Sheldon 10" lathe question

Tonight my buddy and I went to look at a venerable old 10" Sheldon lathe. It's a model L-62 with a nice long bed. There is a lot of crust and dirt and a little rust on it, but there is also some severe wear and some damage and one thing I couldn't make work, and I have some questions for anyone who knows these machines.

Here is an overall view:

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When I got far enough along to put some oil in the spindle bearings and spun up the spindle, I immediately noticed a horrible noise coming from the back. It turned out the horizontal drive unit's jackshaft hadn't been sufficiently lubricated, or had been overtightened, or both, and it had worn at least 1/16" of slop in it so it was just rattling around noisily.

Here's a picture:

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The headstock has a quickchange gearbox. All the visible gears on the lathe (including those in the gearbox) are intact and there was no visible pitting on the gear faces. However, the shifting arm on the quickchange gearbox is broken:
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It could be persuaded to stay in gear, though, and maybe another arm is available (no, the busted off part isn't there). So I stuck a 2x4" piece under it and went to check out the powerfeeds.

Uh-oh. Maybe I couldn't figure out the clutch, but I could not make the powerfeeds work. Here's a picture of the apron, anyone know how these clutches are supposed to work?

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This old machine looks to me to be restorable but quite a bit of work would be needed. However, if the apron's clutch is busted, that might be a bigger problem than I'd want to take on.

My buddy is going to pass on this lathe, not himself feeling qualified to get this one up and running again. There is no tooling whatever other than a rusty 3-jaw. No toolpost, no tailstock anything, no steady, no follower, no lathe centers, no dog plate, no 4-jaw, no nothing. $500 as it sits, in Snohomish, Washington.

Grant Erwin

Reply to
Grant Erwin
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What you've got to ask yourself is "Do I want a lathe or do I want a project?" Looks like a project to me.

A friend of mine has either a Sheldon or a Logan with the same jackshaft bearing issue. It didn't look too hard to turn and bush the shaft. The other stuff, I don't know...

Reply to
GrumpyOldGeek

IMO, that's way too much money for a machine of that size in that condition. For five hundred bucks, you should get a usable machine with "some" stuff with it. What you have there is scrap iron. Yes, it is probably restorable (if the bed isn't too bad...), but it will be a LOT of work and a fair amount of money to replace the missing stuff.

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry Foster

I got a similar lathe (clausing) in a better condition for minus 1,750 dollars. That is, I bought it with the clausing mill for $850, and the mill sold for $1,800 plus $970 for crating and delivery to a shipper's terminal. All done and delivered.

That said, in the mind of the seller, he sold the lathe to me for $350 and the mill for $500. The lathe includes 3 chucks and some tooling and was not as worn out (although I admit to lack of knowledge regarding it).

So, I would not pay more than $100 for that lathe, given its poor condition. Keep looking, a better deal will come.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus16731

Most of the things you mentioned can be fabricated or bought for a little time and/or money. As for the power feed, it's simle mechanics. Half the fun is taking it apart and figuring out what it needs, then how to solve that need. If you want to tackle it as a restoration project, and if the ways are not visibly worn, I'd offer $350 for it, were I you. On the other hand, if your area is awash in lathes, keep looking for a nicer machine.

- - Rex Burkheimer WM Automotive Fort Worth TX

Reply to
Rex B

Indeed. Though..unless stuff is missing...it looks like a decent enough lathe. A bit spendy. Shrug

I know you have more than the skill level to fix it up and likely in a single weekend, based on what the issues you have shown. The big question is...how are the ways, how do the spindle bearings sound, and how much slop is in the tailstock ram?

As Grumpy said..the jack shaft is easy to bush, the clutches are generally simple and the gear selector can likely be fabricated.

What is your gut feeling and do you Feel anything about this lathe? If it flips your dress up..then its worth it to putz with it. And if you get it running but dont like it, you can likely get your money plus, back out of it.

