# Saving a lathe



## abunai (Sep 18, 2017)

First post here.
Hope it better than other forums I've joined.
I'm in the process of trying to save a Sheldon Lathe.
It's in a shed that has lost a roof and wall.
Stamp on it is LWQU 6827
Rusty, but most things still move.
I've got it down to the gear box, bed, and one leg.
Any info on this lathe????


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## vocatexas (Sep 18, 2017)

Have you looked here?

http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgIndex/detail.aspx?id=2133&tab=3


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## abunai (Sep 18, 2017)

Yes I have.  Good site.
I couldn't find an exact match. I know I might not be able to. 
There were some close to it. 
I've googled the stamp number and came up with nothing that looks just like it.


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## dlane (Sep 18, 2017)

Welcome, there are a few here with Sheldon lathes, I have a TE1236 p Sheldon that I haven't messed with yet,  it needs disassembly, cleaning, lube ,reassembled. 
Yahoo groups has some info on them , but the site is a pita, 
Someone should chime in soon.


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## abunai (Sep 18, 2017)

Have some pictures of the lathe. 
First time trying to post pictures. hope it works.


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## francist (Sep 18, 2017)

http://www.lathes.co.uk/sheldon/index.html

Pretty interesting explanations of the letter codes, might be able to make some sense of them as it pertains to yours.

-frank


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## Dave Paine (Sep 18, 2017)

Interesting lathe.  I know nothing about Sheldon lathes, but worth a look at the Lathes.UK site.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/sheldon/index.html


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## dlane (Sep 18, 2017)

This is the one I have, there is a guy that worked for Sheldon on yahoo groups named John Knox
He is a wealth of information about Sheldon lathes, don't use back gears to remove stuck chuck.



He tells everybody that with good reason.
4gsr , is probably our Sheldon expert he might be able to answer your questions.


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## mikey (Sep 18, 2017)

Awesome, another Hawaii guy on the forum - welcome to HM, Abunai (great handle, by the way)!

Ken/4gsr will hopefully be along to comment. I agree with dlane; John Knox is the man and I, too, would suggest you join the Sheldon Yahoo group.


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## intjonmiller (Sep 18, 2017)

I came because of the great username, too! にほんご が すこし できる 

気を付けて!


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## thomas s (Sep 18, 2017)

Abunai, Welcome to the forum.


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## mikey (Sep 18, 2017)

intjonmiller said:


> I came because of the great username, too! にほんご が すこし できる
> 
> 気を付けて!



My Google Translate skills are mighty, Jon!


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## 4GSR (Sep 18, 2017)

Here's some miscellaneous notes put together by John Knox that may shed some light on what the serial number indicates.  I was not able to find a service manual for your age machine.  If you like, join the Sheldon Lathe group over on Yahoo and post what you have there and hopefully John will tune in and offer some help.  He may have the service manual for this lathe you can purchase from him very cheaply.  Ken


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## abunai (Sep 23, 2017)

Seems like some post on here have disappeared.
Am I missing something???


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## abunai (Sep 23, 2017)

This lathe has Bronze bearings i the headstock.
How would I adjust the play in it????
Is there a retrofit for roller bearings????


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## abunai (Sep 23, 2017)

I probably should have asked this before, but is this lathe worth rebuilding?????
As far as I know, not to many people here (Hawaii) even know what a lathe is.
Shipping to the states would be way to expensive. 
Parts seem hard to find.
Even if I part it out, shipping for the parts would be expensive. 
To me it seems like a waste to NOT get it going again.
I really don't need another lathe. I'm happy with my Atlas.


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## 4GSR (Sep 24, 2017)

abunai said:


> I probably should have asked this before, but is this lathe worth rebuilding?????
> As far as I know, not to many people here (Hawaii) even know what a lathe is.
> Shipping to the states would be way to expensive.
> Parts seem hard to find.
> ...


