Introducing Lucile - 1959 SB 16

Hello all,
I wanted to introduce myself and my new obsession, my name is Barry and I am located in Chapel Hill NC. My new obsession which has been christened Lucile is a 1959 SB 16 inch Lathe with an 8ft bed. I bought her at a state surplus auction sight unseen. She was listed as a Westinghouse Lathe but even with the poor photo from behind (see below), I recognized her (IMO) gorgeous curves. Of course the Westinghouse mistake comes from reading the switch gear info from the back.

I have zero experience restoring or running such a lathe, but I have been reading and watching the usual suspects on youtube. Can't get enough Keith Fenner, Keith Rucker, Tom Lipton, Tubulcain, Halligan and Brad Jacobs. The level of expertise and willingness to help on this site is also very impressive. I'm really enjoying Thomas Utley's 16 odyssey.
I am more excited than nervous about restoring her back to her former glory. I think it is managable if I take a sub-assembly approach, have plenty of patience and ask enough questions. It's a marathon, not a sprint :-)

Here is what I know or suspect...

Removed from operation around October 2017 at the NC DoT, but unfortunately stored next to an open window since then. Some surface rust and when I got her, the compound and cross slide were rusted together. Broken gib screws on the compound and cross slide, bent compound screw. Some wear on the lead screw.
Bed wear/dings looks minor compared to some of the restoration projects I've seen on-line but I don't really have the ability to measure how bad it is. ( I think from the card and the lack of scraping marks by the headstock that the bed is hardened (not sure about that)








More photos and disassembly progress to follow...

more photos

Here are some more photos of the progress so far...

Cleaned up a little with some degreaser


Gear train


Ways


Cross slide and Taper attachment


Tail stock

That is a good photo of the lathe on the u-haul truck, bet that was fun loading and unloading.? I did load a SBL 13 inch
on my Ford F-150 when I moved to a new house, but did not drive too far. Looking forward to your next photos and update..

Yes, the F-150 was maybe at its limit, but it handled it very well. I had to put some 10ft 2x6's under the lathe so it wouldn't squash the plastic bed liner and also since the lathe legs would've hit right on the tailgate hinge without them. The truck definitely groaned a sigh of relief when the lathe was lifted off
If I was to do that again, I'd go with a trailer. Did someone say Mill ;-)

They had a forklift for loading and I had grand ideas of using an engine hoist to get it off the truck which in reality would've been dangerous. I hired a local guy with a skid steer with forks to unload it. Nice thing was he could drive right into my garage and place it where I wanted it. (maybe 2 inches to spare under the door)

The guy who ran the lathe where I bought it actually suggested dragging it off the truck onto some tires, "it would only drop a foot or so" he said. That was my first clue that he wasn't a machinist by trade.

Where there's a will, there's a way

I drove to Michigan to buy a LeBlond and hauled it home in the back of my truck. I will NEVER do that again, especially considering I have two trailers, I was just being cheap. Worst trip of my life.


Congratulations on the lathe! I look forward to seeing it come back to life.

Interesting machine, it is indeed a hard bed with the L00 spindle. And a two speed motor three step cone. I like it. You will love that lathe.

Anyone that would think to drop the lathe onto a tire should never be allowed near any kind of machinery.

Congratulations on your machine.

Marc

Nice haul.... all puns intended

cool! look forward to seeing what you do with it!

NICE, another 16" resto!

I'm totally jealous of the hardened bed and the L00 spindle nose. You'll still have some wear to deal with on the underside of the saddle, but that's a machine worth investing a few bucks into for sure.

Can't wait to see Lucile all dressed up for the ball...let me know if you're missing parts, I may have the leftovers you need now that mine's almost finished.

Tom

I like the long bed. And the L00 spindle. And the taper attachment. What the hell I like the whole lathe.

thomasutley said:

NICE, another 16" resto!

I'm totally jealous of the hardened bed and the L00 spindle nose. You'll still have some wear to deal with on the underside of the saddle, but that's a machine worth investing a few bucks into for sure.

