Hendey lathe question

I had another thread I started when I was getting the play out of the bearings on my hendey but I ran into another question when I installed a vfd that I haven’t been able to find the answer to. I have a slight “backlash” in the feed handle that doesn’t seem to effect anything when I go from forward to reverse with auto feed but my threads don’t match up when I run the carriage back after a cut. My question is does the handle directly control engagement to the lead screw keyway or is that little bit of play just affecting hand control and there is something I’m missing about reversing out of threads.
Other than the threading issue I’ve been having a great time running from the vfd using the largest cone pulley. Made a few parts and a lot of experimental pieces and have learned a lot.
Serial number is 23661.

If you're using the feed instead of the half nuts that will ruin your threads for sure.

Explain "auto feed"

If you refer to KNOB in center of carriage and wheel, THAT IS NOT FOR THREADING

Yes you can reverse this with lever on extreme right on apron, but it still is not threading - until, as per post above - you use the half nuts controlled by the lever to right on face of apron

Here is my old write up on the lead screw reverse system - starts at Post #17 in linked thread

Hendey lathe "emergency"!

Helpful stuff on page six and seven here

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/docs/hendey/1940-Hendey-Op-Man.pdf

Thanks for the link. I’m using the number 36 lever to engage feed and then using number 30 lever at the end of a pass to reverse but it does not follow the thread at all. Hopeing it’s not because of the backlash and it’s just user error.

After reading the post I think my issue is that I was just going straight from forward to reverse. It seems like I should stop in the “gutter” untill the thread start comes back around and the engage?

Quick question (apologies if it sounds condescending, but I need to understand if there is something obvious that I'm missing): are you backing off the tool before reversing the leadscrew?

Paolo

Mau5trap91 said:

Thanks for the link. I’m using the number 36 lever to engage feed and then using number 30 lever at the end of a pass to reverse but it does not follow the thread at all. Hopeing it’s not because of the backlash and it’s just user error.

After reading the post I think my issue is that I was just going straight from forward to reverse. It seems like I should stop in the “gutter” untill the thread start comes back around and the engage?

Click to expand...

Now a little more explaining....

Is 36 LEFT ENGAGED while you work 30?

If half nuts STAY ENGAGED, it does not matter if you wait or not in your reversing, nor does it matter if you wait or not to move 30 back in to forward when you get back to where you want to start another pass.

An obvious need is for the tool to be withdrawn from the cut during backing up - exactly as one would do on any other engine lathe during single point threading

What DOES MATTER is that there is some travel space made available after the switch back to forward takes place and before the tool starts cutting. This "Space" or "Time" lets any BACKLASH, SLOPPINESS or whatever be taken care of

Shifting the lever 30 at any time means nothing. The reverse mechanism simply has one dog that's why it will always be in time. It will always be in time no matter what gears are used and why I use mine to cut metric threads. It's been quite a while since I used the tie bar type but the newer lathes are the same. Is the first pass cut the same as the thread selected on the quick change. If the gears that drive the reversing dog clutch are not correct then you might have what you are describing but then the threads cut will not be what was selected on the quick change gear box. Gears 1,2 and 3 on page 36. Unlikely because the centers are fixed but not impossible.

johnoder said:

Now a little more explaining....

What DOES MATTER is that there is some travel space made available after the switch back to forward takes place and before the tool starts cutting. This "Space" or "Time" lets any BACKLASH, SLOPPINESS or whatever be taken care of

Click to expand...

John, thank you so much for this little nugget of information. My Vernon lathe is a complete ripoff of the hendy system, and I always wondered why the heck that sometimes when I throw the reversing lever, there's a moment when the leadscrew would pause before reversing direction.

Some times the pause spoiled my work, sometimes it didn't.

I now believe the reason was due to me not leaving enough of the extra space you mention here. I'm still amazed this system works at all lol.

Btw, it's been a couple years since I had my machine all torn down. Do you recall what is responsible for keeping that lever engaged?

My lever is heavy enough that sometimes it will fall from the up position into neutral.
I've taken to holding it up with one hand while cutting, but I'd like to fix it one of these days. I know the lever through linkage eventually actuated a dog that slides on a shaft to engage one of two bevel gears.

Is there a ball detent somewhere to keep these "clicked" in?

Regards,
Steve Watroba

Sent from my SM-J737P using Tapatalk

Hendey used a detent spring - not sure at this point just where. When in good shape it will hold the lever up, down or in the middle - where nothing happens

stevewatr said:

John, thank you so much for this little nugget of information. My Vernon lathe is a complete ripoff of the hendy system, and I always wondered why the heck that sometimes when I throw the reversing lever, there's a moment when the leadscrew would pause before reversing direction.

Some times the pause spoiled my work, sometimes it didn't.

I now believe the reason was due to me not leaving enough of the extra space you mention here. I'm still amazed this system works at all lol.

Btw, it's been a couple years since I had my machine all torn down. Do you recall what is responsible for keeping that lever engaged?

My lever is heavy enough that sometimes it will fall from the up position into neutral.
I've taken to holding it up with one hand while cutting, but I'd like to fix it one of these days. I know the lever through linkage eventually actuated a dog that slides on a shaft to engage one of two bevel gears.

Is there a ball detent somewhere to keep these "clicked" in?

