1944 21" leblond lathe help

wmcm · Oct 9, 2018

So i called leblond today and found out my leblond 21 regal was built in 1944 with serial F99. Im wondering if anyone has the headstock sleeve that goes to mt4 maybe some dimensions. Then i also have to take apart the gear change box because the feed speed lever just pulls out anyone on here with any tips or experience with that?

wmcm · Oct 9, 2018

Also forgot anyone make one of the thread chase gears? The one i have is wore so bad the teeth are like knives lol.

gbent · Oct 9, 2018

wmcm said:
Also forgot anyone make one of the thread chase gears? The one i have is wore so bad the teeth are like knives lol.

Do you mean the gears on the left end, or the gear on the threading dial?

wmcm · Oct 10, 2018

The gear on the bottom of the dial itself is the one wore out. My change gears are fine but the handle just falls out i have to change feed speeds by reaching my fingers in there and im not happy about possibly cutting my fingers off haha.

Richard King · Oct 10, 2018

Give Rush Gear a call on the gear. Joking about cutting off your finger is no joke. Pull the machine apart after you lock out the power and fix it. There are no simple tricks .

Joe Michaels · Oct 10, 2018

If you do not already have one, get a copy of "Running a Regal". This is a reprint of LeBlond's manual for the "roundhead" Regal lathes in sizes up to 21". These reprints are available on eBay for about 20-15 bucks. In the manual, there are exploded views of the parts of the lathes. While these manuals do not have a step-by-step teardown/reassembly/adjustment instruction, the exploded view of the parts is helpful and can clue you as to how and where things like dowel pins, taper pins, setscrews and similar lurk.

As for change gears, I'd suggest you look at Boston Gear and Martin Gear to see if they have any off-the-shelf gears that would work for your lathe. These companies should have "open stock" lathe change gears. They will need to be bored and keyways cut, but may be a more cost effective alternative to having gears custom made.

The gear on the thread chasing dial is a "worm gear", if I am not mistaken. It will have the teeth cut on an angle to match the helix angle of the lead screw, and teeth cut to match the Acme thread profile of the lead screw. Boston Gear may have a worm gear to match up.

wmcm · Oct 10, 2018

I do have one of the "running a regal" manuals. I'll have to give them all a call on the thread dial gear. I don't know if I can even get a good measurement off the gear might have to do the lead screw. The gear is really wore out but the lead screw looks good so I'm wondering if its off another machine or they just never disengaged it for a long long time. Hopefully I can put this big guy back to work. I tried doing some work on it last week when I found these problems.

iwananew10K · Oct 10, 2018

I bet the dial gear is fine...its a worm wheel...they don't look like regular spur gears and might look worn to someone not familiar....teeth will appear shallow and kind of hourglass shaped.

wmcm · Oct 10, 2018

I'll see if I can get a picture when I get home late tonight. I was just comparing to what smaller ones look like but you are right I am not familiar with them.

john.k · Oct 10, 2018

If the screw dial actually turns,dont worry about it.....it going to take another 80 years to wear out completely.Make sure it turns freely,not jammed up with swarf or rust.

wmcm · Oct 11, 2018

here is a picture of the gear pretty wore out

wmcm · Oct 11, 2018

Another picture

wmcm · Oct 11, 2018

Here is the other problem i have. to get to the pin you have to take all kinds of stuff off it'll be fun.

thermite · Oct 12, 2018

wmcm said:
View attachment 239885
here is a picture of the gear pretty wore out

Uh, no, it may not be as badly worn as first appears at all.

That item never resembled a "normal" gear even brand-new.

It isn't really a "gear" as much as an indicator indexing mechanism. No "power transmission" to speak of.

Vet that if you can, other sources. But I think all it needs is a good cleaning.

wmcm · Oct 12, 2018

Only picture i can find is from keith ruckers video restoring a leblond and that gear looks way different even has more teeth. Curious if anyone here has one about the same size that can say for sure its good or bad. When i engaged it was finicky had to have it pressed real tight on the lead screw to get it turning.

thermite · Oct 12, 2018

wmcm said:
Only picture i can find is from keith ruckers video restoring a leblond and that gear looks way different even has more teeth. Curious if anyone here has one about the same size that can say for sure its good or bad. When i engaged it was finicky had to have it pressed real tight on the lead screw to get it turning.

It DOES look as if intervening teeth had been intentionally removed.

Now.. when yah see that, it could mean it had originally been made for a finer pitch leadscrew, and could not penetrate the one it has been up against without that clearance relief. And OR. it COULD do, but one or more teeth became damaged, and the relief was to make it more predictable of action rather than jam some times, not all times, position-sensitive but position not clearly visible from where the operator stands.

This is why I had cautioned against drawing conclusions as to how-now, and wither-next until sight of another one could be had to confirm. Or to deny and show the way.

That the one in the video differs shows more research is now in order so as to find the specs for sourcing or duplicating.

Quaamaboy · Oct 15, 2018

The worm gear on the bottom of my 13" Regal chasing dial was turned from bronze using measurements from a genuine LeBlond part from another Regal of the same age and model. The worm gear has an OD of 1.386", is 0.320" thick with 24 teeth and is a straight-cut spur gear. It is tightly keyed to the main shaft of the dial so there's no "play" when screwcutting. The worm gear meshes with the 1" OD leadscrew which is 6 tpi left hand (probably an Acme thread profile)so clearly there's a relationship between the two. Your 21 inch should use the same principle. Hope this helps. Regards

john.k · Oct 15, 2018

You could make a gear with an angle grinder, and easily with a t&c grinder......all it needs are the required number of spaced gaps so it turns.No precision required.

k3vyl · Oct 15, 2018

Lead screw

wmcm said:
So i called leblond today and found out my leblond 21 regal was built in 1944 with serial F99. Im wondering if anyone has the headstock sleeve that goes to mt4 maybe some dimensions. Then i also have to take apart the gear change box because the feed speed lever just pulls out anyone on here with any tips or experience with that?

Just took a look in my original running the regal. It shows that screw to be a 1 7/16-2. You probably have the right dial.

k3vyl · Oct 15, 2018

I have two old spindle reducing sleeves that I fished out this afternoon both are 4MT on the inside.They are different on the outside.Post some dimensions for the inside of the nose.Maybe one of them will fit.
The parts list in the book shows the reducer,but only the 4MT ID for that machine.

1944 21" leblond lathe help

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