these lathes so I guess I will just have to take a chance on that part of the lathe. I assume everything else I should be able to inspect to a point by hand turning the spindle? The ways look to have light surface rust but from the pictures it is not so much I think it will be a huge issue. Any tips on what to look for on this lathe would be great. Also any suggestions on how to test the variable speed without power? Also are these lathes prone to having badly worn ways or are they fairly tight machines even with some age on them? This lathe looks rough but its mostly due to pealing paint.

Thanks
Mike
 

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I'm not trying to be a naysayer here, but that lathe looks be in rough shape. I'd price the offer for the lathe with the backup of selling it for parts to make your money back.

That being said, it's hard to test the variable speed when it's not under power. The lathes were decent enough to be used in teaching settings such as college machine shops. Let us know how things shake out.
 
Can't tell much from the pic other than the fact that it's filthy. May be brand new under all the crud, maybe beat to death.
I've never run one but I am somewhat familiar with them, I've been parting one out that was in good shape except for being badly damaged from being dropped. I bought it to fix up, but then decided it would be better to part it out and buy something better. If you get it for a good price, you won't loose as parts for these machines are very much in demand.
One weak point that I recently discovered is the key which drives the small gear on the back gear shaft. The shaft itself is rather small in diameter, with a small woodruff key driving the pinion gear. Mine had sheared at one point and was replaced, but the shaft and gear showed damage from it spinning.
Also as already noted, the variable speed system is sometimes troublesome on these machines, but I don't know how to test it with out power.
 
If that machine is priced more the $500.00, Run away fast! Probably rat nests under the rear cover...check under it an look at the VS belts.

A quick way to see if a lathe is hatched, take a some penetration oil, rags and a flash light wipe the crud off the ways near the chuck end and look for wear. Those machines have hardened ways. The handle in front I do recall that being on a machine like that. But it may be some sort of high low shift or brake...But wipe off the ways all the way down to the tail stock. spray and then crank the saddle down to the right end. Take your flash light and look under the front ways at the feed rack.

Compare the rack under the very left end and right end, then look at it in the middle. On Worn machines the rack teeth are noticeably narrower when worn. Another way is to see how much slop there is in the cross-slide, compound and tailstock feed screws.
 
As a owner of one of the Clausing 5914 brand of money pits....
I can honestly say not seeing the lathe run is about the same as saying there are problems. I got one that wasnt real bad looking....

I only replaced the sliding gear, the clutch arrangement in apron and a gear in there too, the first 4 gears in the quick change box, a hydraulic hose, the hydraulic seals for the vari speed, the watch spring for the vari speed adjustment. The cross feed screw.... the expensive one for a taper attachment.

Im sure there is more.... but fortunately the other repairs dont come to mind yet.
The hardest part is the problem with the crossfeed gib. Ill figure it out.... Someday....

Having whinned these are about the most popular hobby lathes around.
And the lathe is more capable than I am....

So if you decide to buy this.... There are lots of possible problems....
There are $500 worth of ebay sellable parts in the picture.... But much more than that will be harder to get your money back...

Ohh yeah... I do like my 5914.... I just put in too much money getting it the likable stage... :(
 
I doubt the seller will want more money for the rats nest!:D
Seriously though, parts for those machines are in big demand. That taper attachment alone would probably fetch close to $500.
It may not be in great shape, I'm certainly not saying it's a winner, just some things to consider, especially if it includes more tooling than is shown.
 
What Derek said.
On a budget, that's the kind of machine you look for. If it turns out to be okay, then good, you got a decent machine, if not You part it out to guys that need the stuff.

you can get up to 3k if you know what you're doing, then you got the cash to get a real nice machine....shipped if need be.
 
Well, I bought it home. I have already cleaned up the ways which were honestly not rusted much at all and was mostly grim not rust anyhow. Yes the paint looks horrible but I will be stripping it for new paint anyhow. I have still not tested out the lathe under power but looking under the covers all the drive parts look great with no rust to speak of. The clutch does engage and disengage which you can feel when turning the spindle by hand. The variable speed drive pulley seems to be free as I did turn the handle and watch the pulley move a little. I am hopeful nothing is froze up in the variable speed parts of the lathe and honestly have no reason to believe they would be with absolutely no rust at all present. I am going to continue to dissemble the lathe, clean, and inspect in preparation for paint. So far I have found a few issues that can be dealt with later. The compound nut is worn pretty bad but the screw looks good. The cross slide screw seems to be worn towards the middle of the screw but outer ares of the screw still felt nice and tight with only about 20tho backlash. I understand that screw for the cross slide/tapper attachment is high dollar so I may just find a standard screw and not use the taper attachment for now.

So I think I did well on the machine for $850 but the bonus was all the extras which a rough estimate would be worth $1000 on ebay. I also scored a $1500 baldor 2x48 belt grinder for $100 to sweeten the deal. I mean the dang Aloris wedge BXA tool post sell for over $200 used on ebay, I just wish I got some tool holders we well. hahaha This picture is just some of the stuff I got with it. I ended up finding more in the end cabinet which was a nice surprise.

