eriksalo
Plastic
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2009
- Location
- Boulder, Colorado
I bought a South Bend lathe at auction. I have wanted a lathe for a long time and the South Bend lathes are terrific.
The lathe is probably a 1938 model, 13 inch swing and 5 foot long bed. It was cheap but had some real damage. I suspect someone dropped it on the floor since most of the cast iron handles are broken. There's also a medium amount of wear on the V-Ways, you can see a ridge on the front V-way near the spindle. For my skill level this is probably just fine. Otherwise, it is straight and complete. The gears and drive train are in great shape.
I initially thought I would clean it up a bit and put it into service since I have a big CNC milling machine project I'm in the middle of.
After looking it over, I decided it would end up being a good lathe and I was worried about the condition of the lubrication systems. Didn't want to run it if the lubrication wasn't working correctly. This lathe uses wool felt wicks to oil and if they get clogged, they don't work. Since it's 80 years old, I thought they might need refreshing.
I decided to take it completely apart and bring it down to bare metal. Repaint and re-build the whole thing. Plus, that sounded like more fun.
I've watched 20 hours of you tube videos and there is terrific knowledge and documentation about these lathes. I know just how to proceed. I bought a new felt oiler kit (all the bearings were wet with lube when I took it apart but lots of dirt and debris). I ordered some special welding rod to try and repair the broken handles.
Now that it's apart, I'm in to purple power, Mr Muscle, Citristrip and lots of buffing.
What color should I paint it? Hard to tell from the forums what all the different choices look like.
Erik
The lathe is probably a 1938 model, 13 inch swing and 5 foot long bed. It was cheap but had some real damage. I suspect someone dropped it on the floor since most of the cast iron handles are broken. There's also a medium amount of wear on the V-Ways, you can see a ridge on the front V-way near the spindle. For my skill level this is probably just fine. Otherwise, it is straight and complete. The gears and drive train are in great shape.
I initially thought I would clean it up a bit and put it into service since I have a big CNC milling machine project I'm in the middle of.
After looking it over, I decided it would end up being a good lathe and I was worried about the condition of the lubrication systems. Didn't want to run it if the lubrication wasn't working correctly. This lathe uses wool felt wicks to oil and if they get clogged, they don't work. Since it's 80 years old, I thought they might need refreshing.
I decided to take it completely apart and bring it down to bare metal. Repaint and re-build the whole thing. Plus, that sounded like more fun.
I've watched 20 hours of you tube videos and there is terrific knowledge and documentation about these lathes. I know just how to proceed. I bought a new felt oiler kit (all the bearings were wet with lube when I took it apart but lots of dirt and debris). I ordered some special welding rod to try and repair the broken handles.
Now that it's apart, I'm in to purple power, Mr Muscle, Citristrip and lots of buffing.
What color should I paint it? Hard to tell from the forums what all the different choices look like.
Erik