Redlineman's Logan 200 Rescue

Redlineman

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Hi All;

I have been in the midst of a Logan 200 resurrection for about a year now. The back story is that my father bought this lathe many years ago, but never really used it that I can recall. For some reason I never really developed any overriding interest in learning to use these machines (we have two lathes and a vertical mill), which puzzles me a bit, frankly. Fear of my ignorance I guess. I don't know. Well, a sudden impulse to start building my own mountain bikes (another hobby of mine) seemed to kindle a very strong desire to learn how to machine properly. I guess it took the need to create the want. I'm hooked!

Although it is by no means a seminal example of this ubiquitous machine, if you can assume they used sequential numbering, at serial #15235, it is still a very early example of the first of these lathes to wear the Logan name (having been sold only by Montgomery Wards as "Powercraft" previously). the serial places it somewhere in 1942 vintage, I believe; about 2 short years after production began. It is amazing to think of fifteen thousand lathes, and even more so to realize that there were some seventy five thousand still to come before Logan stopped production.

It is a simple change gear model, with both power carriage and cross feeds. It has the very early front opening in the case for the power switch, where most 200s had the drum switch mounted on the primary drive belt guard frame. It also has an early version of the Logan nameplate that you will rarely see, with no model number displayed. I fairly suddenly dove into figuring out why the Logan had never been used, and it didn't take long to find out. Here's where we started;

LoganCaseCenter.jpg
LoganCaseLeft.jpg

LoganCaseRight.jpgLoganSaddle.jpg

Sharp eyed viewers have already noted some minor problems, and some truly scary ones!

LoganCaseRight.jpg LoganSaddle.jpg
 
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No wonder this thing never got used. Here's where the fun really begins;

LoganBullGearDetail.jpgLoganCaseCenter2.jpgLoganConeGearCloseup.jpgLoganNYSPlate.jpg

The bull gear, cone pulley gear, and also the large back gear had teeth missing. As you can see by the brazing that was done, this was not the first time. The back gear shifting rack is nowhere in sight either. The last pic above may explain all of this. It seems quite possible that this lathe was used by a lot of people who had very little idea of how to use a lathe properly, and had very little supervision while doing so. Whatever the history, it was a rough one, quite obviously. And yet, it seems that abuse paid some dividends, in that the things that you cannot easily correct, like badly damaged or worn ways, are in quite good condition. Does every cloud have a silver lining?

Some of you likely noted the broken reversing plunger lever. I don't suppose it is all that uncommon for these to get broken. This was the first repair I made, and I decided to take what I might call a skilled farmer approach. I made the pieces myself, but unlike some farm repairs, to closely approximate the originals.

LoganReverseAssy1.jpg
LoganReverseAssy2.jpg

The tiny little tang holding that cast handle in place is a pretty easy mark for any contact. Not hard to imagine even snagging your pant leg on it and snapping it off. The hand profiled replacement was made from a piece of high grade hardened tool steel, to be a bit beefier than the original. OK, I'll confess. It was carved out of an old McPherson strut shaft from a Porsche! That is what I meant by the farmer part; using what you have on hand to effect a repair.

LoganReverseAssy4.jpg
LoganReverseAssy5.jpg

I made the handle out of a piece of thick wall steel tubing, hammering, welding, and filing it into shape. Quite satisfactory.

LoganReverseAssy6.jpg

Anybody can just buy new parts. This was way more fun. Looks factory!

LoganBullGearDetail.jpg LoganCaseCenter2.jpg LoganConeGearCloseup.jpg LoganNYSPlate.jpg
 
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Some more precursor work.

LoganBackbearingMill.jpg

The main spindle bearings on these lathes were a special preloaded version of a generic bearing that you can source anywhere. This explains why they are so pricey if you buy them from Logan, which is the only source for the correct replacements. Thanks to Logan Actuator for taking the trouble to do this work and provide these resources! The modern version of the Logan company was apparently not aware of this fact when they first started selling replacement parts, and the normal units they were selling produced varying amounts of runout, chatter, and vibration in the cutting process. One enterprising fellow developed a method of preloading the generic version of the bearing by using another bearing nested against the back of the case, using Belleville washers to tension the spindle. Part of that mod was the machining of the back of the spindle bearing mount to achieve a square preload force. Above I am cutting the back of the main case flat on my old US Machine Tools Model V2 Vertical Mill. I have no particular plans to ever utilize this preload method, but it doesn't hurt at all to prep the case for it anyway.

LoganBedSuppMilled3.jpg

Here is another nice touch, if you have the capability. In an effort to theoretically improve the accuracy of the lathe, cutting the mounting surfaces on the bed supports is an easy way to help square things up.

LoganBedSuppMilled1.jpg

Here I have flipped them over and am jigging up to cut the tops where the bed rests.

LoganBedSuppMilled2.jpg

As you can see, it took a fair cut to square up the surfaces. In retrospect, I wish I had cut the tops first and left the base pads for last, as there was more material there to work with. I don't suppose it really matters, though. Square is square!

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Wading in deeper.

LoganConeGearCompare.jpg

One of the things you always run into when buying used parts is compatibility. Many running changes were made on the fly with machines like this, and here is one of them. My original thrashed cone pinion gear rode directly on the spindle, relying on lubrication to keep it alive and working properly. However, this requires the methodical removal of the oiling screw to accomplish. Probably not something that was commonly done by most operators, and Logan was wise to make the change to an Oilite bushing version of that part sometime later on. I discovered this when I tore down a complete headstock that I purchased for parts. While the spindles are the same, both the gear and the cone pulley are different, and must be used together. This represents a nice unseen upgrade to my early unit, in my estimation.

