Grabbed that Southbend over the weekend that Gary posted about. Now I have some basic questions. It has some light rust on the chuck and some of the pulleys. Best way to get rid of it? I scrubbed a bunch off with an oily rag already. Also, the tailstock socket has some rust inside of it. What oil to lube it with? The lathe came with "How to run a Lathe" which suggested 10wt oil if nothing else is available. Cheap place to find a couple of three-phase motors? I want to put
3-phase on this and build a converter so that I'll be able to reverse the spindle. Already has the right switch. The screws in the 4-jaw chuck are all broken. I'd like to try making new ones. How do I get the chuck apart? It looks like there are plugs pushed in from the back that have "forks" to retain the screws. Can I just drill & tap the backs and yank 'em out? And what to make the new stuff out of? And finally, this is a great excuse to subscribe to a project magazine or five. Suggestions?
If you got the works and not just the lathe, the factory running gear is reversible, there's a drum switch that does the job. You DO have to be careful with threaded chucks when doing this. I've never unscrewed a chuck yet, but there's always a first time. With single phase, the motor has to come to rest before reversing, with three phase, if you hit reverse, the motor reverses NOW. Could lead to some unfortunate effects. I haven't felt the need for infinitely variable speeds on my SB, at least not enough to replace the current running gear.
The 4 jaw chucks I have, have split bodies. The screws remove from the front, the body splits and the screws are retained by cast and machined Us in the rear body, YMMV. The ones I have have square threads on the jaw adjusters, these are a challenge to cut under the best circumstances, then you'd have to harden and probably grind them. Acmes would be easier and you might find threaded rod that's the same pitch and size, if you're lucky. Best bet is to scrap the chuck and get another. If it's that beat, probably the jaws are chewed up, too. 4 jaw chucks for South Bend spindles are relatively cheap.
Rust can be removed with very fine bronze or steel wool and light oil. WD40 works for this. If you're careful, a very fine Scotchbrite pad, works, too, but can remove metal that where you don't want to. You may want to get a Morse taper reamer to clean up your tailstock socket, it needs to be as clean as possible to keep tooling from spinning.
10 weight oil works fine for lube, get non-detergent oil. You might want to take the apron off and clean it out, a lot of gunk gets in there over the years. The oiler wicks get hard and gummed up, too, and may not conduct oil where you want it to go. Just some additional things to look at. Don't forget to lube the backgear.
In the U.S., Village Press has a number of books and magazines out, depending on your interests, Home Shop Machinist is one title. Check their web site. If you're elsewhere, the Brits have a number of magazines out, most catering to live steam modeling but also having other hobby machining projects. Model Engineer is one of the oldest. These are hard to get here, even in large cities.
Get a spray can of PB Blaster from the AutoZone and one of those green scrubbing pads. Hose er down with the PB..let set for a half hour..then hit er with the green scubbing pads.
Moble 1. Or ATF, or a bottle of 10W-30 from the AutoZone.
Where are you at? Im up to my ass in small 3 phase motors. Ill give ya one if you are close.
4 Jaw chucks are dirt cheap. Ya can pick em up for $25
Newbies disease..acute case. You are now doomed to a life of chasing chips.
If you are cheap like me..there are a number of good (free) project sites.
Gunner
"Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western civilization as it commits suicide"
Tuesday..I had this bite me in the ass. I was repairing a machine at a clients shop, and needed to make a part. I was turning at about 2500 rpm with the installed 3 jaw chuck, and by accident, kicked it into reverse (detents on the forward reverse lever were worn)..and suddenly the 5" 3 jaw is headed for me. First HLV-H Id ever seen with a threaded spindle nose. The owner laughed and pointed to some dings in the concrete floor, that matched the one Id just made. So before I left..I used a long aircraft bit and tap to put a brass point setscrew in the chuck back (non Hardinge) so he could lock it down
That was TOTALLY unexpected.
Gunner
"Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western civilization as it commits suicide"
My understanding is that "non-detergent" oil is preferred for motor oil. Generally available at most auto parts places since it's also what's wanted (for similar reason) when running in a rebuilt engine. The reason, as I have heard it, is that the non-detergent oil lets things (contaminants, chips, etc) drop out, while the detergent oil is more likely to carry them around. But that's just parroting what I've been told, not knowledge based on any actual comparison. Not finding 10W ND, I have a bottle of 20W ND sitting by the old FE Reed.
