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Hardinge HSL refresh

For those new to using Luers patent Empire P and T type cutoff blades, here is a little help on how to sharpen them. The simple method of sharpening is one of their greatest advantages. The holders have the back rake and height adjustment means designed in.

By the way, the P1 and P2 blades are a little under 1/2" high, about .475 inch. I have run across a few Brand X copies marked P1 or P2 that are a full 1/2" high and will not fit the Hardinge Empire D-10 holders.

Larry

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And second coat!

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Doc.
 
For those new to using Luers patent Empire P and T type cutoff blades, here is a little help on how to sharpen them.

-Thanks for that, though I was given to understand that's how nearly all blade-type parting holders worked. That's basically the same way my Aloris-copy AXA parting tools and holders work, though the blades are simply tapered, and not T-shaped.

Doc.
 
-Thanks for that, though I was given to understand that's how nearly all blade-type parting holders worked. That's basically the same way my Aloris-copy AXA parting tools and holders work, though the blades are simply tapered, and not T-shaped.

Doc.

Many old parting tools use wedge-shaped blades that are beveled on the top and bottom edge to provide clamping surfaces. On those, you have to grind the top bevel flat behind the end in order to make a cutting edge. Never grind the top of a Luers blade.

I put a copy of a well-written treatise on Empire cutoff tools in the box with your D-10 holder and blades.

Larry
 
And installed!

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Including its shiny new spindle protector- well, it wasn't "new", it had like twelve coats of paint on it when I got it, but I stripped off and repainted it in a semi-gloss black.

I used a thin "tool drawer liner" from Homey-Dee to replace the thin cork between the tray and stand, and made replacement pads/gaskets for the feet from the same stuff. It's listed as being oil-resistant and non-absorbent, so it should be fine.

The tray paint got scratched a bit setting it down, but that's to be expected. I'll just touch it up when I paint the next parts.

And speaking of the next parts, there sure aren't many left! :D

Doc.
 
It doesn't look like it, but there was a surprising amount of work in just the motor mount.

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The motor base slides on some machined rails, and is spring-loaded. The lever brings the motor forward (toward the operator) to loosen the belt. The operator changes the belts to a different groove on the pulley, and releases the lever. The spring provides the tension on the belt.

Naturally, this one probably hadn't been oiled since the Carter administration, and had been painted- yes, including on the machined rails the thing was supposed to slide on.

But, despite a little wear, it now works great. I'll wait 'til I get the motor itself back on and a belt in place before I try setting the spring tension, but that's an easy trick with a wrench.

I have a couple of biggish projects that need to be done this weekend, but I hope to squeeze in a few moments here and there to clean up the motor and paint the belt cover.

Doc.
 
Got the collet closer rebuilt...

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Fabbed a new rod for the handle; the original pressed in one was worn out and badly floppy.

Down to just the motor!

Doc.
 
Put a little rubber bumper in the hole above the CC that in the belt guard.


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Is that what that hole's for? Makes sense, I'd been kind of thinking of getting some glue-on rubber furniture feet, and sticking one to the belt cover, if I can find one thin enough.

Doc.
 
There are pull through bumpers made just for this. I think I got the one I used for this location at my hardware store. I’ll post a pic when I get back into my shop shortly.


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Buy four! The same size goes in the stationary part of the belt guard, as is shown in this picture.


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Since I can't afford a late-model DSC compound, I spotted an older Model N compound on eBay, and managed to snag it for less than $300.

And then had to pay almost $130 to get it shipped up here. Welcome to Alaska, and all that. :D

AND... of course, the brain-dead gorillas at UPS managed to break it:

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Well, the seller refunded my shipping and supposedly filed a claim, but as he didn't declare a value, that probably won't go anywhere.

So, after getting some careful measurements first, I lopped off the broken end plus a little, found a suitable chunk of half-inch mild in the junkbins, and TIG'ged 'er on there good and hot.

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After letting it cool slow, I gingerly centerdrilled it, and turned it to shape.

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Being careful to sneak up on my dimensions, I got a perfect fit.

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Cut to length, threaded, and note the slight dome on the end:

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After a brief trip to the mill to spot-drill a small divot for the locking pin to seat in, I cleaned everything and reassembled. Works great!

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It's annoying I had to do that extra work, but at least it could be saved.

Now I just have to fix the cobbled bed-clamping arrangement...

Doc.
 
As the compound had been largely fixed, it was time to work out how to actually attach it to the lathe bed. The arrangement that came with the unit, was cobbled, kind of badly done, and in poor shape anyway.

I'm not familiar with the various generations of these things, and have no idea if this thing was supposed to be bolted to some sort of adapter plate, or the clamping parts bolted directly to it.

Well, either way, I had to work up something. Going off the cobbled originals, I came up with this- simply a pair of aluminum dovetail halves.

