Sheldon lathe is here!!

Very crummy. That paint job would have to go -- and I've lived with the original remaining paint on quite a few tools. :-)
[ ... ]
It looks as though there is either some cardboard or warped plywood there to keep chips from falling into the openings in the motor.
I suspect that the machine originally had a three-phase motor, and the previous owner did not know how to wire up the reversing switch to work with the motor which he used -- even assuming that it was designed to be reversible. :=)
[ ... ]
My 12x24" Clausing has a 1-1/2 HP motor. What is the swing of your Sheldon? If 12", I would aim for a real 1-1/2 HP, but with a 10", I might go with a single full HP.
For most belt-drive machines (and this one should match), the bearings are total loss lubrication. Is it ball bearings, roller bearings, or babbit sleeve bearings? If the latter, I would suggest taking it far enough apart to replace the felt used to carry the lube from the cups to the bearings. Often those are caked up solid with gummed oil.
Flushing those babbit bearings would involve using the thinnest thing that you can get (perhaps kerosene or WD-40), and running it at low speeds with no load while the lubricant flows through the bearings and carries off gum and spoodge. Once this is done (for example, if you stop seeing dark junk coming out with the lube), move to the right grade of lube for the bearings, and run it for an hour or so to let that replace the thin stuff -- again without a cutting oil.
Ball bearings or roller bearings are better cleaned by removing the spindle and pumping the thin lube through the bearings before reassembling. Be sure to re-lube as you are reassembling, and fill the oil cups.
While you have the spindle out, you should plan on replacing the pair of belts going from the countershaft to the spindle. There is probably a long screw and a nut which you can use to lift the motor/countershaft assembly to take the tension off the belts while you remove the spindle for cleaning. (At least, I had to do that with a Logan which I was helping restore a while back, and the under shots look similar enough so you will probably need to do the same.)
Be sure to order a matched length set of belts, or one will be too lose and not transmit much power, putting all the load on the other belt.
It also looks as though you need to find a new belt for the motor-to-countershaft run, as I don't see one at all in the photo.
Good Luck, DoN.

I'll see if I can locate the Sheldon documentation I have and look it up.
I just moved and am still unpacking.
Scored on 4 Maple kitchen upper cabinets for the Shop!!! I just have to slosh some sealer on the bare areas in the back, top and bottom. That will keep out most of the liquid air.
My Sheldon is an 11-44 Yours is a 56 - nice to have a longer way. It is measured from under the head to under the tail stock. Total length...
Some of the ways are Chrome steel - a.k.a. stainless and are tough.
Mine has a single phase 1 HP motor. Reversible with the Barrel switch. Martin

I'll see if I can locate the Sheldon documentation I have and look it up.
I just moved and am still unpacking.
Scored on 4 Maple kitchen upper cabinets for the Shop!!! I just have to slosh some sealer on the bare areas in the back, top and bottom. That will keep out most of the liquid air.
My Sheldon is an 11-44 Yours is a 56 - nice to have a longer way. It is measured from under the head to under the tail stock. Total length...
Some of the ways are Chrome steel - a.k.a. stainless and are tough.
Mine has a single phase 1 HP motor. Reversible with the Barrel switch. Martin

The Gates people decided about 10 years ago that there was no more need for matching belts. They contend their current manufacturing process is such that all belts for a given part number are within the same tolerance as any two matched belts. They once shipped belts in matched pairs taped together, and marked the catalogs with an asterisk for those applications requiring matched sets. Now no Gates belts come matched, and the catalog no longer lists applications as requiring matched belts. They just show Qty 2. However, every belt carries a lot number next to the part number on the belt. The lot means all the belts were cut from the same sleeve. I would try to find two from the same lot number if I were buying for myself. If I were the guy behind the counter selling you belts, I'd recount the above story and save myself some effort :) And by the way, most small parts stores will not have more than one each of these A- and B-series belts. They may want to substitute fractional HP belts (all-numeric...2270, 3310). Those would probably be OK, but the likelihood of that store having two from the same batch/sleeve is pretty low. You would have better luck at a bearing supply house or a big independent auto supply. Stay away from the big national retail chains, they will waste your time on something like this.
Other brands may still have matched belts, but I haven't seen any other brands in a long time.

