# My 1959 Heavy 10 Toolroom



## Lucas E (Dec 9, 2021)

Here's some pictures of my 1959 South Bend Heavy 10 Toolroom Lathe. Spent almost 3 months working everyday after work and all day on the weekends to restore it. Completely disassembled, repainted, replaced some bearings and gears, and then reassembled. Wear on bed is only .0015" at it's worst so I didn't bother to scrape it. I'll probably rescrape the cross slide and compound eventually, but wanted to get it together and see how she works first. I still need to install the belt, but I had shoulder surgery last Thursday and I'm going to be in a sling for 2 months so that's going to have to wait.


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## wachuko (Dec 9, 2021)

That looks amazing!!!


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## jcp (Dec 9, 2021)

Very nice indeed!!


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## Eddyde (Dec 10, 2021)

Beautiful Restoration! Please post pictures of the process, if you have them?


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## finsruskw (Dec 10, 2021)

Beautiful!!
I'd bet it'll perform as well as it looks!
Congrats!!


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## Lucas E (Dec 10, 2021)

Eddyde said:


> Beautiful Restoration! Please post pictures of the process, if you have them?


Thanks, I have bunch of pictures, but they were mostly taken to help me remember what parts went where and what to mask. I'll try and post a few of the more interesting ones up later today.


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## Lucas E (Dec 10, 2021)

Here's some pictures of my high tech paint booth. Painted everything outside and then hung on my garage door tracks to dry. There's also a picture of some parts after masking before primer. After the final paint had dried I used a razor to cut the tape lines so it didn't lift any of the painted surfaces. Then used alcohol to soften the adhesive from the precision surfaces, then scraped with a razor blade, then a final wipe with alcohol, then stoned with a precision ground flat stone, then oiled to protect. Sounds like a lot, and it is, but once you get the process down you can run large batches of parts and have them come out great without really thinking.


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## SLK001 (Dec 11, 2021)

What paint did you use?


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## FOMOGO (Dec 11, 2021)

Looks like it just came out of the factory. I think we have all had to come up with make do paint setups. For years I hung parts off the basket ball hoop outside the garage, or strung a wire from the pole to which ever vehicle that was handy. Nice work. Mike


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## Lucas E (Dec 11, 2021)

SLK001 said:


> What paint did you use?


The paint is Automotive Art single stage auto paint. It just happens to be the single stage that the local auto paint supplier carries.

The primer is Evercoat super build 4:1 polyester primer. It is really the reason for the good results as it easily allows for smoothing of the castings. You can apply it directly to the metal and it's super thick. I sprayed 3 thick coats on in one spray session and then let it dry over night. Id then sand it all down smooth with 220 and then 400. Degrease and it was ready to spray with topcoat.


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## Canuck75 (Dec 12, 2021)

Lucas E said:


> Here's some pictures of my 1959 South Bend Heavy 10 Toolroom Lathe. Spent almost 3 months working everyday after work and all day on the weekends to restore it. Completely disassembled, repainted, replaced some bearings and gears, and then reassembled. Wear on bed is only .0015" at it's worst so I didn't bother to scrape it. I'll probably rescrape the cross slide and compound eventually, but wanted to get it together and see how she works first. I still need to install the belt, but I had shoulder surgery last Thursday and I'm going to be in a sling for 2 months so that's going to have to wait.


Beautiful rebuild. Just like my 1963 except for the turned vice cast tailstock clamp. lamp, and control switch. Believe SB started flame hardening the bed ways in 1965.

Canuck75


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## karlsangree (Dec 16, 2021)

I just picked up a '42 ex-military 10 heavy. Your flawless restoration gives me something to aspire to!


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## Lucas E (Dec 16, 2021)

Canuck75 said:


> Beautiful rebuild. Just like my 1963 except for the turned vice cast tailstock clamp. lamp, and control switch. Believe SB started flame hardening the bed ways in 1965.
> 
> Canuck75


Great looking machine, did you restore it or if sporting original paint?


karlsangree said:


> I just picked up a '42 ex-military 10 heavy. Your flawless restoration gives me something to aspire to!


You can do it, I 100% recommend getting a solid process set up for painting. I even built a gun cleaning station using an old stainless steel sink and painted with exterior house paint so I could leave it set up outside. It really helped with cleaning the gun since I was spraying small amounts of paint or primer a couple times a week and needed to make sure the gun was always cleaned properly.


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## Janderso (Dec 16, 2021)

Let me just wipe this drool off my chin.
Beautiful machine tool!
I love how South Bend sold this beautiful yet very capable lathe/bench with storage all in a clean package.


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## Lucas E (Dec 16, 2021)

Janderso said:


> Let me just wipe this drool off my chin.
> Beautiful machine tool!
> I love how South Bend sold this beautiful yet very capable lathe/bench with storage all in a clean package.