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However, I couldn't just tighten one of the dovetails into place in order to clamp it,as the shape of the bed casting made it almost impossible to reach the screws. So I copied something I'd seen on another assembly, and drilled, tapped and bored the rear dovetail for two tapered, 1/2" plugs.

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Two 3/8"-24 setscrews came in from the back, nice and easy to access, to push the plugs against the dovetail.

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Worked out great, but those cheap stainless countersunk bolts are... well, cheap crap. I can feel them "give" slightly as I tighten the setscrews, so those will be getting replaced with some quality black oxide, as soon as I can dig some up.

And that mounts the compound well enough to use.

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I may at some point re-make the dovetails in steel, but for the moment, especially given the fairly low power of this machine, I'm sure they'll be more than strong enough.

And now, a toolpost: I'd fitted an aluminum T-nut to the top of the compound...

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And drilled it and the supplied 'blank' nut for the toolpost, for a couple 1/4"-20 countersunk screws. (Again stainless- they were the only ones I had that were the right length.)

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I'd picked up a teeny little OXA quickchange toolpost for this machine, which just dropped into place, and only took a moment to get the tool on center.

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And there she is. Pretty much complete, minus only the motor.

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The motor bearings should be here in the morning, and it'll only take a few moments to reassemble it. And at that point, I should be able to slap a VFD on it and take 'er for a spin!

I'll still need to properly mount and wire the VFD, of course, and there's some minor work to be done with some of the other tooling, but basically it should be ready to go to work this weekend!

Doc.
 
Here’s a few more ideas for you.
I have a simple rack which holds the frequently used wrenches and tool setting gauge mounted on a rod that’s in the lifting eye hole and a Cordura way cover to keep chips off the sensitive parts of the compound.
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Doc, you have a 1946 model slide rest, specifically the version that Hardinge sold to fit the "split bed" lathes with a T-slot down the middle of the bed. Hardinge also made a version that fits your dovetail bed. They are identical except for the parts that actually contact the lathe bed.

Here is a picture of the bottom of one for a dovetail bed from 1955-1960 that has the white dials. Note the front bed bracket has adjustable shoes that bear on the front of the bed to allow the bottom slide to be squared to the bed. The second picture shows an early version with no squaring adjustment. The toggle clamp that bears on the rear of the bed releases far enough that the slide rest can be installed and removed straight upwards rather than sliding it on and off the end of the bed. That feature is not so important on the HSL, but the HSL was not built until 1964.

Larry

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I have a simple rack which holds the frequently used wrenches and tool setting gauge mounted on a rod that’s in the lifting eye hole and a Cordura way cover to keep chips off the sensitive parts of the compound.

-Both are good ideas, but I like that tool rack trick. Once I have a solid idea of what tools it'll need on a regular basis, I'll have to work one up, myself.

They are identical except for the parts that actually contact the lathe bed.

-This particular one came with parts that were cobbled, badly modified or made from scratch. I could have made 'em work, but they were terrible.

Note the front bed bracket has adjustable shoes that bear on the front of the bed to allow the bottom slide to be squared to the bed.

-I'd seen that from other sources, and had been thinking about trying to add that here. I may still- these aluminum ones are kind of temporary- but I also tried to make the parts as parallel to the factory screw holes and I could. I haven't yet checked alignment, but it's got to be pretty darn close.

Might be easier just to slip a shim under one side if it's off by a bit.

Here is how I mounted the VFD on my HSL.

-Pics aren't working?

I'll be using a KB VFD, the enclosed, dust-proof ones usually seen on knife grinders and the like. I have a spare (actually a backup) 1HP/110V one on hand, so I figure I'll mount that on an upright/stand of some kind off the back of the motor mount, but I haven't sat down to design anything yet.

Doc.
 
Posting a copy to try to fix the image problem.

Here is how I mounted the VFD on my HSL. I replaced the rear cover on the Hardinge electrical box with a taller one and made a chip-proof enclosure for the VFD. Seems like almost all my VFD's have open slotted plastic housings, so are not suited to be in range of flying hot chips. Since the VFD has reversing capability, I added a forward-reverse toggle switch just in case I ever need it. Stock HSL wiring is forward only. I also changed the OEM switch to an illuminated pull start/push stop type. I used a new 1 HP 240 V 3PH brake motor and the 1 HP VFD has a 120 V single phase input. The OEM motors are 1/2 HP. With the VFD, I can dial down to half speed (30 Hz) and still have 1/2 HP. I mounted the Moffatt lamp to the lifting eye hole.


As I mentioned before, I have run the motor some, but only machined one part on it because of the carpet on the floor. I used my radius attachment to make a ball-shaped knob for a vise, Not sure about whether the motor brake is worthwhile beyond a mild locking of the spindle with the belt in the low speed grooves.

Larry

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