Regards,
Steve Watroba

Sent from my SM-J737P using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Ok thanks again Jon, The space left to take up the slop fixed the issue I was having with backlash. the first run I did I did not back out the cutter and got a double helix and figure out that didn’t work, still new. I’ve got some decent looking threads coming out I just have to test them on known bolts to see if they are more than pretty. Also even after I shimed the spindle I still cannot engage the bullgear pin without slipping the belt. I have the backbeats disengaged when trying this.

Mau5trap91 said:

Ok thanks again Jon, The space left to take up the slop fixed the issue I was having with backlash. the first run I did I did not back out the cutter and got a double helix and figure out that didn’t work, still new. I’ve got some decent looking threads coming out I just have to test them on known bolts to see if they are more than pretty. Also even after I shimed the spindle I still cannot engage the bullgear pin without slipping the belt. I have the backbeats disengaged when trying this.

Click to expand...

Glad the familiarization progresses along.

You may do this already - when you get back to your starting place you can stay in NEUTRAL for s bit (if the talked about detent works) - catch your breath, dial in next pass for depth and get all ready before you drop the lever and things happen

(refers to leaving half nuts engaged while using lead screw reverse)

As far as locking pin, likely some poorly executed "fix" that simply needs to be done over when you feel like it

Mau5trap91 said:

Ok thanks again Jon, The space left to take up the slop fixed the issue I was having with backlash. the first run I did I did not back out the cutter and got a double helix and figure out that didn’t work, still new. I’ve got some decent looking threads coming out I just have to test them on known bolts to see if they are more than pretty. Also even after I shimed the spindle I still cannot engage the bullgear pin without slipping the belt. I have the backbeats disengaged when trying this.

Click to expand...

With the backgears disengaged and the belt slacked, are you able to rotate easily the chuck by hand?

Paolo

I can not rotate it easily by hand even with the belt slacked. I’ll recheck my shim when the weather warms up a bit or if I get around to heating the garage. I didn’t have the proper measuring tools at the time and there’s a good chance I over corrected.

I would suggest you don't use it till you correct the problem. If it is forcing like that, it means that there is no room for oil between the spindle and the bearings. The result won't be pretty.

Paolo

If you can't use the lathe without the back gear engaged it can be more than spindle bearings. With the back gear disconnected and pin disengaged from the pulley so the pulley should spin without much effort. Spindle should too if the feed direction lever is in neutral (area between right and left feed) Flit the lever at the rear of the spindle to disconnect the feed gear. That will remove the feed from the gears and if spindle is still hard to turn then bearings are too tight and I would not run the lathe until corrected.
You mentioned unheated garage, if the garage gets very cold so that the lathe will cool below the dew point that's not good! Water will from when weather conditions are right and dew will form on the lathe everywhere! Inside and out! Dew is de-ionized water and very hungry, will form rust on metal very fast! You should consider keeping the lathe at a temperature above the dew point.
I do quite a bit of threading on my Hendeys one is set up to cut metric threads. I can't think of every shifting from revers to forward quickly. Being that the tool had to be removed, returning the tool to the proper location takes time. I very rarely use the stop. However when started there will be a delay, all gears are in the reverse position and the feed reversing dog in some position that will also cause dwell. Then any clearance and wear taken up between the lead screw and half nut before the carriage moves but once it moves the tool will enter the previously cut thread in time! Quite often when roughing a thread I will quickly return the tool to position and reverse the direction and never had a problem.

Sounds like you are not done here yet ( getting rid of spindle drag) ?

New to me Hendey Lathe

I thought I had the issue with the spindle resolved but it doesn’t seem that way now. I’ll have to tear back into it. The pulley spins free with the belt slacked but the spindle does not. I havnt tried to turn the spindle while in neutral but will now. At one point during the spindle install I had everything turning free but it seems like after I tightened the brass collar between the pulley and rear bearing everything tightened up. I have a furnace for the garage just havnt installed it yet I will have to do that before the freeze is over, I can see spring being very wet.

Edit. Well I went outside to finish boring a tube I’m working on and tried to turn it by hand again with everything disengaged, it worked, turns free no problem now. Ive used a lot and brake cleaner and Ed throughout the time I’ve been working on it and the only thing I can think of is the 100 year old goo just broke loose. I can see oil on the oilers and when I engage the bull gear she spins with the pulley. Hopefully now I can focus more on operation instead of restoration. Thanks again.

Could use some practice on grinding thread tools but I think I’ve figured it out

I’d like to say last question but I’m sure it won’t be. I realy do alternate the help. Is there a way to auto feed that is not using the thread gearbox? I’ve been setting it to the highest thread count and using a wide cutter to eliminate threading. Thanks in advance there’s not a lot of machinist where I am so info is hard to come by.

Have you fixed your spindle or problem in the gear train that makes the spindle hard to turn? If not, you're simply destroying your lathe.

If I recall correctly, the finest feed possible with your lathe is approximately 0.004", by setting for the finest thread. On the quick-change gearbox you will find "feeds 4 times threads".

If the finest feed listed is 64 TPI, the correspondent thread (engaging the clutch, not the half nuts) would be 1/(64 x 4) = 1/256 =~ 0.004"

If you want slower feeds, you can always feed by hand. However, with a tool having a decent radius (let's say, at least 0.1"), you should be able to obtain a fantastic finish, unless you have other issues, like chatter.

Paolo