Nardini lathe experts , please step in!

Helping a friend repair a Nardini gap bed gear head lathe.

Upon getting it set up and running the lower gear box locked up. The lower gear box cover was removed and discovered a gear missing a few teeth , missing fork , spacer and someone put a couple zip ties on the shaft to hold the gears in place.

He is trying to source the gear ( 22 or 23 tooth) and looking everything else over.

One of the selector shafts is really hard to move , its indicated by the arrow in the pic.
Does anyone know how that gear shaft is removed ?

The manual show nothing indicating any set screws or pins holding it.
Looking at the gear head that is on the opposite side of the aluminum selector knob the shaft looks like its suppose to go straight thru into the gear case to be removed. I shot some Kroil on the shaft but there is a lot of O ring residue or sealant on the shafts. Only one is hard to move , the other are very smooth.

Its a nice lathe and was easy to get up and running on a VFD.
Hopefully the needed gear is not too much damage cost wise.

I have the 1440 version. As for removal, I am of no use. As it relates to ease of moving the selector knob, I usually move the headstock to more easily allow the gears to mesh.

The front gear box cover is removed with only the shafts sticking thru the machine casting.
Looking at the inside of the gear case you can see where the headstock casting has a pocket the end for the gear sits in and the shaft has to be removed by moving it forward , into the case. Tapping on the end of the shaft it sounds like something is retaining the shaft.

Using a mirror I cannot see any pins or screws that is retaining it.

The gear rack the shaft turns moves and travels freely , its just the shaft thru the casting that is hard to turn.

I have a Nardini 1440E Mascote. I also have the original manual. I looked at the transmission exploded parts diagram and on that machine I do't see any tapered pins. Most shafts appear threaded in some way.

Was that the one for sale on cleveland craigslist this summer ?

digger doug said:

Was that the one for sale on cleveland craigslist this summer ?

Click to expand...

I think so.
I believe it was listed and it's the one my friend purchased.

Overall well kept appearance wise and was not hooked up to test run.
Looks like it was in storage for many years.

The seller wanted some high cost but I told my friend if you can't fire it up then make an offer accordingly. No idea if the seller knew the gear or damaged and shift fork missing but it's getting addressed now. Shift fork is made and trying to source a gear.

It runs well on a 10hp VFD.

If it were mine I'd talk with someone in the gear hobbing business, he can tell you what to make the new blank out of, exact dimensions and whether or not the teeth need induction hardening after hobbing and who does a good job. It doesn't need a VFD unless the upper box has gears busted and you don't want to replace them.
Two or three feed gears cut by a professional shouldn't cost much more than $1200 (Not including your labor), and they are nice enough lathes to justify the expense.

The part is available across the pond and the owner is working with a couple people trying to buy one in Brazil and having them mail it here.

The gear/s appear as machined cast steel so it's nothing exotic or hard to replicate.
Feed gears likely see a lot less torque than the upper drive gears in the spindle box.