The Stars Have Been In Alignment For Me This Week. Just Got My First Lathe, A D/r 11x36, 25-100

[thenrie]

Found a clutch gear from Dick Triemstra. Ordered it this evening.

Now looking for the gear that drives the carriage by the handwheel. It's the small diameter 13-tooth gear on MCL-137-S.

Decided not to worry about my lead screw at this point. It looks as good as a couple I've seen offered for sale. Rather than buying a screw that might only be marginally better than the one I have, if better at all, I decided to just wait and see whether I can live with it like it is. It's not nearly as bad as some others I've seen. I expect I'll replace it at some point down the road.

Hopefully, I'll get started cleaning and inspecting the Quick Change gearbox later this week. Next week I'll start on the headstock.

 

[thenrie]

I now have Joe Bergamo at Plaza Machinery looking for the compound gear for the carriage drive. He thinks he has one for me.

I pulled the QCGB this evening and started cleaning. Both tumbler gears could be changed out, teeth are worn to points, but everything else looks good so far. Guess I'll start looking around for a pair of tumblers.



I'll post another pic after I get everything cleaned up and reassembled.

Speaking of cleaned-up, I think, while I have everything apart, I may take all my major castings and run them down to an automotive machine shop and have them steam cleaned. Anybody see a problem with that? When they come back, before I get oil all over them again, I may go ahead and shoot some primer on them and wait for a nice warm day and paint them before I start putting everything back together. It's never going to look brand new, but It would sure keep the rust down, and I'll never have a better opportunity. The paint is not original, at least on some parts, and it is starting to chip off in flakes. Any recommendations for paint? Something durable, easy to apply, and close to original?

Another interesting thing I discovered this evening. Some old DR sales brochures were uploaded today to the Yahoo group files page. It shows that the model number 25-100 was for an 11X25 lathe with a threaded spindle. My lathe is definitely an 11X36 with a L00 spindle, but it has 25-100 stamped right on the plate on the bed. Go figger. My serial number is 1292146 if anyone knows how to decipher or date it. It's the older model with the handwheel speed control.

 

[astjp2]

Cast iron = hot tank, not steam clean. You will like it the results much better. Also, get some good epoxy primer, gray and I would bake it at 140* F. Look at Dupont variprime, it is a self etching primer that is 2 part and uses an acid etch to adhere. I would then find a good paint to cover it. I prefer PPG but Dupont is also a good brand. If you don't have a paint gun, there is a 4 oz gun that has a .8 mm tip for about $27.00 including shipping. I used 60 cc syringes to pull just enough paint to mix to spray my parts. All of the paints I am talking about have polyisocynates, the good ones are always toxic. 1 quart of paint and primer is all you need for the majority of your Lathe. Expect to pay over a hundred per quart with activator for the primer. I paid almost $300 for a quart of paint and primer with the original lead pigments. Old formulas are getting hard to get because of the EPA. The Aquapon is about 100 per 2 gallon kit, they can tint it to taste. Tim


http://www.grizzly.com/products/H8224

http://dpcecatalog.dupont.com/dcat/us/en/dr/product/615S.html

http://www.specialtycoatingsinc.com/pdf/aquapon-35-gloss.pdf

 

[thenrie]

Had a nice revelation today. Found out my lathe is a later model than expected. Turns out I have a 54 thread Quick-Change Gear Box, rather than the earlier 48 thread. Not that it will make a huge difference to me or anybody, but mo is betta! We were on the Yahoo group comparing notes about the tumbler gears and I noticed I had the tumbler gears for the later box. Checked things out, and sure enough, my box has an extra hole (9) on the right side and an extra column for 6-3/4 thread screws. The left tumbler lever has the number MCL-207 cast into it, but the right lever has no part number on it anywhere.



Not only that, but I've already located the right tumbler gear. Just need to replace the other one now. There is a fellow on the group who is thinking about making a batch. Things are looking up and falling into place.

I have also located a friend with a SB 9A in need of some TLC. It belonged to her late husband. I am going to volunteer to clean and tune it up for her in exchange for the use of it for a few weeks to make a few parts for my DR.)

 

[thenrie]

I disassembled my headstock today and started the cleaning process. I'm sure glad I decided to do it. I discovered a broken pawl in the backgear shift mechanism, my brake pad has no pad, and my locking cam is cracked. Not only that, but the clutch that locks the bull gear was just about to come apart. Each side is held in place with four screws, one side on the pulley gear and the other on the bull gear. When the shift mechanism locks the spindle in gear, the two halves of the clutch come together to lock up. The side on the pulley gear had one screw broken off, to more were about 1/3 screwed out and one was badly bent. The screws on the bull gear half were not tight either. The manual shows the screws are supposed to have "shake-proof lock washers" under them, but there were none. I'll have to pick up some replacement allen screws. I think I'll set them with locktite this time.

With the exception of the things listed above, everything looks good. Very little wear. Everything is tight. Gears are all good. I have the casting soaking in mineral spirits tonight.

I'll see if I can get some pics up tomorrow.

I also pulled the motor this evening and started disassembling the Reeves drive for cleaning. The motor is the original DR motor, 1hp, 3ph, 9-wire. I'll keep it set up for 220 3-ph. I'm looking around for a suitable 3-5hp 3-ph motor for a RPC.

I bought the short tumbler gear this evening. It should arrive by Thursday. Looks like I'll have to wait about a month for the other tumbler gear. A fellow on the Yahoo group is going to make a batch. So far I've not had a problem finding parts. The problem is that they are terribly expensive. Seems like everything costs $100, no matter how small or insignificant the part is. So far, the four gears I need are going to cost me $400: Clutch gear $100, compound gear $107.70, tumbler gears, $97.17 and estimated $75+sh (not sure yet on that one). I still have to replace the half-nuts, the crossfeed screw and nut, and the compound nut. I'll probably take care of those down the road a bit.

