# SB 9”  “C” model lathe bed dimensions



## frankly2 (Mar 5, 2021)

Have any of you gentlemen found bed layouts for SB 9”, I want to do drawings for the bed layout that are showing original dimensions. That way we can build attachments that will fit properly. Any suggestions or advice welcomed !


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## malleusmagnus (Mar 7, 2021)

@graham-xrf has apparently done this for you:

SB9 bed dimensions

although, some of the numbers didn't appear in the post.  I assume he has them, but not having my secret decoder ring handy, they are a mystery to me.


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## graham-xrf (Mar 7, 2021)

frankly2 said:


> Have any of you gentlemen found bed layouts for SB 9”, I want to do drawings for the bed layout that are showing original dimensions. That way we can build attachments that will fit properly. Any suggestions or advice welcomed !


Hi @frankly2 (I'm guessing you might be a Frank - but maybe not..)
I had started to measure up my 9A with a view to assessing wear, and I took it as far as I needed to at the time, but I knew I would have to come back to it later. My SB-9C is getting most attention right now. The main big dimensions are on the picture, but I was getting at the letter coded dimensions in a spreadsheet.

The post @malleusmagnus mentions has only a "picture" of a portion of the spreadsheet.

This one ->



My spreadsheet happens to be in Open Document Format, but I have exported it also as Microsoft's format xlsx which works with Windows Excel. It is ([Edit "was") attached here, apparently having to be type XLS on this site.






*Please forgive that it is only partially filled out.*
Being on on-the-fly work in progress record, it is incomplete. I took it only as far as I needed to at the time. I include the spreadsheet with attachment format being the older 2003 type XLS only, as it seems formats .ODS, and Microsoft XLSX 2013 format are not allowed extensions.
I will check with @vtcnc . Maybe HM does not like those kind of spreadsheets

I have the partial sections as separate images, which if printed, can be handy to scribble measurements on.







This is all the information I have on these South Bend 9" beds, but I think it also applies to the 10K, which seems pretty much identical except for the slightly taller swing.


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## graham-xrf (Mar 7, 2021)

malleusmagnus said:


> @graham-xrf has apparently done this for you:
> 
> SB9 bed dimensions
> 
> although, some of the numbers didn't appear in the post.  I assume he has them, but not having my secret decoder ring handy, they are a mystery to me.


Heh Heh!  
It was only a piece of screenshot "picture" of the spreadsheet. Actual spreadsheet is posted above, though as XLS.


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## vtcnc (Mar 7, 2021)

graham-xrf said:


> I include the spreadsheet with attachment format being the older 2003 type XLS only, as it seems formats .ODS, and Microsoft XLSX 2013 format are not allowed extensions. I will check with @vtcnc .


I've added .ods and .xlsx extensions to the list of allowed attachments.


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## frankly2 (Mar 13, 2021)

Graham..... thank you for that superb reference work you have done ! Most valuable to all of us who own the 9” SB lathes.. I have found the dimensions you show to be very close to my lathe bed. All of them are within .002~003 of my actual measurements. Again....nice work and much appreciated ! !


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## graham-xrf (Mar 13, 2021)

@frankly2 : My pleasure, I am glad you find it useful, though I admit, incomplete.

When I first started exploring this site, and also the vintage lathes sites on the internet, there was plenty of historical information, catalogs, books, etc. but nowhere was a set of South Bend drawings with dimensions. I even got the question "Why would you need to know"? I take apart stuff to a fault, and it rarely goes together again without something of me in it. Anything I find now gets posted here, and if, along with what members post over time, makes HM the the only place where most South Bend "down to the nuts" detail can be found, that's OK.

The "Lathe Tooling Dimensions_7324" copied PDF page has the major dimensions table for South Bend models from 9" through 16". These are nominal, and change by a few thousandths by the time the planed and scraped bits go together. eg. It's handy to know from dimension "A" that the axis of a SB9 is 3+19/32" above the cross slide plane.

The things I found interesting were on the JPG page showing the bed section. Here is where I find out about the metal composition, 50% grey cast iron + 50% steel, from which, I suppose, one can figure the proportions of iron, carbon, and silicon. Significantly, the description for "*The Saddle V-ways*" says they are "hand-scraped to conform with the V-Ways of the lathe bed". This is a scraping "straight *up*", and contrasts with the explanation from Connelly's "_Machine Tool Reconditioning_", where the way to go, if possible, is scraping "straight *down*", unless the bed is twisted, for which he has an alternative procedure. His tricks use the scraped compound and cross-slide as template tools, to finally scrape the bed. This, I suppose, is a difference between what is done for manufacture, and what is done to re-condition.

Having not learned anything about how, I have no intention of getting into a tangle with scraping anything on my machines right now, but I may be bounced into it sooner than expected because of my current adventures with the SB9C compound. To weld it with ENiFe-C (55% nickel) while it is heated to 300C, and then have it slow cool might well leave it "changed" a bit. I have to measure first, then do the evil deeds, then measure after, and possibly have to attempt my first scraping.

Other things I have in mind are larger dial conversions, carriage stop with indicator mount, the longer travel quill goodie on the back of the tailstock, lead-screw threading indicator, and controlled drip rate oilers for the underneath drive countershaft. I already have the needle bearing replacement for the red fibre washer by the spindle back gear nut. How far I get with all this - we shall see


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## frankly2 (Mar 13, 2021)

While it is true that your work is incomplete, it is nevertheless very helpful.
I set out looking for dimensions for my SB lathe in the quest for attachment design.
Also I have been reading Connelly’s Machine Tool Reconditioning with interest in restoration. I intend to, in my quest to restore my SB, bring it back to, as close as I can, to original condition as manufactured. Hence the reason I am studying the above publication.
Also I would like to make sure any attachments I craft, fit, and are able to produce the best results. Among those attachments is a cross slide with ability to attach back working tooling. I found castings which with proper machining and scraping could make this machine much more versatile and useful. Hence finding original dimensions will be very helpful and eliminate guesswork at least to some degree. Said castings are clone to what original SB made back when this machine was made in 1954.
im not sure if you know but you can get registry cards for SB lathes from Grizzly Industrial, they have the archives from the SB factory.


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