Having been a transmission mechanic with over 40 years of experience I can tell you that the way that gear box throws oil looks extremely healthy to me. The oil is thrown from the center of the gears which indicates a good mesh pattern.
I'm beyond excited about this. Yesterday I paid for a Clausing 12x36 lathe and am headed out a couple hours to pick it up. I'm looking forward to following along, picking up pointers and rebuilding mine with your help. THank you!!!
Just an idea.. This TH-camr "SV Seeker" is building a boat and he has a LOT of work to do on it. At some point, he got the idea to open up a spare bedroom and space for campers and tents, so that people who watch his videos could drop in for a day or two to help out with whatever is going on. If you had supplies around, you'd probably get a lot of help finishing the barn, staging your equipment, etc.. Just an idea... SV Seeker is making that work, not sure how, but it is really inspirational that so many people from all around the world come to this guys boat to help..
Not a bad idea, but with my work schedule I don't know from one day to another when I will even be home to work in the shop. Makes logistics for stuff like this really difficult....
Thanks for the Vid Keith!! That lathe looks fantastic and for straight cut gears like that, she runs quiet. Loads of oil for those babies! As you said, the dish in the ways is nothing. People forget the majority of the work you are still going to do is in that same area. So, to the workpiece. Your saddle is not really moving. Once you transition from the dished area out into the virgin area is when you will see a change in tool position. The amount of tool tip position that changes on the X axis is a function of the part diameter. The tip will travel along a chord perpendicular to the axis of the part and the cutting tip will travel along that perpendicular line. The line will be inversely proportional to the diameter so the bigger the diameter, the less the tip will move in and out of the cut. In reality, the amount even for small diameter work will be very small. Could calculate it and then do a test cut on the lathe and compare the results of the calculation and the actual tool cut. Either way, that lathe is badda$$!! Would love to have it. Though, I love my Clausing 5914!
I appreciate what Keith has done here showing us in a very simplified form how the ways can be out. The problem is when you put the indicator on the apron the apron can also be moving up or down or sideways as it goes into or comes out of the wear spots. Maybe I’m being too fussy. Another thing you could do would be to take a long very accurate straight edge hold it against the surface you want to check and use fine feeler gauges. Perhaps a combination of both methods would give you the information you need.
Looking forward to this. What a nice project. Seems in pretty good shape for its age. As you say, you soon get to learn the little idiosyncrasies of these older machines and know just where to do your work when you need the best precision.
Looking forward to this series! I recently purchased a Rockford Economy 18" lathe that I want to verify and restore (mostly cosmetic). This was huge step up for me as I had a Southbend 9C before.
This is great! Looking to buy myself a second hand lathe in the next months and you gave a good indication of what to look for and where to start. Also Nice to see you finally working in your new shop.
The head stock sounds good and looks like it's been kept in good shape. Amazing what clean oil can do for keeping machines going. Good find Keith. Hope it serves you well.
Keith, Very nice machine! I asked you about paint colors before and you had mentioned painting it green. As I look at your lathe I can see an awful lot of black paint. I feel fairly confident your machine was originally painted black. It sure would look cool if it were black again! I recall a fella on the Practical Machinist forum who actually picked all the layers of paint off with plastic spoons and other soft tools until he reached the origonal finish. If I recall correctly he found nearly all of the origonal finish was still in tact. And the machine was beautiful with the ways and all the handles polished up. I understand that Black may not be the choice everyone could live with. I have redone 2 of my machines in the origonal black and I realy do not see myself doing anymore of them like that. Right now I am leaning toward Rust-Olium Hunter Green for my 23" J.E. Snyder drill press. All the best! Mike
I was working on the lathe this weekend and pulled a couple of the machine tags off and the color under the tags is a black/dark grey. Not sure that is what I will go back to - I prefer either a lighter shade of grey or green.
Great overview/explanation regarding the ways. With your knowledge and abilities you should have no problems or only minor ones that you'll know how to deal with. The gears look to be in excellent shape also. It appears that you have a great machine for this restoration. When you're done it'll be better than new---to you. This should be a nice video series and interesting, as well as educational. Good luck and I know you'll produce a beautifully restored lathe---for the new shop! Can't wait for more of these videos! ....13
Looks like a good lath runs very quiet no bad noises just a splash of paint and get rid of that blue on the base repaint the top of it and it will look as good as it runs you should be very happy with that
My favorite test for lathe wear is using a piece of long ground shafting like out of an old hydraulic cylinder and indicating the up and down and side to side movements at the same time. Have Adam pick you up a good piece of scrap rod you will find it a valuable tool I think. Of course turning a test bar will be the final answer but the ground rod sure helps you to diagnose where your turned errors are coming from.
Indeed that would be nice, but the problem with a shaft like that is that you are assuming that when you mount it in your lathe that it is properly aligned. In the case of my machine, I cannot adjust the tailstock to get it set dead on until I start doing some turning. So, if the tailstock was out, your test bar might not be true and it could indicate a false error. Once the machine is running, turning a test rod will tell the true tale.
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org And then most tailstocks are low anyways so that could add even more error. I always figure that if the bar continuously trails off in one direction or the other that it is tailstock error. I think this is why Monarch wanted you to use "proving bars" of sufficient diameter to perform the checks without the tailstock.
Keith - Could you cover the operation and how it works for the power feeds - Please. I have a mini-lathe and would really like to know how the power feeds work. Think of it a just more teaching to a bunch of senior juvenals delinquents. Love your work here. Please just keep it up.
Nice looking machine. I'm doing something very similar to a 1949 Holbrook C-16. It had sat for years and at one point had flooded during a tropical storm here in Houston. Mine came apart down to the last bolt and is slowly going back together. Curious about your compound, I wonder what the benefits of having the T-Slot cast parallel to the spindle axis instead of perpendicular to the compound axis is?
Hi Keith. I think I would put a tool holder on and just turn a test bar before I stripped it down. The lathe is probably good but a little bit of pressure on it would show up any problems with the clutch and motor before you go to far. But that being said I am looking forward to the restoration. regards from the UK
i would assume the clutch is something that would be simply adjustable, so unlikely to be a problem, usually a weak motor would have issues getting going from stop, not so much when already running. I am too looking forward to seeing him solve the feed issues and getting rid of the awful wiring and replacing that front louvered plate.
Hi Keith, as usual I really enjoy your machine walk-throughs... The only thing I was missing was for you to be say - that it will end up being painted Pink :-) cant wait to see you tear it apart. Best wishes from Denmark!!
