Dalton B4 Restoration

Arrmon, Dennis Turk over on Dalton Gang Yahoo Groups might know about torque settings. He is the real expert on these machines. I used a snug fit when tightening my bearing caps down. As I recall, two screws are original flat head screw driver slots, and two on the rear are cap screws. So using a hex wrench or screw driver, doesn't produce significant torque. Although to much and the spindle stops turning... I think it's mostly by guess and by feel. Main thing is when you put a bar into the spindle and pull upwards you don't get more than .002" vertical movement. A bit less is better.

If your bed is really messed up, you could have a CNC grinder shop take the ways down to A few temths flatness - equally as good as new imported lathes from Taiwan. I've been looking into that process for my 12" x48" Utilathe, a massive old 1950's big iron machine. I've been quoted around $800 by several shops on the west coast and one in
Chicago that specialize in way grinding. The Dalton probably would be much less costly due to its smaller size.
Looks like you are making good progress.

Glenn
 
20170303_184712.jpg
That's the worst of it. Right in front of the chuck. I almost think it needs welded up before it is ground. 800 more will put me way over budget. I'm already paying 360 to get the spindle chromed and ground. I could ask the guy for a quote I guess.
 
You know what? I looked at the bottom of the saddle today as i put it in the parts washer. The lathe bed isn't in horrible condition where the saddle rides! Just where a steady rest or the tailstock clamp down. I should be able to get by with some light scraping.
 
Hey, that's good news! I have a 1950 era big iron machine with a lot of dings in the bed. I just lightly ground the gouges smooth with a small medium, maybe medium fine grade stone. The dings are still there, but don't affect the saddle movement. In fact they hold oil, which is good.

Maybe you already know this... A good test of bed wear is to lay a straight edge along the bed and shine a Light from behind to see where the wear is - usually right in front of the chuck. You can slip feeler gauges under the edge to estimate how much wear you might have, and where it becomes pronounced. All lathes have some wear, so some is not at all unusual.

Glenn
 
Well just about everything has black paint on it now! I have a crack in rear gear cover to TIG up and That will be the last part before reassembly!

Woo, that thing is cast! I haven't seen a casting that thin before!
 
Last edited:
So that thin cast is a MONSTER to weld. Every time I get a decent bead, it cracks around the weld! so I'm going to braze it, paint over it, and hope no one notices.

-Arrmon
 
Arrmon, How did the brazing go for your gear cover? Mine is very thin also. I dropped it during rebuild and it cracked into two pieces. We have a local cast iron repair shop nearby and fortunately the old timer was able to weld it back together with cast iron filler- like new. Now I handle the thing with two hands and have a piece of carpet on the floor whenever I remove it.

glenn
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top