Thread: Shaggy's Sag 12

Well, I finally got my Sag 12!

I won the online auction for this Graziano Sag 12 on Wed. Nov. 11th. I had one picture, and assurances from the college that it was in good working condition with no electrical, clutch or gear-change issues.



All that was left was the 1600 mile round trip through the cold snowy mountains of Nevada and Utah and back, to bring the machine home.

I set off at 9:30 the following Sunday morning, crossed the Sierras, and by afternoon I was well into Nevada.





Spent a #$%! cold night in the truck, then drove non-stop. By 5pm Monday I'd made the 800 miles to Orem, Utah, and found a motel for the night.

10 am Tuesday morning, picked up the trailer and found the college workshop a few miles away, where my lathe and the other machines from the auction were awaiting pickup.

I backed the trailer in and set to work with the crowbar. The little beast felt a lot heavier than I'd expected, but I got it on blocks and eventually winched up into the trailer, with assistance from the supervisor and house forklift.




(Reached pics limit - story cont'd next post)

All tied down and tarped up, left Orem for the West Coast at 2:30 Tuesday afternoon.

Loaded to it's max. tow limit of 3500 lbs, my old Nissan now had to make it over a half dozen mountain passes and the remaining 800 miles. I don't mind saying I muttered more than a few prayers on some of those inclines in third gear, wondering if I'd make the top, but she never missed a beat.



I was lucky, traffic and weather were clear all the way home. Made it back by 5 pm Thursday with just enough light remaining to back the trailer into the yard, unhitch, park the truck, and collapse for the night.


Next installment: Single-handedly unloading and moving the Sag 12 40 feet over rough brick paving, levelling, and powering up!

Thanks for watching

Shaggy

Congratulations!! Looking forward to a report of how well it runs.

Nice! I too look forward to more

Congratulations. Looks like a nice machine. Looking forward to the next installment.

Ted

(cont'd)

Slow going - Moving the Sag 12 across 40' of uneven pavement

Friday morning I winched the lathe down out of the trailer onto a pair of 3x12" sleepers, which sat across greased 2x6's that were laid the length of the brick pathway. With the end of the winch cable anchored to a distant slab, pulling the machine the 30' down the path in a straight line was easy enough.





At the end of the pathway I had to rotate the machine ~90 degrees and get it sideways another 15 feet over very old and uneven brickwork. Lots of head-scratching, laying down more timber tracks. I had to reposition the winch several times to coax the machine in the required direction.





That evening the machine was roughly in place, and by lunchtime the next day - just over a week after I'd set off on the road trip - I had the Sag 12 in it's final position and levelled.



My two '12s' finally meet - Graziano Sag 12 and Van Norman No. 12


Btw, thanks for your comments, guys!

Next installment: Checking out the electrics. Wiring up and firing up the Sag 12 ...and more

If that's the final resting spot, looks like it might present some fun leveling exercises. Looks like you were BSing, plenty of space for a 40"!

The extent of brick path shown doesn't look too bad, would expect a few pipe rollers to get the beastie in position without risk of toppling.

Congrats on your adventure!

When you’re certain of the lathe’s position, suggest pouring a slab with some rebar in it on top of compacted sub for the lathe to sit on. Will be much easier, even with the rigid cast iron base this lathe has to level/align it.

L7

Originally Posted by BillE

If that's the final resting spot, looks like it might present some fun leveling exercises. Looks like you were BSing, plenty of space for a 40"!

The extent of brick path shown doesn't look too bad, would expect a few pipe rollers to get the beastie in position without risk of toppling.

It's levelled in that last pic, all done. Custom cut wedges and shims and a HF 2-ton floor jack did the trick.

No BS, it takes up the full 6' of space I had there, with just enough room to get around back.

I moved the VN mill on pipe rollers over plywood down that path. Never again, rollers just chewed right through the ply. This was way better. Could of course have used rollers on the 2x6s, by putting lathe on a sledge. This worked though.

Originally Posted by lucky7

Congrats on your adventure!

When you’re certain of the lathe’s position, suggest pouring a slab with some rebar in it on top of compacted sub for the lathe to sit on. Will be much easier, even with the rigid cast iron base this lathe has to level/align it.

L7

Thanks, but it is what it is. No chance of a slab or any other major improvements. The place ain't mine, and I get to use it pretty much gratis, but 'as-is', for trade in home repairs etc. I count my blessings, as not too many friends/landlords would put up with hosting my horde of junk(!)

