Clausing 4904 Restoration Thread

[Buickgsman]

I might as well start an official restoration thread for my 4904 and just make posts to it as I go. SO here goes.. I cleaned the ways, the tailstock, and the cross slide. The ways cleaned up very nice, barely a nick or scratch in them and the carriage moves like glass across them. The tailstock was tough to move towards the end of the travel so I cleaned up a few burrs and polished it and it works smoothly now. I also cleaned up the cross slide which is totally beautiful. Overall, I am pretty thrilled with the lathe. It will need a spindle bearing and a few other bits and pieces and a paint job, but for the most part this should be a pretty straightforward job. First up will be getting the VFD mounted and wired up properly. Attached are a few pictures of all the shiney metal i cleaned today.

 

[Kennyd]

Subscribed!

I look forward to seeing your progress Bob :thumbsup:

 

[PurpLev]

off to a good start. looking forward to how clean and shiny that puppy is going to be at the end

 

[toag]

lol lathe number 3? love it!!
can't wait to see the rebuild

 

[Buickgsman]

yep... lathe #3. I did just list my Craftsman lathe in the for sale section. I will have a hard time letting it go when the time comes,but i dont have the space for all this cast iron. The clausing and the heavy 10 are keepers however.

 

[Buickgsman]

I started to think about how I was going to wire a forward/stop/reverse switch into the lathe and I had this new- older Arrow-Hart switch, (made right here in Hartford CT which is cool) and so I needed to adapt it to the stock lever/ rod setup. I made this new adapter to couple the rod that runs through the headstock to the switch. If I don't bore the center hole too large it should work nicely. Then all I will have to do is shim the switch down from the bracket about a quarter of an inch and it should work great. I'm looking forward to getting this wired up so I can control the lathe properly.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Man, I just love the lines of these Clausings. Burly and kind of a nice mix of modern and old school. I sold my lathe, but these are looking good. Too bad they're pricier than the average south bend, et al....

 

[Sodle]

I have a 4900 series, not restored, but it doesn't need that right now. Pics. Later

 

[Buickgsman]

Here's todays progress. I bored the center hole for the shaft that goes through the headstock and drilled and tapped the set screw holes and installed a stop that limits the switch travel. Everything fits perfectly. At some point I will have the bare steel pieces black zinc coated to match all the original parts. Next up is making 4 spacer to hold the switch lower down on the original switch bracket.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Subscribed! I love build threads.