Lubrication of SB 9A apron

[oztool]

I am "spring-cleaning" the apron and saddle of my 1947 South Bend 9A.
After 10 hours of research I find many references to the oiling of the usual SB 9A points marked in yellow below:



However, lubrication of the gears for the rack and the power cross-feed are rarely, if ever mentioned.


From the top view (below) you can see that both of the gear shafts have felt wicks for oil.



How does oil get to the wicks ?
The slot on the rack gear shaft (on my lathe) DOES open to the front face, so it could be lubricated by attempting to squirt oil directly into the end of the wick.

If this is an oil-point, I don't recall it being mentioned , it is easily missed, and it would be messy to use because it has no cup or recess. Nevertheless, this small fuzzy chart does seem to show it (behind the handwheel, top right)



On my lathe, lubrication of the power cross-feed gear is even more mysterious since the slot for the oil wick stops before it reaches the front face of the apron. This means that oiling must occur from the back (which would not be possible without removing the saddle from the apron). Unlike the lubrication diagram shown above, my lathe has no hole in the end of the shaft.
Does oil "raineth from the heavens above" from the spindle of the cross-feed assembly somehow ?
Or, should I rotate the shaft so that the slot is at the bottom, and drill a diagonal hole (or two holes at right-angles) from the end face of the shaft to meet up with the oil slot ? Why would my lathe not have this hole ?

What arrangement do you folks have on your SB 9A lathes ? Any thoughts from anyone ?

 

[SLK001]

The oil for the gears and spindle come from wicks originating in the reservoir. The routing of these wicks is quite specific, so they need to be routed correctly. Don't you have the Ilion Industrial Services Renovation Guide for 9" South Bend Lathes?

 

[oztool]

Aha ! I did suspect that these gears might be fed from the reservoir by wicks, but there was no sign that my lathe ever had this arrangement.
Thanks for that information.
Unfortunately I don't have the Ilion publication. On eBay here it is AUD 100.62 (feels like USD 100 would to you)
The kit + manual is AUD 192.90.

Would the arrangement of the capillary feed be as follows : a single long wick travels from the slot on one shaft, dips down into the reservoir and rises again to fill the slot on the shaft on the other side of the reservoir ? Is that it ?
Are the wicks reinforced with wire, or protected with a sheath ?

 

[SLK001]

It's something like that - I don't have a 9", so I can't describe the exact routing (that's why I suggested the Ilion book, because it describes the how and the why).

The kit contains the various kinds of wicks (two, maybe three different kinds of felt) for a complete re-wicking of your lathe. A lathe should be re-wicked about every ten years. If you can source the wicks in Oz, then do that. The Ilion book is worth the cost.

 

[oztool]

Great work SLK001 !
I suspect that early SB lathes must have used the two front "carriage gears" oil holes as shown here

before they adopted capillary wicks later on.

Does it not seem surprising to you that South Bend - renown for their vast range of comprehensive, well-illustrated literature on using and maintaining their products - has apparently never published anything on the maintenance of the oiling system in the apron ... and that the whole world now depends upon advice from Steve Brooks of Ilion LLC ? Especially odd since there were dozens of manufacturers of South Bend clones who published maintenance information also.

I found that Amazon Australia has copies of the 2nd edition of Steve's book for AUD 42.50, so I placed an order. I see there are some complaints about the book not including details on the gearbox, motor and pulley systems, and tailstock. Disappointing if true, but nevertheless, the quality of the illustrations and text for the apron and headstock alone will no doubt make it worthwhile for me.

Felts won't be a problem (we have sheep in Oz).
Paul

 

[SLK001]

Fortunately, Steve has gathered and put together the information that has either been lost, or is becoming very hard to find in a set of booklets to aid in the maintaining of South Bend products.

I'm surprised that the 9" doesn't have details on the items you mentioned above. I have the guide for the 10L and above lathes and all of that is covered in great detail. Looking at the ebay listing of the 9" guide does show details about the gearbox and the counter shaft assembly. The motor isn't covered, because it usually was ordered separately.

 

[woodchucker]

Mine had a hole in the crossfeed shaft and rack travel for oiling.

 

[oztool]

thanks Woodchucker - quite possibly that was what mine did have, or should have had, instead of a solid shaft.
How do the oil holes lubricate the gear on the other side ?
Is the shaft drilled with radial holes which meet up the end-drilled hole ?
Or perhaps the hole meets with a slot or recess in the shaft ?
Are felts involved ?

 

[woodchucker]

I honestly couldn't tell you accurately. I would need pics to remember.

I had a lot of felts.. I would assume that the hole was a blind hole and a crosshole met it, and assume there must be a felt involved as well.
I am surprised yours does not have the hole... How would it get oiled from outside the apron??? The hole acts as a resovoir while the felts soak up the oil.

edit: you can look through these pics to see what you can find. They may provide a hint

https://imgur.com/a/6OT4a

 

[SLK001]

Mine had a hole in the crossfeed shaft and rack travel for oiling.

These were factory improvements on the lathe added over the years to improve oiling. The GITS oiler over the handwheel hole is usually added by an owner (I don't believe that SB ever added them). It would be my guess that the holes in the shafts angle down to meet with a felt channel.