9A - stuck feed change lever

Finally got my 644-R on it's stand. The lathe sat for most of the last 50 years, so it's clean, but hadn't moved.

No matter what position the half nut lever is in, I can't move the power feed lever. It should move with the half nut lever down, correct?

Can I get my fingers on whatever I need to play with to get the lock out pin disengaged, if that's what the problem is? I feel the lever clicking against something as when I move it up or down.

Rather not take anything apart if I don't have too. The bull gear pin took a lot of playing, but then moved like it was never stuck.

Thanks,
Rich

it helps if the star knob (clutch feed ) is loose and not tight.

HI Rich

There is a interlock pin that is about two inches long that passes through long hole in the casting. This pin intersects a notch in the half nut handle and then intersect a notch in the feed shifter cam. If this pin is rusty and frozen in one position you will not get the feed shifter to move. Your going to have to take the apron off and go through it.

Turk

IT SHOULD NOT MOVE with halfnuts engaged... The lockout pin keep you from engaging crossfeed AND
Halfnuts at once causing a mess....

I was afraid I'd have to take the apron off. I backed off the clutch, but that didn't help. Nothing is rusted, but lack of movement hasn't helped.

Thanks,
Rich

Rich,

I know from experience that the lockout pin needs to be able to move very freely in its bore. Any dirt build-up or gummy residue at all and you're doomed to disassemble. Not what you want to hear, I know.

Paula

Besides what's in the how to run a lathe book, is there any schematic of these?

Any tips?

Thanks,
Rich

Hi There,

The How To Run A Lathe doesn't have any
schematics. But here is a link to the Army's
Technical Manual that has parts breakdowns:

Army Technical lManual for SBL 9 Inch Lathes

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

Rich,

Though it's something of a Hail Mary, you might try squirting a bit of solvent (WD-40, etc.) on the end of the pin which protrudes from the apron casting (yellow arrow in picture below). With one of those long, flexible nozzles, you might just be able to accomplish this without removing the apron:



To give you a better idea of how the lockout pin mechanism goes together, see the picture below. The blue arrow shows the lockout pin, the purple arrow points to the feed selector lever cam surface, and the red arrow shows the hole where the pin emerges from the casting to contact the cam:



The green arrow below shows the inside of the lockout pin hole, where it contacts the half-nut lever:



Hope this is of some help. Let us know how it works out.

Paula

been sitting for 50 years and you don't intend to take apart and clean and oil, just turn on and make chips,will ruin a good lathe.
tommie

Thanks all, I haven't just turned on. I've drained out oil where I could and have been putting oil where it should go for months (basically when I'd pass it I'd put some into the various cups.)

I thought that would take care of getting it into the various wicks and I'd be fine without disassembly.

Am I wrong about that?
Rich

Sometimes it helps to rock the whole carriage back and forth a little with the wheel when trying to engage the longitudinal power feed. The rocking aids in engaging the gear teeth. Same thing applies with the power cross feed... It helps to move the cross slide feed knob a little as you try to move the lever to the power cross feed position.

Of course, this assumes that the interlock pin is not stuck in it's bore and the problem is simply that you're hitting blunt tooth tip to blunt tooth tip. They can be a little finicky at times.

And if all else fails, I'm a half hour from you and would be glad to help if you get stuck. (No pun intended ) At this point, I could probably disassemble and reassembly my apron blindfolded.

I thought that would take care of getting it into the various wicks and I'd be fine without disassembly.

Click to expand...

Depends on just how crusty and tarred up the wicks are. If they're packed solid with the wax from dried out fifty year old grease, then I doubt soaking in new oil will be enough to really clean them out. You might need a more aggressive solvent.

Hi everyone,

This is my first post and I know this is a very old thread but I have been searching trying to find a resolution for this problem.

Just to add to the 'curiosity' factor the Lathe in question is a Hercus ( Australian ) but is almost exactly like the South Bend 9a.

I tore the apron down and rebuilt it because the nut engagement handle was broken. All seemed well in the rebuild but I find that the feed engagement lever gets stuck in the middle position and I can't decide if this is a wiggle it and hope it works problem or an actual problem. Many years ago when I did my apprenticeship one of these lathes I don't think it ever worked this way. Also it is not clear to me how the nut engagement lever moves over the 'lock-out' pin. I see that the engagement lever has a groove in it and a cut out so you can drop it over the pin in to the hole of the apron. I feel like I took it all apart fine. Took pictures. Put it back together the same way it came apart. It really wasn't that hard. I tore it all down to nothing again to investigate. With nothing but the cam and the 'lock-out' pin I find that if I rock the cam from side to side the pin just stays engaged and does not shift. Is that the correct behaviour? The cut-out in the cam is not supposed to move it over? It takes a good solid wiggle to move it over and it isn't clear to me how the half nut engagement lever would ever move it back because it is not moved over far enough to poke out the hole on the other side and the half nut engagement lever just has a groove that is not 'cammed. I've included a couple of pictures so you can see how similar it is to the south bend setup as well. I asked in another forum and they said go ask the Hercus guys. But then I found this thread here which by the sounds of it is exactly the same problem!

A lathe that has been sitting for 50+ years should probably be disassembled to at least inspect the thing. A felt that is completely solid with dried oil and dirt will no longer deliver the oil where it is needed. As said above, this will ruin a good lathe in short order.

As for schematics, get the Ilion rebuilding book off ebay. Get both the book and the rebuild kit - both of these are worth their weights in beef and chicken.

SLK001 said:

A lathe that has been sitting for 50+ years should probably be disassembled to at least inspect the thing. A felt that is completely solid with dried oil and dirt will no longer deliver the oil where it is needed. As said above, this will ruin a good lathe in short order.

As for schematics, get the Ilion rebuilding book off ebay. Get both the book and the rebuild kit - both of these are worth their weights in beef and chicken.

Click to expand...

Totally agree; it's way past time for a good cleaning, re-felting and thorough oiling. It will probably not only fix your problem, but will solve many that you don't yet know about.

PMc

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OP on #13.....he s already had it apart ,this is not the +50 OP.....possibly a new title would be better.