Keith, in the top of the gearbox one of the oil galleys seems to be running dry. In the video, left center of the screen, right next to the oil line. The perfectionist in me screams "scrape the ways!". Never mind that I've never done that. :-) You're right, it's not that bad. I'll keep following. Thanks, John
Thanks John. Keep in mind that I was not running the lathe at full speed because oil would be slinging everywhere. I think it is getting plenty of oil in operation - once the machine spins up, you have a lot of oil pressure on those lines that we were not seeing in the video.
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org Ok. Just looked like something to pay attention to. Anyway, when you're done with it, can I have it? Just kidding. 😊 Thanks, John
i noted that the second from the left was empty and the one to the right was filled.. but when you unwound the small tube it had been pointing at the side of the bearing where the one that was filled was.. i wonder if the bearing outer race spun at some point and the if there was a feed hole is now out of alignment with the casting well. i am not saying anything is wrong. .but its worth checking before painting the machine.. i am also taking there is some kind of gasket for that top cover. just observations from a car mechanic. must take a huge surface grinder to refinish lathe and other machine tool ways..
Classic wear pattern - I know on my old lathe it actually goes a bit tight when carriage closest to tailstock... and even similar when closest to spindle. Great potential with that lathe... nice gearbox.
Awesome, not much better than seeing something old brought back to look good. If i had the opportunity to restore a Lathe i've always fancied using British Racing Green.
a lot of industrial machinery (and local state owned property) was finished in green during and after war years, probably a huge surplus of army olive green paint!
Don't feel stupid - just make it a point to learn something new every day! In retrospect, I should have used a different surface to measure the in and out runout on this machine as after I got the carriage removed (my next video in this series), it became apparent that I was measuring wear in the front of the way more than movement of the carriage. Bottom line, I don't think that the runout was as bad as I though in that direction!
Over on BasementShopGuy channel, he is restoring a South Bend 7" shaper, but he brings up a good point. Those old machines were probably painted with lead based paint. He uses Citrustrip gel stripper, and is careful to collect all the stripped paint for proper HazMat disposal. Something to keep in mind. Jon
Very true - but the real danger with lead paint is from ingesting it. I have dealt with a lot of old machines and have even tested some for the presence of lead. Always best to just assume that it is there, but of the machines I have tested, only about half actually had lead in them.
Looks like a nice serviceable lathe. Definitely needs a facelift and some minor repairs. That lathe appears to be very heavy duty for a 12" size. Always enjoy the videos!
Great tips Keith, it's always good to have a solid inspection program when in search of any machine. I know I have to slow myself down and rethink everything when I'm out looking at something. I can get excited if there's an interesting machinist to talk to, and my mind will go out the window. However, when I bought the Atlas, I got it for 1/3rd the price because it didn't have a power cord and wouldn't run. I sure know if I were the seller I would have wired one in for the $400 discount I got, LOL! Aloha...Chuck
On another note, you guys should check out Steve Jordan's channel. Lots of great ideas to get the most out of your machines. I really like the way he thinks. Thanks, John
Not bad on the ways and the gears are in great condition for an older lathe. I've seen ways that were .040 out so then it's a mater of is it worth fixing.
Great episode....for its analytical aspect....! Have used a pre-WWII LeBlond...and it was a work horse....! Is there ANY way to correct the sag in the ways....besides replacement...?
Grinding or scraping are both options, but a lot of work and money to do so. The real test will be how well it actually turns a long piece once it is all finished. In the end, this machine is in much better shape than most that are this old and I am confident it will not be a problem for me.
Hello Keith, Great that you make video's about the restoration of your laid ( I was hoping for it ) and good to see that the wear on it is acceptable. Outside may indeed have a bit new paint on it but yeah, for a machine that is more than 75 years old I guess. I'm looking forward to the next part and for me the video's can't be long enough haha, but I understand that it takes more time to upload longer video's. Also all the render work and editing has to be done and I don't know the internet speeds you have. Here they updated a month ago the speeds again and now my download speed is 300 Mbit and upload 30 Mbit. But I understand that in America the internet speeds aren't so high but I guess it depends on where you live. Anyway many thanks for the great video and looking forward to the next one ! Many greetings from Roel !
Unfortunately for me, living out in the middle of nowhere like I do, my internet is not the best in the world. My speeds are more like 10 mbit down and 1 mbit up. A 30 min video takes a good 8 hours to upload.....
There are two big holes on the left side of the headstock with some gears underneath that don't seem to do anything. Also there is a plug in the front at that place in the headstock. I think the Lathe had some additional speeds you could select but was removed later on.
This lathe had an option for a relieving attachment, that was used in a tool room to cut the relief on cutters. The headstock is designed for an extra shaft that is used when that option was ordered. This lathe did not have that option (nor would I likely ever have a need for it).
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org Ah ok. Looking back the oil pipe has also no hole to oil the bearing hole. That makes only sense if there was never a bearing installed. Thanks for the clarification.
3:40 - This was the genius of LeBlond: replaceable, hardened steel ways. The bed was merely a supporting superstructure. The ways would wear minimally compared to the heat or induction hardened cast iron ways of their competitors. They could be reground or replaced.
Hello, great videos sir, I'm talking about Brazil. I have a lathe that I inherited from my grandfather, an atlas th42 lathe, would you have a PDF manual of that lathe? Or would you know how many gears it has? I will be forever grateful.
Possibly some, but it is probably slight. The problem I have right now is that this particular lathe does not have any means to level the feet. I will be adding that as part of the restoration. We will check it all again when we put it back together.
Hi Keith, Maybe I have seen it wrong, but with the carriage following the worn bedways one would expect the dial gauge, running on the unaffected part of the bed, to go in the "plus" direction. Yours seemed to go to "minus". It looks that you first have to properly level the lathe out.
Properly leveling the lathe could change things - no doubt, and we will be doing that later on (after making some leveling feet which the machine does not currently have).
finally a decent video on how to check an old lathe....but I must say Keith if you have NOT leveled the lathe FIRST then your indication maybe wrong......further you maybe able to level the lathe in your favor that way in the most working parts of the lathe it will not dip down and turn straight....
Good point. I also wondered if indicating the bed with the indicator on the carriage might mask some of the wear, because the left side of the carriage is moving downward as it approaches the dip. As opposed to if the indicator base was on the carriage as shown, and the indicator were run along the bottom edge of a test bar supported between centers. BTW Lawrence, how's the Hendey running? Mines still in pieces!
I cannot disagree with you on the leveling, but I can also say that for seeing if a machine is totally worn out or if it can be saved, the methods I showed will get you into the ball park. Remember, this was for getting an idea of how bad things might be on this machine and not for setting it up to use. If I had seen 0.050" play in any of those measurements, I may not have even started stripping it down. Things will only get better once the machine is put back together, properly leveled and the gibbs adjusted.