I guess it depends on how much time you have on your hands.  It could be a long shot to get running again and it may not.  There's no way to convert the headstock to Timken bearings like the newer one's have.  There's nothing wrong with bronze bushings for headstock bearings as long as they are kept well oiled.  The chances of finding a tailstock that would fit is slim to none.  Nothing wrong with adapting one from another brand of lathe.  I guess the first question would be, "What kind of shape is the bed in?"  Is there wear in the bed? Any gouges or drag marks in the bed ways? If not, that's great.  If there is any kind of wear or damage, may not be worth messing with.  I suspect this came off of the military base there in Hawaii from WWII.  I wouldn't throw it out just yet.  To me, it looks like all of the drive system is there in place, just needs to be gone thru cleaned oiled new belts and be good as new.  May need to replace the motor.  Overall, it doesn't look that bad for a 75 something year old lathe.  I say keep it!  We can help guide you thru fixing it up.   Always open for challenges.  Ken


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## Glenn Brooks (Sep 24, 2017)

abunai said:


> This lathe has Bronze bearings i the headstock.
> How would I adjust the play in it????
> Is there a retrofit for roller bearings????



Welcome to the forum and Aloha! We lived in Enchanted Lakes for years - still miss the place.  Typically you can adjust the bronze bearings in the headstock by using brass shim stock to raise or lower the bearings in relation to the spindle. Then tighten the bolts that hold the bearing caps until the spindle just spins freely AND has less than .002" vertical play - or whatever Sheldon published for max vertical play.

Often after shimming, one needs to scrape the bearings round to achieve a uniform, round, close fit with the spindle bearing surface. Not hard to do. I used a sharp, 4" mild steel knife blade to scrape the bearings on my old 1919 Dalton lathe.  Use dykum blue to find out where the highs and low are in the bearing wear pattern. Just lightly scrape off the high spots until the spindle spins freely, and doesn't move up or down much.

Glenn


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## woodchucker (Sep 24, 2017)

abunai said:


> This lathe has Bronze bearings i the headstock.
> How would I adjust the play in it????
> Is there a retrofit for roller bearings????


There is an advantage to bronze over roller. The roller are less smooth than bronze., so for preceision work the bronze would be preferred. Just my opinion. Not the gospel.


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## Silverbullet (Sep 24, 2017)

I'd try reworking the lathe I'd bet cleaning and oiling will be the most . Even replacing or fitting the bronze bearings isn't a bad or hard fix. Sheldon have always been heavy duty LATHES even more so then the same size south bends. More mass in the ass so to speak. I had a good variable speed Sheldon forty years ago I still kick my own ass for selling it. Keep it you won't be sorry.


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## abunai (Sep 24, 2017)

Posted pictures were after i took off some parts.  I have the tail stock. It looked like everything is there. No accessories though.
I'll have to clean up the bed to see what it looks like under all the dust and surface rust. The part i cleaned to get the numbers didn't look to bad.
I hope to get the rest of it home today. Just hope the cabinet is not to heavy. If it is, I'll have to take it apart and bring it home another day.


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## 4GSR (Sep 24, 2017)

That little lathe has some weight to it.  Don't let it fool you.  Completely assembled around 1100 lbs.  So be careful!  I would suggest taking it apart as much as you can for moving.  Ken


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## abunai (Sep 25, 2017)

I got the bed and leg home. 
Cabinet is just to heavy to move. 
I'll have to break it down and see.


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## abunai (Sep 26, 2017)

Forgot something at the site, so i had to go back today.
Took some tools to see if I could break it down.
Got the motor out. It was heavy. 
Took the door, back plate and side plate off. They were heavy too.
Started to take out the belt dirve, but I had metric allen wenches instead of standard.
I thought I had grabbed the correct ones when i left the house.
I think with the belt drive out, everything will be light enough to carry. 
I just hope the bed is straight.


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## abunai (Oct 3, 2017)

Anyone have any idea what color it's suppose to be????
It has been painted red, but I see some green and gray in places.


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## 4GSR (Oct 3, 2017)

Paint it any color you want.  Factory color was generally a shade of gray

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


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## 4GSR (Oct 3, 2017)

My color is Rustrolum smoke gray.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


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## abunai (Oct 3, 2017)

I kind of like gray lathes.
My Atlas is blue. It's OK, but I like gray better.