I will update with more pictures and I am sure questions as I dig deeper. I am honestly thinking this lathe is going to be in better shape than the paint lead most to believe.
 

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I was able to power the lathe up today. Everything seems to work great, no odd noises and honestly this lathe is pretty quite. The clutch is cool stuff and seems to work perfectly. The only thing that is not working is the Variable speed but I think it is actually out of fluid. I need to read up on all the issues they had. The handle that you turn seems very soft and has only a slight bit of pressure on it kind of like spongy brakes so It may have air in the system or be low on fluid.

Clausing 5914 - YouTube
 
Congratulations, awesome score! I had hoped there would more included than the original pic showed, but man you hit the mother load! Between what's in your second pic and the taper attachment, you could junk the machine itself and still easily double your money. I believe the banjo in the upper right corner contains metric transposing gears.
Read up on bleeding the system before you begin, there is a specific procedure that will keep you out of trouble. I seem to remember that the reservoir holds less than the system draws, so keep it full while bleeding! Otherwise you keep sucking air in and it never actually gets bled completely.
Good luck.
 
Congratulations, awesome score! I had hoped there would more included than the original pic showed, but man you hit the mother load! Between what's in your second pic and the taper attachment, you could junk the machine itself and still easily double your money. I believe the banjo in the upper right corner contains metric transposing gears.
Read up on bleeding the system before you begin, there is a specific procedure that will keep you out of trouble. I seem to remember that the reservoir holds less than the system draws, so keep it full while bleeding! Otherwise you keep sucking air in and it never actually gets bled completely.
Good luck.

Well I told the guy if your dad had this lathe and used it he surly had some tooling and about an hour out I was told he found some lathe tooling so trust me I was even more excited on my way up. I was not sure what those gears were but he said take them so I did. I figured they may have something to do with running metric threading but I have not really looked to see yet. I will work on the variable speed later tonight or tomorrow evening and report back. Hoping it starts working with the system filled with fluid and bled.
 
Ya did good!! You even got the steady rest...that's the harest thing to find.
Looks like a real Aloris??

Trust me, I had already been browsing around for possible tooling to purchase so this was a huge surprise when I arrived to get the lathe. The steady rest I had seen were over $300 and this one even has bearings for the material to ride on. Not sure if its more desirable than the other type but its what I got with it. The tool post is in fact an Aloris and I am hoping I can find a good used set of tool holders to go with it but dang those things are big money. I need to get tool holders and some nice cutting tools and I think I will have enough to satisfy me for a bit. First order of business is get the lathe stripped, cleaned and repainted so I can get it tucked in the corner of my shop where it shall reside.
 
I have a 5914 as well, though a slightly newer model with the apron mounted clutch lever. When you get into the variable speed system (real PITA) there is a fellow on the Yahoo groups Clausing board that sells seal kits.
 
You can make a cross-feed screw by using your key way end of your worn screw. Figure out the pitch of the screw and go to Green Bay Manufacturing

and cut up the old screw and bore a hole in the ends and turn down the screw to press in the old screws ends, loc-tite and taper pin them together.
Hard to explain. Green bay also has bronze nuts you machine the new nut so it will replace the old.
 
If you search around You Tube, I bet you will find some videos where people have made new crossed screws in just then manner Richard speaks of. I remember watching one a few years back, but who it was escapes me.
 
The steady rest I had seen were over $300 and this one even has bearings for the material to ride on. Not sure if its more desirable than the other type but its what I got with it.

The roller type steady is nice to have. They work great on less than perfect surfaces like the OD of raw material where constant wear might be an issue with bronze pads.
For more precise work, where you want good concentricity with an already machined surface, bronze(or even sometimes rulon) pads work great. Down the road, you can make up a set of pads that fit the ends of the steady's arms and are held in place by the screws that the rollers sit on so you can switch between rollers and pads as you wish. Then you'll have the best of both worlds.

As for the backlash in the cross slide, I wouldn't worry about it too much. There is bound to be years of crud in the slide itself, and it's probably a bit loose from wear. I would take it apart completely, clean and lightly stone all the surfaces. Put it back together with clean WAY LUBE, and carefully adjust the gib.
At that point, you may actually have MORE backlash, the crud in the nut may be making it seem tighter than it really is, but this is not really a huge problem as long as the slide is in decent shape and adjusted right.
Some will argue with me, but I've done a lot of good work on machines with a lot of backlash! As long as the slide itself is rigid and not loose on the saddle, you can do excellent work on it.
Down the road, if the backlash bothers you, you can address it then, but it's no real cause for concern.
 
IIRC the Clausing taper cross feed screw is a PITA because it's the screw itself is hollow for the key/spline...and the screw is only 1/2"?? to begin with....can t recall but it may even be a stub form.
 
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