13" Lathe Questions

I just purchased a 13" South Bend Lathe and moved it to my basement. It is a circa 1916, but it is in excellent shape and does not look that used. Anyway, I have three questions: 1) Any chance someone has an owners manual or parts list for this lathe? 2) Anybody know how interchangable some of these parts may be with newer (i.e. 1930's) lathes? I don't need parts now but you never know 3) I currently have the lathe sitting on top of a cork/rubber anti-vibration material. Would it be better to just shim and leave on concrete? Should I bolt it to the floor?

Thanks!

My question is does the lather really have to be shimmed, I mean does it really ahve to sit perfectly level on the ground, Hell they used lathes on subs so I'm sure they weren't always level.

Mike,

Glad to see another Baltimoron..err Baltimorite.. err Baltimorean....

If you do a search for "Rosie" in the the South Bend section, you'll find contact info for Partsworks- they have manuals, etc.. maybe a serial # reference for your machine and maybe parts too. I don't know about interchanging parts on a 1916 machine, a parts manual might be of some help.

As far as mounting the machine, flat is more important than level, but level is nice because it can help you make it flat.

It should sit right on the concrete and not be lagged unless you discover a twist in the bed that must be torqued out. By letting it sit, you can add shims under the feet to offset whatever twists are there.

The topic of working out wear factors and bed twist has been discussed in pretty good detail in the South Bend forum too- "northernconfederate" IIRC did a thorough job on his SB 10L back in December. Once my lathe is going, I'll be using those archives myself.

Regards,

Greg

Ahh the old sub problem. They need the bed flat without a twist. The lathe could hang on a wall and wouldn't know the difference as long as the bed was parallel from the headstock to the tailstock, measured with a good level...Bob

thank u for all of the replies. Should I shim and leave on the anti-vibration pads or directly on the concrete? Assuming there is no twist that needs to be torqued out, would bolting to the floor stil have value? Would these machines creep? I never had a 6 foot bed before and don't know how it will act under extreme load (however as a hobbist that makes live steam locomotives I cannot imagine stressing it that much).

All SB prior to late twenties were single wall apron Model O. Modle N was still being referred to as "new" in 1931 literature, had double wall apron and hardened spindle. I would say interchangeability was small or nil.

John

Mike, put it right on the floor- Its not going to creep. That said, there are adjustable mountng pads you might fit to the legs so you can adjust the bed twist with a wrench. But I'd say see how flat it is first, then proceed with lag bolts and mounting pads if you find its intractably twisted.

One thing that will help is to get some nice thick foam pads that you can stand on while in front of it though, reduces wear & tear on your legs.

Regards,

Greg

Mike, There is little if any interchaneability between the 13" SBL's before the late 1920's and the first generation models. We know because we have a 1929 13" and bought a batch of parts for an earlier model 13".We have a 3 step cone pulley, an apron, a tail stock, saddle and maybe a compound. These are in good shape but the
apron worm clutch wheel was cracked off most of it's dia. due to some past careless handling.