Thanks! Me too. I was looking really hard for a smaller but fully featured new lathe and couldn't find anything on the market. You have to get up to a 13x40 size to get all the features. It has a crazy 70 position quick change gear box. The ability to run 5c collets without a long collet chuck, and a telescoping taper attachment. I realized I was better off putting my efforts into restoring one of these as opposed to buying a new Taiwan lathe and trying to modify it to be more capable while still also dealing with lesser quality than these were built to.


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## Janderso (Dec 16, 2021)

Lucas E said:


> I realized I was better off putting my efforts into restoring one of these


You did well my friend.


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## Canuck75 (Dec 17, 2021)

Lucas E said:


> Thanks! Me too. I was looking really hard for a smaller but fully featured new lathe and couldn't find anything on the market. You have to get up to a 13x40 size to get all the features. It has a crazy 70 position quick change gear box. The ability to run 5c collets without a long collet chuck, and a telescoping taper attachment. I realized I was better off putting my efforts into restoring one of these as opposed to buying a new Taiwan lathe and trying to modify it to be more capable while still also dealing with lesser quality than these were built to.





Lucas E said:


> Great looking machine, did you restore it or if sporting original paint?
> 
> You can do it, I 100% recommend getting a solid process set up for painting. I even built a gun cleaning station using an old stainless steel sink and painted with exterior house paint so I could leave it set up outside. It really helped with cleaning the gun since I was spraying small amounts of paint or primer a couple times a week and needed to make sure the gun was always cleaned properly.


Lucas E,-
Lathe was painted navy grey which was fairly dark and looked brushed on. Got a SB parts book so I knew what I was doing, took it completely apart, stripped the paint and started over. It had 3ph 440v or 550v electrics. The solenoid contactor blocks in the Westinghouse electrical panel amazingly were 110v 60 cycle so switched out the motor so everything was on 110v. I was in the military, moved a lot and would never have 3ph power so made sense to switch. Hope I don't insult any SB owners but I used Tremclad grey as I liked the look of it and has served me well for 46 years.

Canuck75


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## Lucas E (Dec 17, 2021)

Canuck75 said:


> Lucas E,-
> Lathe was painted navy grey which was fairly dark and looked brushed on. Got a SB parts book so I knew what I was doing, took it completely apart, stripped the paint and started over. It had 3ph 440v or 550v electrics. The solenoid contactor blocks in the Westinghouse electrical panel amazingly were 110v 60 cycle so switched out the motor so everything was on 110v. I was in the military, moved a lot and would never have 3ph power so made sense to switch. Hope I don't insult any SB owners but I used Tremclad grey as I liked the look of it and has served me well for 46 years.
> 
> Canuck75


Very nice. I took the side cover off my lathe as it was in good shape and bright it to the local auto paint dealer. He hand matched it to the original color.


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## Canuck75 (Dec 18, 2021)

Lucas E,-
Just conversation but what has also been a lot of fun is improving (in my view) a few things on the lathe. During rebuild I shortened the belt tightening shaft to move the crank closer to the cabinet, and, also made the handle to fold. Getting away from knocking my knee on that handle "improved my machining experience" greatly (smile). Adding a DRO also made a world of difference and is highly recommended. Original "glued in place" belt was cut disassembling the machine by Crown Assets so now use a laced belt. New one is about $108 CDN. Does yours have the skived synthetic belt or leather?

Canuck75


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## Lucas E (Dec 18, 2021)

I purchased one of these rubber coated nylon belt kits from eBay.








						New! ● 1" Premium Flat Drive Belt ● For All South Bend Lathe 10L & 10R Heavy 10  | eBay
					

Premium Nylon Core Flat Drive Belts for all Heavy 10 (10L and 10R) South Bend Lathe. Wider belts for the larger 13" to 16" lathes are also coming soon. We are always happy to help. The belt has a textured SBR rubber face on both sided of the belt and is reinforced by overlapping nylon fabric...



					www.ebay.com
				




 It seems to be high quality, although I haven't tried any deep cuts yet. I made this belt gluing jig out of some aluminum plate to assist with gluing it straight. It worked well.


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## Canuck75 (Dec 18, 2021)

Thanks for the info. I like the synthetic no-stretch belts as well. Only issue I have had is slippage. Completely missed the fact that SB put a "vellumoid" gasket between the headstock base and the chip tray which prevented oil from getting to the underside and then somehow to the belt. Have since put a rubber gasket in place from an old inner tube I had available and hope I've solved it.