The Southbends, most of them..are direct loss lubrication systems..you pour it in..it runs out, albeit somewhat slowly. Not a lot of sumps to hold oil for extended lengths of time.
Gunner
"Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western civilization as it commits suicide"
I checked on the oil recommended for my Myford and the closest the Canadian Shell engineers could recommend was the universal white hydraulic fluid they provide to John Deere equipment dealers. They said it was almost a perfect match.
For HSM use, any orphaned bottle of motor oil or ATF works just fine. I mostly use synthetic oil & ATF given to me by the Lucas rep. Use it often, apply liberally until it drips off.
As another poster said, "where are you?" Three phase motors go for about $10 per HP around here, (Twin Cities, MN) or less. Joining a club that does what you do helps a LOT! Many of the folks will be working in the industries that toss out such things. I think I paid $5 for the 10 hp motor that I use for an idler. And since, I have gotten a dozen or so for free, just by not saying "no" fast enough.
Steel wool and oil does pretty good with the rust, along with elbow grease. Make a plug of it and clean out the tailstock using a popsicle stick to spin the plug in the hole.
My Atlas manual recommended 20wt non-detergent, available at A-Line Auto parts here in town. Also, if you need gear grease, Tractor Supply has "moly" based open gear grease for about $2.25 per tube.
I see motors at CMC Recycling sometimes. Also some good turning stock laying around if you keep your eyes open. And then there's the UT surplus auction coming up on...oops, I think it was couple of days ago.
I have a 4 jaw with the same problems. I've racked my brains on how to re-make the screws, but I think mine are square threads also, as someone else mentioned. Something like a 9/16"-12 best I can tell. You'll have to cross the bridge of making the square socket on the end also. I believe the plugs can be removed by grinding out the "pings" and then the screws will come out. I think I'll remove the screws, true up the cracked sockets with a small hammer and then braze or silver solder the cracks closed and reassemble. The chuck actually works OK with the cracked sockets.
BB? those are MY initials! :-) And a hiking buddy calls me goatboy! .. or weinerboy
as others have posted, I'd chuck the chuck ( or use it for educational /dissection purposes) & buy a new chuck ( or 2 ...3 & a 4 jaw).
one of my first projects was a hand microtome. Threading 5/16x40 on a machine for the first time was..err..fun? I do not recommend that.
I'd say, as a beginner myself, just try grinding your own tool bits & testing them on different types of metal, brass & plastic with different speeds. Make chips! ( or weird melted string things) Try a parting tool Try Knurling ( they have new "clampy" knurlers now..less stress on the machine) Try drilling ( with a center drill first!) via the tailstock. Try boring ( it's still weird & noisy/scary to me)
Make sure the unit's got oil...I use a 50/50 mix of 10w and 30w non-detergent oil. The oil mysteriously vanishes every few months..can't find a leak, .. it's like electroplating..just turns into gases? ;-)
Got a milling attachment for it? You can do some cool shit with one of those puppies.
Below is a list of resources on the internet. The South Bend lathe Yahoo Group is an excellent resource for new owners (check out the FAQ in the files, it answers a LOT of questions, including types and sources for oils). The other sites have some projects. Google "Home Machinist Projects" and the like to find more sites. Check out their links for other sites as well.
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(Home Shop Machinist and Machinist Workshop magazine subscription)
Shell Tellus 46 hydraulic oil is perfect. if you use motor oil the additives will leach any brass or bronze fittings you have.
put a drip tray under the entire lathe and at a low point pierce a hole and hang a tin under it.
the easiest way of keeping rust off your lathe is to use it. seriously it is.
also dont drape cotton over it. a thin plastic garbage bag slit and opened out makes a better cover than any cloth because it isnt absorbing atmospheric moisture.
I use a sheet of plastic a bit heavier in the grade than that.
regarding the chuck. I'd always look at a new replacement item first before refurbishing a really stuffed part. nowadays they are often not expensive and will give better service.
The oil system on these is total loss, so detergent oil makes no difference at all from the view of things being held in suspension. There is some suggestion about that the detergents are somewhat hygroscopic, though, a good thing inside an engine where the moisture has opportunity to be driven off by the heat of running, but not so good for preventing rust. Even that bit of advice is suspect, however.
Most of teh machine tool lubricants seem to be on the makers lists as hydraulic fluids. ATF or straight weight oils would be my picks if not machine tool oils.
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