Bought a hendey

Serial number 20606

I've been looking for a lathe I could afford for a bit now. Kinda wanted an older atlas or craftsman cause it would do pretty much everything I would need but ran across a hendey on cl. 500 bucks later it's in my garage. Now, my knowledge on lathes, especially old ones is limited. I've run the cheap Chinese benchtop one at work to build some custom car parts, but I'm not a machinist. I do try and learn as much as I can though.

So the backstory on the lathe. A couple of brothers sold it to me. It was in there dads shop that looked like it hadn't been used in 20 years. The building was still standing, but that's about it. The roof was full of holes, windows were boarded up, etc. I guess there dad would never let them in there, but he had Alzheimer's and was going into a home so they were selling off all the stuff to pay for it.

There was about an inch of dirt on the Hendey sitting there in the middle of the shop, but underneath all that dirt I could see oil. All the handles had surface rust but when I spun them everything moved nice and free even with all that dirt the oil had collected over time. The chip tray, which stored the tooling, had collected water and was pretty rusty along with everything in it. The whole thing looked like it just needed a cleaning and fluid change.

Well fast forward, I get it home and in some light and I can start to see she is in a little rougher condition then I had thought. I still want to get it going again, but not a full tear down.

Soooooo
I have a few questions. Keep in mind I've only used small China lathes before.

There is a lever behind the head stock on the operators left side. What does it do?

How much force is needed to turn the chuck by hand? I can rotate it around but takes some force and stops immediatly.

It looks like the carriage is the only place that might hold oil? There are a tone of little thumb screws that look like oil passages when you take them out. Do you have to hand oil all the bearings?

The gear in the middle of this 3 gear set moves back and forth. Is it suppose to?


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There were a couple of gears stuck to the shafts I had to free up but everything in the back is now at least moving.

What are some things I should check and do before I run it under power?

Here are a few more pics of the lathe

As I found her

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That old Hendy is 1000x the machine any old atlas / china pos is. The lever is probably the back gear lever. Hendyman posts here, he is the acknowledged expert on all things Hendy. He can answer all questions. There will be lots of places that require oil so someone more experienced with Hendys should answer that question.

Congratulations on the new lathe. I will be waiting to see your progress on the redo and getting her up and running. Good luck and welcome!

Welcome, here is a handy little scan - thanks to Greg Menke for hosting:

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/docs/hendey/1920-Hendey-manual.pdf

Sounds like you could use some generic info on running old lathes, like the back gear question:

http://campkahler.com/files/How_to_Run_a_Lathe_SB_1of2.pdf
http://campkahler.com/files/How_to_Run_a_Lathe_SB_2of2.pdf

The end gear that moves lets you take the feed and threading gear train out of gear

The spindle is stiff because all old Hendeys get that way. Can be fixed, requires getting spindle out. EXCELLENT coverage of how to do it exists on this forum when you are ready. While you are doing such things is a great time to learn about Hendey's ring oiled spindle bearings.

ON EDIT, here is one of those threads addressing spindle binding up: (I see it opens on page 2, so back up to page 1)

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...ead-spindle-thrust-problem-205770/index2.html

Hendey's have the most amazing capabilities as far as threading. Lots to digest here

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...ory/hendey-lathe-emergency-113621/#post421468

It must just be the camera angle but in the last picture where you are dragging it up the roll back it sure looks tiny for what must be a 12" lathe. Even a 12 x 5 Hendey is a substantial machine tool. That is a very nice "barn" find. Ed.

The lever may be compound low. Looks like a good project. keep the pic's coming .

moonlight machine said:

That old Hendy is 1000x the machine any old atlas / china pos is. .

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X 2 on that, I'd have give my eye teeth for a Hendy when all I could find was an old Logan for my first lathe, .....get it sorted so everything moves and works as it should, - don't go mad with hammers and brutality, most machine tools of that era come apart with very little effort!

Get a copy of South Bend's - How To Run A Lathe, -it's the right era of technology, and you should be well on the way.

Welcome Dustrock. I've got a Hendey 12x5 that looks similar to yours.

Per your questions:

As mentioned above, the lever behind the head stock engages the back gears. There's a pin on the bull gear that must be pulled into the out position when the back gears are engaged or nothing will move.

Also mentioned above, the chuck and spindle should turn easily by hand. There is a shim you'll need to make to push the spindle towards the tail stock slightly. It'll require removing the spindle. Hendey designed it this way so that wear on the machine be removed by the operator.

