Clean up / rebuild is done

[dbb-the-bruce]

First off, thanks to everyone for all the help and encouragement. I now have a much more intimate knowledge of the internals of my 9A (ha!). The only things that didn't come apart are the quick change gear box, which I may do later. And the handle on the cross slide. I've got the large easy to read dials and the wrench didn't fit right to remove it from the slide body. That's fine it didn't really need to come off as there is hardly any slop when reversing directions.

Here it is all shiny and clean:



Again, thanks. What a great community.
-Dave

 

[Charles scozzari]

Great job.

 

[piper184]

Wow, nice job.
Want to do my 10K next?
You could start a traveling refurb business....

 

[DavidR8]

Looks great!

 

[graham-xrf]

Very nice! Thanks for the great picture!
Were the scraped ways in that condition with the clean-up, or did you have to do them from scratch?
I notice also the larger size dials on the cross-slide and compound. Was that also an upgrade you did?
The gearbox settings information plate also looks like it is perhaps in better condition than one would normally find on a SB9.

We all get that buzz when we see a precision bit of American iron given such TLC, and you have given that to us. Great job!

 

[dbb-the-bruce]

Were the scraped ways in that condition with the clean-up, or did you have to do them from scratch?
I notice also the larger size dials on the cross-slide and compound. Was that also an upgrade you did?
The gearbox settings information plate also looks like it is perhaps in better condition than one would normally find on a SB9.

This lathe was in excellent shape when it came into my hands about 10 years ago. The frosting on the ways is original, the only noticeable wear is on the front side near the headstock - just what you would expect. The large dials apparently were an option available on the original.

There are a bunch of recent posts by me that tell the story of the cleanup. I screwed up and got abrasive grit all over the ways and into the carriage (and who knows where else). So the only logical / practical thing to do was to give it a through tear down and clean up.

I could tell that this is the first time it's ever been apart since leaving the factory. A number of things were painted over with factory paint. I'm glad I got into it. There was quite a bit of accumulated crud in the places one can't normally get to.

It had the second or third split/glued leather belt that I'd put on and the clutch was a little wonky. There also was a slow periodic beat sound when feeding that I think is also now gone. (Occasionally it would show up as a deviation in cut) I'm anxious to do some cuts and see if it's gone. I sounds a lot smoother when free running now but that may just be the continuous automotive belt I put on.

It was a somewhat hard choice to take apart as much as I did. It now has obviously been dismantled and some of the really nice patina is gone! But I have it to use it as a lathe not as a museum piece.

And yeah, so glad my good friend and excellent old machinist found this for me - It's perfect for the kind of stuff I make.