New to me Rivett 1020F

cpberry1 · Nov 15, 2017

Brought home a 1020F today that I located on Craigslist. To my untrained eye it appears to be in good shape, except for the non-functioning tach. I found some reading on rebuilding that particular piece so I'll give it a try.
Looking forward to getting to know it in the coming weeks. It is my first piece of machine shop equipment and will be the first lathe I have ever operated.
Just thought some Rivett guys might like to hear of another being used.
Patrick

toolnut · Nov 15, 2017

I hope you enjoy the 1020S. I talked with the seller a few weeks ago but decided to buy a 608 that was also in North Carolina.
A few members here have rebuilt / repaired 1020S or 1030 lathes so you will find assistance as you proceed.
Bruce

Halcohead · Nov 17, 2017

That's an excellent lathe, congratulations! Did it come with any tooling? I use a size E multifix toolpost on my 1030F and it fits nicely. Do you have any photos?

To troubleshoot the tach, you might start by checking that the little dyno on the end of the backgear pulley is putting out voltage when the motor is running. It should be 0-28V depending on speed.

mpmar_bt · Nov 17, 2017

Nice! Glad it's in good shape. When was it made? Be great to see some pictures.

If it's a bit dirty make sure the ways are getting oiled. I recently got one too, and found the carriage oil passages were clogged with the muck of ages. The felt distribution pads were about rock solid. I doubt much oil was getting to the ways which did them no good.

cpberry1 · Nov 21, 2017

I've had limited time to work on it this week but plan to get the rotary phase situation worked out over Thanksgiving and will perhaps start chasing oil passageways next week. I'll post up some pictures then as well. Build date stamp says 12-7-62, Serial 432 to Customer 1302. Anybody know of a way to chase down who purchased it originally?
What fluids are you folks using in the different oil reservoirs? I've found a couple of different suggestions but the manual referenced SAE50 for two of them and a NY/NJ fluid in another one, which I could find anything about online.
This one didn't come with much in the way of tooling - a 3-jaw and a couple of Jacobs chucks is it. It has one of the 4-position toolholders onboard and I've ordered some blanks to try my hand at making basic tools for starters.
Thanks for the interest - I'm sure I'll have more uninformed questions as the saga proceeds.
Patrick

mpmar_bt · Nov 21, 2017

Interesting. I have number 363 and the manual says SAE 40 for the headstock, gearbox and apron.

And l0 tooling isn't a dime a dozen either. Got the same issues with the holidays - family and things like that sure do eat up the spare time

rustytool · Nov 21, 2017

Mobil DTE Extra Heavy in the headstock and gearbox.
Mobil Vactra #2 in the carriage. Though I use Mobil Vacuoline 1409.
Mobil DTE Light in the tailstock.http://www.rivettlathe.com

rustytool · Nov 21, 2017

Any information, paperwork, Spare parts etc. was dumped in a landfill a long time ago.
Bastards.

mpmar_bt · Nov 22, 2017

Thanks Rusty I had forgoten about that site.

Mine came with the manual which includes a complete set of drawings. So feeling pretty lucky there. All the fluids seemed to have been drained from it, but the headstock is still wet with a film over all the wear areas. I don't think it was run that way, probobly drained for transport.

I have a 5 gallon bucket of DTE extra heavy on the way, which seemed to be the most economical way to go. Current price on Amazon is $89 + $24 shipping.

Link: Mobil DTE Oil EXTRA HEAVY - 5 gal. pail: Industrial Lubricants: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

If the OP doesn't mind me piling on his thread - I have a question about the headstock cover. Does the oil leak out of the top when you run the lathe or is there suposed to be a gasket between the cover and the headstock?

rustytool · Nov 22, 2017

There is a gasket on the headstock cover.
Easy to make from a sheet of gasket paper.
Probably wouldn't leak much without it.

cpberry1 · Nov 25, 2017

RPC newbie question

Here's one for you experienced RPC guys. Talked with a gentleman this weekend about rotary phase converters. He has many he has built in commercial operations around WV, VA, TN and KY. I went to check one out and it had interesting (to me) behavior.
Facts:
It starts and runs a 5hp idler.
It has voltages of 240, 250 and 280, unloaded, across the phases. (if I understand correctly these can be tweaked.)

