Saddle lock for South Bend Heavy 10

N9WHH

N9WHH

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Hello all! I have been learning about my South Bend Heavy 10 lathe over the last month or so. One of the things that I discovered is that my Saddle Lock is missing. Initially I thought that only the locking bolt was missing, but digging in further I find that the whole thing is missing. I suppose it is possible that it fell out, somewhere along the line, long before I got the lathe. I found a drawing for a Saddle Lock for the heavy 10 on this site by Gary W. Johnson, for which I am very thankful to have found.

My question is if I make the part, does it require removing the saddle from the lathe to install? In the drawing Gary mentions the possible need to examine the cavity where the lock is mounted for adjusting the width of the stop. Is it a tight fit in the saddle? I will also need to fabricate the bolt, as well. Any suggestions or advise would be appreciated.

Another item I have been interested in is a Micrometer Carriage Stop. Before pursuing one on Ebay or somewhere else, I thought I would ask if these are useful items to have on this lathe? My bed seems to be drilled and tapped for one, but of course it is not present. If it is just a luxury item, I will probably forgo it, or possibly fabricate one for myself one day. Would a dial indicator mount for the carriage be more useful?

Thank you all in advance.
 

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The micrometer stop is useful for making multiple duplicate parts. I have one or two of them. Never use 'em, even when I am doing multiples.
 
The saddle lock is definitely worth having. The carriage stop, maybe not so much, but would be a good project to make, I have them for my lathes and use them often.
 
I use the carriage lock when doing a facing cut. It prevents the cutting pressure from pushing the carriage up the bed. It CAN be installed without removing the carriage, but it is difficult.

I use the micrometer stop when doing step cutting. It is easy to install and easy to setup. Most of the lathes don't need the holes in the bed for installation. Can't remember why others do.
 
I cannot imagine why someone would need to tap holes to install a carriage stop, Obviously not an original feature. as one of my old German friends would have said, "Crazy in zuh the first place und Schtupid to end with"
 
Thank you all for the responses. Looks like I will fabricate the stop and see what it takes to get it in there. Something tells me this might be "fun". I can barely get my finger up in there. It also looks like it will be a trial and error process. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and remove the carriage. After all, how hard can it be?
 
N9WHH said:
Thank you all for the responses. Looks like I will fabricate the stop and see what it takes to get it in there. Something tells me this might be "fun". I can barely get my finger up in there. It also looks like it will be a trial and error process. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and remove the carriage. After all, how hard can it be?
Click to expand...
Actually, it is easy peesy to separate the carriage from the apron, no tricks involved, at least for the ones that I have worked on.
 
The stop in the picture is for locking the saddle as it moves along the bed. It is not for locking the carriage (cross-slide) as it moves across the saddle. I think those two statements are consistent with South Bend's terminology :)

My 14-1/2 is also missing the saddle lock. These were originally cast iron and the bolt threaded down into them through the saddle to pull them up into the edge of the bed. I use the micrometer stop in the second picture to prevent the saddle from moving down the bed during a facing cut. I actually have two of them, and can really nail down the saddle from both ends if necessary. One of these days, I'll find a saddle lock--the part for my larger lathe isn't as easy to machine from stock as what is shown for the Heavy 10.

You should be able to feed the clamp up from behind the apron up into the saddle without removing anything.

Locking the carriage (cross-slide) on the saddle is a whole other thing. If the lathe has a taper attachment, just turn the taper attachment to zero tape and lock the connecting bar clamp. I don't know the official way to do it without the taper attachment, but the usual method with other lathes is to tighten down one of the gib screws to lock up the gib. This is done to keep turning tool pressure from pushing the carriage back away from the centerline. But that doesn't really happen easily anyway, because the position is held by a screw which is a bit too shallow to make it turn from axial pressure on the screw. But it will rock against the backlash and reduce precision. Usually, screwing into the part, which you have to do to take up the backlash for measurement on the dial anyway, is enough to keep tool pressure from moving it.

Of course, there is no lock on the compound, but it stays locked down because of the screw drive, too.

But you need it for the saddle--that motion is a spur gear against a rack, and it will move if you push on it.

Rick "usually interchanges 'saddle' and 'carriage', but thinking South Bend used 'carriage' for 'cross-slide'" Denney
 
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