9' South Bend Wicks and Spindle/belt Issue.

I've not done the wick replacement in my 9" South Bend lathe, sn 8929NAR8 which I believe makes it a 1948 made machine and would like to do it as well as check out my spindle bearings. I see many kits on eBay but they all have said for horizontal drive only and mine has the motor below in the cabinet. Mine has the 90 degree gitz oilers that are mounted to the front of the spindle and while I do check and add spindle oil on a regular basis it seems there is little consumption of the oil as the oilers are usually nearly full each time I check them. Makes me wonder if oil is getting where it needs to be. Anybody have a link to the right kit? While running the machine tonight, it didn't want to come up to speed which adds to my concern.
Also, my belt always runs to the gear at the small end of the cone pulley and rubs and rides against the edge of the gear when I am running it on the small pulley. I find this odd since it tracks properly on the other two pulleys. Any thoughts on this issue?
Thanks for your help and advice!

Gazz said:

it seems there is little consumption of the oil as the oilers are usually nearly full each time I check them. Makes me wonder if oil is getting where it needs to be.

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Not using oil is not a bad thing. The oil is just returning more properly.

Not a 9", its a 16" but see the outer gutter and drain hole in bottom of the gutter ? Instead of slinging oil all around, it should return this way.



Also you surely would have locked up if you were not getting oil.

By placing your hand on the spindle caps while running, feel the temperature. Some say a little warm is ok, but not sure what that means. But if I start feeling a temperature rise, I'd back off speed or shutdown for a little cool down period.

The spindle oiling system is one of the few non flow-through systems on your lathe. That means that oil is re-used, so you probably won't see the oil level drop that much. If your spindle caps aren't getting too warm, then you probably are okay.

As for your alignment, you need to post photos to better explain your problem. Is the belt new? How is it joined? What type of belt is it?

Your lathe is fairly rare, being an underdrive 9". 95% of 9" models are horizontal drives. That said, the horizontal kit will probably work for you, with some modifications. I say probably, because I don't have a 9" UDM lathe and have never seen the kit. I would say to get the horizontal kit, because it will work for everything but the headstock and will probably even work with the headstock with some mods. My only concern would be the wicks for the spindle ends. As I disassembled the HS, I would immediately compare the old wicks to the new (especially the ones with the spring). The kit contains enough extra felt to construct any slightly different wick configurations. When you get your kit, make sure you get the rebuild manual, too. Even though the headstocks are different, the rest of your lathe will be covered fairly well.

Thanks for the responses. Interesting about a closed loop thing for the HS oil. My belt is a synthetic from Al Bino and has been on there several years. I'll try and get some pictures today.

The first image shows how the belt is biased to the gear when the machine is running. The second picture shows the belt riding on the pulley where it should be which happens immediately when I shut the power off.

Gazz said:

The first image shows how the belt is biased to the gear when the machine is running. The second picture shows the belt riding on the pulley where it should be which happens immediately when I shut the power off.

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I would try to dial in some lighter tension on that belt and see what happens. I don't think you need all that much with those belts.

How is the belt joined? If it is joined skewed, it's possible to get this bias. Also, does the pulley still have the crown? Is there movement in either pulley without tension on the belt? It should be solid on the shafts.

The belt is skived and joined with some glue that was provided with the belt. I was very careful to make sure that it was aligned properly. Also think if that was the issue it would run to the left on all three pulleys but it doesn't. I check for the crown tomorrow.

Check to see that the top and bottom pulley are planar.

SLK001 said:

Check to see that the top and bottom pulley are planar.

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Yeah, I agree with SLK and Kevin. Clearly, something is going out of alignment with torque from motor;
doesn't take much.

I wouldn't rule out the belt itself either...stranger things have happened ya' know.
Just for grins, turn the belt inside out to see what happens.

PMc

Its not the belt. I use a belt made from fiberglass reinforced packing tspe and i run it until it falls apart (the crown fatigues the strands in the middle of the belt)

Anyhow youve got 3 degrees of freedom that matter. Left right alignment axially, twist, and tilt. Doesnt take much.

Also the crown of those pulleys may have been machined by hand. Mine are not symetrical, each one is a bit diferent.