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Did SB Ever Plate Any Parts?

mcload

Hot Rolled
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Location
Houston, Texas
Hello crew; I hope everyone is well.

I'm plugging away slowly on my '59 Mod.B 9", and I'm still at the stripping/painting stage.

Does anyone know offhand if SB ever plated any of the lathe parts in cad, zinc, or nickel?
Probably my imagination, but I thought I've seen flat pulleys (headstock or drive) that look like
plating of some sort had worn off in places. Or were they just made in ready-to-rust cast iron and
shipped that way? Sorry for the dumb question, and thank you in advance.

PMc

View attachment 295192
 
I don't believe any of my South Bend stuff was plated. But I have other machines that were, and I wouldn't mind refinishing some pieces. But I have zero knowledge on it, or what cost. If you get into it, or anyone else, I wouldn't mind seeing info.
 
I suspect the satin finish is a chrome plate of some type.

I have run milling machines that have chrome plateing on the handles. It's great until it starts flaking then it's only good for cutting you.
 
I don't believe any of my South Bend stuff was plated. But I have other machines that were, and I wouldn't mind refinishing some pieces. But I have zero knowledge on it, or what cost. If you get into it, or anyone else, I wouldn't mind seeing info.

From my experience with plating classic auto parts, I would probably choose hard chrome (unpolished) for the pulleys. Zinc would be cheapest but it's soft. Cadmium flakes and absorbs into the cast iron. Nickel would be over-doing it, and again, probably soft. Clear anodize?

Most places will have a minimum charge and I don't thing it would be worth it unless I had a lot of parts to do.
Thanks for the replies.

PMc

View attachment 295332 View attachment 295334
 
And I think the clean(er) spots are from running a multi-groove serpentine belt

+1

My 10L has features developing on the cone pulleys like this, and I have a serpentine belt. If the tracking is good, the
belt always stays in the same location on the OD of the pulley. The rubber is pretty abrasive.
 








 
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