Project: My "Big Nards" - Nardini Nodus 1760 Lathe

pontiac428

John Newman
H-M Lifetime Diamond Member
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I'm a bottom line up front kinda guy, so I waited to start this thread until I had the following pictures to show:

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Now that that's out of the way...

This thread is a long time coming, because I started this project in June of 2022. Ever since I bought my first lathe (1937 Atlas H-54), I have been wont for more lathe. Not just power, it was obvious that I wanted mass and rigidity more than anything else. Another thing that needed an upgrade was change gears- it was a pain to deal with for each and every feed and pitch. I new I would not be happy with anything under 14", and I wanted a machine that represented a capital investment at some point in its life- so not a hobby machine. I decided on a few other features, like a direct mount spindle and removable gap. Then there's country of origin... China is a hard pass, and Taiwan was off my list except for the Mori-Seiki clones, those are great lathes. USA would be fine, but for two problems- First, nearly all American iron is worn loose and swayed like the town bicycle, and that's a hard fact to get around. Second, old American iron seems deficient in the 127 tooth gear category. What I mean by that is no metric threads, a total deal breaker in this day and age. So American iron is a maybe, with Clausings and a couple other rarities that do run metric feeds. That leaves Europe! The land of Vost, Sagiano, Ferm, Frajoth, and other amazing machines. Then there's the other America, specifically Brazil. I always liked Nardini lathes. 256 threads and feeds without changing a single gear! If you do need module threads, you have to open the cabinet and slide a gear into position (darn). Nardini was a German co-operation with big capital in Brazil, so the components are all EU sourced and mostly German (bearings!). Nardini also makes Romi and Bridgeport lathes, while not as fancy in the drive system, they were high on the search list.

I also wanted a machine in decent condition. Someone else can have the payments while it's new, but whatever machine I end up with needs to be ready for precision work. That's where the rub is, any useful capital life remaining in these machines is included in the price tag. At this point, my wife and I decided to sell our house in Germany. It was a tough decision for me, as I love living there, but the state of politics is always changing. Agreeing we were entering the dark ages, I reluctantly sold out. It sure helped with this project, though!

Cash in hand and goals listed, I searched surplus record and machinio. They are aggregator sites. You find a listing, then pursue the seller. I called on a couple of machines, but this one in Cinci seemed right. It was built in 2002, so it's even newer than my mill.

The original listing is still up (marked sold):

Here are the listing pics that I based all of my decision on:

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Not bad, just a little dirty. I wasn't sure how much the equipment dealers were willing to negotiate, so I tried. The sales rep said they usually don't have much wiggle room, but gave me a $950 break on the machine. I paid $8000 for the lathe, and contracted freight from Cincinnati to Seattle for $2400. I unloaded it with a long reach lift that cost me $1000 because it's all that was available at all the places I called between here and Tacoma. That part sucked, but I got the lathe unloaded and in my shop within an hour.

Time to start uploading pics. I have plenty!
 
Here's how I placed the lathe in my shop. I did bump my door frame with the lift, but, as you can see, no helpers anywhere. I had the truck driver park at a boat launch with a big parking lot a block away, and moved the lathe (forks under the beam) and accessories in two trips, setting down the lathe on the gravel and re-orienting it with slings so I could squeeze it in. The lift handled the 4500 lbs without a grunt.

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Here is my initial inspection of the machine. Started applying some elbow grease, just looking over what I've got.

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Came with some great starter chucks in my opinion! Dirty but very acceptable in terms of wear. Bison 12" scroll and 14" independent.


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As I tore into this lathe, I learned that it spent most of its life with a collet drawbar installed, turning brass. There was some evidence of minor cast iron turning. Not one aluminum chip was found while tearing this machine apart, and steel was maybe 5% of the mix. It also appears that the prior owner liked Moly Dee or just used grease wherever oil was needed. So everything was caked with brass/dried grease mix, but underneath was a machine with very little visible wear, and almost zero measureable wear. Not bad...

It came with a Fims #4 tool post and a half dozen tool blocks. Works for me!

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Huge auction going on tomorrow over my way . Looks like I'll have to take off tomorrow night . :encourage: That's a great looking lathe pontiac .
 
The main reason I didn't post this stuff as it was happening is it would have been immensely boring. Daily entries would be like, degreased this and that, solvent tanked those, repaired that, ordered more bolts, painted these. That's been my shop life for the last 9 months! I took a hundred pounds of old oil and chips off of that machine, none of it was easy, and none of it was quick!

Minding the gap. Chiseled out all the brass/grease/dust crud, pulled the stripped taper pins, and what's underneath?
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Why, it's more crud and another serving of elbow grease to the task!
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More piling up for cleaning and rebuild:
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You'll see more of these guys later:
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If you need more Fims #4 holders , give me shout out . Post a pic of what you have . I have a post and 18 or so holders here .
 
I'll skip ahead a bit, because right at this point my big RPC arrived!

You may think that by having it on a dolly and in my driveway was good enough... This big ol' pig kicked my butt up the steps and across the yard.
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The WEG motor on the Nardini has a 5 hp wind and an 8 hp wind. I had to buy a 20 hp rotary power converter to start that motor, apparently the Brazilian AC motors have high inductance. That means #6 wire and an 80-amp breaker.
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Everything done up nice:
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I haven't been able to get away from EU appliances. I'll have to wait for that Bosch and Karcher stuff to wear out. Might take a while, so I'll add some 15 amp Schucko outlets (overdriven at 60 hz, but the motors don't care). This configuration is legally NEC exempt if you follow the wires.
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I installed interphase volt/amp meters. They have a fast enough response rate to be useful. I also gave the 20 hp RPC an appropriate name tag:
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And provided my 5 hp RPC with a similar name tag while I was at it!PXL_20230129_204156614.jpg:
 
If you need more Fims #4 holders , give me shout out . Post a pic of what you have . I have a post and 18 or so holders here .
I started loading tool holders this weekend, and started feeling fear that I may run out. I also want to find one of the threading tool holders that uses the circular blade. Not that I need it, I have Valenite top loaders for cutting threads, but y'know.

I have a second #4 already at this point, but I've rebuilt them both and like the design enough that I may be interested in your lot. But the holders are a definite yes.

Here's some random build thread pictures that aren't random. This is a post rebuild, post-rebuild. Get it? The version on the right is my favorite.
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And this is how I treat tools. Before and after!
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I'll post a pic of the holders on this thread when I can . Work work work gets in the way .
 
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