1922 south bend 9'' lathe restore ......New stuff

[Vealmonkey]

Let me say I've really enjoyed this post. Very informational and I like the old really cool stuff anyway. Reminds me of being at work. The machinists at work have been giving me some lessons but I'm really just learning. I hope to see many more pages of info here. It would be a shame for this thread to fade out. SWIGIN, are we going to see some custom parts being made? It sounds like we should have a field trip to your house soon.

[honda250sx]

Cade, They do make a machine grey powdercoat. I have done some parts for a friend. The only bad part is that these lathes are usually contaminated with alot of oil. Which makes them harder to powdercoat because when you heat the parts off the outgas the oil residue. Hence why it is important to BAKE OUT the powder

[honda250sx]

Steve,
Once again. I hate you! Haha. j/k. Thats what friends say when they are in ENVY!

What you have there looks period correct for the date you mention. It is almost certain that the 8-inch "Junior", was the first South Bend lathe to use a remarkably effective system of economical manufacture where the headstock spindle was hardened and subjected to a "super-finishing" technique that allowed it to run directly in the cast iron of the headstock. Given just a modicum of lubrication this arrangement (also used on many of the later and even more popular 9-inch Workshop models) appear to give the bearings an almost unlimited life. Interestingly, not all models were so equipped for examples of the 8-inch lathe have been found with "babbit" (white-metal ) bearings and in some years the 9-inch was offered in a basic 6-speed form with an unhardened spindle and a top speed of around 630 rpm (whilst the hardened-spindle version had 12 speeds reaching as high as 1250 rpm) and also with bronze bushes - though the latter have only been discovered when lathes have been stripped down and were not mentioned in contemporary catalogs.

The first small South Bend lathe entered the catalogues in the early 1920s as the 9" Junior New Model. This was, in effect, a 10" lathe with reduced centre height and had almost nothing in common with the much more famous and popular 9" model introduced in 1934 and called by South Bend the "Workshop" model. Whilst parts from the original 10" lathe (the screwcutting gearbox and power-feed apron for example) can, with a little fiddling, be made to fit the Junior models, bits from the later 9" "Workshop" lathes cannot be used. As an example of the design changes between the two an examination of the tumble-reverse mechanism would show that the 9" Junior, like its larger cousins, featured a spring-loaded, solid-bronze lever and brass-covered handle with positive indent location - whilst the later 9" lathe had a much simpler plain, cast lever, clamped in place with a bolt. Even though it was an inexpensive model the 9" Junior followed South Bend's original practice of using phosphor-bronze bushes, lined bored, lapped and adjustable for wear.

8" Junior New Model South Bend,This was the baby of the range and only offered for sale during 1931, 1932 and 1933 - although it is possible that some unsold stock might have lingered on into 1934. Everything was done to both produce the lathe as economically as possible and distance it in desirability from its very much more expensive brothers. Although both the spindle bore (at 3/4") and collet capacity were the same as the 9" version, the spindle ran in the cast-iron of the headstock, the nose was reduced in size from 11/2" to 13/8" and given a 10 rather than an 8 tpi thread. Both the headstock spindle and tailstock centres were taken down from the usual No. 2 to a rather miserable No. 1 Morse taper, the drive belt was narrowed by 1/4" to a 1-inch width and the compound slide assembly was more lightly constructed with a smaller capacity toolpost. At around this time the beautiful but expensive and time-consuming black "Japanning" finish was dropped and the lathes finished in ordinary oil resistant paint of a dark grey slightly tinted with blue. The 8" Junior was listed with various between-centres capacities from as little as 61/2" to 301/2".
A wide variety of stands and countershaft-drive systems was offered for both the 8" and 9" Junior, from simple rear-mounted 3-speed units to complex under-drive systems built into solidly-constructed stands.
One option exclusive to the 8-inch (and only offered in the dedicated advertising sheets) was to have a single, plain slide instead of the compound unit - and if this was chosen then, in 1932, the cheapest 8" lathe could be whittled down to just $98, and the cheapest 9" $160 - a considerable saving in a time of economic depression and widespread unemployment.

[ProCarbine2k1]

Funny how you guys are talking lathes, I was getting ready to post some pics up of my Crafstman (Atlas or Dunlap, not sure) I bought last week. Ill make a seperate post in a couple days, but it has me pretty excited.
I love these benchtop machines! Learning to machine, and learning to weld have been a couple of the greatest things I chose to do. We are big on vocational programs in central Ohio, and I am a believer as well.. Nice looking lathes guys!

[SWIGIN]

Looks nice SWIGIN!! Mine is supposedly a 1928.







I used oil based Rustoleum machine grey and it's help up very well.

I wish I had the legs for it!! Got for 100$ off the WantAd.

Like Jeff said, I need a heavy 10 - the large spindle thru hole and quick change gear box rule!!

nice lathe DC...thats the closest one iv seen yet to looking like mine. my apron has 2 star knobs and the screw cutting lever but the head on your looks just like mine.

i was at HRE tonight, i was showing him some of my stuff and he whiped up a spacer for my flat pulleys (the ones that are mounted behind yours) turns out my buddy was running it with the pulls rubbing on the pully stand....

i might go back to HRE tomorrow and i'll try to rember to get some pics of his 2 south bends....one is a 8'' little thing and the other is a ''newer'' 9'' that i'll guess is from the 50s.

but dude i LOVE the way you have your pullys mounted with that ajuster rod...i'll have to get a pic of how my buddy has the pullys and motor mounted, he had them on the wall but i think i can make his setup use gravity to keep the belt tight.

