A Nut and Washer Question

rcbaughn · Nov 17, 2015

I am in the process of cleaning up and painting a lathe for the first time in my life for my employer, and I am having a hard time distinguishing where all the correct washers and nuts go since I wasn't the one who disassembled this lathe.

My main question is on the headstock and carriage nuts and washers. The headstock is shown to be bolted to the bed by two thin style jam nuts, but there isn't a second nut actually doing the "jamming", so I was wondering if I could just use grade 8 nut and washers to secure the headstock to the bed? These nuts will go on the threaded shaft that is screwed directly into the bottom of the headstock, and has a 6 point area in the middle where I assume you can make adjustments? Unsure on that as well.

On the carriage, does the bolts that come in from the pan and hold the carriage up use the really thick washers? Or will the thinner smaller ones work and be correct? I am trying to assemble this thing back together the correct way like it was from the factory, but since this machine was rebuilt by the Navy once before, and I am not the one who took it apart this time, I suspect that some hardware was put in the wrong place. I am actually missing two jam nuts that are suppose to hold the headstock to the bed, but I see no reason grade 8 wouldn't work in their place if someone can okay that.

Maybe I am being too OCD about washers and nuts and the like, but I don't want to get to the very end and be missing a bunch of hardware or have hardware in the complete wrong spot and have to disassemble. Thanks so much and I can't wait till this thing is running and I am done with it!

CBlair · Nov 17, 2015

RC, I think we need to start with the brand and model of lathe you are talking about. I also might suggest that you post this question in the appropriate subforum for that machine. There are going to be more people who are familiar with that brand than there will be here.

Charles

imported_brian_m · Nov 17, 2015

If the lathe has been through the Navy and other owners I doubt you will find a correct, original, pair of nuts and washers on the whole machine.
Buy a bunch of hardened washers of various sizes for your rebuild, they don't cost much and you can use them anywhere.
I love socket headed bolts with nice hardened blued washers.

.

.

SIP6A · Nov 17, 2015

If you could come up with a parts book that would go a long way towards finding what fasteners go where.

Richard King · Nov 18, 2015

"A picture is worth a thousand words"

Your new to this and please add some photo's to your posts. Plus there are hundreds of brand lathes. We do not have a crystal ball. Your description of the nuts, bolts and washers are not easy for us to understand. As Charles said....please add the lathe name and model. If it is a cheap Asian Import best to not continue on as that is against the forum rules. If that's the case you can email me for help, please attach pictures too as I am not following what your saying. Good luck, [email protected]

rcbaughn · Nov 18, 2015

I am embarrassed I didn't put South Bend Heavy 10 in the header or in the post. I know better, I post about antique fans I restore on a forum quite frequently and if you don't give enough info we are always asking for specifics from new people!

I will try to get pictures, but from what I am hearing it seems that any hardened hardware will work for the machine. I too agree Brian M, blued would be preferred since I have blued most all of the original hardware on the machine.

And thanks Richard, you have been awesome to help on this forum. I don't want to be the one guy who always pops up and everyone dreads to see posting. I know I've dealt with those before. I will try to be more mindful of information I post, and also with pictures. I will take a bunch of photos tonight and post them in the original thread tomorrow.

fciron · Nov 18, 2015

South Bend made the Heavy 10 for decades and there were lots of changes. I love the look of the cheesehead screws that were on my early SB, but I'm sure the socket head screws on my current 1967 Heavy 10 are a lot stronger.

You can find serial numbers by year and parts lists on Steve Wells' site: The SBL Workshop There's a lot of info there, so it can be a little tricky to navigate. Most of it is in .pdf form, so it can be a drag if you're surfing on your phone.

DMF_TomB · Nov 19, 2015

rcbaughn said:
I am in the process of cleaning up and painting a lathe for the first time in my life for my employer, and I am having a hard time distinguishing where all the correct washers and nuts go since I wasn't the one who disassembled this lathe.

My main question is on the headstock and carriage nuts and washers. The headstock is shown to be bolted to the bed by two thin style jam nuts, but there isn't a second nut actually doing the "jamming", so I was wondering if I could just use grade 8 nut and washers to secure the headstock to the bed? These nuts will go on the threaded shaft that is screwed directly into the bottom of the headstock, and has a 6 point area in the middle where I assume you can make adjustments? Unsure on that as well.

On the carriage, does the bolts that come in from the pan and hold the carriage up use the really thick washers? Or will the thinner smaller ones work and be correct? I am trying to assemble this thing back together the correct way like it was from the factory, but since this machine was rebuilt by the Navy once before, and I am not the one who took it apart this time, I suspect that some hardware was put in the wrong place. I am actually missing two jam nuts that are suppose to hold the headstock to the bed, but I see no reason grade 8 wouldn't work in their place if someone can okay that.

Maybe I am being too OCD about washers and nuts and the like, but I don't want to get to the very end and be missing a bunch of hardware or have hardware in the complete wrong spot and have to disassemble. Thanks so much and I can't wait till this thing is running and I am done with it!

.
many parts should not be over tightened or torqued. jam nut or double not can be much tighter against each other but torque against part much lower. for example nut against part can be 5 ft/lbs but jam nut can be 50 ft/lbs
.
sometimes original design after things loosen up from vibration, things are changed to double nut or jam nut

michiganbuck · Nov 19, 2015

Don't have a clue but be sure you have enough turns in the thread with not bottoming out in a blind hole. Most SAE threads need about 8 to 11 turns to make good.
Think about the threads per inch and what makes a full nut of threads.Yes you can go more if you have the hole and threads depth.
(5 turns will often pull the threads and 13 may bottom out in a short blind hole)

Older machines of lesser grade cast and threads wore out need even more care and caution.

Yes this is not for the bolt and nut but for a bolt going into a threaded hole.

To your question I think the grade 7 or 8 and lock nut over the washer would be fine.

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A Nut and Washer Question

rcbaughn

Plastic

CBlair

Diamond

imported_brian_m

Cast Iron

SIP6A

Titanium

Richard King

Diamond

rcbaughn

Plastic

fciron

Stainless

DMF_TomB

Diamond

michiganbuck

Diamond

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