# Got myself a project lathe



## nnam (Mar 15, 2020)

All motors were stripped off along with many other things.
What's left is the cross slide, apron, head and way.  I am thinking of getting up to run at the minimum.

That would include a motor and pulley, some form of compound slide, various dial and knob and handles.
It's not an urgent.  Currently, I just need to clean it good and keep it until I finish other projects.


----------



## Dave Smith (Mar 15, 2020)

nice, what is it---a Hardinge maybe


----------



## Boswell (Mar 15, 2020)

Thats certainly a project. Should keep you busy for some time.  Please keep sharing pictures as you progress.


----------



## nnam (Mar 15, 2020)

Yes, it's a Hardinge.  I just found an excellent document on assemble and dissemble the lathe here:



			http://www.babinmachine.com/PDF/Hardinge%20HLV-H%20Maintenance%20Manual.pdf
		


It's very details and the drawings are very clear.


----------



## nnam (Mar 18, 2020)

After some cleaning of the apron area, I found most of the gears having some minor pitting.  I wish if I can polish them easily somehow.

The bearings are all bad.  There are a mixed of bronze bearings, 3/4" and 5/8". Many bearings has metal covered on one side.  This will be a problem for me to find something not too costly like that.  I will try to figure out a way to cover it up.  Maybe drill and tap 2 screws opposite sides for a cover.  I don't know.  It's oily, so I must be careful with glue, but that' an option.  Just glue a round piece on the back with rtv.

Here are the non-sleeve bearings:

4 needle bearings, 1" OD, 3/4"ID, 1/2" thick.  I used b-128 bearings for these.

The clutches has 2 types of bearings.

2 of 5202 bearings with a retainer ring line (35mm x 15mm x 15.9mm).
2 of 26x9x8mm bearings - 629-2RS

I also found one of the clutch's ring damaged.  I will have to figure out how to deal with it.

Several gear's bearing inserts were pitted.  I plan go cut them down smaller, then put sleeves on them.


----------



## macardoso (Mar 18, 2020)

If it is an HLV-H, they are very high precision machines. A working spindle alone would be valuable in the home shop. Have fun with it.


----------



## nnam (Mar 18, 2020)

macardoso said:


> If it is an HLV-H, they are very high precision machines. A working spindle alone would be valuable in the home shop. Have fun with it.


Yes, it's an HLV-H machine.  The spindle appears to rotate freely without noise.  However, I wonder if the machine was under water or why the apron was filled with mud.  Unless that's just old grease.


----------



## macardoso (Mar 18, 2020)

My college shop mentor personally owned an HLV-H at home. He showed me a job he was doing making #00-90 screws for medical devices. They were incredible. He had a 50x magnifying glass mounted to the machine to single point these guys.

He offered to sell it to me well tooled for $8k after I graduated. I had no money at the time but I am sure kicking myself wishing I had been able to buy it.


----------



## macardoso (Mar 18, 2020)

It's weird. The outside of the machine looks really good for how bad that apron looks.


----------



## Superburban (Mar 18, 2020)

Maybe some cutting fluid or coolant filled the apron, and the owner never noticed.


----------



## Tim9 (Mar 18, 2020)

Yep.... I found out the hard way. Sulfur based cutting fluids should be used sparingly. And then wiped off immediately of all lathe or milled surfaces and then WD40. That dark sulfur based cutting fluid really caused surface rust everywhere.
I’d spray everything down with tranny fluid... let it sit for a week and then go at it with bronze brush.


----------



## mattthemuppet2 (Mar 18, 2020)

looks like the perfect candidate for a couple of ballscrews, servos and Centroid Acorn controller


----------



## Packard V8 (Mar 18, 2020)

Given the quality and value of a Hardinge HLV-H, who would deliberately commit machinery sacrilege? The more likely explanation is the one you suggested; there was a flood, the lathe was declared a total loss and scrapped by the insurance company.

Jack Vines


----------



## Lo-Fi (Mar 19, 2020)

Those clutch packs are a great candidate for a good soak in evaporust. Should come out nicely. Hopefully the bearings are available


----------



## Janderso (Mar 19, 2020)

I bet that lathe cleans up real nice.
Yes, degrease and evaporust


----------



## Choiliefan (Mar 19, 2020)

Do you have a tailstock?


----------



## nnam (Mar 21, 2020)

Last night, I put the parts through rust electrolysis.  If I have used vinegar, it would work well too or even better, but I was worry about hydrogen embrittlement.

The clean up looks very good. The camera appears to pick up the rust color a bit more.
I also got my first batch of bearings. Lucky that it's not expensive, given they're made in the US.


----------



## nnam (Mar 21, 2020)

I got a first sleeve on.  It's just soft steel I cut with a lathe, not case harden, but I think that is good enough for what I want it to be.
Compare it with one not yet done.  It doesn't look as bad as the picture.  I put sand paper on it and it's really smooth.




Got a second sleeve.  It is not as smooth as the first, even after using sand paper.




I just realized the ridges can't be fixed with sand paper.  There are 4 thous over, so I turned it with a file and now it is very good.


----------



## macardoso (Mar 23, 2020)

Looking good. They may never mesh as well as new-from-factory, but you're doing a great job and I bet you'll have a real nice lathe when you're done with it.


----------



## nnam (Mar 23, 2020)

I got one more done.  I have one left but it doesn't look too bad, so I am debating whether to do it or just polish it up.

I also bought the 5202 bearings,  but now have to order again with the snap ring version.

One thing I am a bit confused about the clutch design is that the spring pushes across the bearing (inner to outer)  while it doesn't appear neccessary. 

I may try a washer to distribute that out.  They already have one, just   not covering the whole bearing


----------