[SWIGIN]

Let me say I've really enjoyed this post. Very informational and I like the old really cool stuff anyway. Reminds me of being at work. The machinists at work have been giving me some lessons but I'm really just learning. I hope to see many more pages of info here. It would be a shame for this thread to fade out. SWIGIN, are we going to see some custom parts being made? It sounds like we should have a field trip to your house soon.

you bet i'll be makeing parts..... no more then before (well maybe more...lol) but now i will be able to make them at home instead of running to HRE and useing his shop.

[SWIGIN]

i have a question, whats the thing called on the left end of your lathe with the red handle and it has 2 gears on it?

mine works fine but the gear towards the back has a few teeth missing and i need to know what im looking for.

also my back gear is missing 2 teeth on the small gear end and i see your not useing your back gear.....do you have it and want to sell it?

if not will any 9'' south bend gears fit either of these 2 places?

[Vealmonkey]

I was just down looking at our one lathe here at work and noticed it is a south bend. I did get some info off of it. It says Catalog CL 145C, Bed 6
And the bed has a label Bed Ways Flame Hardened It also has the number16663T and the machine base has a plate that says the serial number is 16663T and there is also a number 3.413.D and then it has some electric motor information on it, but that plate isn't very readable. Can you tell me about this machine if that info makes any sense.

[Dirtcrasher]

i have a question, whats the thing called on the left end of your lathe with the red handle and it has 2 gears on it?

mine works fine but the gear towards the back has a few teeth missing and i need to know what im looking for.

also my back gear is missing 2 teeth on the small gear end and i see your not useing your back gear.....do you have it and want to sell it?

if not will any 9'' south bend gears fit either of these 2 places?

I believe thats for reversing the lead screw. I have the full set of change gears but I have an issue with one gear that got fixed a thousand times so I'm not using it right now. I was going to try and find a treadmill and use the variable drive to run my lead screw.

I built that whole motor bracket and adjuster. I have SO many hours into this lathe it's crazy!!

I have the full backgear setup too, I just wanted to make new eccentric bushings.

I like this lathe, there's allot of history in it.... But, I need to cut threads and hold bigger materials so it will be sold at some point. Most likely when I find a 3 phase heavy 10 for about 1500$. I do not have the room for 2 lathes

Sadly, not unlike our trikes, these get parted out and the beds get thrown away. The gears and other parts get some good cash on EBAY.

[SWIGIN]

today i painted the carage and cleaned up the apron and apron gears.

i never had an apron off before...theres a ton of stuff going on in that thing.

in the first pic you can see what i found in the pile of stuff that came with this lathe....its a add on chip guard, i bolted it on but need to paint it yet.

second pic is the back of the apron and the third pic is whats all behind it. the last pic is that handle to change the lead screw direction.

today at HRE i was makeing a new stud for my lathe on his little south bend 8'' and i got to looking at that handle on his and it had a cool spring loaded lever atached to the handle.

mine had nothing and if the bolt was loose the lever would fall causing it to ruin the teeth (like it did) if it was running. so we started to mod my handle so you have to press on the new lever on the handle to let it change settings. its only 1/2 done and when its done you wont know thats a bolt. thats spring is sunk 1/2 way into the handle and the new lever so it wont fly out. and the bolt and the bottom of the new lever is drilled 1/8 for a roll pin to act like a piviot point..... more to come on this later

hope that made sence, im bad at describing things

[blue27]

I vote color Blue, of course, you need to be different. Plus when you get that thing running I have work for you,lol.

[SWIGIN]

I vote color Blue, of course, you need to be different. Plus when you get that thing running I have work for you,lol.

i like blue too and if it pisses off HRE then i REALY like blue....lol



heres what i did today on it


first and second pic is the apron all together and ready to go

pic 3 4 5 is just a few shots of it together for now....i did polish up my knobs and a few other things.

last pic is the new lever im working on...i got a roll pin down threw it to act like a piviot and cleand up the piviot bolt some.

[SWIGIN]

here are the 2 south bend lathes HRE has and the HUGE 18'' monster that was built in the 1800s.

first pic is the monster...the thing was steam driven when it was new...lol

the rest of the lathe pices are his 8'' and 9'' south bends

the last pic is his mill combo machine

he uses these every day and i love the little 8'' lathe....i made some parts for my 9'' on it the other day.

[SWIGIN]

i just signed up on a lathe site and they have a great collection of south bend info.

it seems my lathe is way older then i thought and it look alot like this 1930 model. my lathe has 2 star knobs on the apron, this seems to be a 20s-30s design and take a look at the half nut lever (on the right of the apron) it looks just like mine.

my buddy still has not gave me the book for my lathe but it seems if it is a book for a 1941 than its not realy for mine.

i just noticed that pic says my lathes crated weight was 415 pounds...no wonder it felt so heavy....lol

[SWIGIN]

i found a site that breaks down the serial numbers by year........it looks to be a 1922

since my serial number is 27,292 that puts it in 1922 and he has no lathes with a 27,200 number....i'll have to get ahold of him.

http://www.wswells.com/serial_number.html