Southbend 9 in. lathe spindle repair

J

john shaw

Registered
Registered
Joined
Apr 5, 2021
Messages
12
Hello, i am new user, so hi . i was wondering if any one has experience with a Southbend 9 in. lathe spindle repair options if the spindle or housing are galded. can the spindle be cleaned? can housing be bored and have bushing installed.

thanks for any help
 
I have repaired South Bend spindles by having them ground, hard chromed and reground back to standard size. as to the housings, it depends which type they are; some had only one screw to adjust the clearance with a bare cast iron housing with the spindle running directly in it, and some had two bolts holding a split cap with bronze bearings, this type is the easiest to fix, by making new split bearings and is the type that I have fixed. I think the first type would be the hardest to fix, if the housing is galled as well as the spindle; but perhaps line boring the housing and making rather thin bushings may be an option.
 
Hi John S. and welcome- the types of repair John Y. is describing are expensive if you can even find a shop that will do it these days. You might want to keep an eye out on Ebay for good used headstocks and/or spindles.
This is one of the pitfalls of buying a used SB and very hard to determine before you buy how much wear there is unless you can remove the caps and inspect
-Mark
 
markba633csi said:
Hi John S. and welcome- the types of repair John Y. is describing are expensive if you can even find a shop that will do it these days. You might want to keep an eye out on Ebay for good used headstocks and/or spindles.
This is one of the pitfalls of buying a used SB and very hard to determine before you buy how much wear there is unless you can remove the caps and inspect
-Mark
Click to expand...
That was what I was thinking as well, should have said it --- one of them that I fixed with the two bolts and bronze bearings, all the wear was on the spindle, virtually none on the bronze; since hard chrome is not easy to find in Ca., I made a whole new spindle and sold the lathe to a friend.
 
The fact is, even with a lot of wear in the headstock and everywhere else, good parts can still be made. I always liked the Meridian Machinery article "in praise of klunkers" or something like that- lots of parts to make and not a lot of time to worry about perfection.
-Mark
 
markba633csi said:
The fact is, even with a lot of wear in the headstock and everywhere else, good parts can still be made. I always liked the Meridian Machinery article "in praise of klunkers" or something like that- lots of parts to make and not a lot of time to worry about perfection.
-Mark
Click to expand...
Do you have a link to the article?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top