It's a bit makeshift looking, I'll admit. Sorta like running a machine shop on the Klondike goldfields

Sunday afternoon, the machine levelled and all the oil levels OK'd, I set about checking the electrics before hooking up power from my 5 hp RPC.

The machine's electrical gear looked stock, down to the original full-wave diode bridge, contactors, and fuses.



Once I'd figured out the wire color coding from the previous installation, I made a temporary connection to the RPC



...pushed the start button, and the motor sprang to life and purred quietly. What a beautiful sound!

From the apron control stick, a little nervously, I ran the spindle through the low speed range, then high. Everything seemed to work as it should, and quietly enough. Mine has the pushbutton brake at the end of the control stick, which is nice.

Total current drawn from the 240V single-phase line, including running the RPC, is around 6 to 7 Amps in the mid-range, and up to 11A at the higher speeds; not shocking, in fact about what I was hoping for, being that I'm in a residential area and don't want to draw unecessary attention through either undue noise or power useage.

So, she goes, and quite well, too



Next episode I'll go over the accessories/tooling I scored, and the preliminary repairs and machine first aid I've already started on...

Thanks for watching!

All these cliff hangers!! Lol. It looks even better than in the auction!!

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

Glad to hear you got it home ok! Timing was right for experiencing the best Nevada has to offer, friends back in tx always question "why Nevada, you hate the heat?". Sounds like you got a nice lathe!

Originally Posted by zamboni2354

All these cliff hangers!! Lol. It looks even better than in the auction!!

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

Haha! Yeah, well it's certainly not perfect, as you might expect for a college machine. There's a few battle scars, missing or bastardized handles, a few worn or partially-stripped threads, and plenty of 'signs of use'.

But nothing I can't fix, and I've already started on the worst. More on that soon...

-oops! Was that another cliff-hanger?

Originally Posted by dalmatiangirl61

Glad to hear you got it home ok! Timing was right for experiencing the best Nevada has to offer, friends back in tx always question "why Nevada, you hate the heat?". Sounds like you got a nice lathe!

I know, thanks! Those lo-ong mountain ranges look very pretty with a dusting of the white stuff! Lots of open space you've got there! Luckily my mind was focused on the goal, so the miles just flew by!

It will be a nice lathe when I'm done. It's surely in need of some TLC, and is going to get it, and, I think, be grateful

Below is what came with the lathe, which is more than I expected





Included in listing:

Bison 10" 4-jaw
Phase II 8" 3-jaw

Found later, and thrown in:

12" faceplate, looks original issue
Phase II (?) QCTP (BXA)
3 Dorian QC tool holders
1 Yuasa QC tool holder
3 nice live centers, MT3
2 cheap 1/2" drill chucks
Keys for D1-4 collar and 3-jaw

Given away (as would-be scrap) as I was about to leave:



2 pretty substantial steady rests, not of this machine, but likely at least one can be modified to fit.
(if you know what they might have belonged to, please let me know as I'm curious).

Not a bad haul eh

On a SAG14 you know that the motor is wired to turn in the right direction when you can feel the pulses of the oil pump by touching the oil window, that is top right on the headstock. If you can't feel the pulses the pump isn't pumping oil to the gears and spindle bearings.

I don't know if a SAG12 has the same charachteristic, but it would be worth checking.

Originally Posted by triumph406

On a SAG14 you know that the motor is wired to turn in the right direction when you can feel the pulses of the oil pump by touching the oil window, that is top right on the headstock. If you can't feel the pulses the pump isn't pumping oil to the gears and spindle bearings.

I don't know if a SAG12 has the same charachteristic, but it would be worth checking.

I will check that. Looking at the notation for the reversing lever, the present direction of rotation could be correct or incorrect. If the oil pump has a preference, I'd better make sure. Thanks

I'd probably be more concerned with the gearbox rather than up top, the filter in the pump pedestal would be my first port of call, before running for any length. The colour of the oil should tell you if it's been in there too long. External condition indicates not a huge amount of use, if those hollow gearbox shafts plug up with carbon muck though, a world of pain awaits.

Appears there might have been some exploration in the electricals at some stage, not unusual, but the clip cover over the long duct is gone. What was the thing mounted on the belt cover?

Originally Posted by BillE

What was the thing mounted on the belt cover?

That would be a collet closer arm bracket