Old Lathe

swami4u

swami4u

Banned
Could this lathe be converted to do tips and sanding?
I know its huge, but i like it!

If you had this lathe, and wanted to do repair, what would you do to it?

Also, the Descrip' say's its a 9x3' any guess on what this lathe has between centers? I looks shorter then 36"????

Thanks
 

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:grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:


After looking closer at specs, i guess the bore diameter is to small to do
cue building. and its a little over kill for doing just repair.

This lathe comes with a BOAT LOAD of extras!

Made in 1929, here is the link for more info.

And suggestions would be great!
 
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The 3' measurement is the length of the bed ways; total length.
It looks like an old SouthBend though I could be mistaken.
Just a little too much before my time and hell, I'm old.

It's a beautiful lathe and should probably be in a museum.
Unfortunately, I don't see you doing shaft work on this machine unless you were to do them in sections, Lol.
That's not to say that it wouldn't have a place in your shop.
If you can stand the expense, buy it. Just be mindful that it's not suitable for shaft work (without serious modification).
If your cash tells you that you can only have one machine, this ain't it.
Man, that belt drive section is a trip.
 
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KJ Cues said:
The 3' measurement is the length of the bed ways; total length.
It looks like an old SouthBend though I could be mistaken.
Just a little too much before my time and hell, I'm old.

It's a beautiful lathe and should probably be in a museum.
Unfortunately, I don't see you doing shaft work on this machine unless you were to do them in sections, Lol.
That's not to say that it wouldn't have a place in your shop.
If you can stand the expense, buy it. Just be mindful that it's not suitable for shaft work (without serious modification).
If your cash tells you that you can only have one machine, this ain't it.
Man, that belt drive section is a trip.
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Yea, its 120% not what i need, and im going to pass, but what a unreal looking lathe! If i had some spare cash, i would buy it, just to use it sometimes.


PS: It is a South Bend lathe 1929, the link has info. + pics of all the extras.
 
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WOW!!! That's the lathes I learned machining on. If I were in indy, i'd buy that bugger just to have it. I love those old lathes.
 
That is basically the same lathe I do all my tips and ferrules on. nothing like that old time feeling. you will have to add a rear chuck, personally i like my mini lathe for tips and ferrules. I make a rear chuck for the mini lathe, and at only $450.00 you can't go wrong. next buy a wood lathe for sanding $150.00 to $350.00 If you want to build cues thats another story 13x40 inch lathe is what you need.
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qbilder said:
WOW!!! That's the lathes I learned machining on. If I were in indy, i'd buy that bugger just to have it. I love those old lathes.
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So with my (at this point) limited lathe experiance....

Couldn't i just make a have a bed extension made so i could sand shafts?
( i would have it made so it doesn't change the original lathe, and matches the bed)
Add a rear steady rest of some sort for doing house cue tips, along with
doing shaft tips? (again, with no modification to the ORG. Lathe)
 
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Some info about the motor.....

Any good for doing tips, threads, ferrule, and shaft cleaning, joints....

Motor is a DAYTON, 110v, 1/2 hp @1725 rpm - capacitor start...looks to be brand new
 
That does work, you will have to use a dead center out of the chuck a manitance pin won't work, because you won't be able to line up the tail stock dead on with the head stock. I do every thing between centers works great,light pressure and just tape the shaft to the dead center.
 
hillscues said:
That does work, you will have to use a dead center out of the chuck a manitance pin won't work, because you won't be able to line up the tail stock dead on with the head stock. I do every thing between centers works great,light pressure and just tape the shaft to the dead center.
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Edit: This didn't come out right....

Could you explain with a little more detail please?
 

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DaveK said:
What a lovely lathe. It looks to be in outstanding condition considering its age and it comes with an impressive group of accessories and cutting tools too. At the risk of annoying all of our cuemakers, I think it would be nearly sacrilegious to turn anything but metal in that old beauty. :sorry:

Dave

PS http://www.lathes.co.uk/southbend/page6.html which says "This 1929 lathe, showing clear evidence of the famous South Bend lines, was available with between-centres capacities of 11", 18", 23", 29" and 36" with prices ranging from $163 to $190. " I'm gonna gues this auction is for a 18" or 23" version.
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I know what you mean, when you look at the pics, you just picture some guy in a dark smoke filled shop, next to the river/bay with a long cigar, working.
But in reading the description, he worked on Tugs, so i bet it has a taste for wood to. :grin:

Any suggestions?

With minor mods (nothing to cut it up and ruin it) could i do any cue work on the thing? All i want to be able to do is tips, ferruels, repair joints, not even worried about shaft cleaning, i could just buy a wood lathe to clean on.
Im thinking the only thing i would need to do is add a rear chuck, increase the bore hole to around 1.5", and use a rear steady rest for doing house cue tips?

Am i missing anything?
 
