# New to me Hendey 14 x 30



## Chuck K

I picked up a geared head Hendey lathe today.  I have never worked so hard to get a machine loaded on the trailer.  I have been working on getting this machine since early last fall.  The plan was for the neighbor to load it with his Lull.  That didn't happen. I finally decided to load up everything I could think of and go out there and winch it on the trailer. I'm guessing it must weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 4000 lbs.  Got there at 10 AM and finally pulled out at 3:30 PM.  What a PIA to get on the trailer.


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## Old junk

If it was easy everyone would do it.congrats on a nice piece of iron,looking forward to more pics.


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## Ulma Doctor




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## Chuck K

Old junk said:


> If it was easy everyone would do it.congrats on a nice piece of iron,looking forward to more pics.


The fellow I got it from told me that someone else was there to get it but after dragging it out of the shop and trying to get it on the trailer he went in the house to get him something to drink.  Came back out and all he saw was the buyer driving out the driveway.


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## Chuck K

This is all stuff I had to take off so my little Yale would even begin to move it. I lifted until the forks stalled.  At that point it was almost off the floor of the trailer.  Then tilt the mast back aND it was just high enough to pull out from under it.


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## milomilo

Looks like after the buyer that skipped, he left it out in the rain. Hope it all cleans up for you.


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## FOMOGO

Heavy chunk of iron you've got there. Will look forward to seeing it come back to life. Mike


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## Rick Berk

I have one identical to yours but with a 108" bed, great lathe but soft ways and always worn out in the first 10 inches from the headstock. Mine is .020 low at the headstock and perfect from 60-108", mine weighs in at 8,000 lbs, 5HP GE 1200 RPM motor, you cannot overload that one. I would recommend cleaning the gear box and replacing the pipecleaners in the oil holes drilled to lube it properly. Mine is a 1941 and sold to the Hudson motor car company, I was going to rebuild mine 25 year ago and all the long work was disappearing so I stopped working on it, now it sits taking up space and to heavy for me to move now. Have fun getting yours ready for serious chip making.


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## Chuck K

milomilo said:


> Looks like after the buyer that skipped, he left it out in the rain. Hope it all cleans up for you.


He had it covered with something resembling a grill cover but the lower part of it got kind of crusty.


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## Chuck K

FOMOGO said:


> Heavy chunk of iron you've got there. Will look forward to seeing it come back to life. Mike


I think it's going to get a preliminary clean and lube and then go on the back burner until I finish a few other projects I have started.


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## Chuck K

Rick Berk said:


> I have one identical to yours but with a 108" bed, great lathe but soft ways and always worn out in the first 10 inches from the headstock. Mine is .020 low at the headstock and perfect from 60-108", mine weighs in at 8,000 lbs, 5HP GE 1200 RPM motor, you cannot overload that one. I would recommend cleaning the gear box and replacing the pipecleaners in the oil holes drilled to lube it properly. Mine is a 1941 and sold to the Hudson motor car company, I was going to rebuild mine 25 year ago and all the long work was disappearing so I stopped working on it, now it sits taking up space and to heavy for me to move now. Have fun getting yours ready for serious chip making.


I'm thinking this one is probably 41 or 42.  It has the war badge. I wanted to post the serial number on PM but can't remember my password for the site.  Maybe I can do a search for hendey man.  I imagine he has a website.


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## milomilo

Good idea to stop the existing rust now.


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## Chuck K

I had the whole day to work on my projects in the shop today. I decided to attack the apron on the hendey.  The machine had a coolant pump on it so I  was concerned about what I was going to find when I got the apron opened up.  As usual I didn't have to worry about oil flooding out of it when I split the cases. The good news is,  there doesn't seem to be any coolant damage. The pic I'm including shows the back half of the apron. The oil pump is located right below where all of the sludge is.  I got everything apart and cleaned up.  I soaked the oil pump assembly all day.  I put it back together,
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
 put some oil in it, pressed the plunger and was rewarded with a shot of oil in my hair.  Success!


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## Silverbullet

Don't you know the greaser look is out. Lol , looks like she's in pretty good shape , we 'll see when you get her going. Nice job loading and unloading . No fun but be proud you can do it. Good luck.


