An Older Guy I Go To Church Has An Old Hendley

love my 12x30 Hendey gear head. Eats 4140 half hard and stainless steel as well as any other metal I feed it.
Turns the 4" 4140 in to blue black 1/4' wide razor springs some well over 6' long. All the while, 4" stainless goes golden at about the same pace with the same razor results.
Best $500 bucks I ever spent. Mine is a 42/43er, and its been said many are at the bottom of the ocean thanks to a german U-boats.
Yes the Hendeyman is the one to ask about anything Hendey. He had complete history of mine from the factory where it was requested by the Army Air corpse.
 
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
Thats the plan clean it up maybe paint it and enjoy it. I wont see heavy use from me.

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 will check that if it is the case if so ill still take the machine but it will be a while before I try to tackle that.

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
Thanks for the info! This machines value to me is mostly sentimental.
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.
Thank you sir. I am waiting to move to my new house. The hardest part will be getting the machine moved. I am sure it weigh an awful lot.
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
I guess I am spoiled expecting hard lathes with my comparatively brand new 1963 vintage South Bend.
love my 12x30 Hendey gear head. Eats 4140 half hard and stainless steel as well as any other metal I feed it.
Turns the 4" 4140 in to blue black 1/4' wide razor springs some well over 6' long. All the while, 4" stainless goes golden at about the same pace with the same razor results.
Best $500 bucks I ever spent. Mine is a 42/43er, and its been said many are at the bottom of the ocean thanks to a german U-boats.
Yes the Hendeyman is the one to ask about anything Hendey. He had complete history of mine from the factory where it was requested by the Army Air corpse.
How did you move yours?
 
Paid a mover that had a forklift and trailer to move it for me, he had to go 5 or 6 miles and was included in the price. I had him set it out side under a tree on 4X4's till I could move stuff around in the shop so could get it in the roll up door. keep it covered with a heavy tarp and no problem. Moved it with a front end loader that had forks on it the rest of the way to the shop. Set it on boards 2x12 or 10's, and round bars/pipe to roll it where I wanted it, and yes, wife helped pushing it. at 3000 to 3500 lbs its quite a beast, and all a front end loader wanted to handle. However the pipes and 2x10's rolled like it was on casters, just use 1" pipe or so and keep 3 or more pipe under the machine so it don't tip over with you, IE start with 4 or 5 pieces under the head and tail stock, spaced out to support load, when one pipe comes out from under the boards you move if to the front side or direction of travel and let it go back under boards when you push, important step.
 
Hey sorry for the long time without posting, Ill be moving in a month or two and picking up the machine. At the point ill contact hendyman and see what he has in the way of manuals ETC. Does anyone know if he is a member here?
 
That's a nice machine , built during the era of the greatest machine builders ever. I'm almost positive after you get her cleaned up and running she'll be a go to machine for you. Ck out the ,,,Backyard machinist ,,, on YouTube he rebuilt a Pratt&Whitney lathe about the same size and era. He calls her ole 742 , after finding how well it was made and still ready to work . He uses it more then his modern lathes . It cuts smoother and just plain works.
There was a few near me I tried to get but no help or extra money stopped me . Hendey s a great machine good luck have fun BE SAFE
 
Hey thanks! I'm getting excited. When I rebuilt my southbend there where several times I thought to myself the handiest tool to have rebuilding a lather is another lathe. In looking the the pictures it looks like the head stock used babbit bearings. If i recall correctly he said the Lath was circa 1890's. But I could be wrong I though quick change gear boxes weren't invented in laths till the late 20's
 
I am thinking of buying some machinery skates to make the job easier. I have moved lots of heavy stuff using the black pipe method. It's just getting it on and off the trailer I worry about.
 
Does anyone know how to contact hendeyman? I cant seem to find him
 
Back
Top