Cincinnati Lathe Identification And Preparation

The info plate shows a very slow top speed.

I have seen old South Bend lathes that had had their 1725 RPM motors replaced with 3450 RPM motors to give better top speeds. In your case,even doing that would not give a particularly high top speed. And,you need to look at the bearings in the spindle. Yours are likely plain bearings rather than ball or roller bearings. Make sure the bearings can stand doubling the top speed.

There is nothing wrong with having plain bearings,except for the limitations on top speed. Some of the finest lathes ever made had plain bearings. Even Dean,Smith and Grace lathes. They just take a longer time to accomplish a job.

As for the 16 RPM lowest speed,I wish my 16" lathe had THAT!. Many modern made lathes have way too high a low speed. Mine was 60 RPM. Try turning a large object at that speed! My gap swings 24",but,unless you're turning aluminum or brass,forget it. I made a special pulley for my lathe to cut the lowest speed in half to 30 RPM. It cuts ALL the speeds in half. But,30 RPM is still way too fast for trying to do really large work in the gap. I have a high speed Hardinge HLVH that I use for small parts,which is most of what I do anyway. It will do 3000 RPM,with a lowest speed of 125,which,again,is too high for larger face plate work in steel or cast iron. The Hardinge is really a collet lathe. It excels in that work.

All that said,you have a heck of a VERY powerful lathe there. Definitely a REAL LATHE,and not a toy made in Asia!!! Congrats!! I'd love to add it to my own shop.
 
The little sales brochure I bought on eBay matches my lathe pretty close. It looks like it was for a slightly newer model because the top is a bit flatter but it's not a tray top yet. Spindle rpm is 16-392. It'll only cut standard threads but that's all I plan on working with. It's slow but it beats my last lathe (the one I don't have). For the $500 I paid for it I'm pretty happy especially since it has the taper attachment and steady rest. I plan on tearing the top off and inspecting everything when I change the oil. Any recommendations for the lubricant for the open gears on the end of it.

I'm looking to run the wiring and such then tear into things. Definitely need to hang a light over the top of it since pole buildings aren't well lit. Thanks for all the admiration and input so far.
 
Along with what George said, another trick you can do is soup it up by putting a larger pulley on the motor, provided there's room to do so. May have to replace a couple of the belts with longer one's to replace the existing belts. Be nice to get the highest speed up to around 600 RPM if you can. Again, don't push it up too much at once.
 
Unfortunately without a complete change over the pulley change isn't much of an option. The motors power is transferred to the headstock gears by a 1-1/2" wide toothed chain. If wont ever slip if it gets crashed so definitely need to be careful.
 
Well I have the lathe wired and running the right direction now. Going to level up the old girl in the near future and inspect the gears and change to oils. I ran it for a few minutes to try to figure everything out on the carriage with no avail. The half nuts I understand along with the feed direction/neutral lever but I can't seem to get the hand wheels to engage the x or y feed. Anyone know how they are supposed to work? They spin when the shaft is engaged but they don't seem to move in and out. I figure the clutches are seized but would like some input on their operation so I better know how to address the issue.
 
On your apron, there is a three position lever to the bottom right. That lever needs to be either up or fully down, not in the middle. You place the lever in the middle position when you want to use the half nuts only. Once you have done that, the two knobs to the left and up, are for engaging the feed by twisting them to the right or clockwise to gently tighten. Don't tighten too tight, doing so, may lock up the cone clutch and not be able to disengage. Also make sure the feed rod coming from the QCGB is rotating.
If this is not working for feeding, then a teardown of the apron is next. The double beveled gear set in the apron is worn out. The cone clutches could be bottom out from wear and tear not allowing the clutches to engage. usually if this is happening, one of the two clutches should be grabbing and feeding.
 
Thanks Ken. Good info. I didn't know if the knob was threaded or if it pulled in and out to engage the clutch. Things are probably tight from sitting for so long. I had the lever figured out and the 1/2 nuts to but couldn't get anything to happen with the feed. Hope the clutches aren't shot because I still didn't cast aluminum let alone cast iron with my foundry furnace yet. I'd have to finish it first for that anyway.

The shaft spins when engaged. There is a knob by the QCGB to select neutral, lead screw, or shaft. Pulling and turning decides where the power is transferred to. I wish I could find info on the lathe as easy as I can for the new Bridgeport. And of course like everything I buy it needs some work, namely the motor.
 
Got the clutches loose. Beat on the knobs with a block of wood and things started coming loose. The cross feed was pretty stubborn but I eventually came free. I guess I'm gonna tear it down and paint it while I'm at it.
 
image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
Finally got some time to work at things. I tore the carriage and tailstock of the bed for starters so I could inspect and clean the ways easily. A little stoning at a few spots and some cleaning should get it back to decent.

I then tore of the guards covering the external gears and chain drive and looked over the gears. So far not a single broken tooth. The guard covering the chain was starting to crack at the top where it was welded so I'll fix that while it's apart. Of course there's about 60 years of old grease and filth inside the guards so I'll pressure wash them while they're off.

Finally I tore up he headstock cover and chuck off for inspection. The seal behind the chuck looked like it was weeping w bit so I pulled the seal so I could get dimensions and order a new one. I looked into the seals old home and I found a set of Timken roller bearings. Good deal.
A disassembly of the carriage and apron are soon to follow.
 
Those big old wide tooth gears and clutch teeth in that headstock, something else is going to get tore up first! They just don't build the like that anymore!
If you haven't dated the lathe yet, the date on the taper attachment is pretty close to its birthday. Send more pictures as you go thru the lathe restoration.
Ken
 
Back
Top