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Wade 8a #407

Darren McCarley

Cast Iron
Joined
Nov 24, 2017
Location
DFW
After several months, about 1500 miles, and a few dollars, Wade 8a #407 is finally in my grubby hands. If my hands weren't grubby before, they are now. :)
#407 looks to have been in the US Navy. Guess that makes it a Squid's lathe.
While not a sailor, I hope to do the lathe proud, none the less.
One can JUST make out the USN stamp next to the serial number.


I was fortunate enough to get an all steel cabinet in the transaction. While both need a ton of work, I'm quite happy to have such an awesome little lathe.


While waiting for it to arrive, I was able to snag a slew of collets. These have a date with a tumbler in their near future.


More parts and pics to come as I attempt to bring this one back.
 
Darren,
Wow are those the collets you got from me?? I don't recall them being rusty like that! Also I would think twice before tumbling them, I think that might damage the threads at least. I would just clean them up by hand with scotch brite and some lubricant like WD or similar. Keep us posted on the progress!
 
Looks like the leadscrew is missing, yikes. Are the guts in the cabinet? I don't see the control handles sticking out. Cool project, they are a neat little lathe. Tumbling the collets can't be a good idea.
 
QUOTE=Rex TX;3327140]I rebuilt Wade #141 a few years ago. Beautiful machine, enjoyed the build.
Congrats on a nice project[/QUOTE]
Thanks! I gather you're in Texas? I'd LOVE to see a working Wade 8a. Pictures are great, but only go so far. Do you have the entire controls for the drive unit?
Darren,
Wow are those the collets you got from me?? I don't recall them being rusty like that! Also I would think twice before tumbling them, I think that might damage the threads at least. I would just clean them up by hand with scotch brite and some lubricant like WD or similar. Keep us posted on the progress!
Yes, and no. :) Your's are mixed in there somewhere. As I recall, yours were pretty clean. The tumbler I'll be using is built for this, along with the media. Also,I have many duplicate collets. I'll grab the worst of the duplicates as my sacrificial part. If it works, GREAT! If not, well, dang. But, they SHOULD turn out gorgeous!

Looks like the leadscrew is missing, yikes. Are the guts in the cabinet? I don't see the control handles sticking out. Cool project, they are a neat little lathe. Tumbling the collets can't be a good idea.

Ah! Lead screw. Yup, have it. It's in a bag in the cabinet. Sadly, that is the only thing in the cabinet. I'm going to have to come up with a way to drive it. I do have the head stock cover which could be useful for a jack shaft with idler/tension wheel.

We'll see on the collets. It's more like a big vibrator. Sorry, I am remiss. I'll post up during the vibration. (Off color joke in there somewhere....) :)

I was considering a 3hp motor running off a VFD, with a jack shaft and tension/idler wheel. I'll post up some rough drawings soon. As I'm quite interested in y'all's opinions. This will be a slow project. Full time (50hrs/week) Software Dev, 2 teenagers, and a never ending list of "honey do's”. However, this will be a labor of love and "done right". ;)
 
I gather you're in Texas? I'd LOVE to see a working Wade 8a. Pictures are great, but only go so far. Do you have the entire controls for the drive unit?

I was considering a 3hp motor running off a VFD, with a jack shaft and tension/idler wheel.

Darren,
Yes, I'm in Keller.
My #141 was the model preceding the 8A. No real model, so I just called it a "Wade 8". Mine is gone, sold to a lady from the Ft Worth Orchestra who used a lathe to make expensive bows for bass fiddles.
It was very similar to yours, with small differences. The headstock had sleeve bearings, the collets were slightly different, no power feeds etc.

Buy several gallons of Evaporust. You will need it. It is very effective and does not harm anything but rust. There is a concentrated form in another brand on Amazon which would be much cheaper and gets good reviews.

I think 3 HP would be way overkill for that lathe, Mine was happy with the 3/4 HP (later vintage) 110V motor it came with.

All I have left is photos, but I do have a lot of them. Here's the finished lathe:
 

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I don't recall them being rusty like that!

Drop them in a vat of evaporust, wash, then oil. It'll remove all the rust.

What kind of bearings does the head stock use? It's a nice looking lathe.
 
Darren,
Yes, I'm in Keller. .......... Mine is gone, sold to a lady from the Ft Worth Orchestra who used a lathe to make expensive bows for bass fiddles......
Buy several gallons of Evaporust......
Ah! I remember seeing that story. Glad to know it is being put to good use.

Drop them in a vat of evaporust, wash, then oil. It'll remove all the rust.

What kind of bearings does the head stock use? It's a nice looking lathe.

Evaporust * 2. Got it! Ty!
Ya know, I honestly don't know. I've seen it mentioned.... Here's a couple of pics.




 
Ya know, I honestly don't know. I've seen it mentioned.... Here's a couple of pics.

I have one old lathe, the bearings are cast iron with the head stock hardened steel running on cast iron. The other has actual bearings. You have actual bearings too. That was what I wanted to know. Looks nice.
 
I have one old lathe, the bearings are cast iron with the head stock hardened steel running on cast iron. The other has actual bearings. You have actual bearings too. That was what I wanted to know. Looks nice.

All 8A lathes have SKF anti-friction spindle bearings- a double row roller and ball thrust at the chuck end, and a deep groove radial ball bearing at the other end. A friend of mine is currently corresponding with SKF to determine if bearings and/or specifications are still available.