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## Chuck K

Well, you can really open a can of worms when you start working on these machines. Seeing as how as I had the apron out of the way and I needed to remove the feed clutch rod to repair the handle, I figured I might as well remove the main clutch rod and paint the side of the bed and all of the brackets holding the two rods and the lead screw.  I got it cleaned up and first coated. I told myself going into this that I was just going to clean and lube it so I put it through it paces and decide if it was a keeper before I put any major time into it....oh well


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## FOMOGO

I think many of us fall victim to the same phenomenon. Nice job so far. Mike


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## Chuck K

Here's one of the parts that needed repair.  The hendey has a clutch mounted on the bottom of the apron that controls the lead/feed screw. Should be nice for threading. You can run forward to cut, hit neutral at the end of the cut, back your tool out, reverse back to the starting point, hit neutral again, zero the cross feed, advance the compound and hit forward.  Whew.....that sounds like a lot of work.  LOL.   Anyway, the handle was broken. Not only that but I forgot it when I picked up the lathe so I had to go back and get it.  That worked out great because I  was given a lot more stuff, but that's another story.  So here's the pics of the fix.  I v'd it out a little and brazed it.  Should be good for another 70 years.


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## benmychree

o





Chuck K said:


> I'm thinking this one is probably 41 or 42.  It has the war badge. I wanted to post the serial number on PM but can't remember my password for the site.  Maybe I can do a search for hendey man.  I imagine he has a website.


I have a serial number book for all US made machine tools; give me the serial number and I will look it up; send to york@napanet.net


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## benmychree

Chuck K said:


> Here's one of the parts that needed repair.  The hendey has a clutch mounted on the bottom of the apron that controls the lead/feed screw. Should be nice for threading. You can run forward to cut, hit neutral at the end of the cut, back your tool out, reverse back to the starting point, hit neutral again, zero the cross feed, advance the compound and hit forward.  Whew.....that sounds like a lot of work.  LOL.   Anyway, the handle was broken. Not only that but I forgot it when I picked up the lathe so I had to go back and get it.  That worked out great because I  was given a lot more stuff, but that's another story.  So here's the pics of the fix.  I v'd it out a little and brazed it.  Should be good for another 70 years.


I had a Monarch tool room lathe with the lead screw reverse feature; it is wonderful for (especially) short threads and cutting threads into blind holes I assume that there are trip collars that can be positioned on the trip shaft to shift the clutch into neutral at each end of the desired travel.


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## roverguy

Hi 

If you find "TRB" stamped just above the forward spindle bearing, it means it has a tapered roller bearing headstock. I have a 12 X 30 made in 1940 .  Mike


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## Chuck K

benmychree said:


> I had a Monarch tool room lathe with the lead screw reverse feature; it is wonderful for (especially) short threads and cutting threads into blind holes I assume that there are trip collars that can be positioned on the trip shaft to shift the clutch into neutral at each end of the desired travel.


I also had a Monarch for a number of years. It was a joy to run.  With that machine when you hit reverse it was reversing the motor and everything it was turning rather than just the lead screw. It was a smooth running machine though.


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## Chuck K

benmychree said:


> o
> I have a serial number book for all US made machine tools; give me the serial number and I will look it up; send to york@napanet.net


You've got mail


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## Chuck K

roverguy said:


> Hi
> 
> If you find "TRB" stamped just above the forward spindle bearing, it means it has a tapered roller bearing headstock. I have a 12 X 30 made in 1940 .  Mike


I didn't know about the trb stamp.  I did pull the cover off and check the bearings and gears when I first got it.  As crusty as the machine looked, everything was good in the headstock. Here's a pic of the stamp.


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## woodchucker

nice work on that beast. Looks like she'll be a nice machine when you clean her all up.


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## Chuck K

Thanks, it's going to be a while before it's up and running.


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## Chuck K

I finally got time to work on the Hendey again.  I've had the apron laying on the bench in pieces for so long I forgot how everything went back together.  I needed to shim both of the worm gears due to wear on the castings.  I like using soft jaws to do stuff like this.


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## Chuck K

In the past when I worked on the apron on a large lathe I dreaded the removal and remounting.  I found a small lift table at the scrap yard.  It makes lifting the apron onto place a breeze....which is a good thing because it has to come back off.


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## 4GSR

I uses may tool & die cart to remove and install the apron on my 20" L & S  back when I had it.  What we would do without them!  Smash fingers, say those words we don't like to say, etc.


