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South Bend Restoration Literature

DECOMGuy

Plastic
Joined
Mar 9, 2010
Location
MD,USA
I'm starting to restore a 1927 South Bend 322 lathe and would like to get a recommendation for any books on the subject before I screw anything up. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Welcome,
Lots of good info here The SBL Workshop - Home . Hope the link works, if not it can be found in the " Links for parts and info" sticky. What size is your lathe? I have a 1928 9" jr catalog # 322-A , it is a very simple design. There are'nt a lot of parts on these older lathes. Member dennis turk has a 1927 model that is wonderfully restored, he is another fine source of knowledge if you can catch him (busy, busy)
Don't be afraid to ask questions, plenty of good folk here willing to help.
Cheers,
Mitch
 
Mitch,

I think it is a 9" X 36". Here's the info I have:

1. Serial Number: 39285A
2. Catalog Number: 322Y
3. Size: 9"X3'
4. Ship Date: August 15, 1928

I'll try to insert a photo...when I figure out how.

Dan
 
Mitch,

My real goal for this machine is to clean it up as much as possible and put it to use. I don't have any real sentimental attachment to it (beside a lot of appreciation for its design, age, and the craftsmanship it represents). Do you think it is a mistake to go down this path? Is is better to trade it out for a newer South Bend if I'm primarily looking to invest in a working lathe (by working, I mean limited hobby use). Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Dan
 
Dan

Check out the sticky at the top of the forum "Show us your South Bend".
There are tons of pictures of lathe of all ages.
If you have any doubt about your lathe and how much work you want to put into it.
Oil it up and take a few test cuts to see if it will do the job required and go from there.
Great work can be done old machines.

Hal
 
Mitch,

My real goal for this machine is to clean it up as much as possible and put it to use. I don't have any real sentimental attachment to it (beside a lot of appreciation for its design, age, and the craftsmanship it represents). Do you think it is a mistake to go down this path? Is is better to trade it out for a newer South Bend if I'm primarily looking to invest in a working lathe (by working, I mean limited hobby use). Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Dan

Dan,
I personally would'nt think it a mistake to do a bit of cleaning and put it to use, as hal stated you can make good parts on old lathes. I paid $400 for mine and drove all the way to Reading Pa. to pick it up and not once have I felt it a mistake. It has been and continues to be a great teacher, I can't see myself ever parting with it.
If your wanting to do hobby work or otherwise it can still be done on an older lathe. First you need to give it a cleaning and inspection to see if there is any damage or neglect to the moving parts. If you have'nt checked out The SBL Workshop - Home yet you should do so. There you can find a parts diagram which will help with the tear down and reassembly. If you have any questions just ask, i'll do my best to answer them.
Cheers,
Mitch
 
Dan,
Here's a few pics of my 1928 9" jr, the 27' model dennis turk restored is almost identical. I believe he has the overhead silent chain drive and mine is belt driven, if you had the pics of his and mine side by side it would look like a wicked before and after of a restoration project. I wish I could remember the link to his lathe photo's, it looks mint condition.
Cheers,
Mitch

HPIM1265.jpg

HPIM1269_320x240.JPG

HPIM1266_320x240.JPG
 
Hi Mitch and Dan

Many of the old silent chain drives were converted to belt drive in the later 30's. When SB changed from the chain with clam shell guards to the belt drive in 31 or 32 they just used the new two step pulley that they had build for the under drive 9 inch and also was used on the 12 speed version of the 405 and 415 workshop lathes. It only made sense to change the chain drive for the belt. These silent chain drives are any thing but silent. They sling oil and really make a lot of noise. I have a Dalton with overhead drive that is just as noise as my SB overhead. I also have a SB silent chain drive that is a bench mount and sits behind the lathe. That one is also just as noise. Mitch I am sure at one time your lathe was a chain drive and has been converted. If you have two drilled and tapped holes back by the motor pulley that is were the rear mount bracket for the chain guard was bolted on. The silent chain drive there was a little cross brace between the motor plate casting that the bearing standards are mounted on. This was used to secure the bottom front of the chain guard. In the belt dive version SB just simply sawed this little cross brace off as the belt pulley would not clear it. I have also done the same thing. The very first overhead belt dive was the little one used on the 8 Jr. that you see on Tony's web site.

Here is a link Mitch to my flicker photo site.

Flickr: The Turk works' Photostream

Dennis
 
Dennis,

I finished up another 5-month project and have re-started the SB 322 9" effort. By that, I've moved the lathe to my primary cleaning/staging area near my shop area. (My wife's garage!). I've spent some time searching the SB site for some diagrams that might help me start the disassembly/cleaning but I'm not having much luck finding anything that addresses this early model (except your restoration pics - very impressive). I guess the 1st thing I should do is break it down and clean it up. Can you point me in the right direction for any document that would help or, perhaps, tell me what I should not do? I think my 1st goal should be to clean the bed and cross slide enough to measure wear, etc.

Dan
 
Hi Dan

There is a book that covers the rebuilding or restoration of a workshop 9 inch. Not the same lathe but should give you a lot of good info on lathes in general. The workshop 9 is nothing more than a smaller version of your lathe. Though none of the parts interchange the design of both are exactly the same. Few little differences here and there but for the most part its the same design. Some of the guys on this site know about that book and should be able to lead you to a copy. There are some other books covering rebuilding and restorations of machine tools that may also help. I don't have any of these as I work from personal memory. Still remember scraping in the ways on a little tinny Craftsman lathe back when I was 18 years old. Was a pile of crap when I started and did not get any better."-))))

If you have questions on any particular assembly let me know as I probably have photos of that assembly. I have thousands of pictures of lathes related stuff in this computer.

Turk
 
I too, recommend the above book. I also have his replacement wick set and they look to be excellent quality
 
I purchased the book and agree it's a very good reference - very high quality, easy to read, great pics.

If anyone has an idea where I can find some feet for this 1928 9" JR I'd appreciate it. I don't see anything on Ebay.
 








 
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