Questions:
The strange thing to me was that the current in the phases was 17A, 20A and 3.5A. This is new to me, but I was expecting those to be more closely matched. I realize this isn't a perfect situation to measure, with no load on the system, but would you expect to see more balanced current through the phases?
He also cautioned that I needed to be sure to find out what phase was pulled to power the control circuitry on the lathe. The "generated" phase should not be used to power that because of its neutral configuration.
I brought one home (sized for 10hp) to play with when I get my 10hp motor this week.
The long and the short of my first question is is this behavior normal - weird voltages/currents when unloaded - out of a homemade RPC until tweaks are accomplished based on the particular system it is going to be used in?
Thanks.

** Upon further review of the box I brought home I believe that all of the components are included to make a balanced leg RPC, but that I will need to do some re-vamping of his design before I will be comfortable plugging in my lathe.

rke[pler · Nov 26, 2017

cpberry1 said:
The long and the short of my first question is is this behavior normal - weird voltages/currents when unloaded - out of a homemade RPC until tweaks are accomplished based on the particular system it is going to be used in?

Yeah, pretty much. An unloaded RPC will have voltages and currents all over the place on the wild leg. Once you have it feeding a load you can look at the differences in voltages and use capacitors to balance the voltage on the wild leg, but the balance will only be good for the load you ran it at and just OK outside that.

cpberry1 · Nov 26, 2017

rustytool said:
Mobil DTE Extra Heavy in the headstock and gearbox.
Mobil Vactra #2 in the carriage. Though I use Mobil Vacuoline 1409.
Mobil DTE Light in the tailstock.http://www.rivettlathe.com

Thanks for this info - I'll be looking for local suppliers tomorrow. I can't seem to locate quantities required for any of the reservoirs in the publications I've been able to find online. Anybody have one that gives that information, or know offhand? I'm thinking a 5-gallon bucket of the heavy, a gallon for the carriage and a couple of gallons for the tailstock.
Am I close?

cpberry1 · Dec 5, 2017

First photo. We'll see if it works.
Changed oils and will level this morning.
Gearbox oil was low and sump beneath tray was full of water where PO had pressure washed it... I have not been able to get that lower pump running, but haven't investigated it yet. It is a 5-gallon box and pump for work cooling. I'm missing the flexible tubing that extends over top of the workpiece, but it will be easy enough to form, if I decide I need it.
Patrick

quasi · Dec 5, 2017

that is not an F, it is a S model. Congratulations.

rustytool · Dec 5, 2017

quasi said:
that is not an F, it is a S model. Congratulations.

Why do you say that ?
Looks like an F to me.

quasi · Dec 5, 2017

doesn't the F have a flat tray on the headstock cover? Mine does and it's an F.

rustytool · Dec 6, 2017

Your right.
I think there might be some overlap.
Most Fs have the digital tach and the exposed headstock bolts rather than having to remove the gearbox to get at those headstock bolts from underneath.
Though I have seen an S model with the exposed headstock bolts.
As the lathe was evolving they were probably just using up the parts they had on the shelves.

cpberry1 · Dec 6, 2017

Shows as an F on the nameplate. From 1962.
I'd love to know the history of it, but I guess there is no way to find out who bought it initially, given the loss of the records upon the company's demise.
I've run it through what I think are the paces and it seems to function correctly. Now I need to learn to really use it.
Something I learned. Level it before changing the oil. I drained and refilled, then leveled. Now the headstock and gearbox are both a little overfilled. Apparently it was leaning back during the fill... Any ideas if this extra will leak out somewhere over time, or whether the fill line was meant to be a minimum fill line? Just curious if I should let it be or drain off the excess. If it's not going to hurt anything I'll probably just go with the extra.
Patrick

rustytool · Dec 6, 2017

I wouldn't worry about a little overfill.
It's definitely an F. I guess an early F when they still had the headstock castings without the tray.
My S headstock has the place where they use to put a spindle lock but it has no spindle lock and the casting was never drilled for it. Also in the gearbox there is one gear that was drilled with lightening holes from when all the 1020 gears were done like that.
Greg.

New to me Rivett 1020F

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Diamond

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