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New to me 1929 wide (heavy?) 9" long bed and overhead silent drive casting trade

mattthemuppet

Stainless
Joined
Apr 22, 2016
Location
San Antonio
hi all,

I came across this SB wide 9 project a while ago while helping a "new to lathe work" guy set up his Clausing and last week he offered it to me for what he had in it as he has to move.

Plus sides are it was a price I could afford (more or less) at $400, everything had been cleaned, it was a 55" bed and it will be a far more capable lathe than the unmentionable (begins with At and ends with 618) I've been using for the last 5 years or so.

Down sides are that everything has been cleaned but not reassembled, it has some wear near the headstock (enough to catch a nail, haven't measured it yet), it came only with a 3 jaw chuck (no outside jaws) and no drive system. It originally shipped with an overhead silent chain drive, but I only have the main casting and nothing else (no plate or countershaft). I'll be making my own horizontal drive using some pillow block bearings, 1/2" alu plate and some poly-v pulleys.

Here's the bed
IMG_9777.jpg

Single tumbler gear box
IMG_9778.jpg

Apron
IMG_9779.jpg

Carriage, compound and a weird threaded but undrilled/ slotted face plate
IMG_9780.jpg

Headstock and tailstock
IMG_9781.jpg
 
Cushman chuck and carriage handwheel
IMG_9782.jpg

and the overhead drive casting
IMG_9783.jpg
IMG_9784.jpg
IMG_9785.jpg

I won't be able to start putting it back together in earnest until I've finished my current project (mountainbike fork damper rebuild) as I need to get the space back in my garage and free up my current lathe.

In the meantime - what to do with the overhead drive casting? Personally I'd prefer to trade it for stuff that I need (steady rest, 4 jaw chuck, 3 jaw chuck w/outside jaws, in that order) but would it be better to put it up on eBay and then use that money to buy what I need?

Oh, serial number is 42149, which puts it as a 1929 or 1930 build.
 
Slotted faceplate is not "weird"--It's for driving lathe dogs which were popular in days gone by for holding round stock for turning. Don't throw it away!
 
hi all,

I came across this SB wide 9 project a while ago while helping a "new to lathe work" guy set up his Clausing and last week he offered it to me for what he had in it as he has to move.

Plus sides are it was a price I could afford (more or less) at $400, everything had been cleaned, it was a 55" bed and it will be a far more capable lathe than the unmentionable (begins with At and ends with 618) I've been using for the last 5 years or so.

Down sides are that everything has been cleaned but not reassembled, it has some wear near the headstock (enough to catch a nail, haven't measured it yet), it came only with a 3 jaw chuck (no outside jaws) and no drive system. It originally shipped with an overhead silent chain drive, but I only have the main casting and nothing else (no plate or countershaft). I'll be making my own horizontal drive using some pillow block bearings, 1/2" alu plate and some poly-v pulleys.

Here's the bed
View attachment 302258

Single tumbler gear box
View attachment 302259

Apron
View attachment 302260

Carriage, compound and a weird threaded but undrilled/ slotted face plate
View attachment 302262

Headstock and tailstock
View attachment 302263

I think that is a back plate that can be used to mount a chuck, I don't believe it's a face plate.
 
yes, I think it's an unfinished back plate too, though it's a bit larger than I'd expect at 7 1/2". I'll see what shows up by way of chucks before I do anything to it. If I end up with what I need without using it I'll cut a slot for a drive dog and drill/ tap a grid of holes for hold downs.

Making good progress on my other project, so shouldn't be too long before I can start working on some of the different assemblies.
 
nothing particularly noteworthy, just puttering around between work and chores. Cleaned all the old oil and grease out of the leadscrew
IMG_9792.jpg

and wirebrushed the paint off the rim and peg of the carriage handwheel. This isn't going to be a show queen by any stretch, but painted handwheels look the pits. Gave it a rub with Mothers and a coating of oil to stop it rusting while I'm waiting. It'll get covered in oil as soon as I start using the lathe :)
IMG_9791.jpg
 
stripped, cleaned and regreased/ oiled the Cushman chuck. Seemed pretty light, with some wear at the very tips of the grooves on the back of the scroll (pinion?).
IMG_9799.jpg
IMG_9800.jpg

Apron worm housing and key had a bunch of wear, which allowed the worm to move back and forth in the housing and a large degree of rotation on the lead screw. Knocked out the pin, unscrewed the collar and saw the reason for the longitudinal slop - a groove worn by the collar.
IMG_9801.jpg

Put it on the lathe (didn't trust my vise on the mill) and turned off the worn area plus a little bit extra. Reassembled the worm and measured the gap with feeler gauges to figure out the thickness of the washer I needed to make.
IMG_9803.jpg

All the parts. Added new felt too..
IMG_9804.jpg

Made a new leadscrew key out of O1 ground stock, that just happened to be almost exactly the right size. Fits nicely now with no slop.
 
finished up the apron. Cleaned out all the oil passages, put in new felts in those and the cross feed and rack gear shafts. Had to make a new nut for the rack gear shaft as I could find one in the collection of parts. Turned out ok, although the thread depth is a little shallow as I screwed up when boring it out (misread my drill chart). Bit pissed at myself about that, not that it really matters.
IMG_9807.jpg

apron all together
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IMG_9809.jpg

bit of wear on the worm gear and half nuts, but not too bad, especially for a 90 year old machine.

