South Bend 9A restoration happening w/pics!!

Expecting perfection from a ~ 80 year old lathe with mismatched parts is unrealistic. Most of your work will likely be in the first couple inches in front of the chuck. Perform a test cut with a very sharp tool bit on a 1" or greater bar with about 3" of stickout unsupported with the tailstock and mic both ends. This will eliminate tailstock alignment from the test. Raise or lower the front or back end of the rear bed foot to adjust for bed twist.
 
martik777 said:
Expecting perfection from a ~ 80 year old lathe with mismatched parts is unrealistic. Most of your work will likely be in the first couple inches in front of the chuck. Perform a test cut with a very sharp tool bit on a 1" or greater bar with about 3" of stickout unsupported with the tailstock and mic both ends. This will eliminate tailstock alignment from the test. Raise or lower the front or back end of the rear bed foot to adjust for bed twist.
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I think you're right. Trying to get perfection out of an old and abused lathe is crazy endeavor. Think I'll just use it the way it is and I'm sure it will do everything I need it to do plus or minus a thou here and there. It makes nice mostly concentric cuts and for me it's just a play toy for my amusement anyway. Little expensive on the investment end but I'll get over it. Once I get my QCTP installed I'll try and find a use for my iron beast. LoL In a day or two I'll start on my next lathe project which is a Atlas/Craftsman 618/101 and sell it to recover a little money that I sunk into the SB 9A. (In a hundred years what's it gonna matter?)
:laughing:
 
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Think of it this way.... You've learnt a lot, enjoyed yourself and entertained a bunch of fellow hobbyists for 6 weeks, plus you have a good lathe that will last many years. And it cost less than a 1wk all-inclusive vacation to Mexico.
 
martik777 said:
Think of it this way.... You've learnt a lot, enjoyed yourself and entertained a bunch of fellow hobbyists for 6 weeks, plus you have a good lathe that will last many years. And it cost less than a 1wk all-inclusive vacation to Mexico.
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If anyone wants more entertainment and want to help the mentally impaired this is the link over in the Atlas/Craftsman forum for my next restoration.
www.hobby-machinist.com

Next project: Craftsman 101.07301 6" lathe

Picked up a Craftsman 101.07301 for cheap. Haven't spent a lot of time checking it out as I'm still working on my SB 9A restoration. I did find that I had to order a complete back gear assembly, handwheel and half-nuts and as luck would have it I do already have a 1/3hp to use. A 1/2 hp is...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
 
Tell me all I never wanted to know about threading! I was playing around and thinking I'd try single point threading. "But" there is so much slop between the half nuts and the lead screw that I can't get it to engage on the dial consistently. There is a lot of lag either before or after the number on the dial. Does that mean I would have to replace the lead screw and or the half nuts? To "me" they look good but what does a newbie know that has never done threading.
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Ok, here goes a dumb question/idea. Is there a bonding dip that the half nuts could be dipped, to build up a thou or two, and then clamped to the lead screw until it was cured?
:laughing:

While asking dumb question/ideas, how about a steel sleeve that would be bonded over the way?
 
LX Kid said:
Tell me all I never wanted to know about threading! I was playing around and thinking I'd try single point threading. "But" there is so much slop between the half nuts and the lead screw that I can't get it to engage on the dial consistently. There is a lot of lag either before or after the number on the dial. Does that mean I would have to replace the lead screw and or the half nuts? To "me" they look good but what does a newbie know that has never done threading.
View attachment 314251
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Hard to tell just looking at a pic. You should just play with it until you figure out the sweet spot to engage and then cut some practice threads. My 9A has worn everything, but I can still make good parts on it. I bought a printed thread dial for it. It's plastic but it works. I like threading with it. It's a fun machine to run.
 
LX Kid said:
Ok, here goes a dumb question/idea. Is there a bonding dip that the half nuts could be dipped, to build up a thou or two, and then clamped to the lead screw until it was cured?
:laughing:

While asking dumb question/ideas, how about a steel sleeve that would be bonded over the way?
Click to expand...
A dip? Not that would last any length of time. The half nuts look good, crest and trough of thread same width, tops not sharp, bottoms not wallowed out. How does the lead screw look? If the teeth are sharpened looking it may be tired. How does the gear on the end of the threading dial look? All chewed up?

You can try threading without the dial by leaving the half nuts engaged after you make a cut and reversing the spindle to back up to the beginning. Withdraw the tool before you back up or you will chew up the work, the tool or both.

And for what it is worth, I have trouble with timing the thread by the dial myself, it takes practice to get good at it. Joe Pi has a good video on it, running slow helps.
 
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