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Yes, it's nice to get a tool holder that is designed for your lathe size.

Your spindle doesn't appear to be hardened, so you shouldn't have any problems facing a little off.

Yes, it does, but usually only in the first couple of years. I've heard stories that in early years, South Bend would actually bury their castings for a couple of years in their back lot. A casting...

Except that those devices were designed to be shimmed. Your headstock was not. That's why I wanted you to be doubly-triply sure that there wasn't something embedded in either the ways or the HS. ...

I haven't been cranky, have I?




I have never been a proponent of restoring any of the old SB lathes to "factory specs". Cleaning and refelting is one thing, but a complete "restore" is a...

Do you know if the bed and the HS are original?

Instead of shimming the HS, pull the thing and search for embedded chips in both the HS and ways. Look very closely, because if there is one, it...

So, you have TWO test bars, one for each machine taper?

Is the inside of the taper scored? Why do you think you need that special taper reamer?

It doesn't take that long. It's pretty much instantaneous. Your hand on it should tell you that.

I would say that leveling a lathe gives the leveler a quick appreciation as to how much cast iron...

What you show on your level is much better than 0.0005".

Isn't each mark on your level 0.0005" at 12"?

Instead of using shims, why don't you use the holes and add some leveling feet?

Something like this:

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=283168&d=1585448386

Not so. The "old" oil is at the bottom of the sump, while the "fresh" stuff is on the top. It is a non-circulating system, so all the old oil with all the settled out particles is in the sump. All...

What made you think that the GITS oilers were necessary? With all the South Bends out there from this era, many would have spindle damage from lack of lube if this was necessary. Even the newer...

That's not their purpose. They are there to break the surface tension of the oil film so that it continually flows from the spindle back to the sump. Apparently, if they aren't there, oil builds up...

Everyone should remember that a babbitt bearing was cast into the Leadscrew Support Bracket on the right end after things were aligned. I wish I had the alignment procedure from SB.

It looks like your machine started life in a high school metal working shop.

I imagine that the speeds listed are for a factory installed motor and pulley. If an end user installs their own motor and pulley, especially pulleys of different diameters, the ratios will be the...

I guess that it is what you would call complete, as it shows all the speeds available. Here's the chart from someone's posted .pdf of HTRAL. It is from the 55th edition.
...

There's a chart in HTRAL that gives the approximate spindle speeds in RPM. It's on page 23 of the 56th edition. It shows the top speed of a 16" to be around 980 RPM, so you may be just fine. And...

The bad part about using grease (and the reason why SB didn't use and recommended against it) is that any swarf that comes in contact with grease will be HELD by the grease for all of eternity...