Filthy Beast.

[Eddyde]

10" South Bend Tool Room lathe, needs a bath.

I scored a deal a 10" X 3 1/2' toolroom lathe off of CL a couple of weeks ago, Model 8187-Z. It has a placard indicating its a WWII era machine. It was, still is partially, covered in caked on grease and filth but no signs of rust, there are a couple of dings in the ways near the tailstock that will need to be scraped out but otherwise she looks pretty decent. Anyway, its a big upgrade from my 9"x3' change gear, bench model. It probably needs a complete teardown and rebuild but I have way too much on my plate right now and it will have to wait. In the meantime, I just want to get it up and running well enough to get me through my CNC Mill conversion that's looming in the near future,
So far, I spent about 8 hrs. just cleaning the cross/compound, tail stock 3/J chuck and main gear train. I have yet to do the motor compartment, QC gearbox, back gears, chip pan… I have been using a mixture of WD-40 and Mineral Spirits and various brushes to cut the filthy grease to but its slow going, Does any one know a faster way to clean this beast?
I had a couple of other questions as well:
I need to replace the V belt between the motor and countershaft it is very badly worn with cords sloughing off of it. I cut it and measured its length @ 43” and the top of the pulley is ⅝” wide, so the assumption is its a 5L 430. However it was so old I was wondering if it could have stretched at all and I need a shorter 5L 420 instead?
Also, the lathe is in my “dream shop” located in in my retirement home to be, about 100 miles north of where I live. I forgot to measure the threads on the set screws that lock the dials on the cross/compound feeds, before I left Sunday. I want to order some small thumb screws and the belt from McMaster before I go back up next weekend. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Eddy

 

[rafe]

I can check the threads tomorrow, I made some a year back nice knurled heads on them ....they work nice,and look great ....my lathe is similar vintage 14 1/2 ....love it oil yours up and use it keep it lubed

 

[FOMOGO]

As to cleaning, I would use a pressure washer to knock off the heavy stuff, then soak it with engine degreaser and pressure wash again. Blow it off with compressed air immediately and then use a moisture dispursent like WD-40 or similar. Mike

 

[moxie]

Nice looking little beast. I really like South Bends and have owned 5 over the years. I still have a 10" and a 13".

For the past week I've also been de-mucking a lathe. I bought a 15" LeBlond for a really fair price from a machinery dealer in CT., but boy it sure was dirty and greasy. I found for the last layer of dried on old varnish like deposit, WD-40 or Kerosene and a square of plastic window screening as a mild scrubber seemed to work well. Simple green also works pretty well for the last clean up on the paint.

I'll also check on the thread size of the dial locks.

Dave

 

[RWL]

Re: 10" South Bend Tool Room lathe, needs a bath.

Does any one know a faster way to clean this beast?

I use room temperature spray on Easy Off Oven Cleaner. It's remarkable how fast this works. Nothing I've tried has worked as quickly as this. Over the years I've tried Kerosene, near full strength purple engine cleaner, Simple Green, and the oven cleaner was the fastest. Spray small areas and wipe with a paper towel, or scrape. It works pretty quickly, the grease running off almost as soon as it's hit with the spray in some areas. Don't let it sit on for long periods since it can soften the paint, thus spray on small areas that you can work on within maybe 5 minutes. You can let it sit on thick layers for a little longer. The purple cleaner also can soften paint. I picked this tip up from a retired machinist from whom I bought one of my K O Lee tool and cutter grinders.

One thing I've found for cleaning my greasy hands that really works is to put some full strength Dawn dishwashing liquid directly on my hands and rub it in before adding any water. If you put water on first, it just doesn't clean nearly as well. It works better than GoJo or the orange cleaners that I've tried. The down side is that this really dries out your skin. I can't use any of those hand cleaners in winter or I develop thumb cracks / winter splits.

 

[PeteH]

There are products called "barrier cream" that you can put on your hands before working with messy stuff, that form a barrier to protect your skin.

When I used them - oh, 30-40 years ago - there was one kind to protect against water-based soils, and one for non-aqueous soils. The first kind had to wear off; the second kind -- the kind you'd use for grease etc. -- would act as a release agent so when you washed your hands, the muck would (nearly) all slide right off.

 

[LarryJ]

As to cleaning, I would use a pressure washer to knock off the heavy stuff, then soak it with engine degreaser and pressure wash again. Blow it off with compressed air immediately and then use a moisture dispursent like WD-40 or similar. Mike

I second this. Put sticks or toothpicks in vents to the gearcase, but you'll be changing the oil anyway.

 

[vforce61]

My mill looked worse than that, I used mean green & pressure washer a few times after drying painted with por 15 looks like new now.

 

[Eddyde]

Many Thanks for all the responses. I thought of pressure washing, but the day it was delivered the weather was freezing rain and I just had to get it into the shop. Now that's in the basement, I think that option is off the table. I do like the oven cleaner approach, I will definitely give it a try.
Yes if I could get the dial lock setscrew size, it would be awesome.
I also received the "Lathe Card" today:

 

[razinman]

Eddyde,

Love the one you got, I live on L.I. and been looking for one JUST LIKE THAT for 3 months, Where did you
find it ?(You said on CL but where ?)

Thanks.............Kerry