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## Chuck K

Got a few more pieces on it today.


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## Chuck K

I just looked at the pic I posted...looks terrible.  Must have been shaking the phone.


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## Chuck K

Let's try this one


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## 4GSR

Looking nice Chuck!


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## Chuck K

Thanks.  My plan was to get the apron serviced so I could feel comfortable making chips and accessing the condition of the lathe.  The lead screw reversing lever was broken off when I got the machine and had been for as long as the previous owner had it.  Now that its repaired I can shift from forward to neutral....but not reverse.  Being as it's July 4 and I'm the familys go to grill chef I didn't have a chance to investigate that any further.  On the up side, I had the time to adjust both drive clutchs in the apron and there is no slip in them.  When released they stop immediately.  I like that.


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## tertiaryjim

That's just the glow of pride from all the work you've put into it.


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## Chuck K

tertiaryjim said:


> That's just the glow of pride from all the work you've put into it.


Jim, Its me glowing tonight. I had a couple of hours to spend trying to troubleshoot my feed reversing problem. I searched online last night and found that if it needs work you have to remove the headstock to get at it....not something I was looking forward to.  So tonight I was playing with it and trying not to force anything too hard.  I finally gave up after lubing everthing I could see and moved on to the feed stops.  I was under the impression that because the stops are on the clutch rod that it would stop the spindle as well as the lead screw.  Wrong.  It only stops the lead screw.  As I was moving the lever that would disengage everthing my lead screw started turning in reverse.  I haven't gotten as far as cleaning and lubing all of the linkages yet, so it seems that the stop lever was all the way to the right and it wouldn't allow me to engage reverse feeds.  I centered the lever and everthing works as it should. I'm a happy camper.  The more I get into this machine the more impressed I am.  It must have been one hell of a machine back in the day.


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## 4GSR

Chuck K said:


> ...............  It must have been one hell of a machine back in the day.


It was one nice sweet machine back in it's time.  You were top machinists in the shop to operate one, too!


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## Chuck K

The Hendey lives....sorta.  I have everything sorted out on the carriage and feeds so I decided to make some chips.  I don't have a toolpost large enough for this machine so I used the one that came with it.  I started by boring soft jaws to fit a short piece of bar.  Unfortunately I haven't touched the tailstock yet so I couldn't do any heavy test cuts.  I did start to take a light cut on the bar but the tool I was using was chipped.  I don't have the way wipers on it yet so I didn't want to do too much anyway.  The machine runs surprisingly smooth considering the drive belts are trashed.  At this point I'm starting to think it's going to be a keeper.


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## Chuck K

It's on.  You can't do much on a lathe without a
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
 tailstock.  I have it apart and pretty much degreased.  Just have to wipe it with spirits and hit it with the power wire brush and it will be ready to paint.  It's a lot easier to handle when it's broken down into pieces.  Of course the lathe will have to be leveled where its sitting if I want to do any meaningful test cuts.  Yep, the can of worms is open.


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## Chuck K

A good solvent wipe and the parts will be ready for paint.  I like the results when guys smooth the castings with filler but I don't have the ambition.


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## Chuck K

Well with the second coat on the tailstock I was looking at the lathe and it occurred to me that if I painted the pan and pedestal I would be done from the headstock forward.


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## Chuck K

Today I had the time to put my tailstock back together and make some test cuts.  I need to come up with something bigger for a toolpost.  I used my BXA on it today but it's not big enough.  After cutting a center in the 4 jaw I mounted a piece of .750 bar on centers and dialed the tailstock in.  I was only cutting about 6".  It had about 0.0003 taper after a few adjustments on the tailstock.  I was going to level it before doing any test cuts but my level is only 12" long.  It won't span the ways.  I am going to have to find a precision bar about 14" long to set the level on.  Regardless, I'm happy with the first cuts.


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## Chuck K

Today I made a temporary solution to my tool post problem.  I made a spacer plate for my BXA to lift it up about 5/8".  Of course that meant that I needed a longer mounting stud.  I had the 3/4 bar set up on centers, so I turned it down to 0.625 and threaded the ends.  It'll work fine until a CXA comes down the pike.  My next project will be adapting the collet drawbar to accept 5C.  I have no #6 Hendey collets but I do have a fairly complete set of 5Cs.  I have the taper attachment so I should be able to turn the pieces I need.  I give up some capacity but I have always gotten by with 5Cs so I'll use what I have.