As for a test bar, that is a great way to test a machine - IF you know for certain that the tailstock is properly aligned with the headstock. Remember that a tailstock is adjustable and I have no idea if this one is in adjustment or not. If I just put something between centers and went to indicating, I might be measuring error that could be adjusted in the tailstock.
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org Good point about this not needing to be a super accurate test, only a preliminary one. As for tail stock offset being a possible issue, I initially thought just indicating along the bottom of the test bar would negate any effect of the offset tailstock, but it now occurs to me that due to the curvature of the round test bar, it would still cause an issue. Oh well. BTW, I had an issue on my lathe causing it to turn taper. I leveled it more than once, verified tailstock alignment, and it still turned taper! The culprit turned out to be excessive clearance on the end most head stock bearing allowing the spindle to be pushed off it's centerline by the cutting pressure.......sneaky!
I can't tell from the video, but is the machined surface you made the second measurement completely vertical or is it angled toward the center of the lathe axis? If it was angled and the carriage is already rising and falling as it travels, the change in the vertical position of the indicator would change the reading even if there was no wear on it.
The sufrace was vertical, but it had some paint and grime on as well as some wear. After pulling the carriage off as you guys will see in the next video, I think I would have been better off measuring on a different surface. I don't think that the runout of the carriage is as bad as what we measured.
Keith, not that this one needs it, as it seems to be acceptable as you said. But is it possible to have the ways reground by someone to remove the peaks and valleys from wear over time? Really excited to watch this video series, by the way. Always look forward to your videos
Yes, that can be done. I would have to completely disassemble the lathe to nothing but the lathe bed and send it to a grind shop to be re-ground. There are only a couple of shops in the country that will do that kind of work for a one off project like this - and it is expensive. An option, but I don't think it is worth it in the case of this machine.
I enjoy your project videos so much especially on things that I own. you make things look so simple sometimes. I look forward to this series. any chance of PBS picking your videos up??
Keith, I hate to be a buzzkiller, but we are "neighbors" and friends, and friends should help one another. Leblonds of this vintage are no good, and known to be a repairman's night mare. There were two basic problems with them, and without the repair parts, which are no longer available, it is just a boat anchor or yard art. These lathes are famous for breaking the Johnson rods into small pieces, and the garfunken/flugel shafts were incorrectly heat treated. Just so happens that I have those parts here, so if you're gonna be home over the weekend, I'll drop by and bring the lathe back here. Then you'll never have to worry about your Johnson rods and garfunken/flugel shafts.... Regards, Duck PS: nice lathe Bubba....
Maybe the ways might not be quite as bad when you check them with your straight edge (or what ever you call that item you said early on might have to be scraped). Sorry about my ignorance but hey, the advice I give is always free and worth every cent you pay for it! Greg
Hi Keith interesting video, I was wondering what would you have to do if the ways were worn out could they be rebuilt??? I have always had an interest in machine work just never had a machine to play with
You can have ways reground, but it is a lot of work and expensive. If the lathe was that bad, I would be tempted to just scrap it and find another one.
If the gear cover holes are countersunk, it took flat head screws, if the counterboars are flat, it probably took low head cap screws. Probably available from Grainger or McMaster Carr but you probably have to buy 50.
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org Most people never heard of low head cap screws. I had been working on machines for 20 years before I ran into them.
In your experience, are most of those industrial lathes 3 phase and what voltage do they typically run. My lathe is a modern 2014 offshore brand 14 x 40 but it is 240V 1 ph
Most industrial machines like this are three phase, but since you can easily change out motors on a lathe like mine, they could be ordered with whatever phase or voltage the customer wanted.
I am wondering, are there any lathe designed with some wearing pads between the ways and the carriage? So you can change the pads when they are too worn out and the ways keep intact.
I don't know - if you have wear pads, that means that they are designed to wear more fast than metal. I think I would want to go with something harder that will last longer.
i'm in the process of buying a Leblonde lathe, my first lathe. what kind of power do these things run under..?? what type of power should I plan to install in my workshop.. (garage..) seems very similar in type to yours.. but larger..
If I remember right, that lathe has a 3 HP motor - three phase. You could easily swap the motor out with a single phase motor if you needed to though. My 16" Monarch has a 5 HP motor and my big 28" Monarch has a 10 HP motor.
This may be a silly question, but could you swap the head stock to the other side of the machine so that the "belly" is in an area that see's less use? I have thought about doing that on my old Logan lathe, but have not fully researched it yet
This should be a very interesting series. Quick question about when you were checking for run out though, wouldn't it have been better to run the dial against an external reference flat surface?
I think the method you've used will be underestimating the error. There's a similar problem when building a CNC. The first rail you fit can be a bit bent so you put a dial on the carriage and run it against a long straight edge. The straight edge won't be parallel to the rail but if you take a measurement every few cm and plot the measurements in a spreadsheet you can subtract the non-parallel error. The remainder tells you exactly how much bend there is in the rail at every measurement point.
Why are You measuring the wear on the ways with the indicator on the carriage? Doesn't the carriage lift as You move it towards the right - and so the indicator with it?
I am not so much measuring the wear on the ways as much as I am how the wear on the ways affects the movement of the carriage across the ways. If you think about it, that is what is important.
If i ever go on with my intent to build a lathe to bypass all the known issues a conventional lathe comes with, making the ways something removable is a priority. As a byproduct of that, i anticipate some form of wear adjustment, after all, to secure the ways to a lathe bed would require a lot of screws, might as well make use of them.
you could clad the ways with more ground stock on the wear faces, perhaps some dovetailing to help secure it rather than just screws alone, perhaps design in some bronze under the major parts to also prevent wear to the ground faces, something more consumable.
There was an English lathe that had removable/replaceable bed ways, something like 2" by 1/2" ground flat stock, could be wrong on dimensions but you get the idea.
it would seem that LeBlond had put a lot of though into how wear will possibly affect long term accuracy, im sure their unusual bed design wasn't just for nothing, moving the wear into a direction less likely to affect accuracy.
Even if you can replace the ways, they would still need to be ground in on the machine to be perfect. All of the screws used to attach it to the bed is going to move the metal ever so slightly.
Hi Keith, On one of your videos (the camel-back straight edge de-rusting, I think) you mentioned that something you intended to do in the future was some scraping. Is this slightly bellied lathe bed a suitable candidate for scraping to reduce the deviation from a perfect flat surface? Even if not, once partially stripped would it be a good candidate for showing how the straight edge could be used to highlight the deviation from perfect?
