# Forman's "New" Sheldon Lathe



## Chuck Forman (Feb 8, 2013)

Bought a 10 X 36 Sheldon circa 1943 lathe in Jan 2013 from grandson of original owner (after the War Department, it turns out).  Pretty good amount of misc tooling came with.  

After a number of hours of cleaning, The Sheldon  is looking like a darned good old lathe.  Gears and ways are in good shape, best I can tell.   Spindle has essentially zero run out with no load (measured with a Dial  indicator, turning the spindle by hand).  When I put a 4 MT bit in the  spindle (this guy has the smaller 4 MT spindle, unfortunately, not the larger 5 MT on  the Sheldon XL model and larger Sheldons) and pull hard horizontal and  vertical I get under +/- .001 on the dial indicator.  I am a Very  Happy Camper with this amount of spindle wear on this old boy!

This is a bronze bearing machine, not Timken Rollers, so Spindle bearing wear was/is a scary thought for me.

In next few days I will test of bed way / carriage wear.  Already  shopping for a Quick Change Tool Post and thinking about collets!!! 

Lathe did not come with a faceplate or taper attachment.  Only a 4 jaw chuck.

The spindle is 1 7/8" X 8 TPI.  Looking for a faceplate and/or chuck adaptor.  I suppose I can make one (probably several before I get one right enough, given my lack of machining skill/experience) but would prefer to get a stock one that is true and sound.

Suggestions??

I am a total novice re metal working, but looking fwd to learning the basics on a classic old machine.

Would appreciate hearing from Sheldon Owners and others.

Regards,  Chuck Forman.


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## stonehands (Feb 8, 2013)

Chuck,PM sent.--David


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## bedwards (Feb 8, 2013)

Chuck, I've got a similar one 11x56 made in 1943 with the E-drive. While mine has some wear, it is capable of tighter tolerances than I am ;-). You will enjoy it. You might join the Yahoo Sheldon group also as they are really good guys  there and the mod worked for Sheldon and is very knowledgeable. Did you get the change gears and a taper attachment? They are some new kits available for them. Also Bourn & Koch has some parts for them still. I bought a worm from them for my apron for about $100.


upon edit, I see your on the Sheldon site already 


bedwards


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## Chuck Forman (Feb 11, 2013)

OOPS, my "New" Sheldon 10" lathe has a 1 3/4" X 8TPI spindle, not 1 7/8" like I first believed.  A bit disconcerting that I got the measurement wrong, but oh well, at least I didn't purchase a 1 7/8" plate!!



Chuck Forman said:


> Bought a 10 X 36 Sheldon circa 1943 lathe in Jan 2013 from grandson of original owner (after the War Department, it turns out).  Pretty good amount of misc tooling came with.
> 
> After a number of hours of cleaning, The Sheldon  is looking like a darned good old lathe.  Gears and ways are in good shape, best I can tell.   Spindle has essentially zero run out with no load (measured with a Dial  indicator, turning the spindle by hand).  When I put a 4 MT bit in the  spindle (this guy has the smaller 4 MT spindle, unfortunately, not the larger 5 MT on  the Sheldon XL model and larger Sheldons) and pull hard horizontal and  vertical I get under +/- .001 on the dial indicator.  I am a Very  Happy Camper with this amount of spindle wear on this old boy!
> 
> ...


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## djb25 (Mar 21, 2013)

If you're still looking for a backplate for your Sheldon, try here: 

http://www.wttool.com/index/page/category/category_id/21190/

I just got one in today, and it was a nice fit on my 10" Sheldon. You'll have to do the final fitting and drilling for the mounting holes on the chuck, but it's unlikely that you'd ever be able to avoid that with a new backplate.

 - Damion


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## Ray C (Mar 21, 2013)

And while you're fitting the plate to the chuck, use a static balancer individually on each component and mark the heavy side then, match the heavy side of one to the light side of the other -and with any luck, it will be closer to naturally balanced.  I can dig-up my threads on this if you need.

Good luck with the new/old machine.  Enjoy.

Ray




djb25 said:


> If you're still looking for a backplate for your Sheldon, try here:
> 
> http://www.wttool.com/index/page/category/category_id/21190/
> 
> ...


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