You can not increase the spindle bore. a shaft fits through all day long ,this will be your tip and ferrule lathe, also you can drill and tap a shaft. Its not a cue building lathe, its a tip and ferrule lathe, I have the same lathe, I love it,I can't live with out it. go back and look at my pictures you will see the lathe , its grey. cue building takes alot of machines. you need to be some kind of machinest to take on this machine, or wasting money and time. this is a cream puff of a lathe it need a good home, shit I may buy it.
 
hillscues said:
You can not increase the spindle bore. a shaft fits through all day long ,this will be your tip and ferrule lathe, also you can drill and tap a shaft. Its not a cue building lathe, its a tip and ferrule lathe, I have the same lathe, I love it,I can't live with out it. go back and look at my pictures you will see the lathe , its grey. cue building takes alot of machines. you need to be some kind of machinest to take on this machine, or wasting money and time. this is a cream puff of a lathe it need a good home, shit I may buy it.
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Thanks for the advice, as for you buying it, too late...:grin:
I'm going to use it for just what you suggested, tips and shafts.
I'll pick up a wood lathe of some sort, for cleaning/sanding.
That should cover me to get started.
 
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hillscues said:
You can not increase the spindle bore. a shaft fits through all day long ,this will be your tip and ferrule lathe, also you can drill and tap a shaft. Its not a cue building lathe, its a tip and ferrule lathe, I have the same lathe, I love it,I can't live with out it. go back and look at my pictures you will see the lathe , its grey. cue building takes alot of machines. you need to be some kind of machinest to take on this machine, or wasting money and time. this is a cream puff of a lathe it need a good home, shit I may buy it.
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Any suggestions on how i should go about attaching a rear chuck on this lathe for doing shaft work?

Thanks
 
At sixteen I got my first machine shop job deburring all day than drill press , so on , and so on. after 30 years I can almost do it all. you my friend need to slow your roll , try to build a joint cap , thread, tap and so on. as far as the rear chuck goes pay a local machienst to help you.
 
hillscues said:
At sixteen I got my first machine shop job deburring all day than drill press , so on , and so on. after 30 years I can almost do it all. you my friend need to slow your roll , try to build a joint cap , thread, tap and so on. as far as the rear chuck goes pay a local machienst to help you.
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Slow my roll, your prob. right. But i will need to do tip work soon. So ANY suggestions on how i can get to doing tips with this lathe, after i get it without
major mod's would be a big help.


EDIT: wanted to add, i will learn metal working with this one, thats 80% why im buying it, but i do need to get it ready to do tips in short order.

thanks for the suggestions
 
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I have to ask, have you used a metal lathe before? What experience do you have with them? Do you understand what all the controls do on the lathe you just bought? Do you know the basic safety rules for lathes? Can you turn a piece of aluminum to a .001" tolerance? Steel? Plastic? Do you know how to sharpen tools? Do you know what relief angles on tools mean? Do you know how to center tools? Do you know that aluminum will stick to your tools if you don't use oil?

I am not trying to be mean. But if you don't know the above, why are you worrying about if you can do a cue joint on this lathe or not? You need to take metalworking classes to learn this stuff, or have a machinist mentor who can show you the ropes. Or be especially mechanically inclined and read a bunch of metalworking books at the library.

Good luck, and stay safe, especially with all the exposed belting on your machine.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I have to ask, have you used a metal lathe before? What experience do you have with them? Do you understand what all the controls do on the lathe you just bought? Do you know the basic safety rules for lathes? Can you turn a piece of aluminum to a .001" tolerance? Steel? Plastic? Do you know how to sharpen tools? Do you know what relief angles on tools mean? Do you know how to center tools? Do you know that aluminum will stick to your tools if you don't use oil?

I am not trying to be mean. But if you don't know the above, why are you worrying about if you can do a cue joint on this lathe or not? You need to take metalworking classes to learn this stuff, or have a machinist mentor who can show you the ropes. Or be especially mechanically inclined and read a bunch of metalworking books at the library.

Good luck, and stay safe, especially with all the exposed belting on your machine.
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NOT A F*(**ING! clue man! :grin:


No serious, CLUELESS!!!!


But a friend for the family is a machinist somewhere in DC.........
I appreciate your advice, but rest assured i don't go into things blind.
(some people might think i do, but they learn in the long run :eek:)
He will train me on the basics, including saftey, and maintenance. What i need
to learn here is what special things i want the lathe to do, how i want it to do it (for cues), so i can tell him. He will make it work realllllllyyyyy good.
Guy works on stuff that prob. don't exist yet...


Thanks
 
Well that's good that you will have someone showing you the ropes first hand. Nothing beats that.

In the mean time, try going to a library to borrow a book on running a lathe. I think the library is better than online for this topic, because all the information will be in one book. The books are hard to come by, because I think they pretty much stopped printing them in the 1950's.


Here is a link to one of those old books that someone scanned and put online:
http://www.americanmachinetools.com/how_to_use_a_lathe.htm


Here are video lessons done at MIT's model shop. About 10 hour long videos, covering several different topics:
http://techtv.mit.edu/search?q=Machine+Shop&x=21&y=10

Check ebay for your machine's manual. There are a few sellers who specialize in selling reprinted manuals. Find one, and email them wiht your model, and they will sell lyou its manual for about $15.

Enough to keep you busy for a while...
 
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