PartsLoganSpindleExploded.jpg

Here is an exploded version of the main shaft components I took for reference. It's funny. I had no real trouble getting the nut off my original spindle to remove the main bearing, but this one on the parts spindle DID NOT want to budge! I heated and heated numerous times, getting a little more aggressive each time, all to no avail. I sat it aside for a while, and let both it and myself cool off. Eventually, I picked it up one day, and DOINK... the nut came loose with little effort. To each success it's own time, I guess.

LoganRebuildReplacedParts1.jpg

Here I have replaced some bushings that were found to be substantially worn. Thankfully, we can all purchase these exact replacements directly from Logan Actuator. You can see the repair done at some point to the miter gear bracket, probably due to the same crashes that took out the headstock gears. Pretty common for this bracket to snap from what I have seen. It seems to be well done and solid enough, so I'll go with it. Some of the teeth on the bevel gear (to its left) that runs in it are kind of wonky, but I think it will work OK. The aforementioned replacement cone pinion gear, and the already mounted replacement large back gear are in the background. The crossfeed idler shift gear you see at the lower left was completely missing from this machine, probably also owing to one of those many crashes. Incidentally, the reference mark you see on the shift gear is a point at which it binds on the other gear of the pair (not pictured). This replacement is in very good condition, and the beleaguered original it runs with..., not so much. A little touch up of the tooth profile on the old member of this team will be necessary.

LoganRebuildCaseSpindle.jpg

The headstock was full of the usual grub and grime. All cleaned, stripped bare, and repainted now. I cleaned and regreased the original main bearings, and they seem to be tight and smooth.

LoganRebuild1.jpg

This was quite a milestone. I no sooner got deep into this project than I got waylayed by circumstances beyond my control. It would be on hold for a while. After a few months, things have finally returned to some sort of normalcy. All the while, I have been slowly stripping and painting parts as I could, with only the bed and motor drive assembly left to complete. This picture shows the first time that major components have been reintroduced to each other, and the results are quite motivating! Incidentally, that very handsome original early Logan blue/gray color is quite nicely replicated by Benjamin Moore Baby Seal Grey 2119-30. If I am not mistaken, and I may be, most if not all of the 200 series lathes were painted this color as standard. It is so much more attractive than the variously bilious or boring industrial shades that most of these machines have been slathered with over the years, mine included. I'm using good old alkyd enamel, and a brush. To even out the finish and remove those inelegant brush strokes, I use the brush to stipple the surface of small parts, and a soft roller for larger surfaces.

More to come................
 
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Redlineman

Thanks for the great pictures and details on your Logan rebuilt. Very nice job! And it's quite timely for me, since I'll next tackle the headstock and spindle on my Logan 820 as soon as I finish on the QCGB restoration. Thankfully, all my gears seem fully-toothed. (See my thread "Greg's Logan 820 Restoration.)

Greg
 
Hey;

Glad to pay it forward and help everyone else with their motivation, assuage some aggravation, fire their imagination, and save them indigestion! I've got a lot more detailed assembly pics that I took, and it's a good thing with how long this has dragged. I'd be stuck if it were only for the schematics in the manual. Maybe I will post them to my profile so people can use them. I've been pouring over your thread, Greg, as have many of us, I'm sure. Every bit of info and knowledge is helpful. The 820s are quite similar I believe, so hopefully this will be of some help to you.

Now... out to the garage to fire up the Old Prentice Gearhead and see if I can turn some new shaft bushings for it. Kind of interesting using the lathe you are fixing to make parts for itself. Never done it before, but I've got 36" of 660 bronze to practice on!
 
Redlineman:

Your parts are really coming out nice. Keep up the good work.

I saw the pics on your cone/pinion repairs, and was wondering if you could explain how you separated the cone from the pinion. It looks like the bushings push right through, but how did you separate the last two pieces? I happen to have a spare cone with a broken gear, and it would be nice to try to salvage the unit for future use.

Thanks in advance,
TomKro
 
Tom;

I assume you mean removing the cone gear from the cone itself? Of course there is a set screw there to assure the gear does not spin in the cone. My old gear shows a lot of marks and digs that I now assume are staking done by someone to make it back into the semi-press fit that I believe it should be. Although I did not measure anything - dumb now that I think about it afterwards - I would guess it to be a light interference of maybe .001-.0015 or maybe a tad more. The new gear did not come out of the new cone easily, and I sheepishly admit that the marks you can see on the end of the gear shoulder were put there by me in my inarticulate effort to remove it. I should have heated the cone, and found a more inclusive driver. I even dinged the bushing a bit, requiring some had filing and fitting to re-true its surface. All is good in the end, except for the ugly marks left there by me... for posterity.

:nono:

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Thanks, Race Beetle. ;)

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:ups: On another note, I am VERY excited to soon receive the original Logan 5" 3-jaw chuck I just bought off of ebay. I am poor, and frugal by default as much as necessity. After watching various opportunities to size things up, and letting one "bargain" slip by accidentally, I swallowed REALLY hard in paying $250 shipped for it. However, it looks virtually NOS pristine, with both sets of solid jaws and key, and is an original Logan chuck. I figured (rationalized?) that those chucks were made by Buck Manufacturing. A new Buck, now made in Germany I believe (Forkardt), is in excess of $800 (+ shipping). I got a virtually new Buck chuck for 70% off! I hope it "represents."
 
Redlineman: Congrats on the chuck purchase. I'm sure you'll get years of use from it.

Please excuse my misunderstanding. From your explanation, it appears you were pushing from the inside outward to separate the gear. Since the far side of the cone appears to have the same inside diameter as the gear, what did you use to fit in there to push against the back side of the gear? Did you cut some sort of special oval washer to push against or were you able to angle a bar slightly to pound it out?

Thanks, TomKro
 
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