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## Chuck K

Houston we have a problem.  I was aware of some noise when the feed clutch was engaged.  Heres what I found.  I haven't figured out how to remove the shaft yet, but I think it's going to be a pia.  My plan is to build up the worn area and turn it back down to size.  The upside is that the clutch and all of the grars are in good shape.


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## Chuck K

Well...this is going to take a little more than a weekend and a dirty shirt, but I did get the shaft out.


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## benmychree

I must admit to being envious of your lathe; I have always wanted a Hendy!  Reality, however makes this unlikely, at age 72 1/2 and too much machinery already--- !


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## Chuck K

He who dies with the most toys wins.  LOL


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## benmychree

Chuck K said:


> He who dies with the most toys wins.  LOL


True enough, but I think that I am already a contender------- !


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## Chuck K

Sometimes I think I am too,  but then I see the pics of clean and shiny machines on here and I know I'll never win with my grungy machines.


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## benmychree

Chuck K said:


> Sometimes I think I am too,  but then I see the pics of clean and shiny machines on here and I know I'll never win with my grungy machines.


I have refinished a good number of machines that I have had in my shop, one, twice!  After 30 years of daily use, it was getting a bit scruffy; I took it home for retirement, but the buyer of my business did not want the 1943 machine that I was going to leave (also refinished), so I sold the older one (1906), both Brown & Sharpe universals.


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## Chuck K

Chuck K said:


> Houston we have a problem.  I was aware of some noise when the feed clutch was engaged.  Heres what I found.  I haven't figured out how to remove the shaft yet, but I think it's going to be a pia.  My plan is to build up the worn area and turn it back down to size.  The upside is that the clutch and all of the grars are in good shape.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 238687
> View attachment 238688
> View attachment 238689


It's been a while since I made progress on the Hendey.  I decided to build the worn area of the shaft with bronze.  It was worn real bad where the end support bearing ran but it also had some wear at the pulley bearings.  I thought about welding it but was concerned about warpage.  It turned out well.  Everything fit tight and the shaft spins smooth and quiet.  Damage report so far is 4 bearings and 4 belts.


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## Chuck K

Strange that the paint looks so light.  It's smoke gray and it is actually a lot darker than it appears in the pic.


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## cvairwerks

Chuck: You ever get into contact with Hendyman?


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## Chuck K

cvairwerks said:


> Chuck: You ever get into contact with Hendyman?


I did not.  I see him answering questions on PM so he is obviously still active with everything Hendy.


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## cvairwerks

Would you like for me to send him the info on yours and see what he has?


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## Chuck K

I posted a question on pm pertaining to headstock lube.  I'll see if he answers.  I'm pretty sure it was built for the defense dept. in 42 or 43.


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## Chuck K

Getting closer.


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## Chuck K

Pretty much done except putting the work light back together and mounting a VFD for power.


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## hman

Beautiful!


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## RandyM

Bravo!!!


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## mudnducs

Great looking machine...I love watching these things come back to life!


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## Chuck K

My curiosity got the best of me today.  I wanted to see the machine run and find out how well the clutch works.  I ran power straight to the motor temporarily to get things turning.  I had to do some tweeking on the clutch adjustment but it works real smooth now.  After dousing the qc box with 90 wt. and the gears on back with open gear grease it runs surprisingly quiet.  I tried to post a short video but I've never posted one before...so we'll see if it works.  I noticed that it sounds a lot louder on the video than it seemed in person.


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## 4GSR

Like an old engine, fire it up and it starts spitting and spluttering.  
Sounds good for a old 60 year old lathe!  You can't beat an Hendy lathe hardly. Should give you another 60 years of service and then some!
You did a fine job on restoring her!


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## Chuck K

Thanks,  I still need to open up a spot for it and give it a proper power supply but it's a keeper.


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## Chuck K

I moved some machines around and made room for the hendey.  I want to power it with the VFD that is currently on my Polamco lathe.  That's going to be a project, so for the time being I am running it with an RPC. Tonight I did a cursory leveling job on it.  I did a 4" test cut afterwards and it held 0.0001.  I realize that's a short cut, but still very happy.  I had the feed stop set so it stopped cutting before crashing.  I love that option.  I messed around cutting to a shoulder and it is dead on.  It's going to be great for boring and threading.


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