Help me ID hole in 9A Headstock

panabax · Apr 21, 2015

I am a new owner of a 1943 9A. Well, I now totally have the bug and I just bought another 9A from a high school auction. I have not started cleaning the bed yet so I have not yet uncovered the serial number. However it is obviously a later model as the headstock casting is setup for the 10k style reversing tumbler.

Anyway, I am in the process of cleaning the grunge and evaluating the rust. As of now it appears to be more grunge than rust. In taking apart the headstock I noticed a hole on the top of the headstock between the left spindle bearing and the left back gear bearing. It is not the small oil hole but a larger (5/16" maybe) threaded hole. It does not look like it has any oil passages. Was it to mount something? Here is a picture.

I bought this lathe sight unseen. The bad news is that the screws that hold the QCGB and the lead screw bearing were all sheared. The good news is the spindle and bearings are immaculate, all the gears and the lead screw look really good and it came with some good extras. I'm sure I can keep what I want and part out the rest and make money. However, depending on the condition of the bed, I may try to restore it. Any thoughts on one or the other would be appreciated.

SLK001 · Apr 21, 2015

I can't tell what you are referring to by your photo, but my guess would be for mounting a lever operated collet assembly.

I have one on my 10L.

stephen thomas · Apr 22, 2015

In before the lock.

Welcome.

If you read the rules, a location is required in your title block.

If you decide to part it, I might be interested in an apron and gearbox.

As far as "restoration" of a lathe, that kind of automatically indicates the bed will be planed,ground, &/or scraped. All sliding ways will be scraped back to original alignments, and issues such as TS droop attended to. Paint and polish are optional & do not constitute restoration where machine tools are concerned. OTOH, no actual restoration, but a pretty paint job will sell it faster with a lot less effort.

smt

panabax · Apr 22, 2015

Well, if paint and spit shine and cleaning the old High School girl up doesn't count for "restoration" then it is not getting restored. However, if the bed looks good once I get the grunge off of it, I might clean it up and keep it in tact. Otherwise, I will let you know if I am going to part it out.

I'm in Dallas. I put Texas in my profile but apparently the state and the location are not the same. Thanks for the heads up.

Baxter

panabax · Apr 22, 2015

SLK001 said:
I can't tell what you are referring to by your photo, but my guess would be for mounting a lever operated collet assembly.

I have been looking at pictures of 9As and I think you are correct. I believe it is a mounting point for the collet attachment.

Click to expand...

panabax · Apr 22, 2015

So I scrubbed some of the grunge off the ways and, much to my pleasant surprise, I see scraping. I think the exceptional condition of the spindle and bearings is also reflected in the condition of the bed. Here is a picture of the bed with some of the grunge scrubbed away.

Now I am thinking about stripping, painting and polishing this thing and putting it back together (and maybe keeping it and selling the 9A I am currently using). That said, is there a source for the screws that hold the QCGB and lead screw bearing to the bed? I will need all five, or a reasonable substitute, to get it back together.

Serial number is 56123NAR10. Catalog No. CL744A (16 speed horizontal drive) with 4' bed It looks like it was probably manufactured in 1967 or so.

TIA,

Baxter

jkopel · Apr 22, 2015

Do a search for "cheese head screw". They are available on ebay sometimes, or you can cut down the top of the equivalent SHCS.
That scraping you see is on the tailstock ways which usually get a lot less use (particularly near the head end).
Check the front most v-way for a slight ridge at the top, and whatever you see you can expect at least the same amount of wear on the apron.
Not that it means you should not refurbish/restore/rebuild whatever and use it.

Oh, and that hole is definitely for a collet closer to mount to. I know because I had to drill one.

There is probably a small hole at the outer most end of the spindle as well for a pin that keys the closer to the spindle (or maybe even the pin itself).

panabax · Apr 22, 2015

jkopel said:
That scraping you see is on the tailstock ways which usually get a lot less use (particularly near the head end). Check the front most v-way for a slight ridge at the top, and whatever you see you can expect at least the same amount of wear on the apron.