There's a bunch of places on the machine that need oil. There is a reservoir beneath each spindle bearing that holds oil. Everything else needs to be hand oiled. I'll see if I can find some pics to show...

Yes, the gear in the pic is supposed to move but it is missing a clip that holds it in place. You're also missing a gear on the second shaft down from the spindle. (Note: Spindle and it's gear are out in my pic) See pic...



I tore mine down and cleaned it up because it was extremely dirty. I posted about it here if you're interested: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...-history/hendey-tie-bar-12x5-clean-up-286589/ There's lots of pics that you may find useful.

I have those and other pics here: Hendey Lathe by David None | Photobucket


I'd recommend cleaning and oiling everything as best you can before trying to run it. I run Mobil Velocite 10 oil in the spindle based on recommendations from here. The reservoirs for the spindle bearings can be drained using the screws on the back of the head stock. Drain, flush, and refill as they gunk up over time. On mine, I could run it before I had to replace the spindle shim but drilling of any kind caused the spindle to lock up. Also, it's top heavy. Don't tip it like I did.

I'll be glad to answer additional questions if you have them.

David

Thanks for all the help and links. I do have sb how to run a lathe, got it when I was first learning, will have to break it out again and go through it. This sure is a different monster then the ecno I use at work.

David,
I will look through your build and check out the pictures, I'm sure they will help a ton. Do you have a good picture of the clip I'm missing? I don't think the gear is missing, I'm pretty sure I just had it off when I took the pic, but I will check to make sure.

I also did a search to try and find a good thread on the spindle bearing. Most of what I found were just threads saying search for it

I need to make some room in my garage, it's been used as storage too long so I will get some more pics up as soon as I can!

I tried to clean up some of the tooling with electrolysis, but didn't work the best so hit it with a wire brush. There is still a bunch of tool posts, a 4 jaw chuck, a really large 4 jaw chuck, and some other misc tooling i have no clue about.

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The thread John linked on the spindle shim discusses the shim. I also talk about it some on the end of my thread. The basic idea is that the spindle has conical bearings on it to handle lateral loads. The front of the front spindle bearing rides against a flange on the spindle to handle thrust loads. There is a spacer and shim between the flange and the front of the front spindle bearing. Over time wear occurs on this shim/bearing face which allows the spindle to move to the left (viewed from the front of the machine.) This wear causes a decrease in the gap between the conical spindle bearings. Eventually they contact under load and jam up. So, you'll need to remove the spindle and remove the spacer and shim. Separate the old shim and spacer if possible. Set the old shim aside. Reinstall the spindle and seat it firmly with your hand. Measure the gap between the spindle flange and front of the bearing. Take this measurement, subtract the thickness of the spacer and add 0.006" to it. Cut a shim this thickness and reassemble the machine.

The clip is a pretty simple affair. It is a U shaped piece of metal (brass I think) which keeps the gear meshed with the other gears but would allow you to push the gear to the side to disengage it. It allows a little bit of movement from in all directions. The key feature is that the sides are slighly concave to hold the gear. Here's another pic of it.



You asked where to oil the machine....Everywhere. This is mine of course but yours should be close to mine.











I don't have a pic pointing at the spindle bearing oil ports because they're kind of obvious. The ways and cross slide get oiled with way oil too. I also oil the reversing rod hangers too though there's not a factory oil hole.

A real good product for rust removal is metalrescue. Kind of spendy and you can pour it Down the drain. Just submerge wait and pull your rust free parts out.

Wow. Thanks for that. It will be a great reference while I search for all the oil holes on mine. So there is no actual oil sump and pump on this lathe? What would be a good oil to use?

You have Armstrong/Lantern type tool holders there, some chuck jaws, a chuck key, a lathe dog and an Armstrong/Lantern toolposts for regular holders and one for boring bars.

Referring to post 10, phone hadn't loaded the other replies.

Dustrock, where in Colorado are you?

I am not real familiar with Hendys, but I have been around a lot of old lathes and can probably help you out some.

Dustrock:

Hendey lathe #20606, a 14 x 6 Cone Head model, was scheduled for completion during the end of the first week in August 1918. It was built during the
redesign period in 1918 and represents the standard pre-WW1 Hendey lathe with the Double Walled Apron. There are no longer any Patterns, Castings or
Repair Parts left in inventory for this lathe, but all of the original drawings are still in the files, so, parts can be made as required.