Gunner

Liberals - Cosmopolitan critics, men who are the friends of every country save their own. Benjamin Disraeli

Reply to
Gunner

This one isn't for *me*. Mostly I'm just trying to get a definitive answer on exactly how the clutch is supposed to work. There arent't too many things you can do with a knurled knob - push it, pull it, or rotate it. It doesn't go in any of these directions. Before I do something like put a strap wrench on it, I'd like to know for sure which way to turn ..

GWE

Gunner wrote:

Reply to
Grant Erwin

In the absence of a more qualified poster, I will tell you that the clutch on my 11" South Bend has what looks to be the same type of actuator. One turns the knob - fluted, not knurled on my lathe ;) - clockwise to engage the clutch and counter-clockwise to disengage it. My clutch has a stack of plates that alternately have internal and external splines, and a threaded "clamp plate" that's actuated by a threaded shaft attached to the knob. When one turns the knob, the clamp plate tightens the clutch pack and away you go.

Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Grey

Ah! ok. It looks to be a very close approximation of a Logan apron. Perhaps Scott or another Logan user could fill in the blanks. I have a similar one, but cant drop the apron until this coming weekend.

Gunner

Liberals - Cosmopolitan critics, men who are the friends of every country save their own. Benjamin Disraeli

Reply to
Gunner

My Logan requires a CCW twist to engage, and a CW twist to disengage. No more than 45 degrees of rotation.

- - Rex Burkheimer WM Automotive Fort Worth TX

Gunner wrote:

Reply to
Rex B

Grant, I have an almost carbon copy of that lathe, only in 13-inch size. My motor mount is different, but otherwise things look very familiar.

A big plus for this lathe is that big hole through the spindle. It is very simple to make a 5C collet adapter for it. The collet fits

*inside* the spindle, being a lot better arrangement than those adapters that hang 'way out over the bed.

I agree with the others. This lathe isn't worth $500. $350 is more like it.

I have to stop to think every time I operate the clutch on my lathe. Clockwise engages it. Counter-clockwise disengages it.

Mine had a nasty habit of jamming in the dis-engaged position. The fix was simple, just a skim cut on a surface; but, it was so long ago I forgot where.

I'd be interested in this lathe just for the parts, but what with gasoline prices now being so high, it wouldn't be cost-effective.

Regards,

Orrin

Reply to
Orrin Iseminger

The seller told me today it sold. End of story. - GWE

Reply to
Grant Erwin

good for you!

i
Reply to
Ignoramus16731

That is a nice long bed - 18" more than my L11-44

the pulley in place. It didn't always catch - rattled loose ? during shipping one year ? - fixed that one.

opens for oil - one screw and a pin - shows the gears internally. Quick change boxes are replaceable and are extractable from scrap machines... If you can find one.

The bottom circle handle is the friction drive - The right hand lever is to engage the lead screw The lever in the left or 10:00 clock position is (in or out ? cross slide) Center is apron drive (by friction or lead screw) Right is reverse from left. The other two are typical.

The dial on the right is for threading - matching even / odds.

Also notice the rack on the top to move the apron while the lead screw is used for half nut (right hand lever) use and friction.

Does seem to have been in a sand factory or somewhere! Likely old war horse through several shops.

Looks like one to pass up but it does contain parts that some machines could use. e.g. the apron - gears, handles, ..... even the quick change... if replacing bad gears...

Some of these are more work than one wants - e.g. want to do metal work not repair work...

Martin

Reply to
lionslair at consolidated dot

The clutch is locked because the central lever is in cross feed drive. If it was in the central hole, then friction on/off or just carriage movement.

Someone 'played' with it or something prior to your seeing. One would not use that except for faceplate work or like work.

My bet is that it is working perfectly. If you can't move anything then friction drive is strong and the lead screw is driving. The apron is locked or it is under specific special control. (Taper?)

Martin

Reply to
lionslair at consolidated dot

Knurled knob = clutch cw-engage ccw-disengage. Lever above clutch knob=feed select L=cross feed C=neutral R=long feed.

Reply to
JOCELYN BROWNE

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