# Help With An Older South Bend Lathe. 6' Bed



## John.bates003 (Feb 21, 2016)

i just got my first lathe but it is an older one. Needs work on it but there are no stamps that show the model just a serial number under the tail stock 5642.  I assume this tag is for who bought it. Any ideas? I will post some more pics later.


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## woodtickgreg (Feb 21, 2016)

I think that tag is for the inventory control of the company that bought it. The serial number on a south bend is usually on the flat part of the bed way on the top right side torwards the front. Got a full pic of the lathe? Might help with the id.


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## francist (Feb 21, 2016)

Genesco (short for General Shoe Company) made footwear starting the late 1930's. Headquartered in Nashville, I believe. Big company, stayed in business a long time, maybe came from one of their plants?

-frank


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## RIMSPOKE (Feb 21, 2016)

A LOT OF THE OLDER IBM MACHINES HAD SIMILAR TAGS . 
THEY WERE AS HAS BEEN SAID , FOR INVENTORY . 

THEY CALLED THEM "BRASS TAGS" BECAUSE THEY WERE ORIGINALLY MADE OF BRASS 
BACK IN THE DAY . 

YOU COULD FIND AN ACTUAL BRASS ONES ON OLDER MACHINES  WHEN I WAS THERE . 
 STEEL , ALUMINUM AND EVEN FOIL STICKER "BRASS TAGS" WERE MUCH MORE COMMON .


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## Andre (Feb 21, 2016)

My DoAll surface grinder, South Bend 13x5 lathe, and 1948 Bridgeport all have inventory tags. They're common on machines, but have no reference to what the machine is other than internal company reference.


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## wildo (Feb 21, 2016)

As others have said, you'll find the serial number in between the flat way and the V way at the tailstock end of the lathe. You can use this registry to attempt to find more info with the actual serial number.

http://www.wswells.com/serial_number.html


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## John.bates003 (Feb 21, 2016)

Already started taken it apart, had to to get it in the garage. Found some teeth broken on some gears as well.


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## Cgantner5150 (Feb 21, 2016)

Just for your info - looks exactly like mine. My serial number has it at 1918. Had matching partial serial numbers on carriage, tail stock, and compound.


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## John.bates003 (Feb 21, 2016)

I found a KK on the compound and a TT under the head on the bed.


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## Cgantner5150 (Feb 21, 2016)

I had FF under the head and T1 under the compound along with 414.
The serial number at the right end of the ways is 15414.


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## John.bates003 (Feb 22, 2016)

Is there no way to look up what model lathe this is other than buying the serial number card? I have some parts I will have to get and some to replace.


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## DoogieB (Feb 22, 2016)

I doubt you'll get much information from the serial number card (if it's even available) on your roughly hundred year old lathe.  Your best bet would be to go to http://www.wswells.com/ and dig around their old catalog section for a visual match on your lathe and go from there.


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## aametalmaster (Feb 24, 2016)

Don't waste you money on the SB serial card. Its just a strip that says the seller and when it was made and its prob wrong. Mine was. They are hand written in a ledger and say nothing else. The newer lathes are different and have great info. Looks like my 1919 15" sn 19412. I also had a 15" sn 15174...Bob

http://www.wswells.com/photos/serial_no/19412_serial_card.jpg


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## scoopydo (Feb 26, 2016)

Looks a lot like my 1917 15" sn/13480. I got two of the ledger lines one correct and the other wrong.
It doesn't look like the compound has a dial on it? Mine has dials on the cross slide and compound, even if they are so small you can barely read them!


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## aametalmaster (Feb 26, 2016)

scoopydo said:


> It doesn't look like the compound has a dial on it? Mine has dials on the cross slide and compound, even if they are so small you can barely read them!



They must have had better eyes 100 years ago...Bob


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## scoopydo (Feb 26, 2016)

Ya think!


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## silverhawk (Feb 29, 2016)

I actually purchased the serial card - mine was old enough it was a ledger row that was converted to the "serial card", sold on January 24, 1930.  It did list the model, which did identify the specs on mine (22YB).  I'd suggest finding someone with a serial number close to yours that DID pick up the serial card to see what you will get.

With mine, they sent a copy of the ledger row as well, which told me who the lathe was sold to.  It was worth it, but mine was sold 15 years after yours.


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## scoopydo (Mar 6, 2016)

aametalmaster said:


> They must have had better eyes 100 years ago...Bob


Boy was I wrong! My 1917 only has a dial on the cross slide too. I guess that shows just how small they are, or how bad my eyes are?


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## scoopydo (Mar 6, 2016)

Bob, do you have change gears with your 15"?
George


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## aametalmaster (Mar 6, 2016)

scoopydo said:


> Bob, do you have change gears with your 15"?
> George


I have a bucket full of them. But they may all be metric. They came from France and have odd numbered teeth...Bob


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## scoopydo (Mar 6, 2016)

Thanks, Bob.
Mine came with no change gears. I did buy a set of gear cutters and I guess looking at the gear change chart I can figure out what gears I need? I was wondering if you knew what tooth numbers are needed for a full set of change gears? Thanks George


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