With all due respect to David Bodkin, the "Clip" was not supplied by Hendey simply because it was NOT necessary. As I have stated on several occasions,
The Intermediate Gear remains in engagement by virtue of the fact that the Spindle Gear always rotates in one direction, clockwise. The Countershaft
supplied with this lathe was designed for two speed operation and no reverse, that function was performed by the Apron reverse mechanism. Also, by
referring to the 1918-1919 Operator's Book from Greg Menke's website, the proper arrangement of the gearing for the Sleeve Gear Shaft is shown. In the
past, I have listed the correct Spindle Speeds for various sizes of Hendey Cone Head lathes and the Countershaft speeds. One last thing regarding the
Intermediate Gear, a portion of the bore is designed to have a slight taper.

Hendeyman

Dustrock said:

So there is no actual oil sump and pump on this lathe? What would be a good oil to use?

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They did. You and an oil can are the oil pump. Your supposed to use a lot and let it drip where it wants to go.

I use just regular hydraulic oil for general stuff, or a light DTE oil. Not sure if that's the "right" stuff though.

Another method of rust removal, I read about - note the qualifier - "read about" on another machining forum, is to use 10% molasses dissolved in water. Let soak for a week and parts become rust free. Supposedly. If this works, it would be a cheap and environmentally friendly method of cleaning the underlying part. Maybe better than electrolysis as you might not need to clean the black gooey residue off that electrolysis creates... Anyway, can't hurt to experiment

Hmm, the clip was on mine and I assumed it was from the factory. Ya learn something new everyday. Perhaps I'll remove the one on my machine. Thanks for the info.

Well, never mind Dustrock. You're not missing it afterall.

hendeyman said:

Dustrock:

Hendey lathe #20606, a 14 x 6 Cone Head model, was scheduled for completion during the end of the first week in August 1918. It was built during the
redesign period in 1918 and represents the standard pre-WW1 Hendey lathe with the Double Walled Apron. There are no longer any Patterns, Castings or
Repair Parts left in inventory for this lathe, but all of the original drawings are still in the files, so, parts can be made as required.

With all due respect to David Bodkin, the "Clip" was not supplied by Hendey simply because it was NOT necessary. As I have stated on several occasions,
The Intermediate Gear remains in engagement by virtue of the fact that the Spindle Gear always rotates in one direction, clockwise. The Countershaft
supplied with this lathe was designed for two speed operation and no reverse, that function was performed by the Apron reverse mechanism. Also, by
referring to the 1918-1919 Operator's Book from Greg Menke's website, the proper arrangement of the gearing for the Sleeve Gear Shaft is shown. In the
past, I have listed the correct Spindle Speeds for various sizes of Hendey Cone Head lathes and the Countershaft speeds. One last thing regarding the
Intermediate Gear, a portion of the bore is designed to have a slight taper.

Hendeyman

Click to expand...

Tom Doudna said:

Dustrock, where in Colorado are you?

I am not real familiar with Hendys, but I have been around a lot of old lathes and can probably help you out some.

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I live in the Denver area.

hendeyman said:

Dustrock:

Hendey lathe #20606, a 14 x 6 Cone Head model, was scheduled for completion during the end of the first week in August 1918. It was built during the
redesign period in 1918 and represents the standard pre-WW1 Hendey lathe with the Double Walled Apron. There are no longer any Patterns, Castings or
Repair Parts left in inventory for this lathe, but all of the original drawings are still in the files, so, parts can be made as required.

With all due respect to David Bodkin, the "Clip" was not supplied by Hendey simply because it was NOT necessary. As I have stated on several occasions,
The Intermediate Gear remains in engagement by virtue of the fact that the Spindle Gear always rotates in one direction, clockwise. The Countershaft
supplied with this lathe was designed for two speed operation and no reverse, that function was performed by the Apron reverse mechanism. Also, by
referring to the 1918-1919 Operator's Book from Greg Menke's website, the proper arrangement of the gearing for the Sleeve Gear Shaft is shown. In the
past, I have listed the correct Spindle Speeds for various sizes of Hendey Cone Head lathes and the Countershaft speeds. One last thing regarding the
Intermediate Gear, a portion of the bore is designed to have a slight taper.

Hendeyman

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info! I love knowing the history of stuff. Can't wait to start making some chips with this old girl.