Found this old South Bend lathe and it followed me home

olddude said:
Yes, it is when we unloaded it off the truck one of the guys laid it on the floor and I picked it up and set it on one of my work benches in another room. I didn't think about it when I snaped the pics.
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You're all set! Good score on the books. There is a South Bend booklet called "How to keep your lathe in trim" that you might want too to dial it in upon re-assembly. It online for download too from The Vintage Machinery website

 
lordbeezer said:
That’s a great deal you got there. Except for being a navy instead of army lathe. Kidding of course.
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Now wait, I'm and old Navy man and kinda like that Anchor stamped into that old iron like that. I guess I should note that even though my friend did give it to me that don't mean it was free. Lord only knows what it's going to cost me when he calls in the marker on that one. A guy gave me my Atlas but a couple weeks later happened to come by and asked what I was going to do with my 20' box racing trailer. I had made the mistake of telling him that I didn't need it anymore when he bought the lathe to me. The next thing I knew he was going down the driveway with a trailer a trailer I paid $5500.00 for and then spent 3 months of my life turning it into a comfortable sleeper that we could use as a camper and haul our dirt bikes to the track on the weekends. I don't even want to think about what I spent building that thing and I damn sure hope my wife never finds out how much:grin: I think I did squeeze a couple hundred bucks extra out of him before he left.
 
I'd still go through the SB and check the felts/ oilers, even if you're going to sell it later on to fund an upgrade. For one, you might need it to make stuff for the new lathe, but also it'll let you tell the next owner that it's in ship shape and good to go. Tell you what though, if you have space, I'd consider keeping this one - taper attachment, full set of steadies, stuff like that is hard to get together for reasonable money. I traded a Buck set tru 3 jaw for a follow rest for my SB wide 9 and I was very happy with the trade!
 
SLK001 said:
These things will follow you home like this, if you don't fend them off properly. A 3/4" diameter stick usually works for me. Send me your address and I will bring my stick and run it off for you. I guarantee that you won't have to worry about that lathe again!
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Be warned...............When I was a young lad my mama would at times have to run me around the yard with a big ol hickory branch like she was swatting flies and I learned some pretty fancy footwork and I mastered the duck and weave maneuver pretty well so eat your wheaties before you stop by.;)
 
mattthemuppet2 said:
I'd still go through the SB and check the felts/ oilers, even if you're going to sell it later on to fund an upgrade. For one, you might need it to make stuff for the new lathe, but also it'll let you tell the next owner that it's in ship shape and good to go. Tell you what though, if you have space, I'd consider keeping this one - taper attachment, full set of steadies, stuff like that is hard to get together for reasonable money. I traded a Buck set tru 3 jaw for a follow rest for my SB wide 9 and I was very happy with the trade!
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Yeah I understand about finding parts that you need for stuff like this. I paid more for a set of tool bars for my Atlas that the whole thing cost when it was new. I know I need to find belts and felts for this one and I still don't know if the motor works. I think before I go any farther with the cleaning I'll hook all that up just to see what works and what don't. I need to figure out how to wire the barrel switch it's just bolted to the gearbox cover with nothing hooked to it. hopefully that still is good. If I do decide to sell it I would want to be sure for myself that everything is in good shape.

Oh, and I have checked all of the oilers and they seem to be passing oil along pretty good. well when I fill them with machine oil it goes someplace pretty quickly.
 
about going for a larger lathe.
Just an opinion , so take it for what its worth. Maybe you don't repaint this.. but do use it. if you have not used a lathe you will make mistakes. Learn on this lathe, you don't have anything to lose but some rebuild time. Make your mistakes on this, it will be less costly than a big lathe. Once you feel comfortable , jump to the next. If you get this running you will get more money for it also. paint can go 2 ways (more money or less). If it looks like a terrible job it will lower the cost. Also some of us wonder if paint is hiding something.
 
I'd vote for cleaning it up and into working condition. You have the exact machine the book you ordered is for so go through it and learn all the operations you can, as noted above you really don't have anything to loose.

I have an old Seneca Falls that has a taper attachment back in Michigan. Don't think I'll ever get rid of it because that's the one accessory that seems to be hardest to find for any machine. Now that I'm thinking of it my friend gave me a rusty steady rest I was going to offer for sale but now that I think of it I may have to check it for size....

Good score, you most definitely suck.

JOhn
 
olddude said:
Yeah I understand about finding parts that you need for stuff like this. I paid more for a set of tool bars for my Atlas that the whole thing cost when it was new. I know I need to find belts and felts for this one and I still don't know if the motor works. I think before I go any farther with the cleaning I'll hook all that up just to see what works and what don't. I need to figure out how to wire the barrel switch it's just bolted to the gearbox cover with nothing hooked to it. hopefully that still is good. If I do decide to sell it I would want to be sure for myself that everything is in good shape.

Oh, and I have checked all of the oilers and they seem to be passing oil along pretty good. well when I fill them with machine oil it goes someplace pretty quickly.
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that means your oilers may be hard and not soaking it up and metering it.
take a look at Steve's stuff. A good rebuild kit.
www.ebay.com

South Bend Lathe 9" Model A ● Full Rebuild Package ● Manual, Felts, Oil, Grease! | eBay

If you are contemplating cleaning up that old South Bend sitting in the garage, this is what you will need to get the job done. The 106 page professionally published instruction manual included with this kit is fully illustrated with almost 250 photographs plus step-by-step instructions and...
www.ebay.com
look at his other stuff too, this is but one option.

BTW: DO NOT USE GREASE in the heads cone pulley. I know the rebuild kit says so, but my head overheated in back gears and locked up. I had to take it apart and clean it out.. Only use oil.. doesn't matter what oil, but oil only, it should be oiled before any back gear work (once for the day or if a production day, maybe more). The grease just doesn't lubricate it well.
 
woodchucker said:
BTW: DO NOT USE GREASE in the heads cone pulley. I know the rebuild kit says so, but my head overheated in back gears and locked up. I had to take it apart and clean it out.. Only use oil.. doesn't matter what oil, but oil only, it should be oiled before any back gear work (once for the day or if a production day, maybe more). The grease just doesn't lubricate it well.
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In addition to the above, the grease for the back gears is no longer available and there is no equivalent substitute. So do stick with the oil (your lathe is probably stamped with "OIL" there anyway.

Also, the book HOW TO RUN A LATHE is not available on Amazon - it's been out of print for too long. Your best bet for a hard copy is ebay. There are electronic copies on the web. The 56th edition is the last one published by South Bend.
 
Thanks again guys..............First let me say, I haven't run a lathe to the point I'm an expert like some of you guys, but I have played around with them some. I had an old Cummings 7x12 mini lathe for a few years before I got my Atlas and learned a lot with that little machine. The thing is, I knew from the start that neither of those machines would do what I truly wanted to do. Oh, they would probably get most stuff done but it just takes a long time. I do think this South Bend is a far more capable machine than either of the two I have or have had.

Woodchucker, I ordered that oiling kit from the guy you provided the link for. Have you got any ideas on the two drive belts. I saw a flat belt on e-bay for like $25.00 but didn't see a motor drive belt. Also, I was playing around with the compound trying to figure out why it was so tight and took out the little screw that holds the dial in place and you can probably figure what happened next. That little, tiny brass pin jumped out and went I don't know where, so I'll need to find one of those too.

Also I'm going to put up a pic of a part that I can't figure out just what it is and hopefully you can tell me what I have there. I'll probably post a few pics of some of the rest of my toys in my shop if that would be ok. if so I'll get them together and post them up.
 
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