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please help decode my serial card

ferk_0331

Plastic
Joined
Apr 3, 2015
I recently bought my first lathe it's a South Bend 15x8. I have been searching for weeks online and finally got my serial card. However this thing might as well be in Arabic. Can someone tell me where to find out where to go to decode the card.
Serial # 71576
Catalog # 114 E
Head stock 7
Tail stock 10
Saddle 2
Compound Rest 2
Gear Box 2
I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me. I need to make a dead center but don't know what the taper in the spindle is. I am making a taper attachment similar to this one http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/adding-taper-attachment-299032/ Post #13

Thanks in advance
 
you can measure it if you've got a couple of indicators. You need a small one to get down inside of the bore, and a 1" travel indicator for the carriage. Mount the small indicator to the compound and get it on center. Zero both indicators at the very end of the spindle, and take notes of the decrease in size at 1/2 and 1 inch depths. Do that at 90 degree intervals around the spindle to make sure you're not reading wear. Repeat as needed until you're confident in your measurements. Once you have your measurements you can convert that to inches per foot or degrees or whatever you like.

The other way to do it is to fool with the compound until running the compound in with an indicator attached to it holds zero as it runs down the spindle bore. If the indicator holds zero, your compound is at the angle that the spindle taper is, whatever that happens to be. Lock the compound, fit a chuck, and turn you a center using the compound to cut the taper. It would limit the length of the taper to the travel of the compound of course but you should be able to get a long enough cut to give plenty of grip for turning between centers.


Taking a guess at it, the serial card is just telling you who inspected each item. "2" seems to have been busy that day.
 
where to go to decode the card

For the history buffs it might be neat to know who the original owner was, especially for a wartime machine. The rest of the info on the card is basically useless.

Taking a guess at it, the serial card is just telling you who inspected each item. "2" seems to have been busy that day.

No, IIRC, it is which version of the part is installed. Minor updates over the years to the design would not get a whole new catalog number for the lathe, they would just note it on the build sheet.

You don't need to turn a dead center for your spindle, unless you are working at the maximum length of the machine. Just turn a shoulder on a piece of stock, flip it round in your chuck so the shoulder seats against the chuck jaws. Turn a point on the part sticking out, and use one of the jaws to drive the lathe dog.

allan
 
I actually do that myself. I don't have a spindle center and no faceplate to use it with if I did, so I use the 3 jaw and re-true the point if I need to use it.

I went through the measurement process to make one mostly as an exercise to see if I could do it. I measured it and then compared to what it should be and found that they match up. More useful for the future if I need to determine measurements on an unknown taper.
 








 
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