I suggest you do a complete inspection of the lathe which gives careful attention to the following items: 1. Condition of the bed ways. Look for wear points, damage from a crash [most common in the area under the chuck] but it could be anywhere along the bed travel of the center rest, or the tail stock. 2. Condition of the gibs everywhere there are gibs. These are the little traveler pieces that take up slack in the various moving pieces of the center rest, and keep the lathe cutting accurately, [removes free play and leaves just enough clearance to hold a layer of oil] .. also, each of the gibs should have a "gib wiper seal" which keeps chips and debri from getting between the gibs and the way they travel on. If the gib wiper seals are dry and hard, the lathe operator contributed to its abuse. 3. Check all the lead screws for wear and excess free play. Lead screws are what keep tight cutting tool position, so if they have wear you don't have an accurate, repeatable cutting lathe.. ALSO.. each lead screw runs against a lead screw nut, which should have been kept lubricated and should not be worn [but often are].. You will find typically 3 lead screws, 1.a. A lead screw that lays under the bed front and moves the cross slide back and forth. Visual inspect it for wear, also, that lead screw is engaged via a split nut, which lets you move the center rest [with cutting tool] by hand or, by closing the split nut and engaging the lead screw, let the lathe drive the cut to the cut speed you have selected, or, to make threads [again, via the gear selection you made ]... If the lead screw is worn, OR the split nut is worn, threads won't cut right, long smooth cuts won't be made. 2.a There will be two more lead screws in the cross slide, both with fixed nuts, unless the lathe has power cross slide, then they will be split nuts. Again, inspect closely for wear, amount of free play, etc.. rule is, more free play yields sloppy cut control and less accurate results. 4. Chuck [or chucks] what does it have and how beat up are they? 5. Tailstock tooling... what does it come with? 6. Does it have a collet adapter that lets you chuck and hold small parts for repeat cuts and production of small parts? 7. Look at and carefully inspect the gearbox.. are the bearings tight or worn, are the gears in good condition, or is there evidence of damage? 8. What type of drive is used to get the power from the motor to the lathe? Is it flat belt or V belt.. [1938 would most likely have been flat belt drive as delivered,, has it been converted, if so, was it done nicely.. 9. Electronics? Visually inspect the work of whoever did it to ensure it was done nicely,,, not a kluge job. 10. Replacement parts: Are they available, from where, and for how much. Is there a parts manual and a maintenance manual anywhere in the world? You will find 1938 manuals for machine tools are extremely detailed and written for the presumed professional machinist... which is refreshing. Good luck, and enjoy it, making things is the male equal of female shopping. [Don't forget the tool shopping list to support your new addiction, ]
On Sun, Jan 8, 2023 at 9:36 AM Floyd Thursby via Mercedes < mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > A few years ago I looked at an old South Bend lathe. These were a > standard back when and very well built but I read that you have to check > the bearings on them to make sure they aren't worn out with a lot of > play. i suppose the same cautions would apply to any piece of machinery > several decades old. It appeared that SB parts were fairly readily > available, I don't know about this brand > > --FT > > On 1/8/23 12:52 AM, Dimitri Seretakis via Mercedes wrote: > > Anyone know anything about these? Seems like they are well regarded. > Considering getting one. It’s a 1939 vintage, has updated electrics, > whatever that means. > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > To search list archiveshttp://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > -- > --FT > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