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## Lucas E (Dec 18, 2021)

Canuck75 said:


> Thanks for the info. I like the synthetic no-stretch belts as well. Only issue I have had is slippage. Completely missed the fact that SB put a "vellumoid" gasket between the headstock base and the chip tray which prevented oil from getting to the underside and then somehow to the belt. Have since put a rubber gasket in place from an old inner tube I had available and hope I've solved it.


Ya, I noticed the gasket when disassembling mine. I just cut some new gaskets out of a roll of gasket paper. Hopefully they'll seal well. I'm going to try and keep oil from pooling up around them, but we'll see how practical that is. 
I had to pull my apron back off because the power feed clutch wouldn't disengage. Turns out the back cover was hitting the clutch rod and keeping it engaged. I remember removing 2 gaskets from the apron cover and thought that was weird, but now realize it was done for clearance. Once I put it back together it was leaking quite a bit. So I pulled it off a 3rd time and cut two new cover gaskets and sealed it with "the right stuff" gasket sealer. We'll see if that solves my leaky apron


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## Canuck75 (Dec 18, 2021)

Funny you should mention that. The apron oil on mine was kind of gunked up when I tore it down, probably from never being changed, so oil leaks kind of help to keep it refreshed! Love that toggle lever clutch as long as it works right. My lathe didn't come with the coolant package so that is my excuse for missing the need for the gasket under the head stock base.

Take care.


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## Canuck75 (Dec 19, 2021)

Have always been curious about the bracket which your pictures show as the mount for the micrometer carriage stop. I just clamped the stop directly to the lathe way which works fine, is less cumbersome, and can be moved quickly anywhere along the lathe bed. Went back through all my information and to my surprise the SB Part List indeed shows the bracket and carriage stop mounted as in your pictures - has only taken 46 years to "discover" this - thanks!!. But, it also says that it is only necessary when working close to the spindle. Now that I have a DRO the micrometer stop is redundant. Also see a home made carriage stop, the versatility that mounting the micrometer stop directly to the bed would give would seem to negate any advantage there as well? Do you see any use for it?


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## Lucas E (Dec 19, 2021)

Canuck75 said:


> Have always been curious about the bracket which your pictures show as the mount for the micrometer carriage stop. I just clamped the stop directly to the lathe way which works fine, is less cumbersome, and can be moved quickly anywhere along the lathe bed. Went back through all my information and to my surprise the SB Part List indeed shows the bracket and carriage stop mounted as in your pictures - has only taken 46 years to "discover" this - thanks!!. But, it also says that it is only necessary when working close to the spindle. Now that I have a DRO the micrometer stop is redundant. Also see a home made carriage stop, the versatility that mounting the micrometer stop directly to the bed would give would seem to negate any advantage there as well? Do you see any use for it?


You need the bracket when using 5c collets. There isn't enough room to mount the carriage stop on the ways  between the gear box and carriage when your right up next to the spindle using 5c collets. If you're using a chuck then you need to move the stop down on the ways as the rod isn't long enough to reach the carriage when mounted in the bracket.


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## Canuck75 (Dec 19, 2021)

That all makes sense.
In another vein, I haven't used the quick-release collect drawbar very much either, great for making multiple parts but for single use I find a manual drawbar is better. I made one using a snowmobile track-tire for the hand wheel. Can feel the pressure you are putting on the collet easier.

Canuck75


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## Lucas E (Dec 19, 2021)

Canuck75 said:


> That all makes sense.
> In another vein, I haven't used the quick-release collect drawbar very much either, great for making multiple parts but for single use I find a manual drawbar is better. I made one using a snowmobile track-tire for the hand wheel. Can feel the pressure you are putting on the collet easier.
> 
> Canuck75


Ya, I don't think I'd like the quick release drawbar. I have a hand wheel as well, easier to switch back and forth between chucks and collets.

Is that your lathe with the turret? Looks cool


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## Canuck75 (Dec 20, 2021)

Lucas E said:


> Ya, I don't think I'd like the quick release drawbar. I have a hand wheel as well, easier to switch back and forth between chucks and collets.
> 
> Is that your lathe with the turret? Looks cool


Yup.Turret is a Hardinge Model B off a very old lathe. Machine was toast and heading for the scrap heap so the turret was a freebie to me. Indexer didn't work but found a way to repair that and otherwise okay. After a lot of calculations found I could adapt it to my SB. Just needed to mill the base off and make rails to fit the V and flat ways. Lots of fun doing this but in the end don't find it that useful. Has a short back stroke before it catches the pawl and wants to index. Have to go all the way if you want to go back to the same station. Might try to make it index manually and thus be able to use the full stroke at each station as many times as you want. Original owner had it loaded up with small custom made tool holders and a live centre so must have been making small repeat parts. I loaded it up with chucks which were more useful to me. A few pics tell the story a little better.


