Repair Of My 15" Sheldon Lathe

FOMOGO said:

Really looking good. Did you make the ships wheel for the tail stock, or is that a factory part? Cheers, Mike

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I made it for my 13" lathe several years ago. Wasn't about to let it go with the 13" when it's sold and mounted it on my 15" lathe. Fit perfectly!

I got this idea from a old lathe manufacture, actually they are still in business, they provide this type of handwheel on their tailstock as an option at the time. It's now standard with the hollow spindle lathes they sell today. They used to refer to it as a "oilfield" tailstock handwheel. Make its nice when drilling larger size holes and need that little bit of more leverage to turn the handwheel. Ken

Looks great. The before pics of the apron remind me of my Polamco when I first got it apart. It had been contaminated with coolant for years and didn't appear to ever see an oil change. Every bearing in it was trashed. Looks like you're going to have a nice Sheldon there.

Nice lathe, I owned one many years ago , dumbest thing I ever did was sell it . Mine was variable speed with the crank wheel. I had just about everything for it, the lever collet made using it a joy when I did multiple parts jobs. With the square tool post four tools set , had a turret plus tailstock. God I wish I could have it back . Good luck with a great lathe , Sheldon are very under rated . There strong , made well, last forever without tons of repairs with a little maintenance no repairs should be needed . Nice to see one again, really like the tailstock handle . I'm planning on making some for a few vises I own.

My 13" Sheldon I just sold, had it for 38 years, my first real lathe purchase. For a half worn out lathe, it still cut straight 0-0 from the headstock out about 3". Always had a problems getting it to cut straight when using the tailstock. Even then, I could get down to about .002" taper in 18". Worked for me. The 15" here, is in ten times better shape than the 13" was in when I bought it back then, and even cheaper including shipping! It will be a nice lathe, if my son decides to keep it, it should last a life time for him. Ken