Got a free South Bend 16 Lathe

An alpine resort close buy where to send this old lathe to the scrapyard. I came to look at it. And it looked really bad. Very dirty. And a belt, so I was thinking antique. A lot of equipment followed so I figured it had some value. When I got it home I searched it up. And it seemed quite attractive. And now that I have it working, I am very pleased. Cleaning these old machines is a terrible job. But it feels good when finished.

I'm making this thread though because I have various questions that I will come back to.

I also have a colchester student mk1,5. So not sure I would need this lathe. But it's heavier and somewhat different. And bigger, so maybe it can do things the student can not do. Not sure. Horsepower seems similar. We will see. Just tried a few cuts so far. Some problems with the belt. The ones I tried first, made lots of noise and slipped, and ran oof the pulleys. I finally tried to more accurately grind the belt down where I glued it together, so it's more like one belt. Seems to work much better. I think I should have a wider belt though.

There is an odd thing though. Both the cross feed screw and the compound screw seems to be metric withe pitch 3mm and 4mm. So I didn't take the chance to order new nuts on ebay. Didn't seem to be similar. There is also a sign on the back to do metric threads. The lead screw however is imperial, with I think 6 tpi pitch. The cross slide doesnt have axial bearings, So I think I should try to add that if I can find something that can fit.

Toolpost seems a Tripan 311. Just one toolholder so that is a shame. I'll post pictures of the accessories once I've cleaned them. A lot of gears.

I guess my main question is, is the lathe good? Is all the work worth it? Thanks

More pictures. The project is coming to an end. I quite enjoyed trying to shine up this old lathe. Very impressed with it's simplicity....although I almost ruined it while assembling the headstock and test driving it, without having read the instructions. I finally did, as it almost didn't turn. And stopped after a few minuts... I took the headstock apart. And this time I took out the screws under and over the oil. Full of crap. I can't believe I didn't clean these channels. Cleaned everything up. Followed the instructions. And checked the headstock with an indicator. I had to turn tighten the screws that puches the bearing apart as hard as I could. The loosened everything up. And now the spindels free spins 3 turns or something if I give it a spin with my hand. Is that loose enough? I get 0,001" with the lifttest. And I also turned the rear bearing around, just because I felt like it.

I like this lathe more and more. There is almost no runout , even with the 3 jaw chuck. Cushman. The 4 jaw independent I didn't try yet, it's original Southbend. Is the Cushman better?

There is a metric gear set I presume, since one of them is 127. Lot's of gears. I guess I won't be able to use the thread dial with the metric set. As is a same. Probably difficult to do metric with half nuts closed and no brake on the spindle.

Various cutting tools. The steady rest and follow rest are just cleaned and painted. I'll reassemble them tomorrow.

I made new handle for compound, and taper attachment. Otherwise most stuff followed from what I can see. Missing reversed holders for the 4-jaw. And the underside of the saddle lock. The bolt on the top is there. If it's something like this, it seems doable to make. eBay Maybe I can make one in aluminium as would be even quicker.

Tips / suggestions? Is the red to much on tailstock? Should I wirebrush it to bare metal as I did most handles?

Good looking lathe.
I have a Boxford with the same mix. Imperial gear box and lead screw and metric cross slide and top slide.
Cost saving when exporting to a metric country maybe.
My 9a is fully metric.
The jaws on the 4jaw work both ways.

Related pub, though yours is older

http://campkahler.com/files/How_to_Run_a_Lathe_SB_1of2.pdf
http://campkahler.com/files/How_to_Run_a_Lathe_SB_2of2.pdf

Very nice find!
Regarding colors---your lathe, your taste, your choice. To paraphrase Duke Ellington,"If it looks good {to you} it is good."
Not my taste, but what do I know?

Jaddamasa said:

Good looking lathe.
I have a Boxford with the same mix. Imperial gear box and lead screw and metric cross slide and top slide.
Cost saving when exporting to a metric country maybe.
My 9a is fully metric.
The jaws on the 4jaw work both ways.

Click to expand...

I checked the gears today, and the charts. It seems I can do quite a lot of metric threads. All gears are there. So I think I will put those on, and keep it as metric. Seems gear 36 will cut most of those I normally cut. So swapping a gear or two now and then seems easy enough, when it is complete.



Next I will try to cut metric threads with it. I'm going to use this trick. Metric Threading with an Inch Lead Screw - YouTube That seems very clever, and can use the thread dial. It will be fun to see how good that works.

johnoder said:

Related pub, though yours is older

http://campkahler.com/files/How_to_Run_a_Lathe_SB_1of2.pdf
http://campkahler.com/files/How_to_Run_a_Lathe_SB_2of2.pdf

Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll print those out, and keep them at the machine. My serial number is 2827HKX8 I think that makes at a 1946 or therearound.

ronlyke said:

Very nice find!
Regarding colors---your lathe, your taste, your choice. To paraphrase Duke Ellington,"If it looks good {to you} it is good."
Not my taste, but what do I know?

Click to expand...

Thanks. To my defence, I am colorblind. So what looks muted to me, might look flashy to others. Regardless. I sorta know that grey and blue might not be the best mach. But in real life. This machine is HUGE. There is a lot of grey. The blue can hardly be noticed, since the distance between the parts are that big. But when oiling, it's easy to find the various spots. But in the fashion industry, I think grey usually gets combined with black.

Some oilerlocks are broken, with only the tube left. Not sure how to fix that yet.

A video series I have used when unsure is this.
George Bell
- YouTube
Very easy to follow.
I found this on those videoes of the saddle lock. I wish I had the dimensions. But I presume I can try to copy it.

Dro

I installed a DRO. 160$ from China. Didn't expect much. But it works, and returns to zero every time. I didn't want to install it where the follow rest is mounted. So I thought a little, and installed it as per pictures. Quite happy with it. Doesn't seem to be in the way of anything I can think off. Maybe the 4-jaw, as it's bigger. It so, it can be removed very easily.

I have to do something about the drive belt. It keeps snapping if I make threads and go back and fourth. There is supposed to be a spring in the motor casing that's missing. Regarding the belt. Not sure what to do. I've looked at ebay, but not quite convinced. Most serpentine belts are one inch. I need a two inch belt. My glue isn't the best either, to stiff. On the fastest speed, 950rpm, the belt tends to go up in the glue. Seems the glue brakes.

But very happy with the DRO. That should take care of my quarter turn backlash, So I think I will leave the nuts alone for now. Maybe mount a simple one the compound. But I doubt there is much point to that.