Andy
 
I use lanolin/spindle oil mixed 50-50 with heat.
No rust in my unheated steel shop since I started using lanolin 10+ years ago. Cheap and very effective.
Not sure what the Evaporust product is made of, and I have not used it. There are commercial products that use lanolin as their main ingredient, but they tend to be pricey.
 
Not sure what the Evaporust product is made of, and I have not used it.

It feels and kinda smells like vinegar. I wish I knew what it was too. It's magical. While I wore gloves, occasionally I'd tear a glove and get wet. It didn't bother my skin at all. I tossed my entire carriage and head stock into it, in pieces and pulled out clean metal a day later. I then cleaned it with soapy waters, dried then used something like that rust inhibitor spray to keep it rust free till I was ready to paint/pc the metal.
 
It feels and kinda smells like vinegar. I wish I knew what it was too. It's magical. While I wore gloves, occasionally I'd tear a glove and get wet. It didn't bother my skin at all. I tossed my entire carriage and head stock into it, in pieces and pulled out clean metal a day later. I then cleaned it with soapy waters, dried then used something like that rust inhibitor spray to keep it rust free till I was ready to paint/pc the metal.

I was actually talking about the Rust-Block product sold by Evaporust. The original product is great, I've probably gone through 100 gallons in the last 10 years.
 
Ok, evaporust and car battery charger aquired. Going to perform an experiment. Evaporust vs electrolysis for rust removal. As it will be a busy week, I'll have to perform this experiment this coming Friday.
Until then, I'm trying to create a power plan. Here is my plan, it is young and barely vetted, but I believe it is the route I'll be going.

Home electrical power. 220v, 1 phase.
VFD to convert to 3ph, and provide variable speed.
3hp motor (1750 rpm +/-). Knowing I'll lose some torque I believe the 3hp motor should suffice as 2hp (+/-) is my needed hp.

I'll need the variability of the VFD because I'm not going to attempt the Rube Goldberg setup found in the Wade 8a OEM setup. Therefore, I'll have to make a couple of jack shafts, pullies, and ultimately tie the rpm's directly to the output of the VFD. I blessed to have a mentor with a VERY nice shop and he's agreed to help me turn, fabricate, mill what ever I need, with in reason.
(Note: The exact VFD, pulley sizes, etc are to be determined once I have a more concrete plan.)

Here are a couple of images from Wade8a.com that I HOPE give some insight to my plans.
I'm looking for feedback and ideas as I do not pretend to be an engineer.
Click to enlarge.


 
Darren, The drive shown in your post is the variable speed from the much later Wade 8A models. Your lathe came with a 2-speed motor, a clutch, and a belt shifting mechanism. Your lathe had a 6 speed range from 350 rpm to 2080 rpm (with 6 additional, slower speeds using the back gears). Take a look at the diagrams on the bottom of the Wade 8A page on Tony's lathe site. From your photos, you have at least one of the idler gears still installed in the cast iron 'tower' (photo in post #5).

I'm worried that the oiler bodies are missing from your headstock. Also, the quick change gearbox oilers may have been changed to grease nipples. Hopefully, Andy F. has old stock headstock oilers.


Tom
 
Darren, The drive shown in your post is the variable speed from the much later Wade 8A models. Your lathe came with a 2-speed motor, a clutch, and a belt shifting mechanism. Your lathe had a 6 speed range from 350 rpm to 2080 rpm (with 6 additional, slower speeds using the back gears). Take a look at the diagrams on the bottom of the Wade 8A page on Tony's lathe site. From your photos, you have at least one of the idler gears still installed in the cast iron 'tower' (photo in post #5).

I'm worried that the oiler bodies are missing from your headstock. Also, the quick change gearbox oilers may have been changed to grease nipples. Hopefully, Andy F. has old stock headstock oilers.


Tom

Tom, aka ”Eagle eyes”, you're absolutely correct on all points. Oilers are one of many things on the "Todo list". Also, that drawing is a different model than I have. However, the "tower" assembly is similar enough in the drawing to get my ideas down and all I have is the main lathe body, tower, and cabinet. So, a bit more than skeletal, but not much. Well, I have the important parts. :)
Oh, and that idler is now removed. Will be replacing the bearings, reusing the shaft, and maybe the pulley. Or, use the pulley as a template. I can't afford to make concrete decisions, just yet. I may have to gear up/down using this idler section. There isn't a lot of room in the tower area, but as long as there a a few thousandths clearance, I'll use every bit of it.

Tower with gear being disassembled. For reference.
 
Seems like a VFD running a motor belted right to the spindle should do it.

Max speed of approx 2000 rpm seems achievable with a 1200 rpm motor with sheaves to increase spindle speed slightly over motor rpm, or 1800 rpm motor sheaved to decrease, VFD overdriving the motor to reach max spindle rpm and back gear taking care of the lower speeds. Even a 3600 rpm motor could work.

Some playing around with sheave ratios, the VFD manual and back gear ratio should give a usable spindle speed range without running the motor too fast or too slow.
 
Ok, there's a new one. I'm familiar with sheaves, but only in a Biblical/farming sense. Stalks bundled. However, I don't see plant stalks holding up to the expected torque.... :) Am I using idler gear/pulley incorrectly? Should I be searching/using for sheaves?
 








 
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