An Older Guy I Go To Church Has An Old Hendley

Joe0121

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It is a 16 x 8 Hendley. The Carriage doesn't move along the bed. Though He is rather old and had a stroke and hasn't run the machine in a long time. I am going to download the manual and see if I cant get it working. I may buy it off him this summer though not sure how I'll move the thing, I dont really Need it but a nice big machine will go good with my Heavy Ten.

Here is a picture of what it looks like:

https://goo.gl/photos/4uzzBmtyp5KCjnQd7
 
Do you know if they had hardened beds back than? I think I'd like to take it apart and clean it up and re paint it.
 
That's a very nice looking machine, and a quality machine too! From the looks of the primed parts at the end of the headstock he had already begun the finish restoration, looks clean and well maintained too, just a bit of neglect from him being sick for a while.
All things being equal, I'd take it in a heartbeat, then after I completed the repaint,I 'd bring him over to see it.
olcopper
 
Nice old machine. Looks like it had all the bells and whistles for the day. Can't help on the hardened ways, but there should be some info here or on line. Do you know what the highest speed is? Of course, being a Cone head, you will need to feed it fiberglass, and beer.:alien: :grin: Mike
 
This does not have harden ways, the feed problem is with the keys in the longitudinal and cross feed worm gears behind the apron, they are so worn that the key is jumping out of the lead screw key way groove. This is a real nightmare to fix even if you know what your doing. Probably will need to recut the key way the entire length of the feed screw and then over size the keys in the worms with a stepped key.
 
I'm a little late tuning in here, if you can get the serial number which is stamped at the tailstock end of the bed between the vees, you get ahold of the guy that goes by the name "Hendyman". He is out in Arizona not sure his location. He has whats left of the Hendy Machine company. With the S/N, he can tell you what year it was made in and if any parts are available for your lathe. And no, the beds are not harden on any of the "Tie Bar" cone head lathes. Only a few of the late model lathes, which were gear heads, had harden and ground beds. I wouldn't let stop me, that lathe looks to be in near new condition. I'm sure it has some wear, probably not enough to ever notice in operation. Keep it well oiled, ways wiped down and fresh oil applied at every use, should last a lifetime for you. Ken
 
I think very few vintage machines had hardened ways.... and if they were, they were most likely replaceable.
 
Joe O You have won a watch, Hendeys were a sweet machine, Like the Scottish Lang they were found all over the world Love it and look after it.
 
Monarch patented the process of surface hardening bedways around 1938 or so. It took a few years for the other lathe manufactures to get around their patent. And the way they got around it was the method of using case harden replaceable ways. I don't believe anyone in particular patented this method. I've seen pictures of the flame hardening method being used by LeBlond, which I would guess were taken in the 1950's. By that time the life of the patent is exhausted and they took advantage of the process for their needs. Ken
 
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