What's new
What's new

South Bend 13 restoration - Serial number 80335

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

2017-05-25 16.59.29 HDR.jpg2017-05-25 18.06.26.jpg2017-05-27 13.53.39.jpg2017-05-27 13.53.51.jpg2017-05-27 13.54.07.jpg
 
I've spent a couple of weeks on the lathe. Took it all apart and then started stripping parts down to bare metal. The black filler under the paint is REALLY tough! The best method I found for removing it is a needle scaler. Paint stripper takes a number of coats and doesn't well remove the filler.

Pictures follow:

IMG_0571.jpg
IMG_0558.jpgIMG_0552.jpgIMG_0534.jpgIMG_0500.jpg
 
Here are some pictures of the base and legs
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0495.jpg
    IMG_0495.jpg
    92.5 KB · Views: 197
  • IMG_0457.jpg
    IMG_0457.jpg
    91.4 KB · Views: 208
  • IMG_0452.jpg
    IMG_0452.jpg
    87.4 KB · Views: 232
  • IMG_0421.jpg
    IMG_0421.jpg
    93.5 KB · Views: 184
  • IMG_0403.jpg
    IMG_0403.jpg
    93.6 KB · Views: 181
Lower Drive Unit

I've finished with the lower drive unit. This is an old lathe. There are not roller bearings on the lower drive, there are what looks like babbit bearings. They have a keyway slot in them and a brass ring (one of which I broke by driving the shaft through it and replaced with a stainless ring) with wick that gets them wet with oil. The oil escapes the bearing and pours back into the resevroir via channels in the casting. Amazing....

I went with bright paint for this one. It's in the cabinet so you can't see it and I liked the colors.

2017-07-17 12.42.45.jpg2017-07-11 21.28.37.jpg2017-07-15 18.38.51.jpg2017-07-15 14.13.42.jpg2017-07-15 18.38.41.jpg
 
Cracked handles

Several handles broken and a cracked pulley. I bought a special nickel welding rod for cast iron but decided to try my MIG first. It worked fine. Lots of pre-heat and I ground a deep relief into the original crack. Welded no problem, if a bit ugly. Ground it down flat, can't tell and seems strong.

2017_08_03_Lathe_1.jpg2017_08_05_Lathe_1.jpg2017_08_05_Lathe_2.jpg2017_09_10_Lathe_6.jpg
 
Seems like I'm taking forever! Always some other project (or my job) getting in the way of my favored hobbies.

Right there with you. I'm coming up on three years for my resto because of a job move and raising teenagers. Just gotta stay organized and focused and you'll be making chips soon enough. Just enjoy the process along the way, too.
 
Sent my "Hey boy" to college. Mounted a plastic cement mixing tub under the frame to catch chips. 1x3 channel to support the tub rim.
 








 
Back
Top