Heavy 10 project

Wow, what a nice job you are doing. I'm preparing to refurbish my 13"SB so I'm taking notes!
 
Thanks for the kind words guys! It is encouraging to here that people think your work is nice. It is addicting and a labor of love, very fun to take something old and grungy and make it new again. This lathe is older than me and it's really cool to see how they made things back in the day. I have been painting every day this week so that maybe I can get the apron assembled this weekend, gonna go put a coat on now!
 
apron-assy,-saddle-tear-dow.jpg apron-assy-1.jpg apron-assy-2.jpg apron-assy-3.jpg apron-assy-4.jpg So I have made a little more progress, got everything all painted and worked on the assembly. I installed all new felt oiling wicks, that's the reason I originally started this rebuild, it just kinda spun off into a full restore. In the second and third pics you can see some of the wicks. In the fourth and fifth pics you can see the half nut gib clamp, I had some trouble with it and when I tightened the bolts down the lever did not work smothly and would stick in places. I clamped the gib in a vice and made a few strokes with a very fine file and it revealed high and low spots, a few more strokes and it was dead flat. I reassembled it and it's smooth as can be now. Guys when you are working on your machines to restore them take the time to fix things like this or you will never get back to it. Now is the time to do it!
 
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apron-assy-5.jpg apron-assy-6.jpg apron-assy-7.jpg apron-assy-8.jpg A few more pics of sundays progress. Top 2 pics are what the finished apron will look like, the hand wheel and pinion shaft are only on temporaraly as I am going to do a modification to the oiling wick and add a gits oil cup, this was reccomended in the rebuild book I got off ebay and it makes perfect sense! Why not do it, I will post pics when I get that done. The last 2 pics show the oil sump cover ready to be installed, used a new gasket and some sealer and installed it.
 
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saddle-tear-down-1.jpg saddle-tear-down-2.jpg saddle-tear-down-3.jpg Everything on the apron went together without much fuss and I had some more time so I got into the saddle. Everything on the saddle came apart quite easy, some small parts where missing, little brass shoes behind screws for the gibs, no big deal, I can make those. Someone at some point in this lathes life did a half a$$ restore to it, I have been correcting everything I have found to make it right. The last 2 pics show something interesting I found, and I talked to a retired machinery rebuilder about this. Teflon strips on the saddle where it rides on the ways. He said this is a common practice to repair or improve the machine, he said some manufacturers are even doing this on new machines. This kinda explains why my ways where in such good condition. The real test will be when it's all done and I do a long test cut to see if it holds a tolerance. You just never know what your gonna find in these old machines! When I got home from work today I took all the saddle parts out to the garage for a good washing in the parts washer, I'll post some more pics soon.
 
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Greg,
Those 'teflon' strips are probably "Rulon" or "Turcite" and yes, its a common repair for these old worn machines. If you get curious, google those names and you should see a lot of stuff on their use. I had to use "Rulon" on the Sheldon I just finished - both products are pricey and so is the special epoxy to stick it down.
 
Guys when you are working on your machines to restore them take the time to fix things like this or you will never get back to it. Now is the time to do it!

Very true words Greg - nice catch!

My 65' Heavy 10 has turned into the same complete rebuild. Bearings were all shot in the Countershaft and now the QCGB. No doubt I'll see some issues with the Apron, Saddle, Tailstock and Spindle.......hopefully all minor.

When a machine is over 30 yrs old it is going to need new sealed bearings.....just the way it works. Swarf, chips, caked grease gum up everything. Took me an hour to clean the oil passages in the Gearbox. We should all be thankful that these machines can take abuse, and the majority of them can be returned to factory fresh.......but it does take some time, some TLC, and a lot of patience. It is very rewarding to see a problem and fix it.

Keep at it.... I'll be a couple months behind on my restore.....but (like you) will be very pleased with the process and outcome.
 
Very true words Greg - nice catch!

My 65' Heavy 10 has turned into the same complete rebuild. Bearings were all shot in the Countershaft and now the QCGB. No doubt I'll see some issues with the Apron, Saddle, Tailstock and Spindle.......hopefully all minor.

When a machine is over 30 yrs old it is going to need new sealed bearings.....just the way it works. Swarf, chips, caked grease gum up everything. Took me an hour to clean the oil passages in the Gearbox. We should all be thankful that these machines can take abuse, and the majority of them can be returned to factory fresh.......but it does take some time, some TLC, and a lot of patience. It is very rewarding to see a problem and fix it.

Keep at it.... I'll be a couple months behind on my restore.....but (like you) will be very pleased with the process and outcome.

Have you been posting pics of your progress? I would like to see where your at so far. These projects do take time and elbow grease but it is fun and very rewarding! I am currently stripping the paint off the saddle, buy the time I get home from my 2 jobs I only have about an hour of daylight outside to work in, I get a piece a day done and ready for paint.
 
Have you been posting pics of your progress? I would like to see where your at so far.

I haven't shown any photos. I do have a dozen or so perhaps taken from my cell phone while dismantling the part in the garage and such. I'll get those organized and take some current pics with my digital camera. I can probably get a thread started next week. I suppose everyone enjoys photos of South Bend Lathes -- it's like we are a big family.
 
gits-oiler-mod-001.jpg gits-oiler-mod-002.jpg gits-oiler-mod-003.jpg gits-oiler-mod-004.jpg gits-oiler-mod-005.jpg So I got the gits oil cups the other day and I did the modification to the hand wheel shaft today. I first drilled a 1/8" hole through the casting and into the groove for the wick. Then I counter bored that hole with a 1/4" bit 3/16" deep and seated the cup with a brass punch. I installed the cup a little towards the front of the apron so I would have easy access to the cover either from the top behind the hand wheel or through the hand wheel from the front. By directly oiling the wick oil will never be an issue on this highly used shaft. The original install of the wick was very close to 2 gears and I could see how the wick might have gotten caught and cut and you would never know it, you would then be running it dry and not know it. The apron is now complete! I have been working on the saddle, all paint is stripped and I started repainting today, pics to come when done.
 
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