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New to South Bend

Bryan48

Plastic
Joined
Jan 6, 2022
How's it going everyone,
I just recently picked up this South Bend Project the other day,
New to lathes but love vintage tools and machinery so thought I would take a crack at rebuilding or just getting it back in service.
I work on old motorcycles so getting a lathe has always been part of my check list and figured this would get me through the door.

from all the photos i have looked through i havent come across a machine with such a long rear swing and have been trying to figure out a plan for building a work table for it. Any information, suggestions, advice or photo reference would be greatly appreciated!

also plan to continually update this thread as I work on getting the machine back together, hope its somewhat enjoyable for you South Bend enthusiasts.

Thanks for reading.
 

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(few extra photos)
 

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I understand the year your lathe was made is cast into the bed frame under the serial # on the inside between ways . I'm new to lathes my self .
 
Based on serial number I'm thinking 1939, looking at Steve Wells data base:
http://www.wswells.com/sn/sn_db.html

Lack of a quick change gear box, qcgb, is a draw back. But you can still do some handy stuff. Another fella here did one like it in the past year or so. I'm not sure where the thread is, maybe someone who knows can link it.
 
Yea from what i was told from the guy i got it from, he said it was on legs originally, but he didnt have them. i ordered some feet to table mount it for starters.
and yea no qcgb. i guess i dont fully understand the significance of one as far as operational, thought it was meant for convenience.

ill do some stumbling around to see if i can find the thread, thanks texas
 
I appreciate the response!
my issue is the rear drive i have is about 3 times as long as the table top mounted one (5th photo). so im hoping to get some reference photos or potentially some help finding a thread of a similar set up.
 
The rear drive you have is meant to mount to the floor behind the legs you don’t have. There are two pictures of that set up about half way down this page.
South Bend 9-inch Lathe
The more common bench mounted counter shafts come up fairly often on eBay if you prefer that style.
You could build the poured concrete style bench with room for the floor mounted counter shaft behind it if you have a permanent location for the lathe. The concrete is supposed to greatly aid rigidity and the floor mounted countershaft could further isolate motor vibration.
Lots of options for cast iron legs as reproductions have become more common for furniture, though not inexpensive.
Hope this helps.
Ben
 
The rear drive you have is meant to mount to the floor behind the legs you don’t have. There are two pictures of that set up about half way down this page.
South Bend 9-inch Lathe
The more common bench mounted counter shafts come up fairly often on eBay if you prefer that style.
You could build the poured concrete style bench with room for the floor mounted counter shaft behind it if you have a permanent location for the lathe. The concrete is supposed to greatly aid rigidity and the floor mounted countershaft could further isolate motor vibration.
Lots of options for cast iron legs as reproductions have become more common for furniture, though not inexpensive.
Hope this helps.
Ben

a clumsy design indeed. thanks this does help some. i was thinking of potentially making a dropout in a table top to compensate for the longer rear drive, but still brainstorming that idea some.
 








 
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