So, I'll be over the $2,000 mark here pretty quick, and I haven't yet started collecting tooling. Still, I don't regret it. Once I get this back together it will be in excellent condition, and I'll know it inside and out. I have always preferred to buy old tools to rebuild, rather than buying new ones. It's never cheaper, but I really enjoy it. Once I get this one up and running, I'll lay out all my costs, so anyone looking to go the buy/rebuild route like I did can see what they are getting into.

 

[astjp2]

Tom, I would use a VFD over a RFC because they are smaller, less heat, and you can control them to start at 50% HZ and then spool it up to 100% over a few seconds to eliminate the inrush. Food for thought. Tim

 

[thenrie]

I've gone back and forth on this several times and finally decided to just build my own RPC. The only benefit of the VFD, really, is the variable speed control, which I already have in the DR11. On the downside, I'd have to install a tach to determine the correct spindle speeds, and I've read that a VFD is hard on the motor, particularly at rpms lower than that for which the motor was made to run. Generates too much heat that the motor can't dissipate at low rpm, requires an auxiliary fan, etc.

The RPC has the benefits of being cheaper (building my own), being easier on the original DR motor, the speeds shown on the speed control crank panel will be correct, and I can run other equipment on the rpc as well as the lathe. Over the years I have passed on some incredible deals on heavy woodworking equipment because it was 3-ph. Not so much on metalworking stuff, but with woodworking and welding equipment people nearly give away 3ph stuff. So, in the future I won't pass up those deals when I find them. Besides, I plan on acquiring a mill eventually, and in all likelihood, it will be 3-ph as well. So, the RPC makes sense in my case.

Tony

 

[thenrie]

Finished cleaning the headstock parts today. Found another broken part. The half of the spindle engagement clutch that attaches to the pulley gear is broken. One more thing to have to buy. Also found that the bearing surface on the spindle for the pulley gear isn't as smooth as I wish it were. Trying to decide whether to just live with it for the time being or take it to a machine shop to have it cleaned up and polished. It's not "shot" and would be fine for quite a while, but the lathe would probably run quieter if I had it polished and replaced the bushing.

I pressed out all the bushings in the QCGB. I'll order replacements on Friday.

As you can see, I have parts in small containers all over the cabinet. Next up is cleaning the Reeves drive and motor, then the bed and cabinet top.

I bought primer and paint this week, but realized today that I'm not going to have any more days this year that will be warm enough to paint. My shop is heated only by a wood-burning stove, and I don't want to be painting with enamel in an enclosed shop with a fire going! I guess I'll take the paints back (they were stock items at Tractor Supply) and use the money on parts, like the broken clutch ring. I'll worry about paint after I get moved next year and get set up in my new digs. So, for now, once I finish cleaning and get all the parts I need, I'll start reassembly. Looking forward to it.

I also have three shafts to replace. Like I mentioned before, I found a lathe I can use, a SB 9A, that belonged to the late husband of a friend. However, when I went to look at it, I could see it needs some serious cleaning, maintenance, and tune-up. I offered to buy it for a reasonable price, but she isn't ready to sell. I made her a proposition, that if she would let me take the lathe and tooling to my shop, I would clean it and tune it up for her, which would make the resale value higher for whenever she was ready to sell it (I wouldn't be buying it). The benefit to me would be the use of it for a few weeks to do repair work on my lathe. Not sure she's going to go for it. Sometimes widows are funny about their husband's things. I may just have to re-install the shafts as they are and get my lathe operational, then make the shafts and replace them as I go.

So far, items in need of repair/replacement are:

Clutch gear*
Compound gear*
Half-nuts
Tumbler gear (MCL-404)**
Tumbler gear (MCL-271)*
All bushings in the QCGB*
Handwheel shaft bushings in the apron*
Compound gear shaft
Handwheel shaft
Worm gear bushing*
Tumbler shifter shaft
Cross feed screw and nut
Compound feed nut
spindle clutch ring

Optional things (for now) are:

Cleaning up and polishing the worm gear bearing surface
Cleaning up and polishing the pulley gear bearing surface on the spindle

* indicates located and/or ordered
** indicates located, ordered, and paid for

 

[astjp2]

When you get out here, I know several people that maybe able to help you on getting shafts built, maybe my lathe will be operational by then. Tim

 

[thenrie]

I'm hoping to have it running by then, but thanks for the offer. All these parts I'm buying are going to be my Christmas and Birthday.

I ordered replacement bushings and some shaft steel for the replacement shafts. If I can use that SB 9 I mentioned, I should have no problem cutting and machining the shafts. If not, I'll just do them after I get my lathe back together.

Found the parts I need for the headstock. Next week I'll talk to a machine shop here locally and see what it would take to repair and polish that bearing surface on the spindle shaft. If all goes well, I'll have the headstock back together within a week. Shortly thereafter I should have all the parts to put the carriage back together. I'll still be waiting on a tumbler gear for the QCGB, but I'll likely go ahead and reassemble it with what I have and be using the lathe until it comes.

Came across a worrisome thing. The precision spindle bearing in the left side of the headstock has a little catch in it after cleaning. Feels like maybe a tiny piece of swarf got in there somehow. I'm hoping it's just old lubricant that got hard. I'm going to soak it in kerosene and hope that little "catch" goes away. I will then try to blow the kerosene out with air and introduce some modern bearing grease by injecting it into the tiny air holes in the shield. Hope it works. If anybody knows a better way to service this bearing, I'd love to hear it.

Man, I wish I had a mill!