I just recently picked up a 11"X 5' South Bend Lathe with a quick change gearbox. Dates back to 1927. Has a nice long bed for barrel work. A filthy mess when I got it, but it's actually cleaning up pretty nicely. Usual cosmetic blemishes but no major wounds.
What I need is a tailstock quill and a thread dial indicator. I know this is a long shot, but would anybody happen to have one, or know of a parts dealer that might have those items?
I would check with the used equipment dealers in your area, also the machine rebuilders. These 2 parts may be common among several different models, with minor fitting to your machine.
The tail stock quill wouldnt be a hard part to make for it. They are normally a simple piece of round stock with a key a tapped hole and a moarse tapper. A machine that size probably has a number 3 taper. I would hazard a guess as to the thread size but its probably a acme thread. This is the kicker here as the 2 piece moarse taper reamer set and the acme tap are expensive items.
Same with the half nut dial a simple housing with a shaft thru gear that matches the lead screw on one end and a dial on the other. Here finding suitable gear is the issue.
With out the quill in the tail stock you have to work backwards. lock the fitted quill in the tail stock and drive the cutters with the head stock.using the carriage to pull the tail stock to feed the work.
No tailstock quill is going to be tough. I wonder if you could source a slightly larger import quill and wheel for an import lathe and turn it down to fit your tailstock. That way you have a ground taper inside you don't have to fiddle with; the outside diameter has to be perfect though.
Used to be able to find SouthBend parts on Ebay. I don't like buying stuff there but sometimes it's the only place that I can find something.
Used to be able to get rebuild kits with new felt and stuff there too. SouthBend recommends replacement every 7 years so it's probably long past due. You can also find kits with the recommended oils too. Another good investment IMO.
https://groups.io/g/SouthbendmanualOriginally Posted by Alstep
https://groups.io/g/SouthBendLathe (Most active)
https://groups.io/g/SouthBendLathe9
https://groups.io/g/SouthbendHeavy10
You can find a fair amount of info on those four groups. I'm a moderator at the first, and it's not particularly active, but the others are more active. There's a guy who has a lot of lathe parts, not just South Bend, and you can find contact info for him. Latheman Ted, IIRC.
Also Steve Wells has quite a bit of info on the SB lathes. https://www.wswells.com/
Very much last place, you can often find parts for SB lathes on eBay. They will tend to be expensive, but you may not find the stuff you need anywhere else.
I've got a restoration project Heavy 10L that spend five years in a leaky barn before I got it from my friend Bill Hinkle. I'd been planning on working on it again this winter, but wound up moving a bunch of stuff out of my front workshop area so my youngest child can move back in. Oh well.
Bill
The TS quill on my Heavy 10L has the key integral to the quill. If it started life as round stock, they milled a lot of the round off. Parts of mine are broken off. But I would expect that the 11" lathe and some of the others are interchangeable with the 10L, and maybe the 13" lathes.
If you're a good enough machinist, you could probably mill a slot to set a piece of keystock into a round bar, though. Not sure I'm that good yet.
You can get MT3 taper reamer sets on Amazon for in the $30-35 range today. I bought MT2 & MT3 sets a couple of years ago, and the MT2 set several dollars cheaper at the time, but today is today.
And for the threading dial, I think you can find them made with a 3D printer these days for a lot cheaper than the originals. Those will mostly be on eBay, too. You might check Thingiverse.com and the other usual suspects for 3D printing files, as they may be out there.
HTH!
Bill
I made a tailstock quill for an ex school lathe from 4140 HT........you need a certain hardness for wear resistance ,especially the morse socket ...if a drill bit turns ,it will score the taper ...........unfortunately ,a lot of lathes have a tailstock quill that can just be lifted out from the front .........the school ones are regularly stolen,schools dont seem to care ,despite buying price of a genuine replacement is at least $400.....Anyhoo,not only is the quill gone,but also the threaded bronze nut ...........I made a tap for that ...two start LH Acme.
I have an extra quill for my 16" SBL circa 1947. Unlikely it'd fit your 11" but you could research and get back to me...
Sure appreciate all your responses. I first inquired on a SB website, and got 1 response. What a great bunch of guys here!
I'll probably wind up making the tailstock quill myself, as I have other lathes and a Bridgeport. But if one does show up, that would save me a lot of time and expense of tooling. I always enjoy saving a nice old machine from the scrap pile, and giving it new life.
More thoughts & advise always welcome. Thanks.
