# Rough SB that found a new guy



## motorbreath53 (Jan 10, 2013)

Hey everyone. I'm Danny, and i've found a lathe project...

So the last thing I need is ANOTHER project... and this one is a project indeed.


I'm known in my neighborhood, (as i'm sure many of you are) as the "car guy who's always in his garage."  I was recently approached by a neighbor whose Stepfather had just passed away.  He mentioned that his Stepfather had an old lathe that was said to be sitting in a garage about 30 miles from my house.


My neighbor is not a car, nor a garage guy and had no use for the lathe. He offered it to me for a killer deal. "Just go get it..." 


I had no idea what I was getting myself into honestly.  I've never owned (or even operated) a lathe before. I was picturing something at least "operational" from the description my neighbor gave... but I think what I found is even cooler.


Serial Number 82427
Depending on whose forum you read its between 1935-1940. It looks to be a 9" Workshop. 


Do to its rough, and unoriginal condition, I plan to do an "operational rebuild". Original-ish looking, with a 110 single phase motor etc...


Here it is after a pressure wash...






The rest of the stuff that will teach me the ways of rust removal.




This is my first lathe... so i'm learning as I go... 


And the biggest bummer of the whole deal... bed damage... Someone "clearanced" the far side... and it looks like they used the bed as a cutting table and had an "oops"...




Anyway... thats my new toy... 

I plan to send off for "the card" this week... 

I'm collecting parts to make it operational.

Stuff i'm missing for sure:
* gear change set
*drive gear cover 
*on/off switch (I think the cobbled together drive motor set up I have was just being plugged and unplugged)
*The original drive motor/pulley mount is gone, and was replaced with some channel steel brackets


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## davidh (Jan 10, 2013)

ouch .  nasty looking cut.   being the "car guy", i'll bet you could find a epoxy based steel putty that would mostly fix it. .  at leasst to make it more usable. . .   for the rusted stuff, go with electrolisis (sp) derusting.  welcome to the group. . . .


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## yachtsmanbill (Jan 10, 2013)

Thats sweet! For what it is, get it / keep it soaked with PB Blaster and keep a wire toothbrush handy. Keep scrubbing away and use it. OIL is your friend ! His friend is a wire wheel LOL...  ws


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## macrnr (Jan 10, 2013)

I have seen a lot "rougher" lathes than this come to life. Nice find, great price! South Bends are great machines and parts are easy to come by. I have a counter shaft assembly for one of these machines. The top pulley portion is intact but the base has been severely modified (it has a steel plate welded to it). If your handy, you could make something of it. If your interested, P.M. me and I will let go for 10 bucks plus shipping.


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## motorbreath53 (Jan 10, 2013)

I may indeed be interested sir. Thanks for the reply, and the encouragement. PM will be enroute.

Here is the motor/countershaft assembly that came with the machine. It looks like this channel iron assembly was bolted to a wall behind the unit. I would like to build a bracket that will allow the motor and countershaft assembly to be attached to the cast iron legs that came with the machine. (much like all the table mounted ones i've seen around here)





I'm not sure what the pulley was originally from... but it features some lackluster MIG welding... 

As for the motor, (considering it spins at the correct RPM of course...) Can these be rebuilt for a reasonable enough cost, or am I better off shopping for a new one?


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## woodtickgreg (Jan 11, 2013)

Nice find, welcome to the sb group. I thought the same thing about just cleaning it up and using it when I found my lathe, and you see where I went with that! LOL. Evaporust, purple power, electrolosis, wire wheels, use anything that works. Fore me it was wire wheels, a parts washer, some paint stripper for the big cast pieces, sand paper, and a buffer. Almost any parts can still be found for a south bend, ebay etc. You might even find a bed for that lathe if your so inclined, people part them out and sell all the parts and the beds just seem to be leftovers sometimes. There's probably many directions that you can go as far as a repair of the bed. I would recommend a complete teardown and inspection of all the components for wear. Go through each assembly one at a time and when your done with the lathe you will know everything about it and how it works. The motor can be reworked by a motor shop if the windings are bad, they can test it. Do some research on the lathe, look at others lathes here for visual aids. Lots of people here will help you along your journey. It's gonna be fun!


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## core-oil (Jan 11, 2013)

Hi Danny,

  Old lathes are cool things, Pity that someone "modified the bed" unforgivable, I have seen similar to that repaired over here,  In that case, the lathe was set up & a cross dovetail hole milled into the raised vee section,then a triangle (cast iron ) was cut to match & carefully scraped in &fitted,  finally a couple of little screw retainers, The rest of the cut could be patched also,

  I doubt if the vee at the back could have anything done to it, But i doubt if the tailstock comes up that far?   This would be expensive, & time consuming, But may be a project for a leisure metal class in the evening?

  hope therest of her is worth saving

  Core Oil  (Dan)


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## woodtickgreg (Jan 12, 2013)

I just looked at the pics of the bed again, when I first saw it I only noticed the big gouge in the front, now I see how the bed was ground away at the rear. I would not spend any time or money on that bed, you could probably find a used bed cheaper than what it would cost to repair that one. Like I said in a earlier post, when people part them out the bed is kind of a leftover part, you shouldn't have any problem finding one. But this is just my opinion.


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## Jimw (Jan 12, 2013)

Your lathe does not look that bad. I got a 16 Sunday and the rust is much more advanced than yours. I am surprised by how well it is cleaning up. I am using electrolysis to remove rust from the parts that can fit in a 5 gallon bucket and they are turning out very good.

If your going to take the thing apart Lookup rust removal and electrolysis. I used lye in water and a battery charger. Removes paint and rust at the same time.

I like the idea of filling the cut.with an epoxy.


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## fastback (Jan 12, 2013)

Now there's something you don't see too often the lube dipper is still present in the tail stock.  Good luck on the rebuild.


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## Old Iron (Jan 12, 2013)

I wouldn't worry about the bed where the tail stock goes just fix the one place with some JB Weld or another kind of epoxy based steel putty. 

I've used epoxy with steel shavings from the band saw mixed in and that works pretty good.

I'm sure you'll do a good job fixing it up, I'd keep the old motor clean it up and paint it.

Paul


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## macrnr (Jan 12, 2013)

Old Iron said:


> I wouldn't worry about the bed where the tail stock goes just fix the one place with some JB Weld or another kind of epoxy based steel putty.
> 
> I've used epoxy with steel shavings from the band saw mixed in and that works pretty good.
> 
> ...



I agree, fix it, make it work and learn, you can always upgrade later. Refurbishing these old guys is the best way to learn how they function. A metal lathe adds a whole new dimension to the home workshop.


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## woodtickgreg (Jan 13, 2013)

shawn said:


> Now I see the damage to the tailstock way, it's up by the headstock, kinda confusing. I was looking so hard at the photo of the tail stock wondering what in the world I was missing.



Like you I didn't see it at first either, that's a huge section ground away! I agree that there's all kinds of methods to repair it, and most would probably work, but I bet if your patient and look you can find another bed for a fair price. It would be worth it in my opinion. The bed and the headstock are the heart of the lathe.


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## itsme_Bernie (Jan 13, 2013)

Congrats man!

I have restored machines looking much worse than this.  

Lots of 3 in 1 oil and elbow grease will do the trick!  I have had a lot of luck with these green 3M scouring pads.  They seem to remove rust when lubed up but not metal (unless a lot of force is applied 


Bernie


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