Greetings, Total newbie here to the codified processes of machining, grew up on farm with stick welders, wire welders, drill presses, chop saws, band saws general shop wood, metal, .....anyway always wanted a metal lathe and finally found one , '29 or '30 SB 86C 13 x 60, ways in beautiful shape, all the bells and whistles except for taper attachment. One problem it has a 1" spindle and I need 1 3/8", anybody ever do this kind of replacement? Problems, pitfalls, good bad, ugly? PO was a retired machinist from Grumman(now) Aerospace, extremely detail oriented, clean, machine is immaculate and I don't want to ruin it Thanks for any input
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Spindle replacement to 1 3/8
- Thread starter Agman101
- Start date
I see a 13" spindle on ebay listing that says it has a 1 3/8 thru hole!
Disclaimer: not sure it is compatible
If I were to attempt this and wasn't familiar with the spindle I would read up on the South Bend Bulletin H4 "Keep Your Lathe In Trim" booklet.
There is a PDF download site that will have it. IIRC Vintage machinery something something...
There are sections in it for testing and adjusting the bearing tolerances.
I would do this on the machine as it sits now and record all your numbers for reference.
The new, to you, spindle is sure to not be a perfect match for the required shimming to bring it into tolerance. There are some kits for laminated shims out there that might be of interest to you. They are specific to our machines. I have heard that a beer can is good for a .003 shim but I never tried. Maybe you will get lucky, if the spindle is a direct swap, then the shimming will be the most difficult part. It is only hard because you have to be methodical and label the shims as you go and be sure not to mess their orientation up (Front/Back/This side up/etc) You can write on them with a good sharpie. This is especially critical if you found the new spindle wasn't going to work and need to revert back to what you had before. This is why I might try to use a whole new shim set just to keep the two separate but maybe I am being to anal about the job.
Fingers crossed that it works. In things like this I take comfort in buying the parts and knowing I can resell them a maybe a small loss if they don't work out or in the event they do selling my old parts for someone else's project!
South Bend Lathe 13 Spindle | eBay
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">South Bend Lathe 13 Spindle. Large 1-3/8" bore, 2-1/4×8 thread spindle.</p>
www.ebay.com
Disclaimer: not sure it is compatible
If I were to attempt this and wasn't familiar with the spindle I would read up on the South Bend Bulletin H4 "Keep Your Lathe In Trim" booklet.
There is a PDF download site that will have it. IIRC Vintage machinery something something...
There are sections in it for testing and adjusting the bearing tolerances.
I would do this on the machine as it sits now and record all your numbers for reference.
The new, to you, spindle is sure to not be a perfect match for the required shimming to bring it into tolerance. There are some kits for laminated shims out there that might be of interest to you. They are specific to our machines. I have heard that a beer can is good for a .003 shim but I never tried. Maybe you will get lucky, if the spindle is a direct swap, then the shimming will be the most difficult part. It is only hard because you have to be methodical and label the shims as you go and be sure not to mess their orientation up (Front/Back/This side up/etc) You can write on them with a good sharpie. This is especially critical if you found the new spindle wasn't going to work and need to revert back to what you had before. This is why I might try to use a whole new shim set just to keep the two separate but maybe I am being to anal about the job.
Fingers crossed that it works. In things like this I take comfort in buying the parts and knowing I can resell them a maybe a small loss if they don't work out or in the event they do selling my old parts for someone else's project!
Last edited:
I read the OP as if he already had it but maybe not.
Again, not sure these parts will work with the lathe but found another reference to a 13" Big Bore in this sales ad for bearings.
That is a pretty old machine so there may be more research needed for compatibility.
EDIT: hopefully you don't need all this to do the job!
Again, not sure these parts will work with the lathe but found another reference to a 13" Big Bore in this sales ad for bearings.
South Bend Lathe 13 Spindle Bearings | eBay
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">South Bend Lathe 13 Spindle Bearings. For large 1-3/8" bore, 2-1/4"×8 thread spindle.</p>
www.ebay.com
That is a pretty old machine so there may be more research needed for compatibility.
EDIT: hopefully you don't need all this to do the job!
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2016
- Messages
- 1,419
Sounds like you are new to using lathes. Let's first determine if you really do need the larger through hole in the spindle. Why do you feel you need it? What are you going to be using the lathe for?
Does your lathe come with a steady rest? Can this be used for a long work piece that won't fit through the spindle?
More info is really needed to help...
Ted
Does your lathe come with a steady rest? Can this be used for a long work piece that won't fit through the spindle?
More info is really needed to help...
Ted
Ted has the correct thought process to lead you to a resolution.
I found this while geeking out on your issue, would seem to indicate that the 13 large bore is a different animal.
I found this while geeking out on your issue, would seem to indicate that the 13 large bore is a different animal.
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2013
- Messages
- 10,187
I suspect that the big bore 13" has a completely different headstock to accomodate the large bore and presumably larger spindle bearings, remember that the spindle is of comparatively small diameter at the end where the feed train starts, likely the increased bore would leave the end very thin, or even cause the gear to fall off.
Thanks for the welcome, yes I did buy the machine, pictures coming soon