I see your point. It sure is purdy though. My 1943 9A doesn't evidence any scraping anymore. I did not notice any ridge on the carriage ways. I guess I will just have to clean up the bed and carriage and then actually measure the bed wear before I decide what to do with it.

Thanks,

Baxter

panabax · Apr 23, 2015

Okay, so I decided to measure the relative wear between the bed on my current 9A and this new arrival. Here is how I measured the wear. I mounted a TDI on the carriage such that the indicator lever rode directly on top of the inner tailstock v-way. I then ran the carriage from the TS end to the HS end and watched the indicator. On my current lathe the carriage dropped about .004" over its full length of travel. The same measurement on the "new" bed showed a drop of about .0015".

Given the presence of distinct scraping marks (if even only on the tailstock ways) and the difference in measured wear, I am now seriously considering cleaning up and repainting this new lathe and then selling the old one once it's done. However, before I undertake this exercise, I'd like to know two things: (1) is my logic on the method I used to test the relative bed wear sound; and (2) if so, is the difference in relative wear significant? I have not noticed any deficiency in my current lathe's performance. That said, I have also not done any accuracy testing other than observations during the course of making small stuff.

Thanks for your input.

Baxter

janvanruth · Apr 23, 2015

panabax said:
Okay, so I decided to measure the relative wear between the bed on my current 9A and this new arrival. Here is how I measured the wear. I mounted a TDI on the carriage such that the indicator lever rode directly on top of the inner tailstock v-way. I then ran the carriage from the TS end to the HS end and watched the indicator. On my current lathe the carriage dropped about .004" over its full length of travel. The same measurement on the "new" bed showed a drop of about .0015".

Given the presence of distinct scraping marks (if even only on the tailstock ways) and the difference in measured wear, I am now seriously considering cleaning up and repainting this new lathe and then selling the old one once it's done. However, before I undertake this exercise, I'd like to know two things: (1) is my logic on the method I used to test the relative bed wear sound; and (2) if so, is the difference in relative wear significant? I have not noticed any deficiency in my current lathe's performance. That said, I have also not done any accuracy testing other than observations during the course of making small stuff.

Thanks for your input.

Baxter

the scraping on the tailstock ways is not factory scraped so someone has already done some work on it.
your way of measuring is not taking into account that the ways of the saddle will also have wear in the direction of the headstock.
ride an indicator mounted on a block over the flat tailstock way indicating the flat between the first v and the flat.
three measurements, front middle and back ot the flat, they should read the same or the flat is warped.
that will give you an idea about how well the flat was scraped.
take the bottom part of the tailstock and see if it rocks on the v while held on to the flat.
if the flat is straight and the tailstock bottom doesnt rock on the v the v will be straight and parallel to the flat.

panabax · Apr 23, 2015

janvanruth said:
the scraping on the tailstock ways is not factory scraped so someone has already done some work on it.

I am curious what about the scraping indicates that it is not original. I don't have any experience with this kind of thing.

janvanruth said:
ride an indicator mounted on a block over the flat tailstock way indicating the flat between the first v and the flat.
three measurements, front middle and back ot the flat, they should read the same or the flat is warped.
that will give you an idea about how well the flat was scraped.

Those readings are, in fact, the same along the bed so at least the TS way is flat.

janvanruth said:
take the bottom part of the tailstock and see if it rocks on the v while held on to the flat.
if the flat is straight and the tailstock bottom doesnt rock on the v the v will be straight and parallel to the flat.

No rocking. I guess that rocks! Sorry, bad pun. Thanks for the info.

Baxter

Search

Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web

Search

Help me ID hole in 9A Headstock

panabax

Aluminum

SLK001

Stainless

stephen thomas

Diamond

panabax

Aluminum

panabax

Aluminum

panabax

Aluminum

jkopel

Stainless

panabax

Aluminum

panabax

Aluminum

janvanruth

Titanium

panabax

Aluminum

Similar threads