Apron Casting Interchangeability

xplodee · May 23, 2015

Hi All-

I have a really good condition 10L apron that came with a star style clutch and also purchased another apron that came with a lever-operated clutch. I'd like to install the lever operated clutch into the star style apron.

There is no major wear on the older apron which is why I like it. The rack handwheel has perfect tolerances. However the newer style apron is missing some of the levers and I really don't want to have to fit levers and taper pins from one apron to the next. Thus my preference would be to install the lever clutch on the old apron.

Will this be possible? Any input?

steve-l · May 24, 2015

Try it. It cost nothing but a little time. Get back with us on your result. Then we will all know.

xplodee · May 24, 2015

10-4. will do.

jkopel · May 24, 2015

South Bend has a document for that.
Adding a toggle lever clutch to a South Bend 10L or Heavy Ten | the Age of Industry

xplodee · May 24, 2015

jkopel said:
south bend has a document for that.
adding a toggle lever clutch to a south bend 10l or heavy ten | the age of industry

thank you!

xplodee · Jun 18, 2015

Just wanted to let anyone who stumbles upon this thread know: I took the lever clutch full assembly from the newer apron and successfully installed it in my older apron. No issues.

thomasutley · Jun 19, 2015

xplodee said:
Just wanted to let anyone who stumbles upon this thread know: I took the lever clutch full assembly from the newer apron and successfully installed it in my older apron. No issues.

Tim, why did you want the lever clutch over the star clutch? I'm just curious what the advantage(s) is(are). Thx.

xplodee · Jun 19, 2015

With the star clutch it is harder to engage or disengage the clutch. And if the apron is moving the same direction that the star wheel needs to be turned to loosen it, then its even harder to disengage it. I just worry about crashing the machine or hitting a part while threading and don't want that risk.

Levers are in general a superior design to the stars. I've always used levers and didn't really feel like playing around with a star on this machine so spent the money to upgrade it. The upgrade for under $200 is money well spent in my opinion.

mTeryk · Jun 19, 2015

xplodee said:
I just worry about crashing the machine or hitting a part while threading and don't want that risk.

Why are you using the clutch while threading?

Levers are in general a superior design to the stars

Sounds like your star was poorly adjusted. I have a star at home and a lever at work. I prefer the star and have none of the problems you mention. Of course the lever at work likes to slip and disengage. I assume it needs cleaning and adjustment and is not the nature of levers, however.

Teryk

xplodee · Jun 19, 2015

mTeryk said:
Why are you using the clutch while threading?

You're absolutely right. I'm not using the clutch while threading and mis-spoke! I apologize for that.

thomasutley · Jun 19, 2015

Out of curiosity, do lathes other than South Bends have clutches? The SBL I'm restoring now is my first real machine tool, so my experience is limited. However, I don't recall the Mori Seiki or Clausing machines I used in the university engineering shop having any kind of clutch. If you were stupid and let it crash, either machine would have simply self-destructed until you got it stopped.

comstockfriend · Jun 19, 2015

I have the lever on my SB 13" and wish my SB 9A had one too. (I find the star slippery at times.) SB did not have a 9" feed lever available, but I'm thinking an old HSM or Machinist Workshop had an article to convert. Guess I'll have to get around to flipping through them all...

John

Zonko · Jun 19, 2015

thomasutley said:
Out of curiosity, do lathes other than South Bends have clutches? The SBL I'm restoring now is my first real machine tool, so my experience is limited. However, I don't recall the Mori Seiki or Clausing machines I used in the university engineering shop having any kind of clutch. If you were stupid and let it crash, either machine would have simply self-destructed until you got it stopped.

You are confusing clutch and safety clutch ;-)

Every feed mechanism needs a clutch, otherwise you couldn't turn it off....bah...that would suck.
Feed mechanisms don't NEED safety clutches, but it is nice to have.

Many clutch designs feature a non adjustable action, like our old Colchester. The lever pushes a worm into a gear and if feed forces get excessive the worm cams out and forces the lever and itself back to zero position. Should not trip during any normal cut, in fact did not even trip during a minor crash. Will trip if you run into a hard stop/bad crash that would destroy the feed arrangement otherwise.

Some lathes, Weilers for example, have an adjustable clutch, which is really nice because it allows running the carriage into a hard bed stop without any large forces. I do not recall how that thing works, not sure if it is worm drive too.

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