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## Lucas E (Jan 3, 2022)

Canuck75 said:


> Yup.Turret is a Hardinge Model B off a very old lathe. Machine was toast and heading for the scrap heap so the turret was a freebie to me. Indexer didn't work but found a way to repair that and otherwise okay. After a lot of calculations found I could adapt it to my SB. Just needed to mill the base off and make rails to fit the V and flat ways. Lots of fun doing this but in the end don't find it that useful. Has a short back stroke before it catches the pawl and wants to index. Have to go all the way if you want to go back to the same station. Might try to make it index manually and thus be able to use the full stroke at each station as many times as you want. Original owner had it loaded up with small custom made tool holders and a live centre so must have been making small repeat parts. I loaded it up with chucks which were more useful to me. A few pics tell the story a little better.


Nice job, looks like a lot of work. I don't think I'm going to dabble with a turret in mine. Most of what I'm making is one off parts.


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## Lucas E (Jan 3, 2022)

I got my T nut and tool post bolt machined up for my new AXA (German Brand) multifix tool post. Was a pain in the butt since I kept running into the chicken and egg conundrum of needing the tool post to machine parts, but not being able to use the tool post until the parts were made. Eventually got it worked out with the old lantern tool post. Still waiting on more insert tooling to arrive. Now the fun begins.


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## Canuck75 (Jan 5, 2022)

Beautiful QCTP.
Wanted to get into the QCTP game but cost and wanting to make stuff myself resulted in my homemade setup. Patterned after a Busy Bee product, not very sophisticated but sturdier. Works fine for the model engine and other work I do. Made 20 holders and would like more??.

Take care.


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## Lucas E (Jan 24, 2022)

Canuck75 said:


> Beautiful QCTP.
> Wanted to get into the QCTP game but cost and wanting to make stuff myself resulted in my homemade setup. Patterned after a Busy Bee product, not very sophisticated but sturdier. Works fine for the model engine and other work I do. Made 20 holders and would like more??.
> 
> Take care.


Is that a piston or dovetail type? Looks like a lot of work to make all that. Nice job!


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## SLK001 (Jan 24, 2022)

Lucas E said:


> Is that a piston or dovetail type? Looks like a lot of work to make all that. Nice job!



It's a wedge type.  Pulling down the locking knob squeezes the toolholder into the TP tightly.


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## Canuck75 (Jan 25, 2022)

Lucas E said:


> Is that a piston or dovetail type? Looks like a lot of work to make all that. Nice job!


Lucas E,-
Dovetail clamp. The near side of the dovetail is separate and pivoted at the rear (4th picture) so takes .013" movement or 1/4 turn of the handle to tighten the tool holder. Have found that even light pressure keeps the tool holder rigid. Started a production line so 20 holders didn't take too long.

Thanks for looking.


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## Lucas E (Feb 22, 2022)

Added a precision Matthews MX-200L to the lathe over the past few days. Had to machine 6 brackets and weld a stand for the display. I painted all the brackets to match the machine as I didn't want them taking away from the machine any more than they already do. I made it a goal to not remove any functionality or travel of the lathe, which took quite a bit of head scratching and reworking things, but I'm super happy with how it came out!

The display can swivel over above the headstock or right behind the chuck. For now I like it above the headstock so I don't have to reach over the chuck, but we'll see down the road.


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## Lucas E (Feb 22, 2022)

Lucas E said:


> Added a precision Matthews MX-200L to the lathe over the past few days. Had to machine 6 brackets and weld a stand for the display. I painted all the brackets to match the machine as I didn't want them taking away from the machine any more than they already do. I made it a goal to not remove any functionality or travel of the lathe, which took quite a bit of head scratching and reworking things, but I'm super happy with how it came out!
> 
> The display can swivel over above the headstock or right behind the chuck. For now I like it above the headstock so I don't have to reach over the chuck, but we'll see down the road.


Here's some pictures of the mounting


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## Lucas E (Feb 22, 2022)

Here's a shot of the welded rectangular tube display stand.


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## jcp (Feb 23, 2022)

Very nicely done! I’ve been trying to decide if I want to make the effort for my 9A with taper attachment. Is there enough room to mount the follow rest?


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## Lucas E (Feb 23, 2022)

jcp said:


> Very nicely done! I’ve been trying to decide if I want to make the effort for my 9A with taper attachment. Is there enough room to mount the follow rest?


Yep, that was one of my goals and the reason for mounting the read head far back on the taper attachment. I didn't want it between the saddle as it keeps you from using a follow rest and also limits the tailstock travel.

The scale is on fixed mounts so it doesn't move.


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## Lucas E (May 2, 2022)

Finally got around to painting my lathe attachments. I was burnt out after finishing the lathe and decided I'd search for a follow rest and do them all at the same time. I'm looking forward to using them.


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