Hello,
I am not at a shop for a long while but need to oversee replacing a couple gears on an old (very old) Southbend lathe.
I did a lot of looking around, and have some experience with spark tests, etc. - https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/cast-iron-vs-cast-steel-id-89546/ - but I also am not sure anyone back at the shop is. That said, I guess there is a little uncertainty between these tests... I wouldn't say these gears "ring" when I hang them by a rope and hit them, but they also do not "thud".
So rather than repeat all the good answers in the above link, I thought I would just ask if people knew for sure what material Southbend used for their gears, say before the late 40s - I really don't know its age because Grizzly could not find my lathe in their "catalog", the # stamped in the bed is 44560 - pretty small; catalog #: 394-H. From southbend's website;
Thank you for any advice and hope it is appropriate to ask...
I am not at a shop for a long while but need to oversee replacing a couple gears on an old (very old) Southbend lathe.
I did a lot of looking around, and have some experience with spark tests, etc. - https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/cast-iron-vs-cast-steel-id-89546/ - but I also am not sure anyone back at the shop is. That said, I guess there is a little uncertainty between these tests... I wouldn't say these gears "ring" when I hang them by a rope and hit them, but they also do not "thud".
So rather than repeat all the good answers in the above link, I thought I would just ask if people knew for sure what material Southbend used for their gears, say before the late 40s - I really don't know its age because Grizzly could not find my lathe in their "catalog", the # stamped in the bed is 44560 - pretty small; catalog #: 394-H. From southbend's website;
The earliest records show that lathes were numbered sequentially, beginning with 700, in July, 1910, and ending with 186,514 March, 1947.
Thank you for any advice and hope it is appropriate to ask...