# South Bend 9" Cabinet Model Rebuild



## Skowinski (Feb 4, 2019)

Way back in late July I looked at a SB9 and asked a bunch of questions here.  Thanks to everyone who helped me out.  I ended up buying it and now that it's fully rebuilt and function thought I'd post up a bit of the history of the project.  I spent about 6 months working an hour here or there in my spare time, and am pleased with the result.  This lathe should serve me well for years to come.

As it arrived in my garage.  Nasty old green cabinet covered with multiple layers of paint, grease and chips.  Lathe in two colors (red tailstock for some reason), pretty nasty also.





I bought a 5 gallon pail of Chem-dip, some paint stripper, and a bunch of wire brushes and started...


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## woodtickgreg (Feb 4, 2019)

Very cool, I'm looking forward to seeing more.


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## benmychree (Feb 4, 2019)

You need to get rid of all that non machinery stuff in your shop!


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## Skowinski (Feb 4, 2019)

Some time later, a couple of months, it became this scene.


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## benmychree (Feb 4, 2019)

Good progress!


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## Skowinski (Feb 5, 2019)

But, getting to that photo above required some work.  Here's the nasty cabinet as it arrived in my garage.  After much effort with paint stripper I gave up and took it to a shop to be bead blasted.  I think I counted 4 coats of paint, the last one put on with a brush, and done very poorly.  And, yes, that is a household outlet box with a light switch on there for the on/off switch.





And, had to start working on undoing a few hillbilly repairs, like this.  Someone had managed to break off the backgear lever, and had drilled, tapped and put in a long bolt with some fuel hose over it, makeshift handle.  Man, some hacks out there for sure.


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## benmychree (Feb 5, 2019)

School shop green!


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## markba633csi (Feb 5, 2019)

For some strange reason some think that once it's broken it doesn't warrant an elegant repair
To me it's a challenge to "fix it nice", make it look like it belongs there
mark


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## benmychree (Feb 5, 2019)

I think nice is very nice; I have niced up most of my machinery with the exception of my 9" Monarch, it is pretty nice in it's original condition, except for the legs that were nicked up badly, them I niced up.


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## Skowinski (Feb 5, 2019)

Probably my OCD but I just can't leave anything looking cludgy and hacked up, it's gotta look nice....

Taking the cabinet to the blasting shop mean't I needed to pull the underdrive and motor assembly out.  Turns out I needed to, as the wiring was quite poorly done (including no ground on the motor itself) and the countershaft assembly needed some cleaning up and adjusting.





The cabinet came back stripped bare, and I started preparing it for painting.





In the end 4 coats of Krylon enamel primer and then 3 coats of Krylon light industrial grey enamel, with some sanding between coats.  That should last.


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## mmcmdl (Feb 6, 2019)

Looking good , and the garage looks great also . I have to laugh though , if you ever need any more coolers , you know who to contact !


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## Skowinski (Feb 6, 2019)

mmcmdl you can have a few of those coolers, just let us know when you'll drop by, no idea how we accumulated so many, lol...

Another odd problem I ran across was that when I put a QCTP on (it came with an old latern style tool post) even lowering the tool all the way down wasn't quite enough to center it on the work piece.





I scratched my head, posted a few questions on here, and then figured out this machine had a 10k compound base on it.  That's a 9" compound base on the right, bought off ebay for cheap.  How a 10k base wound up on this thing I don't know...





edit - these photos reminded me that this lathe came with the large dials, which I really like.


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## Skowinski (Feb 7, 2019)

It came with a steady rest, which I dunked in the Chem Dip, masked off, and painted, then all sliding surfaces cleaned up, and reassembled with some oil.  First part to be refinished.  (it was after this one part that I realized I was in for a LOT of work!  )









Used this paint code that I found doing some searches and staring at photos online.  Turned out a bit darker than I expected, but it looks good.


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## SLK001 (Feb 11, 2019)

It has a 10k compound on it because it IS a 10k.  It even has a 10k tailstock - whodathunkit?  Where did you get the information that it was a 9"?


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## Skowinski (Feb 12, 2019)

SLK001 said:


> It has a 10k compound on it because it IS a 10k.  It even has a 10k tailstock - whodathunkit?  Where did you get the information that it was a 9"?



Went round and round with this back when I picked this thing up.  History here:








						Is This a SB Heavy 10?
					

https://lasvegas.craigslist.org/tls/d/south-bend-metal-lathe/6652655803.html  Doesn't seem to look exactly like any heavy 10's I've seen... and doesn't look like any 9A's I've seen either.




					www.hobby-machinist.com


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## SLK001 (Feb 12, 2019)

It's NOT a Heavy 10, but a lighter 10".  South Bend called it a "10k".  Here's a picture of one from the 1963 catalog.  Look familiar?


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## Skowinski (Feb 12, 2019)

I think the consensus at the end of that thread I linked was that it was a 9" because of the tailstock design.  A dead center in the tailstock lines up perfectly with one in the headstock, so those two units match.  Here's the swing over the bed, measured from the rear V.





