# South Bend 9a Rebuild



## kingstrider (Aug 8, 2016)

I'm new here but wanted to show off my newest addition, an old South Bend 9A .  This is my second lathe, the first was an old 6" Atlas that I refurbished then sold a few years ago.  Recently I found the need for another machine for a special project and decided a 9" South Bend bench lathe would be ideal.  

I looked in all the usual places but my area of the country is a desert as far as machine tools go as they are few and far between.  I wound up putting a want ad on craigslist and was eventually contacted by a guy in another state who was heading through my area on vacation.  As it turns out he bought it from the estate of a retired machinist who he suspected was the original owner and was purchased as a package deal with some other pieces of machinery he wanted.  

After lots of photos, emails, phone calls and texts, we agreed on a price and finally met over the past weekend.  Overall the machine shows some normal signs of wear but is in pretty good shape for its age.  The ways show a few hits where a chuck or work piece was dropped but the factory scraping is still evident for the most part.  Upon close inspection I found the 80T idler gear has a broken tooth and the lead screw bracket has some buggered screws so will need to replace those.  Otherwise the machine appears original including what looks like the original factory gray-green paint.  

The machine came with the factory horizontal drive unit with v-belt pulleys and an old GE 1/2 HP motor.  There was also a decent selection of tooling including 3- and 4-jaw chucks, quick change tool head, live and dead centers, lathe dogs, drill chucks, several loose collets, multiple cutting bits, various micrometers, calipers etc.  The only thing it didn't come with that I know I will need is a steady rest and a thread dial indicator so I am looking for those now. 

Everything on the lathe works but my plan is to take it apart over the next few months for a complete overhaul with new paint, felts and lubricants.  I ordered a rebuild kit with the manual so need to come up with a plan of action so it doesn't wind up as a pile of parts.  Although I bought this for a particular project, my long term goal is to build scale radial IC engines some day so I might be looking to upgrade to a larger unit in the future.   

I'm sure I will have some questions as I tear into this thing but for now would like to know more about it.  First of all the model number is shown as 2544Y.  I can't find anything about this online and the closest thing I saw is model 544Y.  Any ideas?  Next is the serial number 18982NAR9 which the best I can tell means it was made in 1949 but please correct me if I am wrong.  Finally I think the B100NK is the part number for the bed itself.  Would this number be different for a bed of a different length?  Finally I suspect the engraved plate with various speeds on the gear cover was added later.  Thoughts?


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## DoogieB (Aug 8, 2016)

kingstrider said:


> First of all the model number is shown as 2544Y. I can't find anything about this online and the closest thing I saw is model 544Y. Any ideas? Next is the serial number 18982NAR9 which the best I can tell means it was made in 1949 but please correct me if I am wrong. Finally I think the B100NK is the part number for the bed itself. Would this number be different for a bed of a different length? Finally I suspect the engraved plate with various speeds on the gear cover was added later. Thoughts?



Most people don't worry about the model number very much because the serial number tells you everything you need to know.
18982NAR sounds like the end of the forties.  That the lathe has small dials and only one oiler on the QCGB backs-up that date.
B100NK sounds like a part number
Yup, the engraved plate was added later
Actually, the one thing you haven't mentioned was that this lathe uses a V belt instead of the usual flat belt which is somewhat rare.  You get an extra cog with that setup.

Looks like this lathe had a bit of use but with a little TLC it will be ready for some more.  The 80T gear is easy to find.  Back gears OK?  Pity someone pinched the threading dial because they are a bit pricey nowadays.


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## Charles Spencer (Aug 8, 2016)

I don't know if it's true, but I read where somebody said the thread dials from the new SB 10Ks would work.

It might be worth contacting Grizzly and asking.  The price isn't bad ($50):

http://www.grizzly.com/parts/PSB10020554A?utm_campaign=zPage

... if they ever get them back in stock.

Nice looking machine by the way.


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## woodtickgreg (Aug 9, 2016)

Very cool lathe and definitely worthy of a full restore. Keep posting pics here as I would love to watch the progress on this one. Congratulations!


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## brino (Aug 9, 2016)

Hi kingstrider,

Welcome to the site!

First, the broken gear tooth could be fixed with brazing. Keith Rucker has a video of doing that here:





Second, I have been trying to dig up model number info and have only found partial answers, see the attached pdf files.

The 1945 manual on page 17 (of 36) shows the model A 544-Y with 3 foot bed and 1/4 hp motor, for $238.50.
The 1947 manual on page 4 (of 16) also shows the model A 544-Y for $294.20 (a 23% increase in two years!)
Both of the above show the v-belt drive.

The 1948 manual on page 45 (of 68; but marked page 43 in the pdf) shows that they added the "2" prefix to a series of lathe model numbers to indicate that it was shipped
"With Drive Unit for 1/2H.P. Motor". It is not 100% clear, but I believe they say that the supplied motor pulley is meant for a 3/4-inch shaft.

I still have a few more files to look thru for the "2544Y" and will post back if I find anything definitive.

Please keep posting any re-build pictures!

-brino


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## Charles Spencer (Aug 9, 2016)

brino said:


> The 1945 manual on page 17 (of 36) shows the model A 544-Y with 3 foot bed and 1/4 hp motor, for $238.50.
> The 1947 manual on page 4 (of 16) also shows the model A 544-Y for $294.20 (a 23% increase in two years!)



I believe that in 1945 the War Production Office price controls were in effect.


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## brino (Aug 9, 2016)

Okay, here we are, page 39 (of 92 in the pdf document, but marked as page 37) of the 1952 catalog shows the catalog number "CL2544Y".

It is a nine inch model A with a 3 foot bed, 16" between centres, and had an 8-speed v-belt drive system made for a 1/2 hp motor.




-brino


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