Well, it would be a pretty large "first scraping" project ... may depend on what else you find during the strip-down and what else needs higher priority. I shall be watching the series with great interest, as always.
Keith Fenner does a series 1-6? where he uses a tracer attachment on his lathe (I think it's a Clausing.) Obviously it would work differently than the LeBlond, but might be similar.
The tracing attachment is a pretty particular attachment offered on some of these lathes. My big Monarch had one on it at one time and parts are still there. I would love to get that one going.
Hello , I know this video it’s a bit old but would you be able to tell me what year this lathe is and what are the first two letters on the serial Number I have one exactly the same but this one is a 60” long and I’m also trying to do some restoration to it Thank you
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org I will be interested to hear if the Monarch (introduced later in your shop series) runs quieter with different type gears. a
+ted sykora Adam Booth mentioned that as an asset for the Monarch. Bevel gears versus spur gears in the drive train. maybe no significant difference will be noted.
Possible? Absolutely! But it would be a LOT of work and would require a level of skill that I do not have. I would hate to do my learning on such an important piece of machinery in my shop.
I am very familuar with the process of scraping a surface flat. The problem is that it takes quite a different skill level to scrape ways on a lathe - not only do the surfaces have to be flat, but perpendicular to each other across the ways, and in line with the head stock so that things stay straight. A big difference than just getting a single surface flat....
Right now, my scraping skills are not up to snuff for me to trust myself to do the job. I am taking a class this winter though so at some point, I may go back and do that. We will see how it runs when I am through!
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org well i enjoy everything you put out. thank you for keeping it simple. one of these days i want to get into machining myself. for right now ill keep learning. good luck on the restoration.
Stupid question from a noob: Is it possible to run weld beads on the rail to build up the metal, and then grind it flat again to work out the wear? I guess asking you another way.... if you did not find the amount +/- 10 thousandths to be acceptable, what would you have done to rectify it? (or would that simply have been a deal breaker at time of purchase?) Thanks!
Grinding a lathe bed is a very specialized line of work and requires very large grinders. There are only a few places that can do this kind of work. Typically when it is done, you would not build up the ways - just grind them down. Then you would build up the parts that ride on the ways to get things back in alignment.
Keith, I tried to search back in your videos to find the one I think you did of a friend who had to get his lathe ways reground. The question I was trying to get answered was how much it would cost if you wanted to get this done? If you did, can you detach the ways from the machine or would the whole thing have to go? Great show as usual! Regards, Rich
i vageuely remember that, i dont think there was actual video of it, im sure youd have to strip it down to nothing, i dread to think of the potential price!
The cost of the regrind would several thousand grand. Not to mention, I would have to strip everything off of the bed - a lot of work. I think that this machine will be just fine as it is. Truth be known, it is probably in better shape than most of the lathes any of us TH-cam creators are using.
One big reason. I found the LeBlond for a good deal and LeBlond is a quality lathe builder. Had I found a Monarch, Lodge & Shipley, Pacemaker, or any other good brand before that one, I would have just as well gotten any of those brands.
Having been a transmission mechanic with over 40 years of experience I can tell you that the way that gear box throws oil looks extremely healthy to me. The oil is thrown from the center of the gears which indicates a good mesh pattern.
I agree - I really don't think that this machine has seen a lot of use in the grand scheme of things....
I'm beyond excited about this. Yesterday I paid for a Clausing 12x36 lathe and am headed out a couple hours to pick it up. I'm looking forward to following along, picking up pointers and rebuilding mine with your help. THank you!!!
Looking forward to the rebuild myself! Thanks for following along!
After the Vance Planer/Matcher, this should be a piece of cake. :-)
I'm looking forward to seeing this series.
Or after the Oliver table saw.
I hope we can get it done faster than the Vance!
Good video Keith. I've enjoyed watching you build your new shop and I'm looking forward to watching you do this restoration.
Thank you!
I always love a good restore video. Thanks for sharing Keith.
Thanks for watching!
Me too, it's something I'm familiar with and will enjoy learning more about so I can do stuff for Old Red.
Good find. Glad everything is what it's supposed to be. We all have some wear and tear but we still wobble along. Thanks Keith! Good one!
I have plenty of wear and tear on my old bones...
We can't get where we are without it. If people say they don't they're either lying or politicians, but I repeat myself.
Just an idea.. This TH-camr "SV Seeker" is building a boat and he has a LOT of work to do on it. At some point, he got the idea to open up a spare bedroom and space for campers and tents, so that people who watch his videos could drop in for a day or two to help out with whatever is going on. If you had supplies around, you'd probably get a lot of help finishing the barn, staging your equipment, etc.. Just an idea... SV Seeker is making that work, not sure how, but it is really inspirational that so many people from all around the world come to this guys boat to help..
Not a bad idea, but with my work schedule I don't know from one day to another when I will even be home to work in the shop. Makes logistics for stuff like this really difficult....
I just bought a monarch 10ee, it's my first lathe, starting to become familiar with it, so this series will be most helpful to me, thanks keith!
A Monarch 10EE is a really nice piece of machinery!
Chuck Bommarito has a 10ee as well, do you watch his channel?
For a machine of its vintage over all not bad. Thank you for the lesson on inspecting a lathe.
Thank you!
Nice inspection, now you know there will be no surprises.
Hopefully not!
Good video Keith! I love the looks of the old lathes! Looks like a fun project. Can't wait to watch you fix her up!
Thank you!
Thanks for the Vid Keith!! That lathe looks fantastic and for straight cut gears like that, she runs quiet. Loads of oil for those babies! As you said, the dish in the ways is nothing. People forget the majority of the work you are still going to do is in that same area. So, to the workpiece. Your saddle is not really moving. Once you transition from the dished area out into the virgin area is when you will see a change in tool position. The amount of tool tip position that changes on the X axis is a function of the part diameter. The tip will travel along a chord perpendicular to the axis of the part and the cutting tip will travel along that perpendicular line. The line will be inversely proportional to the diameter so the bigger the diameter, the less the tip will move in and out of the cut. In reality, the amount even for small diameter work will be very small. Could calculate it and then do a test cut on the lathe and compare the results of the calculation and the actual tool cut.
Either way, that lathe is badda$$!! Would love to have it. Though, I love my Clausing 5914!
Thanks Brian, I think that the lathe will make a great user!
