# South Bend Heavy 10



## ray62 (Mar 5, 2014)

Hello;
I'm thinking of restoring my S.B.lathe , and the bed ways are badly worn.Does anyone where I might get them ground or scraped in Northwest Pa.I have one quote of $2500 - $3000!!  That's too steep for me. I was wondering if they could be milled to rough them in and then finish scraped.
Thanks
Ray


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## schor (Mar 5, 2014)

Just sell it, maybe get $200 for it. I'll be there tomorrow to help you get rid of the pig, what's your address and what's a good time for me to come by? :lmao:

Looks like it's time to learn hand scraping or go hang out at the bar where the machinists hang out and make a friend with a long bed grinder.

Are they that bad that they need to be milled? We need pics. Lots of pics.

Are you able to indicate it and using a sharpie show how much it's out? The amount can mean the difference between just stoning and full out grinding.



ray62 said:


> Hello;
> I'm thinking of restoring my S.B.lathe , and the bed ways are badly worn.Does anyone where I might get them ground or scraped in Northwest Pa.I have one quote of $2500 - $3000!!  That's too steep for me. I was wondering if they could be milled to rough them in and then finish scraped.
> Thanks
> Ray


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## rmack898 (Mar 5, 2014)

Before you start thinking about grinding and scraping, turn a test bar between centers and see how much it is out.


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## ray62 (Mar 5, 2014)

schor said:


> Just sell it, maybe get $200 for it. I'll be there tomorrow to help you get rid of the pig, what's your address and what's a good time for me to come by? :lmao:
> 
> Looks like it's time to learn hand scraping or go hang out at the bar where the machinists hang out and make a friend with a long bed grinder.
> 
> ...



Hi
Getting measurements was a challenge.I don't have a straight edge long  enough bridge the wear area so this is the best i could do. I mic over a  roll from the bottom of  the way. I checked in front of the tail stock  and in front of the chuck and there is close to  .015" difference.!!  That's alot of scraping.Maybe  if you and I work around the clock  scraping , we can have it done by summer.
It needs some serious work!
Yes ,I know it's dirty.
Ray


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## vulture20 (Apr 2, 2014)

SB Heavy 10's have hardened ways and surface grinding is the only way to fix it. I had my Heavy 10 re-ground by South Bend back in '06. I had the bed ways, saddle, cross slide, and compound slide ground and scraped true to each other. The tail stock was also ground and shimmed. The head stock had the spindle bearings reset and tested. All this was not cheap but it's now a "new" lathe with factory certification. I can turn a 3' bar with .0005" run-out from end to end. I almost dropped the phone when I was told what the bill was, but, considering what South Bend was selling H10's for at the time, I got away cheap.


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## itsme_Bernie (Apr 2, 2014)

+1 on RMack898's post here.

First thing I would do is prod around a little more at some shops to get prices.  I would secondly suggest you go in person and not call on the phone.  I am pretty confident that most places would give a different price to a guy who is just shopping around on the phone, than to someone who looks serious enough to show up in person. 

Also, if you tell them that you plan to finish by scraping, that may change things too, but I can't say I know.

  I had almost your exact machine, and the ways were even more worn out, I believe.  Mine was a 1955 round legged cabinet model, double tumbler.  I just didn't have the taper attachment, good for you! 
I am really happy with the work I could do on mine, without even restoring it.  I had at least .02 dip in the ways, if not more.  You can always leave grinding for another day if you can't afford it now, and are ready to rebuild and repaint it, re-wick it, replace crosslide and compound nut and/or screw, and tune it up in general.  

Again, not to discourage you.  I only got a newer Heavy Ten when I found one that had already HAD the ways reground, and other ways re-flaked.
It also came with loads of equally nice accessories.  This happened to cost less than a pretty frugal regrind, but this was also a pretty lucky find.  

Let us know how things start laying out and what you plan to do!  

Bernie


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