1922 9'' South Bend O Series

[SWIGIN]

Hi guys, new member here but long time in the hobby.

I thought I'd share some pictures of my 1922 South Bend O Series that I got over 20 years ago.

Here it is when I first got it after starting the cleanup process.




And finished


After 20 years it does not look as nice but it still preforms very well. These 9'' O series lathes (often called Junior) use the same bed width as the later Heavy 10 so you can find things like carriage stops or steady rests for a heavy 10 and they fit the O series perfectly.

This machine shows no wear on the ways and does about as good as you can expect for a small lathe that is built very heavy. It has power feeds, and I was lucky to find a complete change gear set for it in near mint condition.

I mainly joined this site to find info on my new to me Grizzly 1237g lathe but I thought I'd stop in here and share some pics of the old girl that got me hooked on home/hobby machining.

 

[silverhawk]

I look forward to much more! I have set a heavy 10 headstock on my junior, just because I wanted to see if it fit. It was an underside drive, while my junior is a side drive, so that lead me to a complete heavy 10 build. I will not get rid of my Junior - that put me officially into a world of machining.

Gears are also nearly interchangeable at 16 DP if you need any of those. If you get a headstock, make sure you get a matching tailstock. But, most heavy 10's had a longer bed than most junior's.

Keep us posted, and know there are many owners around here if you have questions, or if you want to teach us something about the "little" machines.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[SWIGIN]

Here was one of the best upgrades I made to the old girl. I had a lot of flex in the cross slide, so I got a new casting that was made for the newer A B C lathes and machined it to fit the O series.

I also went with the newer A B C style compound since the old one had no dial and was a pain to use. The lathe is MUCH more solid and flex free now with these upgrades.



Sadly, the last time I tried to contact the guy who had these castings made he had passed, and no one was running his business anymore.

 

[piper184]

Nice work!

That cross slide upgrade looks like something that would be very useful. It might even fit the 10K lathes as well. That little table on the back is really neat. Hopefully someone will figure out how to get some more made and on the market.

 

[silverhawk]

Here was one of the best upgrades I made to the old girl. I had a lot of flex in the cross slide, so I got a new casting that was made for the newer A B C lathes and machined it to fit the O series.

I also went with the newer A B C style compound since the old one had no dial and was a pain to use. The lathe is MUCH more solid and flex free now with these upgrades.

View attachment 459340View attachment 459341View attachment 459342View attachment 459343View attachment 459344View attachment 459345

Sadly, the last time I tried to contact the guy who had these castings made he had passed, and no one was running his business anymore.

Was that the old MLA (mlatoolbox.com) casting?

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[SWIGIN]

Was that the old MLA (mlatoolbox.com) casting?

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Yes it is!

I could not remember that name for the life of me.

 

[SWIGIN]

Nice work!

That cross slide upgrade looks like something that would be very useful. It might even fit the 10K lathes as well. That little table on the back is really neat. Hopefully someone will figure out how to get some more made and on the market.

I hate to admit but I don't know my K and L modles. I have always heard them called 9'' or 10'' A B C lathes (the normal size) or the heavy 9 or 10.

This cross slide was made for the A B C lathes and will fit the heavy 10 since it fit my O series which the heavy 10 was sized after.

 

[silverhawk]

The MLA slides are designed for the 9a/b/c models. The 10k (or light 10) is based on the same 9 footprint, so it should fit, but you have to machine the ways.

I am surprised you got it working for the junior. I might have to measure the heavy 10 to see if it will fit there. Might be another project in my future.

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[SWIGIN]

I called up Harold at MLA and he convinced me that it had enough meat to be able to fit.....and he was right.

here it was before machining.

 

[piper184]

I hate to admit but I don't know my K and L modles. I have always heard them called 9'' or 10'' A B C lathes (the normal size) or the heavy 9 or 10.

This cross slide was made for the A B C lathes and will fit the heavy 10 since it fit my O series which the heavy 10 was sized after.

South Bend got off track with the lettering. A 10K is known as the "Light 10" and a 10L is the "Heavy".
10K shares the same bed as the 9" but is just a little taller. A cross slide will fit both the 9 and 10K but the tailstock won't because the 10K is taller.

IMHO the 10 Light should have been the L and the Heavy should have been an H. But I think the 10K was an afterthought.

The A B and C designations refer to the gearbox or change gear setup. An A had a gearbox and a C had change gears. I don't recall what a B was off the top of my head.

I checked out MLA website and they specifically list the cross slide as for 9's and 10K's. I see one in my future!

Thanks for posting the pics. I didn't know this even existed.