- Joined
- Nov 10, 2013
- Messages
- 837
I've been wanting a longer lathe to compliment my little Cinci Traytop 12.5" x 18" and stumbled on this 12"x36" Clausing 5914 about an hours drive from my shop. I primarily do home gunsmithing and wanted the extra distance between centers for turning barrel contours. The machine came with a 3 jaw and 4 jaw chuck, a steady rest that had been modified to fit the machine, and I opted to purchase a home made taper attachment the previous owner had made. I checked spindle runout and listened to it run through the gear ranges, paid and loaded it up.
There are always repairs that must be made to these vintage machines but I figured I'd have to make repairs to a brand new Chinese lathe too and at least I could still buy parts for this one. The seller had implied that the headstock oil had been changed recently, at least that's how I took the comment that it was "clean and red" last time he'd looked. I'd brought wrenches along to look for myself before I bought it but opted not to pull the cover when I saw the hydraulic lever on top and I wasn't sure what was involved at that time.
I was able to use my folding "Big Red" engine hoist to move the lathe to the rear of the trailer then moved the trailer into the garage and with the hoist on the garage floor, lift it off the trailer bed and drive out from under it.
Once slid into position I started taking stock of the little things that I'd need to address and pulled the top cover off the gearbox to find black oil with teensy flecks of metal suspended in it. I drained the head (not much oil in there by the way) and found plenty more metal fines in the bottom. I'd guess the previous two or three owners had never changed the oil, my first clue was that the hex opening in the drain plug was filled completely with paint. I got the headstock cleaned out best I could and flushed it with mineral spirits. It appears that the metal shavings were the result of someone trying to engage the back gears with the spindle running. Further investigation found that the "safety lockout" (my definition) inside the head that stops the back gear knob from being turned with the spindle running was out of position.
I ordered some Mobil DTE24 for the headstock and moved onto other parts.
There are always repairs that must be made to these vintage machines but I figured I'd have to make repairs to a brand new Chinese lathe too and at least I could still buy parts for this one. The seller had implied that the headstock oil had been changed recently, at least that's how I took the comment that it was "clean and red" last time he'd looked. I'd brought wrenches along to look for myself before I bought it but opted not to pull the cover when I saw the hydraulic lever on top and I wasn't sure what was involved at that time.
I was able to use my folding "Big Red" engine hoist to move the lathe to the rear of the trailer then moved the trailer into the garage and with the hoist on the garage floor, lift it off the trailer bed and drive out from under it.
Once slid into position I started taking stock of the little things that I'd need to address and pulled the top cover off the gearbox to find black oil with teensy flecks of metal suspended in it. I drained the head (not much oil in there by the way) and found plenty more metal fines in the bottom. I'd guess the previous two or three owners had never changed the oil, my first clue was that the hex opening in the drain plug was filled completely with paint. I got the headstock cleaned out best I could and flushed it with mineral spirits. It appears that the metal shavings were the result of someone trying to engage the back gears with the spindle running. Further investigation found that the "safety lockout" (my definition) inside the head that stops the back gear knob from being turned with the spindle running was out of position.
I ordered some Mobil DTE24 for the headstock and moved onto other parts.