I appreciate what Keith has done here showing us in a very simplified form how the ways can be out. The problem is when you put the indicator on the apron the apron can also be moving up or down or sideways as it goes into or comes out of the wear spots. Maybe I’m being too fussy. Another thing you could do would be to take a long very accurate straight edge hold it against the surface you want to check and use fine feeler gauges. Perhaps a combination of both methods would give you the information you need.
Looking forward to following the adventure with you Keith!
Thanks Jeff - I am looking forward to the journey as well!
Was looking forward to this series Keith. Great to see the workings of the head stock. Thank you
Thanks for watching!
Great. Looks like it is in better shape than it looked like.
I think it will be just fine.
Looking forward to this. What a nice project. Seems in pretty good shape for its age. As you say, you soon get to learn the little idiosyncrasies of these older machines and know just where to do your work when you need the best precision.
Just like any lathe that you run - you get to know your machine over time!
Looking forward to this series! I recently purchased a Rockford Economy 18" lathe that I want to verify and restore (mostly cosmetic). This was huge step up for me as I had a Southbend 9C before.
Glad to have you following along. Hope your restoration goes well!
Looking forward to this series
Thank you - I am looking forward to getting it all finished!
This is great! Looking to buy myself a second hand lathe in the next months and you gave a good indication of what to look for and where to start. Also Nice to see you finally working in your new shop.
Thanks!
Very good looking machine, not much wear for such an old machine, think you made a good purchase.
All in all, I think it is in pretty good shape to have been built in 1941. A lot less wear than most old lathes I run across.
Looks good Keith, looking forward to seeing the restoration. Like that LeBlond logo.
Thanks Bill - and thanks for watching!
The head stock sounds good and looks like it's been kept in good shape. Amazing what clean oil can do for keeping machines going. Good find Keith. Hope it serves you well.
Thanks!
Oh man I am looking forward to seeing this restoration!
And I am looking forward to getting it all done!
Keith,
Very nice machine! I asked you about paint colors before and you had mentioned painting it green. As I look at your lathe I can see an awful lot of black paint. I feel fairly confident your machine was originally painted black. It sure would look cool if it were black again! I recall a fella on the Practical Machinist forum who actually picked all the layers of paint off with plastic spoons and other soft tools until he reached the origonal finish. If I recall correctly he found nearly all of the origonal finish was still in tact. And the machine was beautiful with the ways and all the handles polished up. I understand that Black may not be the choice everyone could live with. I have redone 2 of my machines in the origonal black and I realy do not see myself doing anymore of them like that. Right now I am leaning toward Rust-Olium Hunter Green for my 23" J.E. Snyder drill press.
All the best!
Mike
I was working on the lathe this weekend and pulled a couple of the machine tags off and the color under the tags is a black/dark grey. Not sure that is what I will go back to - I prefer either a lighter shade of grey or green.
Before you tube there was no way to share knowledge like this. I can watch videos and make my machines and work more accurate. Thanks !
Nice vid Keith,definitely looks like a keeper and in good shape for its obvious age.
Thanks - I agree!
Great overview/explanation regarding the ways. With your knowledge and abilities you should have no problems or only minor ones that you'll know how to deal with. The gears look to be in excellent shape also.
It appears that you have a great machine for this restoration. When you're done it'll be better than new---to you.
This should be a nice video series and interesting, as well as educational. Good luck and I know you'll produce a beautifully restored lathe---for the new shop! Can't wait for more of these videos!
....13
Looks like a good lath runs very quiet no bad noises just a splash of paint and get rid of that blue on the base repaint the top of it and it will look as good as it runs
you should be very happy with that
Thanks Colin!
My favorite test for lathe wear is using a piece of long ground shafting like out of an old hydraulic cylinder and indicating the up and down and side to side movements at the same time. Have Adam pick you up a good piece of scrap rod you will find it a valuable tool I think. Of course turning a test bar will be the final answer but the ground rod sure helps you to diagnose where your turned errors are coming from.
Indeed that would be nice, but the problem with a shaft like that is that you are assuming that when you mount it in your lathe that it is properly aligned. In the case of my machine, I cannot adjust the tailstock to get it set dead on until I start doing some turning. So, if the tailstock was out, your test bar might not be true and it could indicate a false error. Once the machine is running, turning a test rod will tell the true tale.
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org
And then most tailstocks are low anyways so that could add even more error. I always figure that if the bar continuously trails off in one direction or the other that it is tailstock error. I think this is why Monarch wanted you to use "proving bars" of sufficient diameter to perform the checks without the tailstock.
That sure is a nice quite gear train! I'm sure you'll end up with a great machine here!
Thanks Jack!
Keith - Could you cover the operation and how it works for the power feeds - Please. I have a mini-lathe and would really like to know how the power feeds work. Think of it a just more teaching to a bunch of senior juvenals delinquents. Love your work here. Please just keep it up.
I will see what I can do....
Looking forward to restoration. Keep up the good work.
Thank you David!
Nice looking machine. I'm doing something very similar to a 1949 Holbrook C-16. It had sat for years and at one point had flooded during a tropical storm here in Houston. Mine came apart down to the last bolt and is slowly going back together. Curious about your compound, I wonder what the benefits of having the T-Slot cast parallel to the spindle axis instead of perpendicular to the compound axis is?
Hi Keith. I think I would put a tool holder on and just turn a test bar before I stripped it down. The lathe is probably good but a little bit of pressure on it would show up any problems with the clutch and motor before you go to far. But that being said I am looking forward to the restoration. regards from the UK
i would assume the clutch is something that would be simply adjustable, so unlikely to be a problem, usually a weak motor would have issues getting going from stop, not so much when already running. I am too looking forward to seeing him solve the feed issues and getting rid of the awful wiring and replacing that front louvered plate.
The clutch is adjustable so I am not too worried about that. And I can easily replace a motor if needed. That is the least of my concerns.
Hi Keith, as usual I really enjoy your machine walk-throughs... The only thing I was missing was for you to be say - that it will end up being painted Pink :-) cant wait to see you tear it apart. Best wishes from Denmark!!
Not just any pink, but "masculine pink". You never know....
Looks to be in pretty good shape!
I think so!
This is going to be an awesome series!!!
Thank you!
Keith, in the top of the gearbox one of the oil galleys seems to be running dry.
In the video, left center of the screen, right next to the oil line.
The perfectionist in me screams "scrape the ways!". Never mind that I've never done that. :-)
You're right, it's not that bad.
I'll keep following.
Thanks,
John
Thanks John. Keep in mind that I was not running the lathe at full speed because oil would be slinging everywhere. I think it is getting plenty of oil in operation - once the machine spins up, you have a lot of oil pressure on those lines that we were not seeing in the video.
