South Bend 9C to 10K conversion

Hi
I have been searching around and read a lot of good information here about South Bends.
The picture below is my South Bend 9” model C with a 48" bed. I am the 2nd owner of this lathe, which is in great shape because it was and still is only a hobby lathe. I never liked changing gears for the power feed and never used them.
I just bought a 42" Light Ten with quick change but it has .018 wear groove in the bed. It was well-used lathe and I can’t use this lathe as is. The good news for me is that the parts from these two lathes are interchangeable. I am using my 48” bed and cross feed from my 9C and the 10K headstock, QC gearbox, cross feed apron and tailstock. I had to use the cross feed screw from the 10K because of the gear on the shaft. It fit fine in my 9C saddle, which is identical to the 10k and I get to upgrade to the direct reading larger dials from the 10K. I removed the play in the cross feed dial and used my compound rest screw with the larger dial. I needed to use the 10K compound swivel because it is 1/2 higher than my 9C counterpart. I did use my 9C cross feed and compound screw nuts that are in better shape.
The only real modifications to this lathe are that I need to do is;
Adding the extra hole in the bed for the quick-change housing.
2 holes for the feed screw support because of the 42” screw on a 48” bed.
Fit the 10K bed feet to my 48” bed (different bolt pattern) for the extra clearance height needed for the quick-change levers.
This is as far as I have gotten with my conversion before having to go on a business trip.
Frank

What are you going to do with the old parts? Just wondering...Bob

I plan on puting the 9C back together with the leftover parts. I have not gone into the 10K headstock yet and my 9C headstock is great shape so I'm not sure. I want to make sure my 10K coversion is as accurate as my 9C was and I will not know that until I get it running.
Frank

Hi There,

Norsksea said:

I am using my 48” bed and cross feed from my 9C and the 10K headstock, QC gearbox, cross feed apron and tailstock. I had to use the cross feed screw from the 10K because of the gear on the shaft. It fit fine in my 9C saddle, which is identical to the 10k and I get to upgrade to the direct reading larger dials from the 10K. I removed the play in the cross feed dial and used my compound rest screw with the larger dial. I needed to use the 10K compound swivel because it is 1/2 higher than my 9C counterpart. I did use my 9C cross feed and compound screw nuts that are in better shape.
The only real modifications to this lathe are that I need to do is;
Adding the extra hole in the bed for the quick-change housing.
2 holes for the feed screw support because of the 42” screw on a 48” bed.
Fit the 10K bed feet to my 48” bed (different bolt pattern) for the extra clearance height needed for the quick-change levers.
This is as far as I have gotten with my conversion before having to go on a business trip.
Frank

Click to expand...

Instead of drilling two more holes in the bed for the lead screw support bearing,
you could add a 6 inch section to the 42" lead screw.

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

Hi Webb
That is a good idea I didn’t think of that. Unfortunately now I have no lathe but I do have a Bridgeport to drill and countersink 2 holes.
I don't think I will need those extra inches, the tailstock and center would take that distance anyway.
Frank

Webb Wyman said:

Hi There,



Instead of drilling two more holes in the bed for the lead screw support bearing,
you could add a 6 inch section to the 42" lead screw.

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

Click to expand...

I took your advice because I did not want to block the South bend name plate.
Thanks Frank

I finished my conversion and in the last picture of the name plate you can see I had to mill off 3/8" of the the bottom bead of the bed for clearance for the 10K apron clutch housing.
I added the direct reading dials off the 10K and added saddle oil cups and new name plates from Jim Kull.
The last picture is a belt splicing link that came on a belt with holes along the belt. the holes riped out so I just drilled two hole in a new belt and it works great.
Frank

Here is the picture of the finished 10K.
I also had to use the taller feet from the 10K for room to operate the gear change levers.
Frank

Have you tested it yet? Good work! Gary P. Hansen

Yes it is very accurate but I also like my compound setup at 90 degree’s to the cross feed. I am very happy with the larger dials, quick change for feed speeds for cutting and facing. I made the extension for the feed screw with it while using a C clamp holding the feed screw support to the bed.
Frank