South Bend 11x54 For Beginner?

Hey thanks!!! Great sources, I will get them. I actually ended up paying $650. I gave him the asking price but he gave me back $100. I definitely won the lottery, I think!! I'm going to get the card from South Bend so I know who it went to originally!

I got that card for mine, it was very interesting to find out that my lathe had spent it's whole life in the Detroit area, told me exactly when it was made and what it was sold with and who it was sold to, very cool. Here is the link to my rebuild thread. it is a long read but I took a lot of pictures and it may be of some help to you as you learn your new lathe. I really knew very little about my lathe when I purchased it and just learned it as I went along. But with the manual I fixed everything and made her new again. I was a bit extreme with the rebuild, started out thinking "oh I'll just do some light cleaning and oil it up and use it" then my a.d.d. kicked in, lol. Anyway here's the link if your interested.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/heavy-10-project.7459/

I just had a chance to look at the book that I got with it. It's "Lathe Operation and Machinist's Tables" by Atlas Press Co. and it was printed in 1937! The same year as the lathe! It's in great shape and doesn't have any writing or notes so I don't know when it joined company with the lathe itself. Nice to think it may have been procured early in the lathe's life..

Thanks, Greg! That'll probably be just what I do lol

I got to hand turning it and watching what gears do what. I haven't figured out how to get the thread counter to engage but I will!

i'd highly suggest anyone with a South Bend lathe to take a look at woodtickgreg's restoration thread, he did a textbook excellent job on his

mariner3302 said:

Thanks, Greg! That'll probably be just what I do lol

I got to hand turning it and watching what gears do what. I haven't figured out how to get the thread counter to engage but I will!

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Just playing with it and putting your hands on it is one of the best teachers. To get the thread dial to engage you loosen the bolt that holds it on and swing it into the leadscrew, then tighten the bolt back down.

I wondered if that was it! Thanks!

Any idea's as to whether I screwed up the bearings by the pressure washing? Is there a way to test them?

I got to looking at the ways. I can tell the original scrapings by comparing it to pictures of them online. After they end up near the headstock, they are smooth as can be. I can't discern any of the swirl marks from the original scraping. At the same time though, when I tighten up the bolt and run the cross slide, I can't feel any binding at all. How would I be able to tell if the ways had been re-scraped or if they are worn badly? Maybe I am doing the slide test wrong?

First lets look at the head stock. This is a very old lathe and may actually be before they started to produce them with the bronze bearing shells. Your lathe (and I'm guessing) probably has the cast iron bearing surface that is actually a part of the headstock. The only way to know if there is any water in the them is to pull the bearing caps and pull the spindle. I don't know if that is really needed. Only you know how aggressive you got with the pressure washer. There is also the back gear shaft and the spindle cone that needs to be thought about, if you got aggressive with the pressure washer and filled these parts with water then I would tear it down and clean and relube everything. This would mean taking the spindle bearing caps of very carefully and not mixing up the shims or the order that they are in. Now about the ways, if you see scrape marks all the way to the head stock, even if they get thin by the headstock, then I wouldn't be too concerned about way wear. I would be more concerned about the water at this point, draining and refilling the apron would also be on the to do list.

Well, I don't think I got too aggressive near the headstock but I can't rule out it getting wet and the top right bearing oiler doesn't have a cap. I saw a video about removing the spindle and I guess I am not understanding the bearings. They aren't bearings like I understand them, ie- ball, needle, race,etc... they look like brass so does that mean the can't lock up but instead the get corroded and don't freely turn? I hate to take something apart I don't understand. However, if it has to be done, let's get to it. Any options? I got the oils coming from ebay.

That's correct, they are not traditional ball bearins, more like engine bearings that run a film of oil so proper clearance is a must. No cap on the oiler? I would open her up. Your lathe may predate bearings of any type and just run on a machined cast iron surface, dunno?