Clausing 5914 - Should I buy it?

[swarfie]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I have an opportunity to buy a Clausing 5914 lathe for $1000. The lathe itself is in excellent condition, very little wear. It comes with taper attachment, Aloris qctp with several tool holders, steady rest, 3 jaw 8" chuck and 5c collet closer. The issue is the variable speed. While the machine is running, the speed does not change when the vs is adjusted, and the vs simply rebounds to the highest speed setting when released (without the speed changing). It seems to be stuck somewhere in the middle speed range. So I'm wondering if it would be worth buying the machine if I were to make it a direct drive with vfd for variable speed, or if the low end torque would be too compromised. The machine runs very quiet, and is really pristine except for this problem. Any opinions? I'm near Boston, MA.

 

[michiganbuck]

That is a great lathe, it seems the speed control should not be hard to fix.
Here is an old thread on the speed control..seems a pretty simple design with hyd pressure pulling the pulley hub tight. (or pushing apart?)

Speed control problem on Clausing 5914

The speed control hub on my 5914 lathe won't hold a setting below around 1,000 rpm but holds fine at any higher speed. I'm pretty sure that it worked properly when it was purchased, but the hub and master cylinder were pulled when the lathe was moved and I suspect that the master cylinder just...

www.practicalmachinist.com

And a number of YouTubes on the subjest

 

[Bill D]

At worst you can sell the chuck, qctp and taper attachment for the asking price.
Bill D

 

[Joe Gwinn]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I have an opportunity to buy a Clausing 5914 lathe for $1000. The lathe itself is in excellent condition, very little wear. It comes with taper attachment, Aloris qctp with several tool holders, steady rest, 3 jaw 8" chuck and 5c collet closer. The issue is the variable speed. While the machine is running, the speed does not change when the vs is adjusted, and the vs simply rebounds to the highest speed setting when released (without the speed changing). It seems to be stuck somewhere in the middle speed range. So I'm wondering if it would be worth buying the machine if I were to make it a direct drive with vfd for variable speed, or if the low end torque would be too compromised. The machine runs very quiet, and is really pristine except for this problem. Any opinions? I'm near Boston, MA.

I have owned a 5914 since 2007 or so. It too had that symptom, which was due to air getting into the speed-control hydraulic system. It's simple to replace all the rubber seals. Also,replace the hydraulic fluid, going one ISO grade thicker than what one would guess from the original oil used there, because the grading system changed after that lathe was made.

I use a VFD to make the three phase, and ordinarily use the VS to vary the speed. But it's handy to turn the VFD down to get very slow rotation when needed.

At that price, I would grab that lathe. Even if you have to replace part of the VS system, you'll be money ahead.

Clausing still supports that lathe, and the manual is available from them. You'll need the serial number, because the details changed from time to time, and this is tracked by serial number range.

 

[specfab]

Second Joe's remarks -- grab it while you can. Sounds like it's got good basic tooling set, so essentially you're buying the tooling and getting the lathe for free. Several ways to work the varispeed issue. There is a good discussion group also on groups.io, covering Clausing lathes and mills.

 

[Bill D]

I would buy it and see about new fluid and bleeding the drive system. If no luck post again here to ask more detailed information.
Search for info on moving a lathe. they are top heavy and want to roll onto the face and break lots of stuff. so bolt on some front to back foot beams. Easy enough for that size to use a uhaul trailer and. an engine crane to move. Buy some HF load straps.
Modern pu trucks you can rent may be too tall to get it in with a engine crane. May need to rent the trailer and the truck to haul it.
Weight is about 1250 pounds so use a two ton engine crane so the boom can extend out. They can be rented as well as bought used.
Bill D

 

[plastikdreams]

Have one at work, it's a worn out shitbox that eats belts, is a pain to service the belts, and the speed control eats hydraulic fluid. Thing shakes like a drunkard and is noisy as hell.

 

[lazz]

I bought a broken worn 5914 14 years ago. I called it my money pit for almost 10 years....
It took too long to get it right.... but now it is as good as can be....
Everything you can possibly need is out there... Parts are seldom cheap... Clausing even still has some parts.
Any possible problem and cure is available on youtube and the Clausing user group.

I paid $900 for junk in 2009. $1000 today is a bargain.