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org
Ok. Just looked like something to pay attention to.
Anyway, when you're done with it, can I have it?
Just kidding. 😊
Thanks,
John
i noted that the second from the left was empty and the one to the right was filled.. but when you unwound the small tube it had been pointing at the side of the bearing where the one that was filled was.. i wonder if the bearing outer race spun at some point and the if there was a feed hole is now out of alignment with the casting well. i am not saying anything is wrong. .but its worth checking before painting the machine.. i am also taking there is some kind of gasket for that top cover. just observations from a car mechanic.
must take a huge surface grinder to refinish lathe and other machine tool ways..
I really appreciate your job
Interesting, should keep you busy for a while. Keep on keeping on.
Indeed it probably will....
Classic wear pattern - I know on my old lathe it actually goes a bit tight when carriage closest to tailstock... and even similar when closest to spindle.
Great potential with that lathe... nice gearbox.
Thanks!
Awesome, not much better than seeing something old brought back to look good. If i had the opportunity to restore a Lathe i've always fancied using British Racing Green.
a lot of industrial machinery (and local state owned property) was finished in green during and after war years, probably a huge surplus of army olive green paint!
jusb1066 Yeah most likely, a good overall finish and covers well.
That machinery green that was often used hides oil and grease well.
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org A positive and a negative really then, any unwanted oil being hidden.
Grate job, I never thought of using a Dial indicator to check the ways the way you did. Sometimes I feel so stupid. LOL
Dale that is why we watch you guys' videos no one can know everything. The smart man doesn't know everything but he does know people that do.
Don't feel stupid - just make it a point to learn something new every day! In retrospect, I should have used a different surface to measure the in and out runout on this machine as after I got the carriage removed (my next video in this series), it became apparent that I was measuring wear in the front of the way more than movement of the carriage. Bottom line, I don't think that the runout was as bad as I though in that direction!
Google grate bro. Have a great day.
Over on BasementShopGuy channel, he is restoring a South Bend 7" shaper, but he brings up a good point. Those old machines were probably painted with lead based paint. He uses Citrustrip gel stripper, and is careful to collect all the stripped paint for proper HazMat disposal. Something to keep in mind. Jon
Very true - but the real danger with lead paint is from ingesting it. I have dealt with a lot of old machines and have even tested some for the presence of lead. Always best to just assume that it is there, but of the machines I have tested, only about half actually had lead in them.
Looks like a nice serviceable lathe. Definitely needs a facelift and some minor repairs. That lathe appears to be very heavy duty for a 12" size. Always enjoy the videos!
Thank you!
Great tips Keith, it's always good to have a solid inspection program when in search of any machine. I know I have to slow myself down and rethink everything when I'm out looking at something. I can get excited if there's an interesting machinist to talk to, and my mind will go out the window. However, when I bought the Atlas, I got it for 1/3rd the price because it didn't have a power cord and wouldn't run. I sure know if I were the seller I would have wired one in for the $400 discount I got, LOL!
Aloha...Chuck
LOL = Thanks Chuck!
I'm really looking forward to the restoration.
Thanks Brian!
On another note, you guys should check out Steve Jordan's channel.
Lots of great ideas to get the most out of your machines.
I really like the way he thinks.
Thanks,
John
Cool, thanks for the tip...I'll tell him you sent me.
Not bad on the ways and the gears are in great condition for an older lathe. I've seen ways that were .040 out so then it's a mater of is it worth fixing.
All in all, I don't think things are very bad on this machine at all.
I think you bought a good one there , Great brand name to . Thumbs up Keith !
Thanks Shawn!
Great episode....for its analytical aspect....! Have used a pre-WWII LeBlond...and it was a work horse....! Is there ANY way to correct the sag in the ways....besides replacement...?
Grinding or scraping are both options, but a lot of work and money to do so. The real test will be how well it actually turns a long piece once it is all finished. In the end, this machine is in much better shape than most that are this old and I am confident it will not be a problem for me.
Hello Keith,
Great that you make video's about the restoration of your laid ( I was hoping for it ) and good to see that the wear on it is acceptable. Outside may indeed have a bit new paint on it but yeah, for a machine that is more than 75 years old I guess.
I'm looking forward to the next part and for me the video's can't be long enough haha, but I understand that it takes more time to upload longer video's. Also all the render work and editing has to be done and I don't know the internet speeds you have.
Here they updated a month ago the speeds again and now my download speed is 300 Mbit and upload 30 Mbit. But I understand that in America the internet speeds aren't so high but I guess it depends on where you live.
Anyway many thanks for the great video and looking forward to the next one !
Many greetings from Roel !
Unfortunately for me, living out in the middle of nowhere like I do, my internet is not the best in the world. My speeds are more like 10 mbit down and 1 mbit up. A 30 min video takes a good 8 hours to upload.....
This is going to be helpful,I hope. This is the same lathe I have.
never seen the inside where the gears are,very manual transmission-ish,great video Keith
If you think about it, it is basically a manual transmission.
There are two big holes on the left side of the headstock with some gears underneath that don't seem to do anything. Also there is a plug in the front at that place in the headstock.
I think the Lathe had some additional speeds you could select but was removed later on.
This lathe had an option for a relieving attachment, that was used in a tool room to cut the relief on cutters. The headstock is designed for an extra shaft that is used when that option was ordered. This lathe did not have that option (nor would I likely ever have a need for it).
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org
Ah ok.
Looking back the oil pipe has also no hole to oil the bearing hole. That makes only sense if there was never a bearing installed.
Thanks for the clarification.
3:40 - This was the genius of LeBlond: replaceable, hardened steel ways. The bed was merely a supporting superstructure. The ways would wear minimally compared to the heat or induction hardened cast iron ways of their competitors. They could be reground or replaced.
At least on my machine, the ways are not replaceable - unless you replace the whole bed.
I think it was later when they started fabricating the bed, certainly by the 60s.
Hello, great videos sir, I'm talking about Brazil. I have a lathe that I inherited from my grandfather, an atlas th42 lathe, would you have a PDF manual of that lathe? Or would you know how many gears it has? I will be forever grateful.
great video
Would leveling the machine make any difference in the readings?
Possibly some, but it is probably slight. The problem I have right now is that this particular lathe does not have any means to level the feet. I will be adding that as part of the restoration. We will check it all again when we put it back together.
Hi Keith,
Maybe I have seen it wrong, but with the carriage following the worn bedways one would expect the dial gauge, running on the unaffected part of the bed, to go in the "plus" direction.
Yours seemed to go to "minus".
It looks that you first have to properly level the lathe out.