You mind telling me which site you asked on? I figure there aren't enough of us who like these old machines to be chasing off folks who are interested in them. I've got, currently, a working Atlas TH42 lathe, an antique 900lb cast iron drill press, two Unimats, both needing some work but in operable shape, the SB Heavy 10L, an Atlas MF horizontal mill that been a few hours from done for about 10 years now, a Lewis Shaper about the same. My brother bought and delivered a Smithy CB-1220XL 3-in-1 Lathe/Mill/Drill machine that had been sitting unused since 1997. All the grease and oil are now varnish, and it's taking a while to clean it up. An HF mini-mill that needs a little TLC, my dad's old Craftman drill press that my little brother bent the quill on, and an HF 8" table top drill press that works as well as can be expected...
I'm having to go through boxes that have been sitting in sheds for as much as 25 years or more, and clearing out the junk and trash, and finding the junque (good stuff that needs some work) and treasures and getting them organized. Got an Turkish flintlock pistol I bought in the 80's that turned up in one of those boxes. The wood and barrel are newish, and the barrel is actually a piece of water pipe, but the lock might be an authentic antique, itself. Gotta put the silver wire back in it's channels so the grip looks good again, and unless I find it in another box, make a new ramrod and a real barrel for it... Time to get off the computer and get back to cleaning up the shop.
I think I can get to the quill for my Heavy 10L, I'd be willing to measure it for you if you'd like. Tailstock has been de-rusted, but still needs the old paint stripped. I'm maybe a about a third of the way through the de-rusting and paint stripping...
Bill (in OKC on the Groups IO metalworking groups)
Bill,
The site was Practical Machinist https://www.practicalmachinist.com/f...end-lathes.25/
Looks like you've got enough machine projects to keep you occupied for awhile.
I'll have to measure the tailstock spindle bore & get back to you. Maybe the heavy 10 might be a matchup, but I don't think I'd be that lucky.
The guy I got this one from is moving, and cleaning out his shop. Tons of good stuff went to the scrap yard. What a shame. Time was a factor, so it had to be cleaned out for the new owner. At least I got to save this one. Hope to get it going over the winter. Keep me in mind if you happen to come across any parts and accessories that would fit mine.
Al
I figured that was the site. Most of the folks there don't want anything to do with the smaller and lighter lathes or the people who use them. They're not "professional" enough. Mention any 7x mini-lathe and you might just get banned there.
I'll keep you in mind. I'm in the OKC metropolitan area, just about the middle of the oil patch, so larger machines are more common here. There used to be a metalworkers group here than met periodically, but it seems to have evaporated over the Covid-19 thing. Bill Hinkle, the guy I got my 10L from, was the guy who scheduled meetings, sent out emails, and kept the group's online presence going, but he passed away April 6th, 2020. Despite decades as a machinist, he was working on a falling block rifle in the gunsmithing program at another of the technical colleges, Gordon Cooper Technology Center, in Shawnee, IIRC. Last I remember talking to him about it, I think he was waiting for a barrel... He was my go-to guy for machining questions, and the source of much knowledge and a couple of my machines. The Lewis Shaper came from him as well, and he got it from Dale Smith's estate after Dale passed. Dale was my first good friend in the hobby machining community here.
Bill
I'm not a machinist but my dad is a manual machinist. I bought a small lathe in hopes of learning to make small tools and pins. My lathe is a Rockford drilling machine with a four jaw chuck. It has a flat belt and had an option for a treadle according to some literature I found online. I will be paying attention to any post about lathes for sure. Thanks to all the machinists who contribute thier knowledge freely here.
Frosty, How about some hands on training, sent you a PM
you want to go on hobby machinist
Hobby Machinist is a good site. I'm an owner or moderator on about 8? or 9? groups on GIO, and member of another 50 or so. Some are better than others. I'm at least moderately active on the Atlas-Craftsman, Metal-Shaper-and-Planers, 3D-Printing-For-Metal-Hobbyist, all four of the South Bend groups I mentioned above, Lewis-Machine-Tools, the Unimat group, 1911techtalk, and 4x6bandsaw, but not any of the other lathe-specific groups. You could search and see if there's a group for your specific machines, or any of a number of other subjects, and could well find some interesting stuff. HomemadeTools.net is also good, and very eclectic! I would not limit myself to just one site, or even one service. I like GIO, but it's not perfect either, but it has been a good refuge for many of the old Yahoo Groups.
Bill
There is no problem with SB lathes on PM.........there is at. least one new SB thread every week ,no SB has ever been denigrated or refused............what the management of the forum object to is small ,toylike ,Oriental machines .......and for some reason,Atlas lathes .........I think it may be from the old Atlas Press Co closing down Indian.
My only complaint with my mini lathe is the short bed. A drill chuck and frill uses up most of the length but for small work and polishing its decent, not my 14 x 40 nardinni marconte or my 12 x 40 lathe. But for the guy who wants to learn and lacks room they are a good start.
The minis have one feature thats invaluable to a lot of hobbyists, when not in use they can be stored on a shelf out of the way.
Mine is usually used for polishing and light work
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