I'd really love to do a line drive from the ceiling along with a few other vintage machines, drill press, shaper, trip hammer, but that's gonna have to wait. I have another cone machined out of aluminum with a bracket that mounts on top with a short belt I'll post a photo once I get it set up. I'm waiting to find a suitable motor. He told me 3 to 5 horse?
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McKenzie Lathe
- Thread starter Mike Hage
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2016
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- 2,872
That shaft doesn't look like a counter shaft: it looks like it's set up for back gear. You can see the pin on the bull gear,
and it looks as though the shaft is mounted on an eccentric.
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2013
- Messages
- 3,973
the lathe is awesome!
i love the old iron!!
are you gonna use a cantilevered drive or an overhead arrangement for the drive motor ?
i have an antique Flather lathe that was modified long ago with an overhead arrangement.
i love the old iron!!
are you gonna use a cantilevered drive or an overhead arrangement for the drive motor ?
i have an antique Flather lathe that was modified long ago with an overhead arrangement.
Bear with me I'm very new to this. What is a counter shaft? There is kind of a transmission on the front?
Not sure what a cantilevered drive is. I have a bracket with a stepped pulley and a short belt. I will post pics once I get it mounted. It's kinda ugly I'd really like to do a line drive from the ceiling. All my old men that I could ask about these things are dying or gone already. What does your drive look like?
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2013
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this overhead arrangement was done in the late 40's or early 50's, if i had to guess.
here is a picture of the drive on the ol' Flather
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2016
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Lathes with back gear capability basically give you a kind of high and low range for spindle speed. Have a look at the secondary
shaft. On the end is a lever, which should allow you to engage and disengage the gears on that shaft with the gears on the
spindle. Now look at the bull gear (larger gear on the tailstock end of the spindle). On the side is a flat headed pin. By pulling
that pin out or pushing it in, you should be able to disengage or engage the bull gear from the pulleys for the flat belt. In back gear (low range),
the shafts are in mesh and the pin on the bull gear should be out. Power passes through the secondary shaft and back to the
bull gear. With the pin in and the shafts not meshed together, the spindle
should turn faster for a given motor speed since it is in "direct drive".
The gearbox on the front is engaged to turn the shaft that passes through it and runs bellow the edge of the bed. Notice it
passes behind the apron on the carriage. When that shaft is turning, it should be possible to power feed the carriage
towards the headstock. Some lathes also can cross feed under power as well. It looks as though your lathe is missing
some parts, since there should be a gear train that connects the shaft on the gear box with the gears at the outboard
end of the spindle. Without those parts, you won't be able to power feed, but you still can turn parts manually.
Does anyone know what type of oil I should use for those big bushings on the headstock?