My wife’s uncle bought this 14-1/2” swing by 6’ South Bend lathe many years ago with the intent of learning machine work. (He taught airplane mechanics at a community college after his first “retirement”, so he has skills.) He never got around to that, but his mechanic assistant has used it occasionally to make parts for the 1949 Woody the two of them finished last year. He’s aged out of it, but loves to sit in his “hangar” and keep company with whoever in his circle has a project. With Covid, that’s been just about nonexistent, so I want to spend some time with this lathe as much for his enjoyment as mine. And there is a chance that this lathe will come to me in the fullness of time.
It’s a beast, and very dirty. Its been a catchall in the (very) old shed to which he appended his hangar about 40 years ago, but there seems to be oily grime on it far more that rust, for the most part.
I poked around it this evening, doing a quick inspection. The ways appear to be unworn—I could not detect the slightest ridge. The compound handwheel is slightly stiff, but all the other wheels run smoothly. The compound lock may have been snug.
(With all the pics I made, you’d think I’d have taken one picture of the whole thing. Sadly, you’d be wrong.)
What can you tell me about the gearbox on this thing? I know there are three drive pulleys (and it appears to be on the highest speed and has been for living memory). I’m assuming the gearbox (which I managed not to photograph) is for the lead screw feed speed for the carriage. I can’t tell if this has a power-feed cross slide, but it probably does.
The taper attachment is in place. I found a dead center to go with the Jacobs chuck that sits in the tail stock normally.
The head stock is carrying a 3-jaw chuck, but there is a 4-jaw chuck on the floor next to it. There is a steady rest in the chip tray.
The tool post is the classic type—no quick-change here—but that could be added. I wasn’t able to get into the cabinet with “lathe stuff” in it—it at least has tooling but I was led to believe there’s more than just bits. Perhaps there is a set of collets in there.
The motor has been replaced and is single-phase. I could not get to the motor’s ID tag to read its specs. It’s mounted in the cast base—this isn’t a bench configuration.
Just to show that I’ve used it under power, I have a photo I made four years ago when I needed to chamfer an aluminum wheel spacer to fit over a hub that had an interfering fillet. I didn’t know how to bump it true, or to grind the bit appropriately to cut the aluminum, and it chattered a bit on the end of that long holder. But it worked well enough. I could do better now.
I have the use of this lathe any time I want, so I’m scratching around for a project to get my feet wet with it.
The whole thing is about 7 feet long.
How heavy is this thing? Can it be lifted from a single point? Uncle would like it to be in a different spot in the newer hangar area. He moved it to its current location using Egyptian technology, but the floor it sits on is not smooth.
I think my first project will be to put some quality time into maintenance to make sure it’s in a state of good repair. I’ve ordered it downloaded the necessary literature to do that.
Rick “who’ll take a box full of metrology stuff next time” Denney
It’s a beast, and very dirty. Its been a catchall in the (very) old shed to which he appended his hangar about 40 years ago, but there seems to be oily grime on it far more that rust, for the most part.
I poked around it this evening, doing a quick inspection. The ways appear to be unworn—I could not detect the slightest ridge. The compound handwheel is slightly stiff, but all the other wheels run smoothly. The compound lock may have been snug.
(With all the pics I made, you’d think I’d have taken one picture of the whole thing. Sadly, you’d be wrong.)
What can you tell me about the gearbox on this thing? I know there are three drive pulleys (and it appears to be on the highest speed and has been for living memory). I’m assuming the gearbox (which I managed not to photograph) is for the lead screw feed speed for the carriage. I can’t tell if this has a power-feed cross slide, but it probably does.
The taper attachment is in place. I found a dead center to go with the Jacobs chuck that sits in the tail stock normally.
The head stock is carrying a 3-jaw chuck, but there is a 4-jaw chuck on the floor next to it. There is a steady rest in the chip tray.
The tool post is the classic type—no quick-change here—but that could be added. I wasn’t able to get into the cabinet with “lathe stuff” in it—it at least has tooling but I was led to believe there’s more than just bits. Perhaps there is a set of collets in there.
The motor has been replaced and is single-phase. I could not get to the motor’s ID tag to read its specs. It’s mounted in the cast base—this isn’t a bench configuration.
Just to show that I’ve used it under power, I have a photo I made four years ago when I needed to chamfer an aluminum wheel spacer to fit over a hub that had an interfering fillet. I didn’t know how to bump it true, or to grind the bit appropriately to cut the aluminum, and it chattered a bit on the end of that long holder. But it worked well enough. I could do better now.
I have the use of this lathe any time I want, so I’m scratching around for a project to get my feet wet with it.
The whole thing is about 7 feet long.
How heavy is this thing? Can it be lifted from a single point? Uncle would like it to be in a different spot in the newer hangar area. He moved it to its current location using Egyptian technology, but the floor it sits on is not smooth.
I think my first project will be to put some quality time into maintenance to make sure it’s in a state of good repair. I’ve ordered it downloaded the necessary literature to do that.
Rick “who’ll take a box full of metrology stuff next time” Denney
Last edited:
)
