First Goal With First Machine - A South Bend

[Joe Kuhn]

Helped my son purchase a South Bend recently with the idea to make these (shown in the middle).



This part is for a Lazy Boy chair leg extension. A repairman came to our house last year and explained he can't get metal ones anymore and is stuck using a plastic version as shown on the right. The plastic ones don't last. So that's our first goal. I've looked all over the internet for a similar shoulder bolt and cannot find one with the correct dimensions.

So here's our South Bend being installed. There are a few parts to be put on yet after cleaning. Also need new belts and probably a new motor.



And here you can see the tag on the machine.



It looks like a great website you all have here.

 

[jpfabricator]

Welcome aboard!

Sent from somwhere in east Texas by Jake!

 

[Joe Kuhn]

Great! Special oils came yesterday and any help on how to clean the lathe would be appreciated.

 

[T Bredehoft]

I applaud your finding a needed product and working toward supplying it. This makes a hobby profitable.

 

[davidh]

i clean with disc brake spray cleaner and lots of Bounty paper towels, i have no problem with "safety police" around here and all my stuff is in its own building with an exhaust fan. a set of brass bristle brushes from "horror freight" would also be a plus. .
lots of paper towels and leave them outside to evaporate so you can properly dispose them without any fire problems. you could also try simple green, or similar products.

 

[Tersti]

The advice I got from someone who used to be a mechanic in the years just after the world wars was to use parrafin to clean almost everything because it A) works well, B) is cheap, and C) leaves a waxy residue on everything which can behave like a lubricant and protective layer. Stuff like WD40 and brake cleaner is great for stripping away oil and if you plan to treat that surface later with something else that's great, but in my experience with motorcycles chemicals like that can leave surfaces so clean that they quickly rust later. Acids are the harshest cleaners of all if you have something really tough to get off the surface of metal but you will get flash rusting if you don't immediately treat the surfaces afterwards (think 60 seconds or so).

When I cleaned my lathe using parrafin in a tub I found metal particles tended to accumulate in the parrafin and brushing those off the parts when they were dry turned out to be a massive job by itself so the suggestion of spraying something on and using paper towels is a good one. Since I have to do a lot of cleaning regularly I'm thinking of hooking up a pump and filter to circulate parrafin and keep it clean while I'm using it.

 

[T Bredehoft]

For those that are unfamiliar with Paraffin, it's another name for Kerosene, not white waxy stuff.

 

[Joe Kuhn]

Kerosene is what we ended up using. My son took a lot of the machine apart to get it as clean as possible which was good for him in terms of learning about the machine. It was fun to see the color appear after getting some of the grease off. He oiled it up right away after the cleaning.

Next we need a felt kit and we're kind of stuck there. Son said something about South Bend A, B or C kits and we don't even know what we have. He did some research on line and we think the year of mfr is 1931. Here's what we know for sure:

9" by 3-1/2 feet, Catalog No. 22ZB, serial # 49512.

We have been kind of busy bringing the lathe in from the shed to our basement. With the cold weather, it just wasn't going to work out there with a Kerosene heater. One day Johnny turned the heater on the the lathe turned white from the moisture when it warmed up. We've re-installed in the basement now and are finishing up with some support tables and shelving. The kid like building anything, so it has been a very good project, but when I asked him if he'd like to focus on wood instead, he said NO.

 

[brino]

Good for you Joe, support your son's interest in machines. Stoke that fire.
Even if it doesn't lead to a vocation, it will mean he's not overcharged for parts he can make himself.

I believe the trailing "B" means that the lathe originally shipped with an enclosed base/bench.
I will try to dig up a catalog of that model when I get a chance.

-brino

EDIT: I see that is not a model with the quick-change gear box. Did you get some gears with it?

 

[Joe Kuhn]

Good for you Joe, support your son's interest in machines. Stoke that fire.
Even if it doesn't lead to a vocation, it will mean he's not overcharged for parts he can make himself.

I believe the trailing "B" means that the lathe originally shipped with an enclosed base/bench.
I will try to dig up a catalog of that model when I get a chance.

-brino

EDIT: I see that is not a model with the quick-change gear box. Did you get some gears with it?

Yes, we got quite a stack of gears with it. They don't look like they've been used at all. In fact the machine looks hardly used where you would expect wear.

If you could help us figure out which felt kit to get: A, B or C, we would both appreciate it. My son doesn't think it's a B even though the catalog # is 22ZB. I would just buy the one with the most pieces and use what is needed, but that just puts off the question, what goes where.