Replacing The Gap In The Bed

Not sure if they still make those sliding bed lathes any more. I am also not sure if those lathes would have had beds as securely anchored as regular lathe beds,since they COULD slide. Wonder if this would have permitted the bed to be more free to warp?
 
I don't think the lathes I saw made that way would ever warp the way on the sliding part were massive , I m not sure if you heated them up without melting maybe you could make them warp. The ones I saw must have wayed in excess of 5 tons , the tail stock had a power rapid travel like the carriage had. To me it was pure beauty . I've worked in shops that had very large machinery. My vbm had a 12' table and ws set in a pit and still had the roof cut out and it's own little room added on the roof of the building. Plus the lathe had a 48" chuck and 60' bed . Yes I ran all the big machines. As formen I was all over the shop . God I miss that place.
 
Not here to brag over our toys... But I may have the only Lodge & Shipley lathe in existance with a gap bed. It's the only one I'm aware of. Here's a couple of pics of the replaceable insert for the gap bed. This is on a 20" Model X born in 1954.

DSCN0123.JPG DSCN0124.JPG DSCN0125.JPG
 
Here's a catalog page of the Lodge & Shipley gap bed lathe.

L & S Gap Bed Lathe.jpg L & S Gap Bed Lathe-1.jpg
 
kd4gij said:
Where I work removing the gap in our 2 big lathes is a must. Just clean everything and no problems. You do have to be carefull not to run the cariage off the end.Don't Ask me how I know.
Click to expand...

How did you get the carriage back on track? What size lathes? Sometimes the small ones can be a pain as well. GE had several different sizes in the apprenticeship shop. I can't remember seeing one in the repair sections.

Thanks
 
I have run the carriage off the rack when using the lathe without the gap. I just pushed the carriage back to the right until the gear re engaged with the rack. No problem.

As far as replaceable gaps,I think if the gap bed lathe was of better quality,like the Lodge and Shipley was,the gap would be replaceable with no trouble. I was just lucky that mine went back perfectly. Things should not be that way. If the lathe is supplied with a gap,it OUGHT to be replaceable. This is a problem with cheap imports. They do not take the trouble to remove their gaps and adjust them at the factory to fit back in place. I guess you get what you pay for. Certainly a high quality American made lathe would have been way out of most guy's reach back in the day(or today! A Hardinge was $65,000.00 when they stopped making them?)

I am wondering if the fact that most modern Asian lathes have induction hardened ways is contributing to the problem of the gap pieces moving a bit when released?

I do not know if you can use the carriage to get close enough to the spindle to do very short work if you can't replace the gap. You could not with my 16" lathe. Notice the Lodge & Shipley had moved the cross slide to the left to help it get the compound closer to the spindle without the gap piece in place.

As I mentioned,English style lathes have the carriage handwheel on the right hand side of the carriage so the rack can still be engaged even without the gap piece in place(if there was a gap piece).
 
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George,

Here is a picture of the optional tool rest that Lodge & Shipley offered on the gap bed lathe.

L&SGLpg1.jpg
 
Bill C. said:
How did you get the carriage back on track? What size lathes? Sometimes the small ones can be a pain as well. GE had several different sizes in the apprenticeship shop. I can't remember seeing one in the repair sections.

Thanks
Click to expand...


It was 20x80 lathe. Wasn't bad just had to use a pry bar to push it back about 1/4" so the rack cought.
 
4gsr,I can't get your toolpost picture to come up. It looks like a long,extended cast iron or steel arm holding the tool closer to the face plate.

I don't think it would be a very effective solution as it would be prone to chattering,and possibly difficult to put different kinds of cutters in. Don't know as I can only see the thumbnail.
 
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