My Heavy 10 Rebuild

[Codered741]

Well I finally have it! My own 1941 South Bend Heavy 10 lathe! Its filthy, hasn't been used in 10+ years, and is a little worse for the wear, but its mine!:thumbsup:

I am planning on doing a partial restoration, even if that just means take it apart and clean it. Which is an absolute must, due to the conditions that it was stored in. I found it in LA, it was stored in a garage, that was PACKED full of stuff. As you can see by the photos, it has 10-15 years of grime, and dried out grease and oil caked all over it.

So over the next couple of months, i'll be working on a rebuild/restoration, just not sure that how far that I want to go with it. Full restoration, or just clean it up to make it work? I plan on keeping it as a working lathe, so im leaning towards just cleaning it up, changing the wicks, etc. But it could use a coat of paint too. Here are the photos!

In the trailer, ready to hit the road!


Touchdown in its New home!


Single lever QC gearbox


Taper Attachment!!!


Serial number.








Steady rest, 4 jaw, and accessories.


More pictures will follow, as I get it disassembled and cleaned!

-Cody

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Nice Score Cody!!!
she looks like she's in pretty good shape.
i'm sure you'll have a blast gettin' her going.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Ah yes, let the obsession begin! Nice score. I said the same thing, "i'll just clean it up and rewick it" well you know how that goes. I can just paint it, and this won't hurt to polish a little, and before I knew what hit me a full on restore was happening. Get the rebuild book and felt kit off of ebay and your off to a great start. The book is a very valuable source of info, it shows how to get things apart without damaging them, and how to rout the felts too.

 

[ChuckB]

Congrats! Might as well bite the bullet and get it over with. Look at Gregs thread.. it will modivate you to do a full restore.

 

[Codered741]

Small update,

Got the lathe up and running today, even made a few chips! Hooked it up to a VFD that I had laying around (I love my job), and she spun right up just like a dream!

Not wanting to damage any bearings by running them dry, I shut it down, and started to just wipe it down as best I could. Found a bit more wear on the ways than I thought there was, nothing tremendous, but maybe a reason to learn to scrape! The compound also has a bit of "custom work" on it, so I think i'll be breaking out the brazing rod and torch and clean it up a bit. The paint is also flaking off pretty bad in places, so it looks like I might as well just do a complete teardown and fix her up right.

Headed over to eBay and ordered the rebuild kit, manual, and recommended oils. They should arrive in the next couple of days, and if i get some time off work, the disassembly will begin!!

Ill get photos up as I begin the process!

-Cody

 

[Codered741]

A little bit of progress today, pretty happy with the results. Though if i want to get this project done this year, I had better get faster!

Found some evapo-rust. This stuff is magic! I have used rust removers in the past, phosphoric acid mainly, couple of other formulas, none have worked so easily as this!

Steady rest completely restored.

Cleaned, stripped, sanded, cleaned again, primed and painted.



This was my only day off, so progress will be slow for the foreseeable future...

Also received my rebuild kit and manual, along with the recommended oils kit.

-Cody

 

[woodtickgreg]

Don't beat yourself up as far as how fast or slow things go. Life gets in the way for most of us that still go to work everyday, then juggle family time and friends into the mix and maybe a little side work too. My lathe is 98% done, just gotta finish the wiring, and I am so busy I can't seem to find the time to finish it, and I need it so bad. If the rest of the lathe comes out as good as the steady rest did you'll do just fine. Enjoy the process and working on the lathe or may loose interest and never get her done. Your off to a good start.

 

[Codered741]

Well finally got a day off of work, and even a little time in the garage.

Started taking off covers and figuring out how to best go about cleaning things. Spent about 2 hrs scrubbing the gear housing, and the bull gear guards.... ugh... I need to find something a bit more potent than simple green.

Rebuild manual and wicks arrived some time in the last couple of day, and hopefully I will begin tackling the QC gearbox tomorrow.

Somewhat of a side topic, I already know that I want a QC Toolpost, but im stuck on which size to buy. AXA or 100 says its good up to 12", but BXA or 200 ranges from 10-15. I'm somewhat leaning towards the BXA, to get as much rigidity and mass as possible. Opinions and experience are welcome.

Also starting some drawings for a DIY handwheel collet closer.

I should have some photos tomorrow.

-Cody

 

[Coralhound]

Nice job on the steady rest! Do you mind sharing what you paid for the unit? I am looking for one, it seems that most are 9" and I see very few heavy 10's to get a good idea on pricing.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Somewhat of a side topic, I already know that I want a QC Toolpost, but im stuck on which size to buy. AXA or 100 says its good up to 12", but BXA or 200 ranges from 10-15. I'm somewhat leaning towards the BXA, to get as much rigidity and mass as possible. Opinions and experience are welcome.
-Cody

AXA is the correct size for a heavy 10, I too thought a BXA for the rigidity just like you, but other members advised against that due to allignment issues with the cutter being centered. I have since found a enco turret style tool post that is like new and was free plus I think it just looks cool, I think I am going to use it for awhile and use the money saved to buy some other tooling. I can always upgrade to the qc tool post at any time.