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South Bend Lathe CL0117C restore or not to restore

Pysiek

Aluminum
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Location
Illinois
Hi folks
We just bought our South Bend Lathe on local auction. We pay for it the same amount as if you go and buy "mini" lathe from harbor freight. So I'm pretty happy with it. Come with VFD already. We have it in our shop already and can't decide if we should restore it or not. How hard is it? How bad can I screw it up? We would really love to do it but not sure if we will be able to put it back together later. Here is couple pictures of it
lathe.jpglathe2.jpg20170314_185811.jpg20170314_185831.jpg
 
Welcome Py, if no one has said that before. Anyway, purchase the rebuild manual and felt kit from Ilion on fleabay, at least then you have something to go by. At very least I would remove the bearing caps to inspect the condition of the spindle and bearings. If you have a reasonable amount of mechanical ability, disassembly is not hard, hence the suggestion that you purchase the manual which gives you tolerances and a visual reference. If you disassemble only one part at a time, e.g. the cross slide or the compound, and keep the parts organized it might go easier.You will need oils also. Hope this helps. Jim
 
Welcome Py, if no one has said that before. Anyway, purchase the rebuild manual and felt kit from Ilion on fleabay, at least then you have something to go by. At very least I would remove the bearing caps to inspect the condition of the spindle and bearings. If you have a reasonable amount of mechanical ability, disassembly is not hard, hence the suggestion that you purchase the manual which gives you tolerances and a visual reference. If you disassemble only one part at a time, e.g. the cross slide or the compound, and keep the parts organized it might go easier.You will need oils also. Hope this helps. Jim
Jim I have a sandblaster. Can I use it to remove paint? Of course I won't shoot where the pieces are machined. Also I did looked at the restoration kit from eBay. Looks like a good manual. My question is can I disassembly and put together the lathe with any home tools? Or I will need some expensive tools to do it?
 
That lathe does not need restoration. Clean it, oil it, fix anything actually broken, and get to making chips. Too many lathe restorations turn into time-sucking, incomplete, back-burnered, space eating eyesores. The machine cares not what its paint looks like, but does care if you make a mess out of the stuff that matters, like precision fits and straight shafts. Paint is for cars, chips are for tools.

allan
 
That lathe does not need restoration. Clean it, oil it, fix anything actually broken, and get to making chips. Too many lathe restorations turn into time-sucking, incomplete, back-burnered, space eating eyesores. The machine cares not what its paint looks like, but does care if you make a mess out of the stuff that matters, like precision fits and straight shafts. Paint is for cars, chips are for tools.

allan

I actually don't care about paint. Just want to restore the mechanics so to make sure nothing will fail soon. We checked it right after we get it in the shop and so far everything looks great.
 
Allan really said it best,I would not sandblast anything personally,wipe the bad boy down and make sure everything is well oiled... A good set of wrenches and screwdrivers really are the basics, no special tools necessary. Jim
 
Determine what if anything needs repair to put it into good operating condition ,fix those items . Clean up a bit oil where needed and put to work.
 
Determine what if anything needs repair to put it into good operating condition ,fix those items . Clean up a bit oil where needed and put to work.
Believe me I can't wait to put it to work ;) . But would like to convert the spindle to collet first
 
Believe me I can't wait to put it to work ;) . But would like to convert the spindle to collet first

No conversion required. Simply purchase:

Collets
Suitable 5C drawbar
Collet adapter that goes in the spindle taper
Thread protector which is also used to remove the collet adapter.

Check the spindle bearing clearances to see they're within spec. Do NOT under
ANY circumstances attempt to remove the spindle bearing caps unless you know
EXACTLY what you doing . Read up on this if you feel the clearances need to be
adjusted.
 
No conversion required. Simply purchase:

Collets
Suitable 5C drawbar
Collet adapter that goes in the spindle taper
Thread protector which is also used to remove the collet adapter.

Check the spindle bearing clearances to see they're within spec. Do NOT under
ANY circumstances attempt to remove the spindle bearing caps unless you know
EXACTLY what you doing . Read up on this if you feel the clearances need to be
adjusted.
Do I check it like that South Bend 9- Spindle Bearing Clearance Test - YouTube
 
Old SBs run and run and run some more. One of the most reliable machines ever. I had 1920's model that did a good job even being very tired. Clean it, oil it up and try it out.
 
My 13" looked only slightly cleaner than yours. Wipe off the big chunks with some kerosene (or diesel if you don't mind the smell), check the condition of the spindle oilers and make some chips. Do NOT sandblast anything (unless it's a completely disassembled casting or such). You do not what blast grit anywhere around the mechanical parts. Purple power will take the paint off, making everything look worse. Like the guys have been saying, paint won't make it cut any better.

After you have found out it can make money for you, and you have the time and inclination, the go ahead and paint it where it needs it.

John
 
Just want to restore the mechanics so to make sure nothing will fail soon.

Then I would check that the headstock bearings are getting oil, maybe even pull the spindle properly and check the capillary oilers. Note that there is a specific procedure for this, that involves removing the bearing expanders first, and does not include the use of a prybar or BFH.

After that, the most likely place for something to have unknowingly gone wrong is in the apron, a broken felt or stuck oiling ring.

The Ilion book and felt kit covers these (and more), and is cheap enough to have on hand just in case.

The rest of the machine just needs a liberal dose of oil.

allan
 
If you really want to restore it, for most people that involves cleaning, new oil wicks, and a paint job. None of that is outside of what a guy with some basic tools and a brain can handle. I bought the book and rebuilt mine before ever making a chip on it, and I've never owned a lathe before in my life. The mechanics of these things are stupid simple, which is what makes them reliable and easy to work on.

Piece of advice, beware the taper pin. Make sure you hit it on the small end.
 
After a good cleaning, and maybe some service & repairs, it should be good to go. Use it for a while before you decide if you want to restore it.
 
Is it possible to just paint it without removing anything? Just curious.
Also one thing I noticed last night is it normal that the spindle moves in and out a little (maybe about 1/32") if there is no belt pressure applied to it?
 
You probably need to adjust the take up nut at the end of the spindle. That will load the thrust bearing and remove the movement you describe.

You can paint it without removing anything, I have even seen them painted without removing dirt and oil.. But the nicer you want it the more thorough you will have to be with disassembly and cleaning. Honestly, your lathe looks pretty good. I think you should just give it a quick clean up, lube and adjust as needed, and see how it runs. I have never painted mine, the paint that is left is original. Makes chips just fine without the paint job.

Where in Illinois are you?

Marc
 
You probably need to adjust the take up nut at the end of the spindle. That will load the thrust bearing and remove the movement you describe.

You can paint it without removing anything, I have even seen them painted without removing dirt and oil.. But the nicer you want it the more thorough you will have to be with disassembly and cleaning. Honestly, your lathe looks pretty good. I think you should just give it a quick clean up, lube and adjust as needed, and see how it runs. I have never painted mine, the paint that is left is original. Makes chips just fine without the paint job.

Where in Illinois are you?

Marc

The paint job is not important to me as much. I'm just curious for the future. Would I would like to do is to clean all the gears, screws so there is no dirt there from the previous shop.
Also I'm located in Monee.
 
The movement of the spindle in/out honestly isn't that critical. The running loads push it towards the gear end of the machine, and there is a thrust bearing back there to carry the load. On the back side under the take-up nut is a washer. It has to have some amount of movement in there or the washer will get chewed up. Yours may be a little excessive but don't make it extremely tight either.


Dissassembly is the best way to paint it if you want it to really look nice. If you replace the wicks, it needs a good amount of teardown. Thats the time to do the paint job if you're going to do it.
 








 
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