South Bend 9A gut check

chunkstyle

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Hello all.

I recently picked up an older south bend 9A lathe. Looks to be a 1946 from the documentation and serial #. One of the things that has been nagging me is the infamous 'ridge' it has on the front way starting about 9' from HS and goes for about 6-7". The heavy wear area, correct? You can catch a nail on it here but only in this area. Laying a thin .001' piece of shim stock along the ridge flushed the ridge out and a nail won't catch any longer.
Using the saddle lock test, if I turn the lock from tight to where I can move the saddle the bed length (4 1/2') takes about a skinny 1/8 turn.
Finally, I put a dial indicator on the front left portion of the saddle and placed the dial over the flat, unworn portion of the TS flat way area. The set up was done as close to the HS as possible, dial zero'd out and run down the length of bed. In the ridge area of the front V way the dial showed a .004" raise on the dial. Odd to me as a shim of .001 flushed out the v way ridge to the wear portion of the V way but that's what the needle repeatedly showed.

The reason I post all this is I'm starting to break the machine down for a felt and cleaning. I don't know enough to know what's within a reasonable amount of wear from experience. Don't want to invest in a full blown paint resto if the machine if too worn to warrant the effort.

Attached is the new tool with the apron off for cleaning and re-felting.

Any insights or recommendations from those with more experience here would be appreciated. That would be most everyone here I would guess.
 

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Whoops, should have mentioned the lathe is not bolted down or leveled, simply setting on the original owners bench.
Thanks
 
I think the most commonly used means to measure wear on the ways is by mounting an indicator on the tailstock because it travels on separate ways which are not subject to the same degree of wear as the ways for the carriage.
Other more experienced folks will chime in here too :)
 
hi @chunkstyle ,

To me, the proof is also in what level of precision you need.

I'd suggest you finish the clean-out of errant chips, ensure all the lubrication passages are clean and "wicked" as appropriate, and then re-assemble and test.

Centre the tailstock as best you can, then cut a bar between centres.
How much taper do you end up with?
Is it too much for the projects you want to do?

Much time and money can be spent in the pursuit of perfection......when really it is impossible to reach.

-brino
 
Thanks for the replies.

As far as precision, I’m not planning on making airplane parts. I m as kee we a living with a wood shop and have an occasional buggered up thread to fix/replace or a bushing to have made. Hoping to learn to do some of these things and more myself. Do you clamp the dial to the TS and measure the saddle rise and fall or measure the front way of concern?

What may not be a big deal for wear in the wood world may not cut it in the metal machining world. I just didn’t know what was too worn to qualify as beyond an effort.
I’ll continue cleaning and re-felting. May and do the bar test when it’s put back together. I just didn’t know what was ballpark unacceptable wear to warrant going further than general clean up a and felt replacement.
Thanks for the advice. It’s appreciated.
 
I'm with Brino here, you have a 75-year-old machine that has earned every last bit of wear (experience) that it has. Put it back together and make some chips, that's the only way you'll know if it will be accurate enough for you.

Chances are it will work as good or better than what you could buy new for what you spent on it. For me I still haven't gotten good enough to think my 100-year-old Seneca Falls lathe isn't accurate enough. Even if you eventually decide you need better you will learn an awful lot making the best parts you can with the lathe you have. It's not like you're deciding if you want to buy it, that decision was made already so you might as well get your money's worth.

If it pleases you to give it a paint job by all means do so. Old South Bends seem to carry a premium so making it look good is probably not time wasted no matter what.

Cheers,

John
 
Thanks Matthew. Sounds like the real test will be in the cut. Not unlike wood machinery.
I grew up around Seneca Falls, by the way. Passed the old manufacturing building regularly. Knew about the treadle powered woodworking equipment they made. Didn’t realize they made a line of metal lathes. Just read about them. Learn something new. They look really nice. Gotta love old machinery.

I’ll soldier on and continue the pull down. Had some post purchase worry I guess. Watched the Tubal Caine videos where he goes over inspecting lathes. He mentions some wear is unavoidable. I expected some. Started worrying it may have been to much.

saddle and TS shoe no ridge wear by the way. Came with a multitude of 3-4 jaw chucks, drill chucks, cutting bits, reamers, etc... guess I should worry less about ‘usability’ and more on how to use. Reading my brains out here. Looks like a good 6” machinist level is on my shopping list.
 
The level is nice but not absolutely necessary. Really the only time twist/taper comes into play is when turning long parts, most of the stuff I do isn't long enough to worry about. Get is set up as close as you can without going overboard and start learning how to use it.

Cheers,

John
 
If you need it in good shape, you can find a machinist who can scrape the ways in for you. I side with Brino, though. Keep it together for now, and try. First things to do are to get a bar of round stock that is almost as big as you can and center drill the ends. Put it between centers, and check the headstock side with a dual caliper on the carriage. Then flip the bar and check the tail stock side.

Bring the tail stock into alignment that way. Then try to turn a bar down. You can then measure SOME of the wear by measuring at regular points along the bar. You don't need it level, just bolt down the headstock end first, and slip a bar or ball bearing under the tailstock to allow it to roll front or back. Don't bolt the tailstock down, the casting should relax into its original shape and give a temporary level.

joe
 
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