Cleaning up my BC Ames bench lathe

[Matthew Gregory]

I got this heaped into a trade a few years ago, and it's been sitting on a shelf under my bench ever since. Got the gumption to pull it out and clean it up yesterday. It was coated in a thick, funky coat of greenish/bluish/greyish paint that appeared to have been applied with a roller by a four year old, had areas of surface rust, etc. it's not my intention to restore it, per se, merely clean it up so I can stand the look of it on my bench, and use it for small things.

It came with a three jaw chuck, a small work rest, the cross slide, a bunch of collets, a jack shaft and an old GE motor. I'll need to come up with a belt for the pulleys, and I think I want to replace the felt wicks for the oilers.

Like a dolt, I failed to take any photos of it before I began cleanup, but I think you'll get a feel for it by seeing the photos.

Here's a shot of the pedestal feet, the one on the right is as it was, the one on the left after a combination of wire wheel and bead blasting:



The tail stock after cleanup:



Front of the bed after wire wheeling:



Sales plate on the right side of the bed:








More to follow!

- - - Updated - - -

Headstock stripped, masked and with a coat of paint:



Inner rail painted black - already starting to look like something!



Name plate in black. I intend to sand the tops of the lettering bare to add some contrast, this afternoon.



Black foot!



Tailstock after paint, polish and reassembly, sitting on the bed.




...to be continued.

 

[bobby light]

Looks good, keep the pics coming.

 

[Bill C.]

I got this heaped into a trade a few years ago, and it's been sitting on a shelf under my bench ever since. Got the gumption to pull it out and clean it up yesterday. It was coated in a thick, funky coat of greenish/bluish/greyish paint that appeared to have been applied with a roller by a four year old, had areas of surface rust, etc. it's not my intention to restore it, per se, merely clean it up so I can stand the look of it on my bench, and use it for small things.

It came with a three jaw chuck, a small work rest, the cross slide, a bunch of collets, a jack shaft and an old GE motor. I'll need to come up with a belt for the pulleys, and I think I want to replace the felt wicks for the oilers.

Like a dolt, I failed to take any photos of it before I began cleanup, but I think you'll get a feel for it by seeing the photos.

Here's a shot of the pedestal feet, the one on the right is as it was, the one on the left after a combination of wire wheel and bead blasting:



The tail stock after cleanup:



Front of the bed after wire wheeling:



Sales plate on the right side of the bed:








More to follow!

- - - Updated - - -

Headstock stripped, masked and with a coat of paint:



Inner rail painted black - already starting to look like something!



Name plate in black. I intend to sand the tops of the lettering bare to add some contrast, this afternoon.



Black foot!



Tailstock after paint, polish and reassembly, sitting on the bed.




...to be continued.

Looks great

 

[drs23]

Looks good, keep the pics coming.

Ditto on the "Looks good & keep the pics coming")

 

[mgalusha]

Very nice. If I ever get around to doing something with mine I'll be using your pictures since mine is missing a lot of parts.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

First order of business today was shining up those nameplate letters:




Reassembling the headstock was pretty straightforward, and went smoothly. Inspected the oil wicks and they look fine, so I'm just going to run it as-is.







Jackshaft after being all dolled up:






This Cushman three jaw chuck was included in the deal, along with about twenty collets:




Tool holder and cross slide before cleanup:



All said, it was in pretty good condition considering where it had been kept before I got it:




I really didn't want to make this piece 'new' looking, as I was afraid it would remove too much and end up ruining the usability of it, so I just scrubbed a bit with WD40 and 0000 steel wool, removing the handles and wire wheeling and buffing them. Overall it still works rather nicely. Here it is mounted to the lathe, after cleanup:






Indicators cleaned up very nicely:



Nameplate on it is much more visible with a layer of gunk removed!





That's all, for now - need to figure out how I'm going to place it on the bench. I want to be able to remove it (with help, of course), so I have to think about a mount and belts. I'll post here when I come up with a solution.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

...kind of wonder what a comparably built cross slide would cost, if it was made like this today...

 

[Matthew Gregory]

I wanted to see what kind of condition the bearings in the headstock are in, so I chucked a 1/4" drill bit into a collet, set a dial indicator against it and gave it a spin. JUST flutters a smidge. Granted, this is with no load, and by hand, but overall I think this is hopeful, no?

http://youtu.be/RpYBEgZFtkU

 

[Matthew Gregory]

Cute little homemade wooden rack the collets came in:




A standalone shot of one of the collets:





...and if anyone can tell me the purpose of this thing, it'd be greatly appreciated.



I'm guessing a dead center of some sort for woodworking, but what the heck do I know...?

 

[hman]

...and if anyone can tell me the purpose of this thing, it'd be greatly appreciated.



I'm guessing a dead center of some sort for woodworking, but what the heck do I know...?

It's the drive center for wood turning. Inserts into the spindle. The radial teeth grab the workpiece and spin it.

You'd use a "plain" dead center for the tailsotck - such as the one at the lower right on your board. Some of them have a sharpened ring surrounding the point. For further info, check with Rockler, Woodcrafters or some other woodworkers' supply store. They're generally very nice folks.

PS - was there a woodworking tool rest included with your lathe? It looks for all the world like a dual purpose (both wood and metal) lathe ... especially because of the design of the bed rails. Beautiful machine!