Looks like a Hendey, but it's not! It's a Vernon lathe made in Worcester, Massachusetts

[LsSix]

Try this one, tag is stainless not aluminum I think....


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This one will come in handy, I may remake it for my machine.

Did yours come with any change gears? I got a few I think though they dont match the other gears so I cant be sure they belong to this machine.

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[pmat]

Thanks bud, I appreciate it.

I spent a few minutes looking at your progress pic and I think we basically have the same machine, certainly more similar than Steves version.

I wondered what they used to secure the change gear cover and yours has a stud right where mine has a threaded hole that lines up with a tang on the cover. Im assuming the nut was a simple wing nut.

You have a different hand wheel on your apron, yours is probably not original as all the controls on my machine have the same rough cast quality and your wheel is quite bright.

Our tail stocks are similar but slightly different castings, your ram lock lever is longer and shinier so either not original or you got a higher end version or there was a change somewhere in the 5 year run.

I envy your back gear lever, I think I will have to learn to braze and make up a suitable replacement to splice into mine.

Is that a gear lying horizontally above the reverse lever on the left side? Or are my eyes tricking me.

Are you missing the covers for the back gears and the cap over the tail of the spindle also? I figured on mine it housed a thrust bearing, but if it can come off it would make a draw bar/collet closer possible.

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I have covers for both spindle gears, I don't have the cover for the gears that drive the gearbox...not sure of the terminology.

No gear lying horizontal... not sure what you are seeing. Hard to get a good background for pics. Too much stuff in the shop!

Mine came with one extra gear, haven't investigated what it might be used for.


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[Charles Spencer]

Vernon Lathes are named after the first name of the owner, not the last. Vernon Reed was one of the Reed brothers of Reed & Prentice. Presumably to avoid confusion or familial hard feelings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Reed_(inventor)

 

[pmat]

View attachment 138230 View attachment 138229 View attachment 138230 I picked up a vernon lathe on cl for $1. I am in the process of cleaning and adjusting etc. The bed looks very good and there is just a tiny bit of backlash on the cross slide and none on the compound. It came with a decent Cushman three jaw chuck which is mounted on a driver plate. This is probably because it has odd 1-1/2 x 10 tpi threads. It had been in use until recently.

Did your lathe have felt strips attached to the inside of the bearing caps? Mine has no felt and the oil runs right through.

Here are some pictures:

I've made some progress, today I got the spindle bearings shimmed. I also found a nice drip oiler on eBay to resolve the issue of oil running right through it, though it does seem to be less with the shims in place. There is some end play that is adjusted out by a threaded nut and lock ring at the rear . They push the spindle forward, it seems like it would run less oil through if there was a way to add a thin fiber washer between the front of the bearing and the spindle collar or pull the spindle back to take out the end play.....

 

[LsSix]

Pmat, nice oilers, I was looking to get some my self as one of my original caps was mia to begin with.

Do you have a link to the seller?
I did some work on it today and finally pulled the bearing caps.

Like yours and Steves mine seemed to be tight from the time I got it, it freed up some with oil but not enough to spin freely at all. A twist of the chuck and it came to a dead stop as soon as I let go.

First I removed the cap with the endplay adjuster on it and just like that the spindle spun free, or as free as one can expect when its being lubricated by w20 motor oil and its only 21F out.

So I believe the PO over tightened the adjuster and that idea is supported by the wear on the back side of the front bearing.


Its pretty badly grooved, though the spindle thrust surface seems ok.



Obviously I removed the other caps, no felt that I could find, I may add some like you are planning but I dont think the machines came with it originally.



Caps and spindle journals, some pitting and light scoring. The spindle shows evidence of sitting for those 30 odd years.

Best I can do is a little steel wool to polish the surfaces, whatever play I get I will have to work with.

What do you use to adjust the rings on the adjuster? I imagine the machines came with spanners for that job.

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[LsSix]

Oh, and other than what may be a bit of paper mine had no shims at all under either cap.

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[pmat]

Oh, and other than what may be a bit of paper mine had no shims at all under either cap.

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Hi,

I got lucky on the oiler it was someone's first auction and I was the only bidder at 5 bucks. I'm looking for a matching one for the rear. As far as clean up goes, I would use fine emery (400 or finer) and clean up the spindle and bearings as best I could. I found a lifetime supply of shimstock on Amazon for $33. It includes 4) 6 x 50 inch rolls in a dispensing box .001, .002, .003, .005
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00065UXEC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I made a cardboard template for both the front and back journal. I started with some thicker brass sheet material that I had and made matching shims for each side then it's just trial and error. Shim each side with the same shim set and tighten, if it won't spin freely add... doesn't really take that long. Once it spins freely, test for movement using about a 1 foot bar in the chuck or spindle. I have some old large mt drill bits that fit directly into the spindle............if there is more than .002 then remove shim from each side.

Wasn't quite sure what you were referring to about rings....


I don't know about you, but my lathe needs are not high precision. I use mine for making an occasional bushing, cleaning up a shaft or other fix it project.

Could you do me a favor and take a close up picture of your gear shifter. Thanks,
Paul



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[pmat]

Hi,

I got lucky on the oiler it was someone's first auction and I was the only bidder at 5 bucks. I'm looking for a matching one for the rear. As far as clean up goes, I would use fine emery (400 or finer) and clean up the spindle and bearings as best I could. I found a lifetime supply of shimstock on Amazon for $33. It includes 4) 6 x 50 inch rolls in a dispensing box .001, .002, .003, .005
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00065UXEC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I made a cardboard template for both the front and back journal. I started with some thicker brass sheet material that I had and made matching shims for each side then it's just trial and error. Shim each side with the same shim set and tighten, if it won't spin freely add... doesn't really take that long. Once it spins freely, test for movement using about a 1 foot bar in the chuck or spindle. I have some old large mt drill bits that fit directly into the spindle............if there is more than .002 then remove shim from each side.

Wasn't quite sure what you were referring to about rings....


I don't know about you, but my lathe needs are not high precision. I use mine for making an occasional bushing, cleaning up a shaft or other fix it project.

Could you do me a favor and take a close up picture of your gear shifter. Thanks,
Paul



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Just realized you were talking about the lock ring that adjusts the end play. Mine are loose and I just hand tightened them for now. Will make a spanner to fit later. Mine also has some jerry rigging in the end cap. There is a non original aluminum spacer (look at original lathe pic) and inside the cap there is a sealed ball bearing held in relative place with a short length of pvc pipe, it's the ball bearing that pushes against the spindle....


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[pmat]

I'm starting a new thread in antique machinery to post progress pics

 

[stevewatr]

Vernon Lathes are named after the first name of the owner, not the last. Vernon Reed was one of the Reed brothers of Reed & Prentice. Presumably to avoid confusion or familial hard feelings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Reed_(inventor)

This thread is old, but I wanted to be sure that when the 4th owner of one of these lathes stumbles upon this thread, he knows that the man's name was Vernon Prentice, not Vernon Reed. He was one of the Prentice Brothers of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Steve W.

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