South Bend tailstock ram

EdFielder · 2005-01-19T17:20:19+00:00

This original subject was started under the heading of" Exporting Jobs- Gee I wonder why" and quickly degenerated into one ofthose endless back and forth arguments about the world economy etc.However, the original post was about why this little piece cost 330.00.There were some who defended the price with all sorts of stuff about shelfstorage costs, plant overhead, machine amortization, labor costs and so on.After reading all this stuff I said to myself " Wait a minute, why has thissimple job turned into some internet version of a Government commission?Isn't the real issue how do we get this tailstock ram at a reasonable priceto fix this old lathe." Then I remembered the old saying about " Americaningenuity" and thought, why in all this talk is there not one of thesepeople who can solve this simple problem. After all, aren't machinistsupposed to be problem solvers? Anyway I did some research and found thedimensions of this item- its 6.5" long, 1" O.D. and has an MT 2 taperinside, has a .125 slot for the key and a 10 TPI left hand acme nut in theend. pretty simple to make on a home lathe in a few hours, but I thoughtthis stuff all sounds like shelf items-Searched my catalogues and found-1/2" 10 TPI LH acme nut for 1.26Morse taper drill sleeve with 1" O.D. and MT 2 inside, hardened and ground-USA version 8.00 - Import Version 2.95Bought 2 of the nuts and 1 each of the sleevesCheapie version- Used the Import piece and just welded the nut to the end-time to set up, center and weld- 5 minutesCadillac version bored the USA sleeve and turned the nut down and pressedin and drilled for a set screw25 minutesMilled the 1/8" slot in both units- another 10 minutes.Conclusion A- for a guy fixing his old lathe he could do a quickie fix thatworks fine for 5.00 in parts and 10 minutes time. For a " restorer type" hecould duplicate the original for about 10.00 in parts and 1/2 hour of time.Conclusion B- There is no reason that the South Bend parts people could...

Jan 19, 2005 23 Replies

Rate this thread:

Waynemak 21 years ago

Vote

jim rozen 21 years ago

The tailstock ram in the lathes in question never were heat treated. So that step could be eliminated unless one were trying to make a 'new and improved' version.

The linear graduations on the ram however really are vital. They would have to be engraved or roller embossed on the surface of any repro item.

Jim

Vote

EdFielder 21 years ago

Vote

Tony 21 years ago

Why your at it get Gingerlys book and build the entire lathe yourself from aluminum scrap. That way your POS tailstock quill will match your POS lathe.

Vote

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required