Honden L-450 info needed

Thanks Brino,

Wanted to add this in case anyone with a Honden lathe has had the same problem and for reference if needed to make one. The lead screw has a sacrificial shear pin hidden inside the gear turning the lead screw that is suppose to be made of brass and the pin breaks when there's a crash. If the shear pin is brass, then the brass could break under normal & proper use completely on its own after use because of the all hardening from use (pressure) making it brittle over time and hopefully also breaks when (if) you crash the carriage and not damage the bushing. I cant find any of these bronze bushings and had to make one myself.

My lead screw shear pin diameter measured at 3.11mm x 13.5mm long. I recommend making several brass pins at a time and keep them close by for when they fail, it's fairly easy to swap out. The previous owner of my lathe had used a steel pin and it had partially shattered the bronze keyed bushing that the pin locks into. It would sometimes work moving the carriage when engage and then sometimes it didn't; I would scratch my head wondering why it was doing that until I noticed the damaged bushing. I suspect several other Honden lathes will have this same problem when the same cowboy fix job was utilized with non brass material laying around the shop. Thankfully, its not hard to fix.

The size of this bronze bushing is OD: 14.00mm x ID: 10.05mm x 14mm-16mm long and slotted to accept the shear pin, the keyed portion is 3.95mm wide, the interesting part is the height of key, the keyed spacer that that goes in after the gear is only approx. 1.5mm above the OD radius of bushing but the keyed slot in the gear is much taller, approx 3mm. Yours may measure slightly differently as mine has taken some abuse. The keyed bushing and shear pin has to fit inside the gear and a keyed washer/spacer. I hope you find this useful.

Here are several pics for reference of the old busing in this photo album:

 
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Question: Do other Honden 450 lathe owners have the same spindle thread as mine?

Mine measured at OD (major thread dia.) approx. 39.41mm/1.551" and the pitch measured best at 10TPI and in metric it was close to 2.5mm pitch but it was not exact, slightly bigger than 2.5mm. Anyone else have this spindle with these measurements?

Three pics of thread and OD measurement

Was told it was a DIN800 M39 standard spindle but mine does not measure the 4mm pitch.
50220397982_2c3b209ddb_c.jpg
 
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Thanks Brino,

Wanted to add this in case anyone with a Honden lathe has had the same problem and for reference if needed to make one. The lead screw has a sacrificial shear pin hidden inside the gear turning the lead screw that is suppose to be made of brass and the pin breaks when there's a crash. If the shear pin is brass, then the brass could break under normal & proper use completely on its own after use because of the all hardening from use (pressure) making it brittle over time and hopefully also breaks when (if) you crash the carriage and not damage the bushing. I cant find any of these bronze bushings and had to make one myself.

My lead screw shear pin diameter measured at 3.11mm x 13.5mm long. I recommend making several brass pins at a time and keep them close by for when they fail, it's fairly easy to swap out. The previous owner of my lathe had used a steel pin and it had partially shattered the bronze keyed bushing that the pin locks into. It would sometimes work moving the carriage when engage and then sometimes it didn't; I would scratch my head wondering why it was doing that until I noticed the damaged bushing. I suspect several other Honden lathes will have this same problem when the same cowboy fix job was utilized with non brass material laying around the shop. Thankfully, its not hard to fix.

The size of this bronze bushing is OD: 14.00mm x ID: 10.05mm x 14mm-16mm long and slotted to accept the shear pin, the keyed portion is 3.95mm wide, the interesting part is the height of key, the keyed spacer that that goes in after the gear is only approx. 1.5mm above the OD radius of bushing but the keyed slot in the gear is much taller, approx 3mm. Yours may measure slightly differently as mine has taken some abuse. The keyed bushing and shear pin has to fit inside the gear and a keyed washer/spacer. I hope you find this useful.

Here are several pics for reference of the old busing in this photo album:



Just adding that I made a new keyed bushing for the lead screw with material I had laying around the shop (brass and copper) and it wasn' too difficult to make if you need to do the same and have a mill.
I also found that .125" brass rod fits perfectly in the lead screw for a sacrificial pin. To to get the best fit for the keyed portion into the gear and also accompanying keyed spacer, I had to mill the key to two different heights. This lead screw bushing is not the prettiest as I had to rush it but you'll get the idea. When my bronze stick arrives, I'll make another one and replace this one.

What a difference my finish was when using the feed again and nice to be able to thread again. Cheers and enjoy your Honden.

 
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I’ve gone bigger. Picked up an Enco Turn-Pro 13x40. Sold the great little Honden- I’ll miss it! I have a scanned copy of the Honden L-450 manual if someone needs it. Message me with your email address and I’ll send it.

I’ve gone bigger. Picked up an Enco Turn-Pro 13x40. Sold the great little Honden- I’ll miss it! I have a scanned copy of the Honden L-450 manual if someone needs it. Message me with your email address and I’ll send it.
Hi Hogden,
Can you please send me the Honden manual?
Thanks.
 
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