I have been down in the shop setting up some of my father's old machines. I worked on his old lathe, about 15 or so years old. I don't think he used it very much, and after trying to get it working right, I think I might know why.
The tool rest and tail stock mounts both would not move smoothly. The registration bar, or key, on the bottom of the slide is riveted on, and distorted at the rivet holes, and the rivets were raised above flush. I had to drill the rivets out of the key, and pound it out, then I used screws to countersink in the key so they were flush, and then mounted it, and had to file the key in the area of the screws to keep it from catching. The locking screws were messed up, too.
I got them all fixed, and things are moving like they should. I have yet to try and turn anything, but it will at least be possible to do so now.
"Morgans" wrote in news:lk6ql1$6fc$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:
It's amazing how roughly they (not just Craftsman) machine some of those tools and then send them out as "ready to use/assemble", isn't it? There's often no indication that the tools need a good tuneup before they see the first workpiece.
Have fun with the lathe. A smoothly operating lathe is a lot of fun. My new lathe has seen more use in the last month than the old Performax ever got.
I?m just finishing a restoration of that same lathe. It's a bit crude, but if you tune it up a bit it'll work pretty well for spindles and small faceplate work. I had a little of the same trouble with the rivets that hold the bar onto the bottom of the tube, but fortunately only one of them interfered. I just relieved the bottom of the tailstock and the carriage for the tool rest so as to pass over the rivet. It wasn't until after I finished that part of the job that I realized that I should have done what you did and replaced the rivets with flat-head machine screws. Probably would have taken less time than what I ended up doing. I might still go back and do that one of these days if I have occasion to take the tube out again.
The headstock bearings are ball bearings, #6302 with a 3/4" bore. Few people need 3/4 bore these days, and the 6302 is mostly manufactured with a metric bore that's close to 3/4. So the 3/4 bore version would probably be a special order from your bearing supplier. The good news is that the bearings are cheap - I got mine for $3.85 each. The motor takes a similar bearing, but with a 5/8" bore (don't know the part number offhand). I had expected that it would have bushings instead of ball bearings.
Clean up the tube with a wire wheel on a drill motor, wet-sand it with some fairly fine waterproof sandpaper, and give it a coat of TopCote or BoeShield or something like that to keep the rust at bay, and the tailstock and tool rest carriage will slide easily.
Mine was manufactured in 1973, or so I believe. I think that the last part of the serial number is the year it was manufactured. Mine ends with P0073, and if yours still has the plate on it you should have a clue as to how old it is.
The spindle thread is 3/4" x 16, and has a #1 Morse taper. Most small lathes sold today are 1" x 8, with a #2 Morse taper. Tooling for 1MT is pretty scarce but you can find spur centers and live centers for 1MT if you look around on the web. Try
I have a similar machine from Harbor Fright. It was a gift and got me hooked on turning. The keyway is fastened to the tube with screws on mine. I soon graduated to a larger lathe but kept this one for buffing. If you need a face plate for it I can send you one if you like.
"tdacon" wrote in news:lk8d0b$35o$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
*snip*
The 3/4-16 thread is the same that's used on the Taig lathe. You can probably use their chucks and other accessories on there. The Sherline apparently uses the same thread as well. (I haven't played with the Sherline, only the Taig.)
HF carries a 1MT drill chuck adapter, so you can drill on the lathe.
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