Can't wait to see Lucile all dressed up for the ball...let me know if you're missing parts, I may have the leftovers you need now that mine's almost finished.

Tom

Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer Tom, I really appreciate it. I may be hitting you up with a few questions. I have noticed some wear on the underside of the tailstock (no shims there when I split the base) , but I havent dropped the apron yet so I guess to expect similar wear if not more on the saddle. It's a large project but I can't wait to get stuck in. Two questions for you to get started...

1. When I took the tailstock apart, the quill bound up for the last 2 inches and was hell to get out. When I finally got it out, I noticed a small nick on the key. I filed the raised nick lightly and now it slides smoothly. The key doesn't want to come out though. I'd like to get it out to either replace it, or at least make sure it is clean. Is there a trick to getting the little bugger out?

2. Would you do anything different if you were to do it over? Particularly with respect to bringing the castings back to bare metal? Did you consider having them media blasted - with the machined surfaces masked off of course? Just seems like a huge effort and not to mention 100 gallons of citrus strip to boot ;-)

Okay, thought of a third...

3. How the heck are you supposed to get the motor out of the bell casting? I have the motor separated but now what? Does the shaft (and the large pulleys and flat belt cone) that the motor drives via the v-belts have to come out first?

Thanks, the L00 spindle looks in good shape, but the nut has seen better days with some welded steps where at one point I'm sure there was a lovely place for the correct spanner to fit perfectly. Alas, Lucile has lost many of her accessories over the years ;-) The nut may be salvageable with the right Mill and dividing head.

South Bend Does have that nut in stock. 150 bucks.

Call there and ask for Robert...he is pretty much the only one that knows what's what.
It is part number PT3725LH1

They also have the wench too, but I didn't ask how much...it is PT3724LH1

You have a sweet 16 there!!

That's great info, thanks

That can't be Lucile, Lucile is BB King's guitar.....

Motor is out, what a brute! I cut some 2x4's with a curve to match the radius of the housing and with a combination of blocking and levers I was able to just squeeze it out the front door, maybe 1/4 of an inch to spare! The trick was to use the belt tension adjust and the drive belt handle to lower the motor enough to release the four motor mounting bolts

The motor turns freely and spins quietly, maybe the bearings are o.k. but I'll probably replace them. What is the current thinking on replacing grease packed open bearings with sealed modern bearings? Is that something thats done?

Its a two speed 3 PH motor, love the shape of the switch box and for sure I'll try to reuse as much of that as possible with the VFD. Maybe using the slow button as a place to put the 10K pot. Not as cool as Toms custom casting but its what I've got.

Also, how cool is it having the bearing numbers right on the plate?

Now to research a suitable (cheap) VFD. Anyone got any suggestions?


sorry, I don't know how to rotate images

Another pretty important plate I discovered under the dirt...



better pic of the electrical plate on the motor

barryw said:

Its a two speed 3 PH motor, love the shape of the switch box and for sure I'll try to reuse as much of that as possible with the VFD. Maybe using the slow button as a place to put the 10K pot. Not as cool as Toms custom casting but its what I've got.

Also, how cool is it having the bearing numbers right on the plate?

Now to research a suitable (cheap) VFD. Anyone got any suggestions?

Click to expand...

I'd have to think through how to utilize a VFD with a two-speed motor. VFDs don't like any switching going on downstream when they're under load. Bad things happen when you break the circuit with current flowing. The question would be how to take advantage of the high and low range without frying the VFD...?

Maybe start a new thread over on the controls subforum part of PM and ask the question. There are several people who contribute over there who will know more than I about this topic. Worst case, you use only one set of windings in the motor.

moonlight machine said:

That can't be Lucile, Lucile is BB King's guitar.....

Click to expand...

"Anything so innocent and built like that just gotta be named Lucille."


Car Wash scene from Cool Hand Luke - YouTube


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

moonlight machine said:

That can't be Lucile, Lucile is BB King's guitar.....

Click to expand...

Looks like a Jolene to me...