Have to think what to do next - tail stock or carriage. I'm going to be doing Halligan's tailstock travel mod, so I might get stuck into that first. Plus I have to wait to get the compound screw+bracket and gear cover from the previous owner.
 
drilled and plumbed a couple of oil galleries for the tailstock. Drilled 5/32 all the way through (only long bit I had of the right size) then 3/16 on the flat way side. Turned down the end to 5/32 of a couple of pieces of 3/16 brake line a friend gave me and tapped them into place. After I do some work on a job application I'll cross drill the flat ways into each pipe, then use a small ball nose end mill to cut some channels for oil distribution. I'll grind a couple of small ones into each V-way. Then I need to make some oil cups and way wipers..
IMG_98081.jpg
IMG_9810.jpg
 
bleh, not my proudest work, but it'll do. Only screwed up once - put it in the 4 jaw the wrong way round, so ended up a lot thinner than intended!

chunk of 1/2" scrap
IMG_9815.jpg

now an oil cup! I'll make a little cap or plug later.
IMG_9817.jpg
IMG_9818.jpg

shot of the flat way oil grooves. 3/32 ball nose from memory, not quite full diameter depth.
IMG_9819.jpg
 
plodding along. Finished the tailstock oil cups yesterday, so making way wipers today. No bets on how long it will take me to lose one of those caps!
IMG_9826.jpg
also cut the oil grooves for the v way
IMG_9827.jpg
 
..."shot of the flat way oil grooves. 3/32 ball nose from memory, not quite full diameter depth."...
View attachment 303045

That is really impressive work to me but I am curious if you read somewhere that this is a needed upgrade or if you are just applying your vision of a better system for oil distribution? Is this how modern machines keep the TS from wearing?
 
thanks Kevin! More of an ease of use/ it's already in pieces type deal. I had problems with the tailstock on my current lathe moving smoothly down the bed plus it was a bear to get oil underneath. Once I put in an oiler and oil channels I didn't have any problems at all and could even adjust the tailstock a smidge tighter too. Plus it makes oiling stuff easy = more likely to do so. No idea about modern lathes, but my mill has a one shot oiler that hits every way surface.

Doesn't hurt that this plus way wipers will keep wear to a minimum either - this old girl is at least 90 years old :)
 
got a bit distracted from working on the tailstock. Made a couple of way wiper covers for the flat ways, looked at the V ways and decided to work on the carriage instead.

cross slide screw was bent in a couple of places and there was a ton of back and forth slop. Fixed the bends first and it's mostly ok. Any better would take a dial indicator and my hydraulic press and I want to put it back together first and see if it's an issue.

I also wanted to add a thrust bearing, because, well who wouldn't right? I had one just the right size from a scavenged bed lift motor but needed a way to get it inside a housing. The cross slide screw housing was kinda boogered up, so I turned that down some, then made a sleeve to press over it.
IMG_9870.JPG

Pressed it on, then bored it to depth and ID. Made the inner thrust bearing race a tight fit and the rest of the housing was bored to fit the dial.
IMG_9871.JPG

Modded a little ball oiler so some oil would come out the side
IMG_9874.JPG

Then pressed it in
IMG_9877.JPG

Also cut a small groove leading to the ball oiler and slightly notched the inner thrust bearing race so that the thrust bearing would get some oil
IMG_9875.JPG
 
in goes the thrust bearing
IMG_9876.JPG

Needed a way of locking the dial so made a small 10-24 thumb screw out of brass
IMG_9879.JPG

Knurling is kinda nasty, but not bad for a bump knurler on a small unmentionable. The following also shows why a bigger lathe = better :)
IMG_9878.JPG

All back together
IMG_9880.JPG

It's pretty smooth, with a slight catch every turn probably from a slight bend somewhere.

Next up, ball oilers for the carriage.
 
picked up the gear cover and compound screw assembly from the seller today, lathe catalogue no. is 382-R which is neat to know
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also got a steadyrest!!
IMG_9894.jpg

and finished off the carriage. Drilled oil holes from the bottom and then used a 6mm endmill from the top to fit ball oilers to each wing.
IMG_9882.jpg

added oil grooves and very carefully filed of the wear lip. I know it doesn't fix the wear, but it will allow old oil to get out from under there more easily.
IMG_9883.jpg
 
drilled and tapped 5/16-18 holes opposite the ones for the follow rest. I'll be using those for a DRO, so these will do if I ever need to fab a follow rest. I'll fill them with a couple of set screws until needed.
IMG_9884.jpg

drilled and tapped a couple of holes for a DRO mounting point. Easier to do now than later.
IMG_9885.jpg

All put back together and tucked away until everything goes together.
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​big milestone today, well it certainly feels like it after reassembling the compound countless times - the carriage is finished! Got a bunch of stuff done.

- compound screw was all seized together. Had to drill out the taper pin AND the set screw in the dial, then press the screw out of the housing. Bleh. Ground a flat on the end of the screw and used a set screw to secure the handle to the screw, plus made a brass thumb screw for the dial.
IMG_9913.jpg

- checked the gibs. Cross slide was bent and twisted. I very carefully bent it back to straight using a jig, then filed/ sanded it until it was more or less flat. This is what it looked like after bending it straight but before I finished filing it.
IMG_9908.jpg

Compound gib was flat but bent down at the end like a hockey stick. No way I could bend that back so I ground the edge flat with the rest, then filed down the high spots.

- Added a ball oiler to oil the cross slide ways on both sides. They're a pain to oil, so figured this would make it easier and more effective. 5/32 hole drilled through the cross slide from the tail stock side, then drilled out for the oiler. Holes were then drilled from the bottom to connect the oiler to the dovetail ways.
IMG_9909.jpg

hmm, really should have done it from the other side! Oh well.
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- drilled the cross slide nut bolt all the way through and pushed in a ball oiler. Glad I bought a pack of 20 now!
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