Properly leveling the lathe could change things - no doubt, and we will be doing that later on (after making some leveling feet which the machine does not currently have).
finally a decent video on how to check an old lathe....but I must say Keith if you have NOT leveled the lathe FIRST then your indication maybe wrong......further you maybe able to level the lathe in your favor that way in the most working parts of the lathe it will not dip down and turn straight....
Good point. I also wondered if indicating the bed with the indicator on the carriage might mask some of the wear, because the left side of the carriage is moving downward as it approaches the dip. As opposed to if the indicator base was on the carriage as shown, and the indicator were run along the bottom edge of a test bar supported between centers. BTW Lawrence, how's the Hendey running? Mines still in pieces!
I cannot disagree with you on the leveling, but I can also say that for seeing if a machine is totally worn out or if it can be saved, the methods I showed will get you into the ball park. Remember, this was for getting an idea of how bad things might be on this machine and not for setting it up to use. If I had seen 0.050" play in any of those measurements, I may not have even started stripping it down. Things will only get better once the machine is put back together, properly leveled and the gibbs adjusted.
As for a test bar, that is a great way to test a machine - IF you know for certain that the tailstock is properly aligned with the headstock. Remember that a tailstock is adjustable and I have no idea if this one is in adjustment or not. If I just put something between centers and went to indicating, I might be measuring error that could be adjusted in the tailstock.
Yeah I guess we shouldnt level or take the twist out of our lathes then....LOL...good luck
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org Good point about this not needing to be a super accurate test, only a preliminary one. As for tail stock offset being a possible issue, I initially thought just indicating along the bottom of the test bar would negate any effect of the offset tailstock, but it now occurs to me that due to the curvature of the round test bar, it would still cause an issue. Oh well. BTW, I had an issue on my lathe causing it to turn taper. I leveled it more than once, verified tailstock alignment, and it still turned taper! The culprit turned out to be excessive clearance on the end most head stock bearing allowing the spindle to be pushed off it's centerline by the cutting pressure.......sneaky!
Keith could the bar that you used the dial indicator on be replace if it were worn to much?
I can't tell from the video, but is the machined surface you made the second measurement completely vertical or is it angled toward the center of the lathe axis? If it was angled and the carriage is already rising and falling as it travels, the change in the vertical position of the indicator would change the reading even if there was no wear on it.
The sufrace was vertical, but it had some paint and grime on as well as some wear. After pulling the carriage off as you guys will see in the next video, I think I would have been better off measuring on a different surface. I don't think that the runout of the carriage is as bad as what we measured.
keith very interesting how do you tell the r.p.m. you are running ?=======bob
There is a plate on the front of the machine that tells he RPM for each possible speed setting.
Keith, not that this one needs it, as it seems to be acceptable as you said. But is it possible to have the ways reground by someone to remove the peaks and valleys from wear over time?
Really excited to watch this video series, by the way. Always look forward to your videos
Yes, that can be done. I would have to completely disassemble the lathe to nothing but the lathe bed and send it to a grind shop to be re-ground. There are only a couple of shops in the country that will do that kind of work for a one off project like this - and it is expensive. An option, but I don't think it is worth it in the case of this machine.
Great machine!
Thumbs up and subbed!
THANK YOU...for sharing.
I enjoy your project videos so much especially on things that I own. you make things look so simple sometimes. I look forward to this series. any chance of PBS picking your videos up??
Thank you - I am looking forward to working through this restoration!
Keith, I hate to be a buzzkiller, but we are "neighbors" and friends, and friends should help one another.
Leblonds of this vintage are no good, and known to be a repairman's night mare.
There were two basic problems with them, and without the repair parts, which are no longer available, it is just a boat anchor or yard art.
These lathes are famous for breaking the Johnson rods into small pieces, and the garfunken/flugel shafts were incorrectly heat treated.
Just so happens that I have those parts here, so if you're gonna be home over the weekend, I'll drop by and bring the lathe back here.
Then you'll never have to worry about your Johnson rods and garfunken/flugel shafts....
Regards,
Duck
PS: nice lathe Bubba....
Well, come on and pick it up then. I will make you a good deal. Everybody needs a boat anchor or two....
Maybe the ways might not be quite as bad when you check them with your straight edge (or what ever you call that item you said early on might have to be scraped). Sorry about my ignorance but hey, the advice I give is always free and worth every cent you pay for it! Greg
I actually think that they are not as bad in the important direction.... I learned a few things as I took the carriage apart!
Hi Keith interesting video, I was wondering what would you have to do if the ways were worn out could they be rebuilt??? I have always had an interest in machine work just never had a machine to play with
You can have ways reground, but it is a lot of work and expensive. If the lathe was that bad, I would be tempted to just scrap it and find another one.
If the gear cover holes are countersunk, it took flat head screws, if the counterboars are flat, it probably took low head cap screws. Probably available from Grainger or McMaster Carr but you probably have to buy 50.
I will more than likely put the proper fastener back in when it all goes back together....
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org Most people never heard of low head cap screws. I had been working on machines for 20 years before I ran into them.
Just like a sway backed horse they can still be ridden, and you being from the rural south I'm sure you know what I refer to.
Indeed!
In your experience, are most of those industrial lathes 3 phase and what voltage do they typically run. My lathe is a modern 2014 offshore brand 14 x 40 but it is 240V 1 ph
Most industrial machines like this are three phase, but since you can easily change out motors on a lathe like mine, they could be ordered with whatever phase or voltage the customer wanted.
Thanks for the info
Compared to some of the other lathes in the You Tube community this lathe purrs like a kitten!
It is a lot quieter than the lathe we have at the museum - that is for sure!
I am wondering, are there any lathe designed with some wearing pads between the ways and the carriage? So you can change the pads when they are too worn out and the ways keep intact.
we all know that steel on steel is bad, , might have preserved more of the ground ways i think
I don't know - if you have wear pads, that means that they are designed to wear more fast than metal. I think I would want to go with something harder that will last longer.
i'm in the process of buying a Leblonde lathe, my first lathe. what kind of power do these things run under..?? what type of power should I plan to install in my workshop.. (garage..) seems very similar in type to yours.. but larger..
If I remember right, that lathe has a 3 HP motor - three phase. You could easily swap the motor out with a single phase motor if you needed to though. My 16" Monarch has a 5 HP motor and my big 28" Monarch has a 10 HP motor.
thank you.. that's the way to go..
This may be a silly question, but could you swap the head stock to the other side of the machine so that the "belly" is in an area that see's less use? I have thought about doing that on my old Logan lathe, but have not fully researched it yet
Not on this lathe - the way that the ways are made, you cannot flip the headstock around.