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## wa5cab (Oct 4, 2017)

Hee hee.  You can paint machinery any color that you like so long as it's gray.


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## abunai (Oct 9, 2017)

I got the rest of it out yesterday.It's still in the truck, but I'll unload it today.
Need to make a rolling stand for it.
I'll check the bed and if it's good, I'll start the clean-up.
Need to look for a motor. It looks like it had a 220 3ph.
Going to change to a 220 1ph or 110.


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## whitmore (Oct 9, 2017)

abunai said:


> It looks like it had a 220 3ph.
> Going to change to a 220 1ph or 110.



If you have the 3phase motor, a VFD drive box will run the lathe on your 220 1ph.  The
reversibility and speed control are  big win, over anything in a 1ph motor.


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## brino (Oct 9, 2017)

Congrats! Just remember slow and easy....don't hurt yourself or the machine.
-brino


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## CluelessNewB (Oct 9, 2017)

"Need to look for a motor. It looks like it had a 220 3ph.
Going to change to a 220 1ph or 110."

Seriously consider getting a VFD and keeping your 3 phase motor.   3ph motors are simple, smooth and reliable.  The VFD will also give you speed control beyond what you get with belt and pulley changes.    ​


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## abunai (Oct 11, 2017)

I'll think about it.
Trying to do it on the cheap.


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## projectnut (Oct 23, 2017)

Rather than go to the expense and work of changing out the motor why not just use a static phase converter.  I have a Sheldon MW-56-P lathe that was built in the early 1960's.  It has a 2 hp 220/440 3 phase motor.  I'm powering it off a 20 amp 220 single phase feed using an American Rotary 1-3 hp static phase converter.  The phase converter costs far less than a new motor.  There are several sizes available direct from the company or from their eBay store.  A 1/2 to 3 hp converter costs $65.00 with free shipping:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Sm...692360?hash=item5679811dc8:g:CAwAAOSwVm5Y~oYa

By using this style converter you can use all the original controls.  It took ne less then 15 minutes to install one on my lathe.  The only downside is that you loose approximately 1/3 of the max hp since the 3rd phase is only generated to start the motor.  I currently have 3 machines in the shop (Bridgeport series I vertical mill, Racine 66-W2 power hacksaw, and the Sheldon lathe) running off static phase converters.  They all get worked hard and none has ever suffered from lack of power.

There are others that would suggest using a VFD for the same purposes.  The downside of a VFD is that in many cases all motor and control functions have to be done through the VFD.  This requires either disconnecting or removing the original control station.  In my case all functions are controlled by the original built in switches and speed controls.


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## abunai (Oct 23, 2017)

Thinking about it,  I should really see  if the motor even works.
It looked like it was never hooked up to power since it got put in the shed.
Motor is big and heavy. Haven't even looked at it to see what it is.
Main concern was to get it out of the shed.


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## abunai (Nov 7, 2017)

Pictures of the motor that was in it. 
Looks like I can go either 110v or 220v.
It  looks like it was wired 110v. 
Old motor.


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## CluelessNewB (Nov 7, 2017)

So it's a single phase motor.   K-C made most of the motors for both Atlas and Walker Turner.  They are nice well made motors.


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## abunai (Nov 8, 2017)

Do you think it's the original motor???????
Looks  old.
Looks like the cap has been changed.


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## CluelessNewB (Nov 8, 2017)

abunai said:


> Do you think it's the original motor???????
> Looks  old.
> Looks like the cap has been changed.



I would think the age is about right, I wouldn't be surprised if it is original.   

I've had to replace caps on several motors including the Walker Turner badged K-C on my drill press.   Finding caps that work electrically is easy, finding one the exact same physical size not so much.   My new cap was smaller so I gutted the old cap and used it as a container for the new one.  I filled the extra space with "duct seal" (electricians Play-Doh).  Externally it looks original.


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## abunai (Nov 14, 2017)

I'll wire it for 110v and save on a new motor. 
Haven't had any time to work on it yet.


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