Logan 10" Lathe rear-spindle tightness?

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ErichKeane

Making scrap at ludicrous speed.
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Hi all-
I purchased a 10" Montgomery Ward lathe, which was made by Logan. It is an early 1950s from everything I can tell. I had the buyer do a test-cut to show it worked, but it was with aluminum.

I moved it with a buddy, but at one point attempted to remove the cloth flat belt by disassembling the drive-spindle. I loosened the two shaft collar allen screws, and tried to tap it out. It was pretty tight, and I only got it to move about 3/4" before giving up and reassembling it. I didn't notice before hand how difficult it was to move that spindle, but it is not very 'free wheeling' at the moment. I can move it by hand, but it stops immediately.

Currently, there is a 1/3HP powerkraft motor on it that smoked when I had it on the small motor pulley to the big-wheel, even with the flat-belt detensioned. When on the bigger of the two pulleys and on the smaller flat wheel, it seems to run the lathe fine, however it stalls pretty easy.

I have a spare 1HP motor that looks like it'll fit that I was going to install, but before doing that I wanted to make sure that I hadn't messed up the spindle!

Thanks!
 
Hi, ErichKeane.

Are you talking about the drive countershaft or the spindle being stuck?

I have a Logan 200 and the spindle is removed by taking off the spindle nut on the smaller outboard end of the spindle. it is RH threaded and requires a pin wrench (or other homemade tool) to remove. Remove any set screws that are in the cone pulley (step pulley that the belt rides on), remove or loosen the set screw in the bull gear, remove the three screws in the end bearing cap on the chuck end of the spindle and remove the cap. The spindle is removed toward the tail stock by tapping it with a non-marring hammer toward the tail stock. This is sometimes easier said than done. The bearing on the chuck end comes out with the spindle. There are several videos on Youtube that show the procedure. Here's one of them:

 
In that video, he seems to already have the part taken off that I'm talking about...

It is the carriage that sits behind the lathe that has a motor on it and drives the flat-belt. It has a large 2-part wheel (that the v-belt drives), then the casting, then the cone pulley, then a shaft collar, then the other side of the casting, then another shaft collar.
 
OK. You are talking about the countershaft.

By loosening the highlighted set screws, the whole shaft will come out. You may need to remove the shroud around the countershaft drive pulley or remove the drive pulley from the shaft. After the assembly is removed and the pulley is removed from the drive box, the collars with oilless bearings should slide right off. A typical issue is the user will overtighten the countershaft set screws which collapses the bearings around the countershaft causing heating issues and wear around the countershaft. Please don't ask me how I know. Hope this helps.

1514314983496.png
 
Thanks for the image. Mine actually doesn't have the 'drive box', it is actually a separate assembly. I don't actually have a shroud around it either, it seems to be from before that was a thing.

That said, I DO have a spot on the top of each bearing-area that could possibly be a set screw. They are down pretty low, and don't look very hex-shaped, but hopefully a bit of cleaning will make it obvious.

Thanks!
 
I assumed your MW Lathe was similar to a Logan 200 because that's the title of your post.

Here's another view of the drive box assy. which shows the forks that the set screws go through that tighten into recesses in the bearing caps. If you have similar forks loosening the set screws will take the countershaft out.

1514317011974.png
 
MBfrontier said:
I assumed your MW Lathe was similar to a Logan 200 because that's the title of your post.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry about that... this is my first foray into lathes, so I am having trouble figuring out the terminology. I'm actually having a difficult time figuring out exactly which Logan lathe it matches up to. I'm at the office, but this looks very similar to the one I have: https://www.k-bid.com/auction/21783/item/48?offset=48

Mine is in way better shape, but it also has a motor unit behind it that other than the belt, is completely unattached. At the moment, both are bolted to a table.
 
No apology necessary. Here's a picture of the drive box on the Logan 200 Lathe. Pictures help a lot when asking questions about the type of machine and needing help working on things. I'll be watching this thread to see if I can contribute any assistance.

IMG_1058.JPG
 
Most (maybe all) of the Montgomery Wards branded Logan's don't have a full belt cover so the drive assembly is a bit different, there is a lever to tension the belt rather than using the cover. There are a few older Logan and Wards Powr-Kraft documents over on the Vintage Machinery site that may help you identify your lathe. Last but not least the Logan web site FAQ is a wealth of knowledge. From the serial number Scott Logan can probably identify what model it is (assuming the bed matches the other parts). You can also order a manual from Logan: http://store.lathe.com/machinemanuals.html

Logan Listings at Vintage Machinery: http://www.vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=2093&tab=3
Wards Listings at Vintage Machinery: http://www.vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=657&tab=3
Logan FAQ: http://www.lathe.com/faq/index.html
 
Yes, that is exactly what I have! With the lever to adjust belt tension. I can't find the exact model there (74TLC-2130), but the 2130 is listed in a bunch of the catalogs in the right place as some sort of 2130R.

I suspect it is all original, since the owner got it from his Grandfather (who bought in 1955), and only replaced bearings since. It came with a good amount of stuff, but I've yet to get it running right yet :)
 
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