South Bend Ground Beds

joebiplane

joebiplane

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I am looking to replace my 3" heavy 10 1944 187Y bed with a longer replacement 42" unit
The seller advises me that it is a " Ground bed" not scraped He is including the carriage as he advises me they were ground together and should be usd with the bed
the bed is from the 60's and a .006 groove in the front way that doesn't sound very critical too me. Anyone have any experience with ground Bes.
My 3' 187Y just doesn't give me the working area I want and a 42" 0r 48" would be better.
any advice is appreciated
Joe
 
Even though the bed is ground it and the carriage should still be scraped.

"Billy G"
 
A .006" groove is indications of a worn bed and a lathe that was not well taken care of. I would pull the saddle off and look at the wear pattern on the vees. That will tell you how badly worn things are.

I highly doubt you will find a good shape bed and saddle from a South Bend lathe now days from one some one is parting out. Why would you part out a perfectly running lathe if it was in good shape?

Last, you could take that bed and have it reground, and the saddle remachined, fitted with Tercite or Rulon, refitted to the bed and have a nice lathe in the long run. You would still have to fit the head stock and tail stock to the new bed.
 
Unless you're looking for what I would consider a long term project I would consider having the bed and saddle professionally ground. The bed and saddle were reground on my Sheldon (56" bed) by Chicago Grinding and Machine.

http://www.chicagogrinding.com/

The cost for both pieces was $400.00. That was a few years ago, so I would expect some price increase.

I see Richard King is advertising a scraping seminar for $1,650.00 in California. If the object is to learn the art of scraping I would recommend his seminar. However if you just want to get the machine back to like new condition there are much less expensive ways to do it. Keep in mind you'll also have to make or purchase scraping tools and straight edges.

If I were to take on a project like this it would back up all the other things in the pipeline. Personally have a 60" Seneca Falls machine that needs the bed and saddle reground. My intention is to take it to Chicago Grinding when time allows. I couldn't possibly dedicate the time needed to do it myself and still get anything done in the shop.
 
joebiplane said:
I am looking to replace my 3" heavy 10 1944 187Y bed with a longer replacement 42" unit
The seller advises me that it is a " Ground bed" not scraped He is including the carriage as he advises me they were ground together and should be usd with the bed
the bed is from the 60's and a .006 groove in the front way that doesn't sound very critical too me. Anyone have any experience with ground Bes.
My 3' 187Y just doesn't give me the working area I want and a 42" 0r 48" would be better.
any advice is appreciated
Joe
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the advice
My 187 Y bed is about 98% still frosted on the front way ( 100% on the other ways) I just wanted a bit longer bed but it has to be as good as mine My question was not answered about " Did South Bend discontinue scraping ways on new machinesd in the 1960.s ????
I would think surely that Grizzly likely doesn't scrape the ways on todays South Bend machines >>>> But I don't know
So I'm thinking I might better learn to live with my 36" Bed.... after all
joe
 
Yes, the "Flame Hardened" beds have no scraper makes. They were ground.
Not sure when SB first offered this bed but, I would think before the 60's at least as an option.
I have a 1970 heavy 10 4' bed, a 1980 heavy 10 3.5' bed, and a 1986 10K 4.5' bed, all are flame hardened so no scraper marks.
Like has been said, finding a really good bed is difficult. If the bed was good then it would not ave been parted out most likely.
You would be best to look for a SB with the bed length you want as a complete lathe, Great ones are out there if you're not afraid to travel and willing to pay what they're worth.
 
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