It's like an Eaton Fuller heavy truck transmission.
Probably very similar!
This should be a very interesting series. Quick question about when you were checking for run out though, wouldn't it have been better to run the dial against an external reference flat surface?
Isn't that what I was doing?
I think the method you've used will be underestimating the error. There's a similar problem when building a CNC. The first rail you fit can be a bit bent so you put a dial on the carriage and run it against a long straight edge. The straight edge won't be parallel to the rail but if you take a measurement every few cm and plot the measurements in a spreadsheet you can subtract the non-parallel error. The remainder tells you exactly how much bend there is in the rail at every measurement point.
Would u have any quick change tool post for sale ?
It'll look great painted "Masculine Pink!" :)
Hummm, something to think about!
Why are You measuring the wear on the ways with the indicator on the carriage? Doesn't the carriage lift as You move it towards the right - and so the indicator with it?
I am not so much measuring the wear on the ways as much as I am how the wear on the ways affects the movement of the carriage across the ways. If you think about it, that is what is important.
If i ever go on with my intent to build a lathe to bypass all the known issues a conventional lathe comes with, making the ways something removable is a priority. As a byproduct of that, i anticipate some form of wear adjustment, after all, to secure the ways to a lathe bed would require a lot of screws, might as well make use of them.
you could clad the ways with more ground stock on the wear faces, perhaps some dovetailing to help secure it rather than just screws alone, perhaps design in some bronze under the major parts to also prevent wear to the ground faces, something more consumable.
There was an English lathe that had removable/replaceable bed ways, something like 2" by 1/2" ground flat stock, could be wrong on dimensions but you get the idea.
it would seem that LeBlond had put a lot of though into how wear will possibly affect long term accuracy, im sure their unusual bed design wasn't just for nothing, moving the wear into a direction less likely to affect accuracy.
Even if you can replace the ways, they would still need to be ground in on the machine to be perfect. All of the screws used to attach it to the bed is going to move the metal ever so slightly.
will this be a full teardown restoration?
He said at the end of the video that it would not be.
+Dick Sargent i wrote that comment while i was still in the first half of the video
I'm your big sir from india
Hi Keith,
On one of your videos (the camel-back straight edge de-rusting, I think) you mentioned that something you intended to do in the future was some scraping. Is this slightly bellied lathe bed a suitable candidate for scraping to reduce the deviation from a perfect flat surface? Even if not, once partially stripped would it be a good candidate for showing how the straight edge could be used to highlight the deviation from perfect?
Yes, one could scrape this bed back into shape, but it would be a lot of work. I am not sure that it is worth the effort.
Well, it would be a pretty large "first scraping" project ... may depend on what else you find during the strip-down and what else needs higher priority. I shall be watching the series with great interest, as always.
exciting!
Thanks!
I imagine the weight of that slide device could cause wear more fast then most,,she's a beast
Wouldn't you also want to level the machine and test the headstock for run out before tearing things down to repaint?
Unfortunately, this machine does not have adjustments to level the machine. I will be incorporating some into it as part of my restoration.
Keith Fenner does a series 1-6? where he uses a tracer attachment on his lathe (I think it's a Clausing.) Obviously it would work differently than the LeBlond, but might be similar.
The tracing attachment is a pretty particular attachment offered on some of these lathes. My big Monarch had one on it at one time and parts are still there. I would love to get that one going.
Ernest Miller n
Hello , I know this video it’s a bit old but would you be able to tell me what year this lathe is and what are the first two letters on the serial Number
I have one exactly the same but this one is a 60” long and I’m also trying to do some restoration to it Thank you
that drive train sure is a lot more heavy duty than what I am used to seeing.
I guess that is why they called this their "Heavy Duty" model!
+Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org I will be interested to hear if the Monarch (introduced later in your shop series) runs quieter with different type gears. a
+ted sykora Adam Booth mentioned that as an asset for the Monarch. Bevel gears versus spur gears in the drive train. maybe no significant difference will be noted.
Would it be possible to hand scrape the ways?
Possible? Absolutely! But it would be a LOT of work and would require a level of skill that I do not have. I would hate to do my learning on such an important piece of machinery in my shop.
Please ignore my ignorance, but "hand scrape the ways", what is that?
I am very familuar with the process of scraping a surface flat. The problem is that it takes quite a different skill level to scrape ways on a lathe - not only do the surfaces have to be flat, but perpendicular to each other across the ways, and in line with the head stock so that things stay straight. A big difference than just getting a single surface flat....
do you think you'd be able to hand scrape it?
Right now, my scraping skills are not up to snuff for me to trust myself to do the job. I am taking a class this winter though so at some point, I may go back and do that. We will see how it runs when I am through!
Keith Rucker - VintageMachinery.org well i enjoy everything you put out. thank you for keeping it simple. one of these days i want to get into machining myself. for right now ill keep learning. good luck on the restoration.
Stupid question from a noob: Is it possible to run weld beads on the rail to build up the metal, and then grind it flat again to work out the wear? I guess asking you another way.... if you did not find the amount +/- 10 thousandths to be acceptable, what would you have done to rectify it? (or would that simply have been a deal breaker at time of purchase?) Thanks!
Grinding a lathe bed is a very specialized line of work and requires very large grinders. There are only a few places that can do this kind of work. Typically when it is done, you would not build up the ways - just grind them down. Then you would build up the parts that ride on the ways to get things back in alignment.
Keith, I tried to search back in your videos to find the one I think you did of a friend who had to get his lathe ways reground. The question I was trying to get answered was how much it would cost if you wanted to get this done? If you did, can you detach the ways from the machine or would the whole thing have to go? Great show as usual!
Regards,
Rich
i vageuely remember that, i dont think there was actual video of it, im sure youd have to strip it down to nothing, i dread to think of the potential price!
Was odd and ends 31 and 3k cost he said on gofundme
The cost of the regrind would several thousand grand. Not to mention, I would have to strip everything off of the bed - a lot of work. I think that this machine will be just fine as it is. Truth be known, it is probably in better shape than most of the lathes any of us TH-cam creators are using.
Vintage Machinery? On my factory in Yaroslavl' (Russia) i work on the same lathe. 16K20, 1960-xx.
Thank you for the information! My next purchase will be a lathe. Is there a reason that you chose a Le Blond vs another type such as Monarch?
One big reason. I found the LeBlond for a good deal and LeBlond is a quality lathe builder. Had I found a Monarch, Lodge & Shipley, Pacemaker, or any other good brand before that one, I would have just as well gotten any of those brands.