 

[UptownSport]

I used the farm 5914 for years.
It's an excellent lathe.
It had an AXA, but really should've had a BXA.
My machinist brother repaired the drive, it wasn't much, but don't recall specifics.
3 Phase, tho

 

[michiganbuck]

I wonder if one could install an acme screw to open or close the changing width pulley?
But a good chance clausing could provide parts if the repair was difficult.

 

[plumberpieco]

Should be loaded up by now

 

[mjr6550]

I recently bought a 6913 (14x48). I paid $2000, which seemed a little high. I did not get a steady rest or taper attachment. I did get 5 chucks (3 jaw, 4 jaw, 6 jaw-3 and 4 jaw in two sizes), and a collet chuck and closer (no collets). What sealed the deal for me was an Aloris QCTP and 6 or 8 tool holders.

The lathe included a VFD. The owner had gone through the hydraulic system, other than replacing the lower cylinder or seal. It does have a leak, as I believe most do. It has new belts and the speed change works, but it does not look like it has the epoxy coating on the shaft for the lower pulley. I stuffed it into my garage and have done nothing with it yet. I am making space for it and hope to tear into soon.

The larger Clausing lathes generally don't seem to sell for much if not pristine. Many have hydraulic issues that are not typically a big deal. Many also have Reeves drive pulley issues. If badly worn repairs can be difficult or expensive. Most of that knowledge comes from doing a lot of reading, not from personal experience.

It seems that when they work properly people seem to like them. Not high end, but good for hobbyists or limited use.

I'm trading up from a South Bend 9 inch, and am looking forward to making some real chips.

At $1000 for what you described if it meets your needs it seems like a no brainer (assuming you have a place to put it!).

 

[swarfie]

Thanks everyone for your responses! I bought it. I hope that the drive issue will be fixed by simply bleeding the hydraulics, but we will see. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Joe Gwinn]

Thanks everyone for your responses! I bought it. I hope that the drive issue will be fixed by simply bleeding the hydraulics, but we will see. I'll keep you posted.

Great! By the way, where are you? Ahh, Boston area. Same as me. Please update your user profile such that this shows under your color bubble to the left.

 

[swarfie]

Great! By the way, where are you? Ahh, Boston area. Same as me. Please update your user profile such that this shows under your color bubble to the left.

Sorry, but I can't seem to find how to add it. Any advice? Thanks!

 

[michiganbuck]

Sorry, but I can't seem to find how to add it. Any advice? Thanks!
Click in your name in the gray up at the top right gray line
Click Account Details
Then put in your location Southeast Afghanistan..or what.
OH I see you did that already "Boston"

 

[ken moss]

things I have found out about these drives if you have the old round master and slave cly. Clusing sells no parts But the seals are not hard to find. the bushing in the sliding pulley half need to be in shape as dose the green coating on the fixed pulley if the motor bore on the pulley is not in good shape or the motor shaft is not in shape you will have trouble is in the speed will not stay consent good luck Ken

 

[Mike Henry]

There's a guy on the Google Clausing group that sells seal kits for the vari-speed system at pretty good prices.

 

[aribert]

When I bought my former 5914 the used machinery dealer said it would need a total rebuild. Among other problems was one of the fixed pulley hub was totally chewed up and the keyway was worn out. I put a piece of keystock in the worn out keyslot and built up the hub with brazing, tuned it to size and and milled a new slot 180 deg out from the original. I did not know about the epoxy coating that was supposed to be on the pulley shaft and did not at the time know that Clausing still sold parts for it. I machined my own bushings and ran them on the hub without any coating - worked well.

BTW, Clausing not only supports the machine with service parts, they will provide, if requested, a picture of the dwg for any parts no longer supported! The carriage hand wheel shaft/bore was badly worn on the apron of my machine. Clausing sent me part of the apron dwg and I was able to set the apron on a mill to locate and bore oversize and bush the worn bore. Try getting that level of information/service from many other machine tool manufacturers.

 

[Joe Gwinn]

BTW, Clausing not only supports the machine with service parts, they will provide, if requested, a picture of the dwg for any parts no longer supported! The carriage hand wheel shaft/bore was badly worn on the apron of my machine. Clausing sent me part of the apron dwg and I was able to set the apron on a mill to locate and bore oversize and bush the worn bore. Try getting that level of information/service from many other machine tool manufacturers.

This in a nutshell is why I chose Clausing.