Restoring 9A ?'S

MGP · May 9, 2016

Hello Everyone

A friend gave me a complete 9A 644Z that I'm restoring but it needs a few parts because I got it for free I bought almost everything I need off ebay. It looks like it must of fell over, gear tumbler levers broken, cross feed and compound bell cranks broken and shafts bent but I plan on machining new screws and putting the 1-3/4" dials on it but that will be the last thing I do.

My Headstock is bolted through the bed it does not have the clamps that ive seen in every picture that's on the internet is this normal?

By my serial number its between 1947-1950 I ordered the build card from Grizzly but the date is 9/22 no year but all the numbers are matching.

I'm soaking the parts In Zep Purple Industrial Degreaser and its working great not only is it taking the grime off but stripping the paint also. I'm removing all the brass parts before I soak it but i leave the parts in over night and its bare cast iron when I pull them out.
I wish I used this stuff when I restored my 1942 Round Ram Bridgeport.

Is there any pointers that anyone can give me on do's and don'ts I bought the book A Guide to Renovating the 9' Models. Thanks Mike

gadget73 · May 9, 2016

That Zep stuff is magic. I've been using it for my 10L. Have not had to use much paint stripper. I haven't mixed it full strength either, its plenty powerful enough for an overnight soak to get rid of most of the paint and grime. \

Don't soak anything aluminum in that stuff either. It will go away. Don't know if the 9 has any aluminum bits but there are a couple odds and ends on the 10L that are.

MGP · May 9, 2016

I mixed it 20oz to 1 gallon of water I cant believe how good it works. I have a few aluminum parts but they will be easy enough to clean the good old fashion way. Ill post up some pics soon

kitno455 · May 9, 2016

Give us the serial number, we can date it. I had a 1947 9", which had the bolted headstock instead of the clamps.

allan

Yan Wo · May 10, 2016

My 1948 SB 9A also has the headstock attached with bolts through the bed.

MGP · May 10, 2016

kitno455 said:
Give us the serial number, we can date it. I had a 1947 9", which had the bolted headstock instead of the clamps.

allan

Serial Number 12068NAR8
That's good to hear that bolted through the bed was factory and someone didn't hack it.
Thanks Mike

kitno455 · May 10, 2016

Likely shipped in the middle of 1948. If you look down between the bedways, can you see the remnants of the words 'SOUTH BEND' cast into one of the bed cross-members?

allan

MGP · May 10, 2016

kitno455 said:
Likely shipped in the middle of 1948. If you look down between the bedways, can you see the remnants of the words 'SOUTH BEND' cast into one of the bed cross-members?

allan

Thanks it say Shipped 9/22 on the build card and yes its still dirty but looks like it should show up nicely when I clean it.

One more question this is the front bearing bore on the headstock its not as bad s it looks the spindle looks good you can see marks but not feel them with my finger nail

MGP · May 10, 2016

Heres a shot when I brought it home

Someone beat the heck out of this lathe
But I bought all perfect replacement parts in great shape

MGP · May 10, 2016

Parts are cleaning up nice.

gadget73 · May 10, 2016

Looks like someone was using the back gears as a spindle lock to wrench the chuck off.

MGP · May 10, 2016

gadget73 said:
Looks like someone was using the back gears as a spindle lock to wrench the chuck off.

Shes had a rough life but ill fix her up and treat her right.Lol
Must of fell over or off a truck at some point in its life both gear select levers broke and were brazed at one time but one was broken off when I got it I bought a complete gear box off ebay for the levers

MGP · May 12, 2016

I made rookie mistake and bought all the part I need to restore this lathe and then wiped the bed down and found its worn pretty bad!! What should or could I do? I really want to restore this lathe without spending a fortune.

gadget73 · May 12, 2016

Short of re-grinding the bed and saddle or finding a donor machine I don't know that theres much you can do about that. I'd be tempted to stick it together and run it as-is until you find something better to transfer your parts to. You can probably come up with a 9" changegear machine for a reasonable price and build yourself a nice 9A from it plus your parts.

MGP · May 12, 2016

That's what I'm thinking about doing Im just going to keep going on the restore cause its mostly all stripped except the bed and ready for paint I'll replace all the broken parts I already have and then put it together and go from there. Then if It makes good parts I'll just live with it until I decide to have it all reground or I find a good donor

mdshunk · May 12, 2016

For what it's worth, the wear looks pretty even in the pictures. You'll have to shim between the tailstock body and the tailstock base to bring it back up to center height, but I have little doubt you can make good parts with that lathe when you're done. To me, at least, restoring it is most of the fun anyhow. If you can make parts when you're done, that's a bonus.

kitno455 · May 12, 2016

Put it together and use it. Any lathe is better than no lathe. And besides, that's just cosine error, it won't impact diameter that much. For shorter items you will never notice it, unless the saddle is dragging on the flats between the ways.

allan

SteveM · May 12, 2016

kitno455 said:
we can date it

Wouldn't your lathe get jealous?

Steve

SteveM · May 12, 2016

kitno455 said:
And besides, that's just cosine error, it won't impact diameter that much.

Since the tool is touching the diameter of the work at the front, a thou drop in the carriage will have a VERY tiny (brain too fried to do the math right now) affect on the diameter of the part.

Steve

MGP · May 12, 2016

kitno455 said:
Put it together and use it. Any lathe is better than no lathe. And besides, that's just cosine error, it won't impact diameter that much. For shorter items you will never notice it, unless the saddle is dragging on the flats between the ways.

allan

I don't see any wear in that area but the half nuts are wasted you can engage them and still run the carriage with them just touching enough to hear them. Could the bed wear be the reason the half nuts are junk?

Restoring 9A ?'S

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