The South Bend has landed

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:38 am

Finally, three days after arriving home with it, I pulled the South Bend 9" I got from Jack out of the back of the Jeep and got into the basement workshop. It's sitting on a workbench (actually an old solid wood surplus desk) I've dedicated to it, and is waiting to get bolted down. I just have to figure out where I want everything mounted, and I'll be off to the races.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:32 pm

Aah!! Finally, he comes over to the dark side.

Now we have him.

Kidding aside, you'll really enjoy it. When I first got mine I made loads of crap just for fun. Replaced all my plastic lever knobs with knurled stainless ones I made. You'll find plenty of uses besides pipe making.

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:47 pm

Glad to hear it, Kurt.

Yeah, big old-school industrial machinery is a real joy to work with, tinker with, and to own. But definitely keep the Jet around for some freehand stuff, or dedicate it to a particular operation, or whatever.

Congratulations!

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:13 pm

pierredekat wrote:Glad to hear it, Kurt.

Yeah, big old-school industrial machinery is a real joy to work with, tinker with, and to own. But definitely keep the Jet around for some freehand stuff, or dedicate it to a particular operation, or whatever.

Congratulations!

I actually just ordered the spindle thread adapter that Jack posted a few threads down so that I could use one of my Oneway chucks on this lathe. I've got such an investment in jaws that it makes sense for me to keep everything the same. I will probably continue to use the Jet for everything involving pipes that need to be turned as well as drilled, and of course all the other woodturning I do. I don't think the SB is going to spin fast enough for me to comfortably use it to finish turn wood.

sethile · Post by **sethile** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:00 pm

Pictures, we want pictures!

Congratulations, Kurt! I'll get a nice old lathe one of these days...

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:42 pm

And pictures you shall have!

Well, one picture anyway. The workshop is still a disaster area from getting it all setup, but it's now ready to go.

I took off the motor that came with it and put on a Baldor motor I had laying around. I didn't have a drum switch, and didn't feel like going out to get one, so I used the Baldor since it had a conveniently built-in switch. That was a pain though, since the mount is 56-frame, and the Baldor motor is 48-frame. I had to modify the base of the Baldor motor some, but in the end it came out good.

I gave it a once over, filled all the reservoirs with machine oil, and got it all setup. Jack gave a leather belt and a poly belt, but I decided to use the leather belt for now. I may change my mind later. We'll see.

I also hacked together a belt tensioner using some 3/8" bolts bent to shape and a coupling nut. It works like a charm!

I also went through and tested everything. I'll say, when the backgears are engaged, this thing is s-l-o-w. Should be great for turning polyester and acrylic.

As soon as my spindle thread adapter gets here, I'll see what I can do with it. So far the only tooling I think I need is a cutoff tool holder since the tool holder is both right and a left hand handed. I suppose I'll be collecting change gears as well, just because.

sethile · Post by **sethile** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:17 pm

Oh my, that's beautiful, Kurt--thanks very much for the picture! <lathelust>An old lathe is going to have to happen here soon somehow. </lathelust>

JHowell · Post by **JHowell** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 1:18 am

Nice job, Kurt. Was there not a tensioner rod on the countershaft frame? My apologies, it must be around here somewhere. There are some change gears in that little cardboard box under the blue stuff. I don't know how many, I never took them out. Have fun!

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:18 am

No tensioner rod on the countershaft frame, but it's not a big deal at all. With all the miscellaneous stuff I have hanging around in the workshop I cobbled it together with ease. I just channeled MacGyver and used bits and pieces I found on my shelves.

I found those change gears, and it looks like there's enough there to do a ton of different threads. Whoever last ran the power feed must have been either cutting small threads or using a very small radius cutting tool - it was set for 128 TPI I think. I changed it out to a more useful 20 TPI. And in the process I learned how to do it. It wasn't until I fiddled and went through several iterations of "How is that possible?" (with increasing expletives) that I found the allen bolt that tightens the gear bracket. After I loosened that, everything fell into place - literally!

One oddity that I found is that the spindle seems to have been modified to MT-3. The specifications for Model C lathes say MT-2 on both head and tail stock, but this one is definitely not MT-2 in the spindle. The tail stock is MT-2, and I'm able to use my existing centers. Of course, I have no idea if it's actually MT-3 or not. One of these days I'll find a cheap MT-3 doohicky and see if it fits. Or make one.

JHowell · Post by **JHowell** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 1:08 pm

The SB headstock is some kind of proprietary taper, I think, definitely not MT2. Has to be big enough to take the adapter for 3C collets. The adapter/collar/drawbar sets are available, old ones on ebay or new imports from tools4cheap.

Usually change gears are just set up for a fine feed, which is useful 98% of the time.