Hello, first post, first lathe, could use some advice

Hello everybody. Been hearing about this forum for years, finally got myself some machines to play with.

I picked up a surface grinder, mill and South Bend lathe at auction recently. I paid $600 for this lathe and some accessories. I tried to google for more info, and maybe an operators manual or something similar, but have not had much luck.

I was told it was in working order before being moved to the location I picked it up from. Most of the oil cups appear to be missing and their ... ports? that they mount to are mostly damaged also.

Any advice on what checks to make, setup tips, where to get replacement parts, and I'd REALLY Like to know what year it is, would all be greatly appreciated.

The serial on the rail is 44254


Also, this head stock seems to have no taper at all... I'm guessing this will not be a high precision machine at the best of times?

You are at the right place, keep reading.

I see a oil cup or two on the head stock, you can get replacements. Try and get a copy of HOW TO RUN A LATHE BY SOUTH BEND {paper copy or internet}.
Looks like you got a boat lode of stuff to go with the lathe...

Here's a link to my copy of "How to Run a Lathe" http://www.arcaneiron.com/machines/HowtoRunaLathe.pdf I scanned it and host it on my server so I know it's "clean". Sorry about the size as it's about 150M as I haven't had time to go back and compress it.

Hope that helps,

-Ron

Looks like 1929 "O" model. I see what looks to be one back plate for a chuck. It might be tuff to find back plates or faceplates for it, depending on spindle thread. Use your backplate,if it fits your lathe, and mount a 4-jaw chuck to it, then you could by a blank back plate and cut it to your spindle thread and get a 3-jaw. If you can only get one chuck, make it a 4-jaw.
The spindle is not for collet use but that doesn't mean the lathe won't be accurate. Seems odd though that it wasn't tapered for a #3 Morse for turning between centers.
Good that you got the drive setup (motor,cone and mount). Looks like a boring head and maybe R-8 collets for a mill, and a mill vice. If the lathe is not worn, it will make good parts......and the Quick Change gearbox sure beats the hell out of change gear, in my opinion. Clean it up, oil it up, and have at it. Good Luck with it! PB

After years of not doing anything with this lathe, I've finally started the process of disassembly and some refurbishment. The motor that came with the lathe never functioned properly, it would spin with no load just fine, but once you put a load on it it would just bog down. I don't know what the problem is with it. However I was recently gifted a much newer 3hp Dayton, 240v/3ph 1750 RPM motor. I have a VFD to convert my single phase power.

However there doesn't seem to be any motor mounting provision on this machine. I assume it originally would have run off one of those shop mounted drive shafts and never had it's own motor before. Right now my plan is to just bolt the motor to the large plate that attaches the multi-belt pulley swing arm, and get a belt that will be in tension at the same time as the main drive belt. Is there an easier way I might be overlooking?

My next step is to order oil cups and wicks, then I can start putting this old girl back together. I'll have to see about posting some pictures, the ones on my phone are too large for the forum apparently.

Ebay and amazon don't seem to have much for this lathe, am I just searching the wrong terms perhaps? Or is there a go-to aftermarket parts supplier for these older South Bends?

"However there doesn't seem to be any motor mounting provision on this machine..."

There's a countershaft setup clearly visible in one of the photos. I either mounts to the rear of the lathe or to the benchtop (can't be sure) but likely the motor mounts to the plate on the countershaft assembly as well.

LongshotPerforma said:

Ebay and amazon don't seem to have much for this lathe, am I just searching the wrong terms perhaps? Or is there a go-to aftermarket parts supplier for these older South Bends?

Click to expand...

Maybe because its past ninety years of age and the Series O was discontinued prior to 1940

It looks like a very decent lathe, mostly there or in the parts. and as a first lathe congratulations..QT: ( I paid $600 for this lathe and some accessories) good deal IMHO.
tell what grinder you got.
Spread out those wires in one photo..there may be one I need.
Give all the bare metal an oil wipe..and don't wire brush the dial numbers.
The SB guys here can give directions on how to proceed.