New South bend owner

jays68yak · Oct 19, 2017

This past weekend I went to an estate auction to look at a lathe. Didn't know anything about it besides it was a South bend. Looked it over and it was rather rough there's a lot of play in the apron hand wheel, ways are a little beat up. But figured I would try to win it for a few hundred. Ended up getting it for $250. I'm excited about it.

South bend 14 1/2, 183c, 4 jaw chuck, 3 jaw chuck, steady rest.

Also bought all the tooling that was there. Should go nice with the Bridgeport I bought recently too. Now to find or make a thread dial....once I clean it up.

What's people's thoughts on mounting it to a custom made cart with casters and leveling jacks. Thinking about something like what I made for the Bridgeport. It would help get it in the garage and to be able to move it around if needed.

jmm03 · Oct 19, 2017

Hi Jay, welcome to the forum. Cool looking console you have on that Bridgeport. Nice job on the caster cart also. If you are going to do that on your lathe I would urge caution,as the lathe tends to be much more unstable than the mill, higher center of gravity. I wouldn't mind seeing more pictures of the mill cart if you have them. Jim

MikeRoach · Oct 19, 2017

jmm03 said:
I wouldn't mind seeing more pictures of the mill cart if you have them. Jim

Congrats on the lathe! And seconded on the mill cart pics. I know it’s off topic, but that thing is awesome! Did you fabricate it yourself, or just design it?

Erich · Oct 19, 2017

Welcome to the forum.
Keeping a lathe on a rolling cart is a bad idea on many levels.
Lathes are top heavy and prone to falling over when a wheel catches on a pebble or expansion joint.
A lathe needs be installed with no twist in the lathe bed. If the bed is twisted it will cut tapered parts not cylinders. Sitting on a cart lathe "level" will change with the conditions of the floor.

jays68yak · Oct 19, 2017

I don't have any pics of the cart before I put the mill on it. It was a modified version of one I saw on here. I did build it myself. It's 1*3 .120 box tubing. There are leveling jacks that keep the casters off the ground when I don't need to move it.

If I made a cart for the lathe it would be only to move it, it would have leveling jacks so that I could make sure the bed of the lathe isn't twisted. And I would make the casters wider then the lathe foot print to help prevent tipping.

jwearing · Oct 19, 2017

$250, wow. I saw that auction and was thinking about going, but decided the lathe was too big for my shop. Do you know how much that Rockwell mill went for?

jays68yak · Oct 19, 2017

jwearing said:
$250, wow. I saw that auction and was thinking about going, but decided the lathe was too big for my shop. Do you know how much that Rockwell mill went for?

Thanks for not coming and bidding it up.

It went for $575. It's a perfect small shop/garage unit.

steve-l · Oct 20, 2017

Erich said:
Welcome to the forum.
Keeping a lathe on a rolling cart is a bad idea on many levels.
Lathes are top heavy and prone to falling over when a wheel catches on a pebble or expansion joint.
A lathe needs be installed with no twist in the lathe bed. If the bed is twisted it will cut tapered parts not cylinders. Sitting on a cart lathe "level" will change with the conditions of the floor.

Lathes do not have to be level to function correctly. They have been mounted on ships for many years successfully. They do have to be straight to not cut tapers. "Level" is used as a reference only. Please also note that the lathe bed is mounted on a stand. Any adjustment to reduce or eliminate bed twist is done at the bed mount to the stand on models with stands or cabinets not the floor.

John Strange · Oct 20, 2017

Great score for $250. Hopefully you'll share some photos once you get it cleaned up.

iwananew10K · Oct 20, 2017

I think the cart is a fine plan...you mill cart looks good and even gives you a place to slide in some bars to serve as outriggers when moving it for a safety factor.

jays68yak · Oct 20, 2017

iwananew10K said:
I think the cart is a fine plan...you mill cart looks good and even gives you a place to slide in some bars to serve as outriggers when moving it for a safety factor.

I can drive forks right under the cart. Strapped to the fence on the skid steer it was pretty stable, heavy for the skid steer but worked..

steve-l · Oct 21, 2017

I have very limited space for my machines and tools in my shop. It is not a small shop, but my appetite for tools and machines exceed my available space. I have many machines now on castors, mostly saws. My wood machines are hard mounted to wooden pallets, which I move around with a pallet jack, when they are needed. Both systems work well to conserve work space for machines that are not too large or too heavy.

jays68yak · Oct 25, 2017

Started drawing up the cart yesterday. Just copying what I did with the mill cart. Same casters, same way to lift the cart off the casters. Still thinking about an independent way to level the lathe from the cart. Have some thoughts but then require a working lathe :nutter:

kitno455 · Oct 25, 2017

I think you are about to make a leaf spring out of that cart. The cast pedestal base only contacts the floor around the two holes. You'll need to keep your cart leveling feet (and perhaps the wheels) under that point.

allan

jays68yak · Oct 25, 2017

kitno455 said:
I think you are about to make a leaf spring out of that cart. The cast pedestal base only contacts the floor around the two holes. You'll need to keep your cart leveling feet (and perhaps the wheels) under that point.

allan

That's a good point. I will move the cart levelers under cast part at least on the motor side. The casters I have out so I can have the machine as low as possible while moving.

tobnpr · Oct 25, 2017

Looks like it's been a while since it's been run. When you say ways are "beat up", you mean nicks...or wear?

jays68yak · Oct 25, 2017

tobnpr said:
Looks like it's been a while since it's been run. When you say ways are "beat up", you mean nicks...or wear?

I noticed some nicks, but really need to clean it up and inspect it. Which is the reason for the cart, to get it in the garage. Once I finish a bathroom remodel.

jays68yak · Dec 17, 2017

Finally got the cart built, lathe on it, and it in the garage. Started cleaning it up some, it's covered in saw dust.

Once in the garage I looked into the wiring and was able to confirm it is wired for 110v currently. I've decided to leave it as wired for now, just changed the end to a normal 110 plug. I've been able to use the a little bit, mostly just getting the hang of the controls. Still need to level it.

I've also been wanting to add drawers under the chip tray. Found a free drawer and slide setup but it would have required a good amount of work to get it in place. After searching for easily bought premade drawers I ended up buying a tool cart from harbor freight. Drilled out the rivets and took the top enclosure off, cut the bottom tray sides off and made this the new top. Riveted it back together and put it on some box tubing on the cart. Gained a ton of storage and it's all out of the way. Should be pretty well covered from chips.

John Strange · Dec 17, 2017

Looks good. I thought of using one of those tool carts under my chip pan too. It's interesting to see the idea brought to fruition.

Have you seen Ken's (1970Chevele396) lathe cart? It's pretty nice too. Looks like a lot of work. South bend 13 Lathe Rebuild Compound, Cart, Tooling (Part 3 of 4) - YouTube

jays68yak · Dec 18, 2017

John Strange said:
Looks good. I thought of using one of those tool carts under my chip pan too. It's interesting to see the idea brought to fruition.

Have you seen Ken's (1970Chevele396) lathe cart? It's pretty nice too. Looks like a lot of work. South bend 13 Lathe Rebuild Compound, Cart, Tooling (Part 3 of 4) - YouTube

I had not seen that. I ended up making my cart so that I can remove the last 6 inch with the casters on it. That way the casters arnt sticking out and a tripping Hazzard. There's also 8 leveling screws, 4 for the cart, 4 for the lathe. The lathe will actually float off the cart so that I can level it independently from the cart.

New South bend owner

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