# Clausing 5900 bed twist.?  Or not



## Tim9 (Aug 5, 2019)

I was leveling the lathe for the second time. I thought I had it right a week ago and it was pretty good but wasn’t completed since I had to order some hockey pucks. I only had two of the original  leveling pads so I used some rubber and wood first go round.
   After installing the 2 hockey pucks under the OE screws and plate.... Then tried to level the lathe it was a no go.  I noticed significant bed twist.


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## Tim9 (Aug 5, 2019)

So, I was a bit taken back. For one thing this isn’t a long bed lathe. It’s a 5903, 24” between centers. I couldn’t believe that the bed was truly twisted permanently.  
  A little background on this find is that it was purchased from a scrapper who grabbed it after Katrina. When I went to look at it it was sitting outside uncovered with the pan full of about 2” of water. It was rough. It occurred to me that the lathe was most likely banged around by the scrapper plus that rust in the pan could also be an issue. 
    I unscrewed the four nuts securing the tail end of the lathe to the base. I then put a come-along under the tail end and lifted the lathe until the lathe and base had about a 16th inch. Scraped rust and used air gun to clean area of where lathe bed contacts the base. I then placed 2 razor blades under front side of the tail side of bed. Lowered and leveled the lathe.


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## Tim9 (Aug 5, 2019)

All and all it looks good. I’m guessing that there was a combination of rust with maybe some racking of the base pedestal and when I loosened, cleaned and shimmed the base tail end of lathe I “fixed” it.


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## Bob Korves (Aug 5, 2019)

Lathes that sit around while not on even support to keep it in alignment will soon move, and gradually move farther.  It you get perfect parallelism on the first try, you still need to check it in a week or so, and will probably be less than happy with what you find.  Level it again, let it sit another week, then test it again.  It takes time for the metal to let the stresses out.  It should be out less each time you check it, until it finally settles down.  The floor itself may be part of the problem, ongoing settling from the weight.  If the floor is not solid enough to settle into a permanent position and just keeps moving, then you have a problem.  The best answer to that is spreading the load over a larger area of the floor, something like putting thick 12" x 12" plates under each leveling foot to spread the loading over a larger area.  Rinse, lather, repeat until you are happy with it.


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## Tim9 (Aug 5, 2019)

Thanks Bob. Good to know. It’s now sitting on a concrete slab poured in 1952 when parents built this house.... So it’s pretty stable now. But what you say about checking every week pretty much confirmed what I was also thinking. So that’s what I’ll do.
    It was sitting outside when I got it and looked like it was sitting there a while.
It was really a gamble but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Below is how it looked back then.


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## Bob Korves (Aug 5, 2019)

OK, a 618 is a light lathe, probably no issues with any concrete mounting.  Just let it settle in for a while before calling it level.


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## markba633csi (Aug 5, 2019)

Umm what did I miss?  that's not an Atlas..
good job on the cleanup Tim, I bet there's _lots _of life left in that bad boy


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## mmcmdl (Aug 6, 2019)

Getting ready to fire up the 5917 Clausing as soon as the vfds arrive . I like that 5903 .


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## ddickey (Aug 6, 2019)

Are you certan those V-ways are the same height?


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## eeler1 (Aug 6, 2019)

You are a braver man than me.  But for the right price, I suppose worth the challenge.

What did you use to remove rust from the ways?  I've seen people file and sandpaper rusty ways.  Seems like there's a youtube where a guy uses an angle grinder.  Makes me shudder to think of these things.

Leveling is not an end in itself, but a means to an end.  Try taking some cuts and see if it makes tapers, adjust at the tailstock end until it cuts straight.


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## Bob Korves (Aug 6, 2019)

markba633csi said:


> Umm what did I miss?  that's not an Atlas..
> good job on the cleanup Tim, I bet there's _lots _of life left in that bad boy


My mistake.  In his footer to his posts it says 618 lathe.  The lathe in question is obviously not a 618.  Must be an earlier acquisition.


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## Tim9 (Aug 6, 2019)

Yes Bob.... my first lathe I purchased was a 618. Good little lathe that got my foot in the door.
   This is my Clausing 12” lathe. A real lathe.
Eeler1...it really did look rough. When I got it I just sprayed it down with liquid wrench and used a stainless soft bristle toothbrush to loosen the surface rust. Wiped it down.... sprayed with lanolin/ mineral spirits and stored in a shed covered with tarp for 2 years.
   The guy I bought it from said he was using it until the motor started making noise. I was really worried about the delrin vari-drive  bushing and sheeve. The green delrin was intact and the sheeve was in good shape. I replaced the bushing for good measure and replaced both bearing in the motor. Have replaced both belts and made most all adjustments per the manual.
   After pulling lathe out of storage I used a razor blade and WD-40 to clean all the bed ways, compound and cross feed carriage.
  The razor blade and some Scotch-brite really cleaned up everything nicely. There was no deep pitting... only some surface discoloring.
   I really lucked out with this lathe. It has cleaned up nicely. There’s not much wear on the bed or the acme screws. It’s actually a late model 5900.... built @1971.
   It’s in great shape compared to my South Bend lathes.
   I really have to soon sell one of my SB 9” lathes. I have 2 South Bend 4-1/2 foot bed model A lathes.... need to get rid of one of them.

  Anyway.... I made a small test cut yesterday. Cut a small 3/4” test bar.... @ 6” long extended out of 3-jaw chuck....4140 steel.  After cutting it was within .001 of an inch. Considering I haven’t adjusted carriage shims yet nor have I finished letting the bed settle as per Bob’s recommendation.... I think I’m really going to enjoy using this Clausing 5903 lathe.


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## Tim9 (Aug 6, 2019)

Thanks mmcmdl. The 5903 is a nice lathe. I kind of thought about replacing my single phase motor with a 3-phase motor but after replacing all my hydraulic seals and getting the Vari-drive working as designed.... I’m ok with it.  Longer bed would be nice but for that odd job I run into needing a longer bed... I still have my 36” between centers South Bend 9” model A lathe.  So I’m okay..
   Next project will be getting the Burke Millrite out of storage and giving it a one over. It’s a three phase and I’ll be putting a VFD on it. All in all things are shaping up.


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## mmcmdl (Aug 7, 2019)

My VFD arrived today . I'm going to wire up the Atlas 3996 first so I can sell it to make some room . I still need to bring things up from both basements into the garage . If the VFD works correctly I'll be needing 2 more . I keep asking myself " how hard can it be " to wire these things up ? ( then I remember the story about the color blind bomb technician )  You have a nice lathe there , mine was running when I pulled it out of work , so I'm guessing it will fire right up if I can figure out the VFD .


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## chips&more (Aug 7, 2019)

Nice lathe! I would remove those razor blades and do as Bob suggested and let it settle in. And make sure you are not referencing from worn areas with the level and getting false findings...Dave


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## Tim9 (Aug 9, 2019)

I have made sure that the level reads same from multiple locations.. the bed really doesn’t have much wear. The crossfeed screw has no noticeable wear and crossfeed nut only slightly worn.  
  I will take out razor blades soon and relevel the lathe feet.


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