Al Do you have a manual for that lathe? There is a military manual for a 10" Sheldon that is available in PDF, in the public domain. I'll email it to you if you think it might help. Email me if you want it.
Rex Burkheimer
Al A. wrote: > A while back I posted a few questions here about an old sheldon lathe > i had a chance to get. Well it followed me home a few days ago.

We have a good bearing house just a few miles away. Used to be an old line local place that supplied the textile mills that used to be around here. They maove a few years back, but used to be in an old mill style building next to a canal, and built out of granite dug from said canal. They had everything, dusty displays, an OSHA nightmare freight elevator, creaky foot thick wooden floors and a small sign that read:
"Unsupervised children will be taken and sold as slaves."
Eastern Bearing bought them up and they moved to another, cleaner office. They do have most everything you need and are nice folks to deal with, but they have lost some of the charm...

I am usuall not too picky about paint either, but this looks like some one was in a real hurry and did it with a hardened brush. Painted right over all of the little snap-ball oil things, too.
That thing that looks like cardboard is actually a rusty metal plate that was added to adapt the motor to the original mount. And I suspect you are correct about the drum switch. The old cord on the motor went directly out to a plug, and the outer jacket had been cut back about half way down in a manner that suggested that there was once one if those in-line rocker switch things on the cord!
I am not sure yet what type the bearings are. They look too narrow to be babbit, and there is no "cap" , i.e. you cannot remove the top half of the bearing. There is a round plate that rings either end of the spindle the I assume retains the bearings, so I am guessing ball or roller, but I have not gone as far as reomving them at this point. i did put some spindle oil into the 2 cups that feed the spindle bearings, and they did allow me to pump in a fair amount before they remained full. So the stuff is flowing, at least. though at this point it could be flowing out onto the floor for all I know. We shall see...
Thanks for all the advice. I will certainly change the belts when I get to that point. There is a screw/lever thing to unload those two belts. And I was missing the motor belt. I already replaced that one.
Thanks again, Don.
-AL

Snip ~~~~~~~~
Like the saying goes, Al, you done good!
Your lathe bears a strong resemblance to my 10-inch Sheldon, except yours appears to have a cast-iron base. Good! Mine is a cabinet mount and has a chip tray that goes the entire length of the bed.
The drive on mine is identical to yours. I'll have to check to see what horsepower my motor is, providing I can get mirrors enough to read the nameplate. Mine's a three-phase and has no trouble getting up to speed. Not having three-phase power available, it is running off a VFD.
Be sure to put lube in the oil hole on the drive pulley! In a previous lifetime someone ran mine in the back gears without lube and really chewed up the spindle. It's AOK, now, but it required considerable rebuilding to get it that way.
With the chuck on I can't see your spindle, but I'm guessing it has a 2-1/4" X 8 TPI thread and the center hole is a modified MT #5. That's good! A 5-C collet adapter will fit *inside* the spindle.
Your spindle bearings are probably the same as my 10" and 13" Sheldons: precision tapered roller.
If you ever replace them, be forewarned. The bearing number, in itself, doesn't specify whether it is a precision bearing, or not! If you give the bearing man that number he is likely to sell you a generic one for a dollar-three-eighty-nine.
Your lathe probably takes a Class 0 (zero) precision bearing and that's what you'll have to tell the bearing dealer. That's what my 10" had in it when I got it. The Class designation (0, 00, 000, etc.) is etched on the edge of the bearing race.
Sometime in the past, a dumb-a _ _ was too lazy to fill the oil cups on mine, so he packed them in grease! Ruined 'em.
The two spindle bearings cost me less than $500. I forget what it is, now.
I hope some of this rambling is of use to you.
Regards,
Orrin

======================== I have not had occasion to this, but the use of a variable speed DC treadmill motor appears to have much to recommend it. The motors are high speed so these can [must] be geared down which will provide more than adequate torque at usable speeds, and extra slow speeds should be a big help in threading.
See: sample motor and
some controllers
SurplusCenter also has a smaller/lower speed motot See

Orrin, Thanks for all of the info. it appears that the spindle bearings are OK on mine, but I am planning to at least take the covers off and take a look. They did take in some oil, so i am hopeful that no one did me the "favor' of packing them with grease!
You are correct on the spindle nose thread. The hole through the spindle looks HUGE compared to my other lathe. That one would not take 5C's in the spindle. I am looking forward to having that capability.
I will likely go the VFD route if a decent siingle phase motor dosen't find me before too long.
Thanks to you and everyone else who took the time to reply. It is all most helpful
-AL