Springfield "ideal" Lathe ?s

AGCB97

AGCB97

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I have just purchased a circa 1920 lathe. It came with much tooling and there is not much that I can determine is missing for it.

One thing though is that it came with 2 face plates and 5 dogs but no center that fits the headstock. In measuring the taper to try and determine what it is, it does not come out to be any of the common tapers. Near as I can measure the large end is 1.540" and 5" from that it is 1.325", the bore of the spindle tube. The tailstock is MT3

I'd be very glad to hear from anyone that has one of these or similar. This one is 8 1/2" from center to bed, (17" swing), and 54" between centers. Looks like the one in this post

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/making-some-gears-for-springfield-ideal-lathe.22244/

Thanks
Aaron
 
Aaron,

I'm using my Springfield "Ideal" lathe presently for smaller diameter stuff using a home made 5c collet closer
on it. I use it almost daily. Can you post a photo of your lathe? That would be quite interesting.
Also, curious as to where you found it as they are quite rare. Mine is about 16 x 32 or so and had a 2hp 3 phase motor
mounted on top of the gear head.
 
DSCF1550.JPG DSCF1551.JPG DSCF1550.JPG DSCF1551.JPG My new new Lathe.png

I found it on Craigslist in western Wisconsin. Used by a farmer for 40+ years, mainly to repair his farm machinery. You're not too far from there. I'd like to see what yours looks like and especially that 5C collet closer!

Haven't got the knack of pictures on this site yet.

Aaron
 
I cleaned out the spindle bore and see no shoulders or anything. Just a front end taper and then a roughly bored tube
 
AGCB97 said:
View attachment 129571 View attachment 129572 View attachment 129571 View attachment 129572 View attachment 129573

I found it on Craigslist in western Wisconsin. Used by a farmer for 40+ years, mainly to repair his farm machinery. You're not too far from there. I'd like to see what yours looks like and especially that 5C collet closer!

Haven't got the knack of pictures on this site yet.

Aaron
Click to expand...

AGCB97 said:
View attachment 129571 View attachment 129572 View attachment 129571 View attachment 129572 View attachment 129573

I found it on Craigslist in western Wisconsin. Used by a farmer for 40+ years, mainly to repair his farm machinery. You're not too far from there. I'd like to see what yours looks like and especially that 5C collet closer!

Haven't got the knack of pictures on this site yet.

Aaron
Click to expand...


Aaron,

The "Ideal" has a 4mt in the headstock and threads to mount the chuck. I made a faceplate to mount a 10 inch
4 jaw chuck and installed the 5c collet adapter in the 4 jaw chuck aligning it very carefully. The collet closer
consists of a thin walled pipe that threads to the inside of the the collet and tightens from the far left of the
lathe. That way long rods can be held in the collet and machining on the end or making a series of small
parts as you advance the rod outward. I'm curious to know if you have the 3 change gears that fit on the
left side of your lathe. There is a door at the bottom of the left side of the lathe that will hold several of them.
I had only one so had to make two sets since there wasn't much hope of finding any. There are some
photos in my album you might find interesting. I have an old Monarch 14C lathe for larger work so I keep
the 5c adapter in the "Ideal" continuously for small work less than an inch diameter. I have had this lathe
for 20 years or better and have found it to be quite satisfactory. It has made a lot of chips over the
years and has a few battle scars but still going strong. There are some photos of the "Ideal"
in my album.


Your photos came through just fine. It looks like your lathe has flat belt drive so is probably
older than mine. I have a gear box that runs in an oil bath, heavy and making it top heavy
especially with the 3 phase motor mounted on top if the gear box...
 
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Yes, I do have the 3 gear sets. This thing has just about everything and came with much tooling and stuff. It is also single phase 220.

I checked again and mine is bigger than MT4. I went to a friends to see if he had a MT5 to try but no luck. I may just order 1 and return it if it doesn't fit. I do have a dead center that is too big for the headstock. It goes in about 2" but seems to fit that far
 
Do some measuring and consult with Machinery's Handbook maybe. There is also an oddball MT 4.5
so I suppose it could be that as well. It's good you have the change gear sets as they are very
important when it comes to doing threading. Does the chucking end have threads? Mine does, something
like 2 inch diameter and 6 or so threads per inch...
 
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