My First Lathe, But It Needs Some Work, Where To Start?

[The Liberal Arts Garage]

Bravo! Nothing like cleaning things to understand them. Get the manual& parts list
first. And a clipboard and durable paper..........BLJHB.

 

[brino]

The back-feed gears have a bunch of broken or missing teeth

Earlier I promised some photos of how the previous owner replaced/repaired some spur gear teeth on my lathe (4-1/2" Barnes).
Here they are.
That lathe is collecting a little dust since I got my "new" 1937 SouthBend.

For the bull gear, they put a small bolt thru from the back, then brazed around it to fill, and then finally formed the teeth.
For the spur gear they didn't bother with the screw.

These gears are steel, but other materials (as pointed to above) could be used for zamak.

-brino

 

[brino]

Bravo! Nothing like cleaning things to understand them. Get the manual& parts list
first. And a clipboard and durable paper.

.......all that and also take many, many pictures!
They are invaluable for showing how it originally went together.

-brino

 

[kingmt01]

I used to use a video camera when taking stuff apart so I knew how to put it back together. I've been doing it so long I don't need one any more but it was handy. Now I just need someone to help me find where I put that tool. Maybe it is time to start using the camera again to find my tools.

 

[Cadillac STS]

For your belt replacement you could use one of these adjustable ones that can come apart so you don't have to remove the spindle. They are quieter than stock and smoother running.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ACCU-Link-S...063?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ea4103df

 

[mattthemuppet2]

he'd need to get a 3/8 one though

 

[Andre]

Since all the gears in your machine (and most all Craftsman and Atlas machines) are made from Zamac, it would be best to make the replacement gear teeth out of the same material. If you made that piece out of steel or even aluminum, it would erode the mating Zamac gear. One of the problems with soft material bearing surfaces is uneven wear. From what I've heard, the different in hardness between two mating gears should (ideally) be 1-2 RHC (Rockwell Hardness scale C). Making the new gear or gear section out of steel would make for too much of a difference in hardness and promote uneven wear.

 

[Andre]

he'd need to get a 3/8 one though

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ACCU-Link-S...972?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35e695ce04

Also an interesting test between standard belt and V-link belts. Take it for what it's worth, as on a tablesaw the belt is moving moving much faster than on a lathe and might act differently.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc4Mt-O5tcQ

 

[yendor]

Link Belts are directional as to the way the links are oriented and rotation.
If backwards they will howl as the tabs will catch more wind resistance. That may have been his problem.

 

[Cadillac STS]

If the belt on the lathe needs to be changed I would use the link belt simply to avoid having to take the spindle apart before even running it at all. The link belts are fine and most say smoother and quieter than v belts as well. Could always change out the link belt for a v belt when the spindle is taken apart if it is ever needing to be taken apart.