I also own one of these nice lathes Jim, mine didn't have the cabinet so it is mounted on the bench.

I shall follow your story with interest

Regards Brian

Hi Jim,

Grab them with a pair of sharp side cutters and twist them out like a screw. If you don't damage them too much you can just knock them back in when you are ready.

RAL 6011 Reseda Green is also known as machinery green. Used all over the place.

Martin C

Hello Jim

Gloss finish is I think the way to go, it wipes clean and does not hold dirt in the same way as a matt finish that begins to look grubby almost immediately I am familiar with Tractol paint, it is good hard wearing stuff that has to endure agricultural demands.

The internal parts on my Sabel are just in red oxide primer, nothing fancy. I don't think that detracts from the outer and visible finish which is 'silver' paint that I was told, when I bought the lathe, was a commercial paint that is used on elevators. It is certainly durable

Regards Brian

Edited By Brian Wood on 08/06/2020 09:18:16 for punctuation and a better layout.

Edited By Brian Wood on 08/06/2020 09:38:29

Check if the drive rivets are in through holes. If so knock them out from behind. There may be a build up of filler or paint behind them.

Martin C

Jim, you'll find the felts for the Southbend 9" lathe will fit it. Loads of those available.

Hammer-drive rivets I lift using old feeler gauges to get them unseated at first.

Edited By Pete Rimmer on 12/06/2020 06:05:48

Jim,

The 'damage' on the spindle seems superficial to me although I would use a stone or well worn smooth flat file to remove any peaks that are present. The corresponding bearing looks OK and I would leave it severely alone.

The thrust bearing can be washed out in kerosene, the two thrust washers will tell you by the polish marks the balls have made if they are in good condition. If all that is satisfactory I suggest you re-use it. Boxford may also stock the felts, they too copied the Southbend lathe in their clones.

Before you rebuild the lathe it might pay you to look at the condition of the 4 step pulley on the countershaft driven by the motor. I was plagued by belt slip for some time before I spotted that the grooves had worn into J shapes and the belt was running on the bottom. Like you I had a cannibalised machine that came with my purchase which still had the cast iron 4 step pulley for the lathe spindle. It wasn't very difficult to machine up a sleeve from aluminium so that it could be fitted in place of the worn version. I also had to re-cut the grooves in the motor pulley for the same reason, just to reshape the sides was enough in that case

Assembling the spindle again [holding the lubrication springs and felts down is helped a lot with needles through the drainage holes at the side of the bearings and makes that bit easy enough], but fiddling all the diameters into the right place to slide the spindle home will test the patience of a saint. Do make sure you have everything in the right place when you do so, you really only want to endure the experience once and once only!

Regards Brian

That's quite likely but the problem is finding them. You could try John Ward at latheparts.co.uk but I'm not sure if he's still trading; last time I spoke to him he was trying to retire. Worth a try though as he might be able to make you one.

Another thought, bit late possibly, but there is a useful manual in existence for the rebuild of the South Bend lathes, 'A Guide to Renovating the South Bend Lathe 9" Model A, B, C Plus 10K" which is fully illustrated and details the strip down/rebuild of those machines, nearly all of which applies to the clones as well. IIRC I bought my copy through Amazon, and it was well worth the money for my Boxford rebuild.