A lathe finally! Craftsman 12x36 101.27440

[jfcayron]

Craftsman 12x36 101.27440 Resto started and gloat

Well, I finished my inside gate project yesterday (does it qualify as a machining project? I drilled and tapped six holes on my XLO mill.)

Of course I had to do SOMETHING to the lathe, so I started with that big chuck that came on it.
It turns out it is a Buck Chuck Ajust-Tru (this is the correct spelling) 7.5" 3-jaw (model #4733).
This deal gets better by the day!

Apart from surface rust and dried-out grease it seems good as new. I will de-rust it soon.
Here are the pictures.

 

[jumps4]

this is getting better all the time
nice
steve

 

[SamIAm]

nice take apart post! look forward t0 some before and after rust pics.

 

[jfcayron]

nice take apart post! look forward t0 some before and after rust pics.

Well, you already have the "before" ones :lmao:

 

[jfcayron]

I experimented with electrolytic rust removal, successfully I must say.



The first victim was this toolpost/holder as it would be less of a problem if anything got damaged.
Before, the non-tightened square bolts would not move at all by hand.



After, you could turn them with 2 fingers. What seems to be remaining rust turns out to be a greasy coating with embedded steel dust. A bit of acetone removed it.
See the final result in the next post, where the chuck was cleaned as well.

 

[jfcayron]

After electro-cleanup and acetone cleaning, the chuck came back together and is now smooth as can be.

 

[jfcayron]

Now the serious stuff!

I took down the quick-change gear box. The lead screw was frozen solid, time to find out what the problem was.
Every gear, every part was coated with a varnish-looking black substance, like some black, very thick grease.

After taking apart the thing, it all went into the acetone bath.
I have no idea what "they" put in this gearbox, but it was made in hell!
Imagine thick, half dried glue (like liquid nails) but black. It does not wipe off the hands, it is nearly impossible to remove with soap, and it took 3 applications of the gritty hand cleaner to get most of it out.
The acetone got saturated really quick, and the parts still required considerable scrubbing until they came out about clean.

I am used to dipping parts in acetone, shaking a bit and wiping clean. This time it was a true nightmare.

At the end of the day, 2 gears were found to be broken: a 40-tooth one (already got the replacement) and a compound 10-1552x as seen in the picture.
I will start chasing a replacement, please let me know if you come across a specimen.

 

[rickard]

That looks like it was a deal and should go back together REAL NICE with some TLC

 

[Old Iron]

Doing a great job on it Jeff, And a good score on the chuck its worth more than what you payed for all of it.

Paul

 

[rickard]

Jeff,

Harris makes low temperature solders (400F) and their "Stay-Clean" fluxes. Soldering Diecast is a little tricky though because the melting point of the solder is close to the melting point of the zinc diecast. If you are good with a torch it'll work fine, otherwise you may want to explore other options.

Tom

Tom, Jeff, Torch is not the way to go with those Kind of Solders, you'll want a a Good High Wattage Soldering Iron like an Unger Iron used by Stain Glass people. IT will Give you better control with no Metal Evaporation. You'll also want to Pre-Heat the area you're going to flux so the flux sizzles on contact then add more flux, so the solder will flow better. and once the joint cools Wash the Part in HOT SOAPY Water with a scrub brush. and a good 98-2 Silver Solder is best