And, the tailstock.


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## Skowinski (Feb 12, 2019)

Gearbox and headstock end before, during, and after.  When I bought this thing this area was pretty noisy, more so in forward than reverse.  After the rebuild and careful reassembly it's nice and quiet.  Amazing what proper clearances on gear meshes can do.


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## SLK001 (Feb 12, 2019)

Okay, your measurement of the swing tells me that you have a "Franken Lathe".  Somewhere in its life, someone put a 10k QCGB on a 9" UMD floor 
lathe, that's why the model number points to a 10k.  Perhaps it was a "B" or "C" model without a gearbox.  The 10k has a swing of 10", so the bed is definitely from a 9" lathe.  So, rest assured that you DO have a 9" lathe, but with donor parts from a 10k.  The 9" and the 10k used the same gear box, apron, saddle and compound rest, so someone may have "grafted" these onto your lathe, making it into an "A" model.  Regardless of the origins, your restored lathe looks very nice and I hope you get many hours of enjoyment out of making chips with that baby!

Here's a catalog page for the 9" UMD version.  Comparing this page with the one of the 10k above, you can definitely say that they look like twins!


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## Skowinski (Feb 14, 2019)

Yep, it was a bit of a Frankenlathe.  All good now, I think the only remaining 10k part is the gearbox, which is the same as the 9.

The apron was perhaps the most complicated part of the rebuild.  The Illion Industries manual and felt kit was a huge help.  









Still need to clean up some parts of the dials, but it's completely functional and everything works well.


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## Skowinski (Feb 15, 2019)

Got rid of the household outlet box and light switch, replaced with a proper drum switch to allow reverse rotation if needed.  This also allowed me to clean up the poorly done wiring and make sure both the motor and switch are now properly grounded.





In the future I intend to add a VFD knob to control speed, and an emergency stop push button switch.


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## Latinrascalrg1 (Feb 15, 2019)

Looks Great, Awesome Job.

Couple Questions about the paint if you wouldn't mind......Did you use the Automotive Grade Enamel paint?  
Is the paint solvent resistant?  
Do you know if Brake Fluid will cause the affected area to swell? 

Any info you could elaborate on would be much appreciated.


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## jcslocum (Feb 15, 2019)

Terrific restoration. It's a real inspiration to get going on mine...one the temps get above my age


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## derf (Feb 15, 2019)

Bang up job, mate. Looks better than new.


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## Skowinski (Feb 16, 2019)

Latinrascalrg1 said:


> Looks Great, Awesome Job.
> 
> Couple Questions about the paint if you wouldn't mind......Did you use the Automotive Grade Enamel paint?
> Is the paint solvent resistant?
> ...



The paint was what I saw recommended in a few online forums, Sherwin Williams alkyd enamel, oil based paint.  It's supposed to be chip and solvent resistant.  I haven't tested the solvent resistance, but oil wipes easily off and it seems pretty tough so far.  I put on 2-3 coats with a brush.  It's pretty slow drying, like about 24 hours, so brush marks generally "relax" and disappear as the paint flows and smooths out before it dries.

The metal surfaces were stripped with either Chem-dip or paint stripper, wire brushed, and then rinsed or wiped down with alcohol before painting.


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## Skowinski (Feb 17, 2019)

A couple of pics of the lathe coming together into it's completed state.


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## Skowinski (Feb 17, 2019)

And... finished!  (for now anyway  )


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## Skowinski (Feb 17, 2019)

Last few pics.


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## woodtickgreg (Feb 17, 2019)

Man it came out nice! Now use it and get it dirty, lol.


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## finsruskw (Aug 10, 2020)

WOW!!!
That is one awesome job!!
Where did you source all the nice new tags??
Many of mine are MIA!
So, the drum switch mounts inside the cabinet??
I see the holes in the front of yours are the same as on mine.


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## mikey (Aug 10, 2020)

Missed this one until today - you did an awesome job on this, Skowinski!


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## Skowinski (Aug 19, 2020)

finsruskw said:


> WOW!!!
> That is one awesome job!!
> Where did you source all the nice new tags??
> Many of mine are MIA!
> ...



Thanks, I'm pleased with how it came out.  A guy from the South Bend group on Practical Machinist made the tags for he, he did a great job.  I can PM you his info if you are interested.

Yep, mounted the drum switch on the inside.  Had to fiddle a bit to get it done but it works and is clean.



mikey said:


> Missed this one until today - you did an awesome job on this, Skowinski!



Thank you sir.  Just got it set up in the retirement shop in the new house, and discovered that during the year of sitting around in a friends aircraft hangar, and being transported twice, the gear cover has loosened up at the pin and is sagging, again.  Oh well, need to melt out that metal and reposition the pin, or come up with something more permanent.


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## DavidR8 (Aug 19, 2020)

Wow! 
Looks like it just rolled off the assembly line! 
Very impressive work 


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