[bogiestl]

Are you buying a tool, or a hobby?

I basically let some folks talk me into buying a 1965 South Bend Heavy 10 instead of a newer 10-12" Griz...

Well, I'm still working on it, getting stuff right, and now it's looking like I'm going to be putting a new chuck on it.

Yeah, parts for the SB are available, but so are parts for the Griz, and with the Griz I'd be making parts instead of learning about the internals of the machine.

Now I'm out to the shop to measure the thing's belt pulleys so that I can order a leather belt for it...

[LUCKY13]

Have you looked into what options are out there for belts? Many people dont use the leather belts anymore. Infact many are using the surpentine belts and cutting/splicing them which allows a lot more power without slipping.



Buying new import compaired to old american iron is a hard one. And even though it may take some work and time I think I would go with the old iron when it comes to lathes. It all depends on how much money I would have to work with also. One thing I feel sure of though, unless you go with higher end import machines the chances of having to work and spend time on a import are just as great as buying old iron. Either way one thing I do know, if the time and effort it takes to fix up a older machine bothers you, then machining itself is goping to a struggle. There is a lot to learn to make achivments in this hobby, sure you can buy new and be cutting right now, but in the end no matter what route is taken its up the person doing it as to what can really be achived. No matter how quick you get smile.

The SouthBend forum at the Manufacturing Forum would be some good reading if you have been there. Not using the old leather belts does seem be a better choice according to many SB owners.


Jess

[bogiestl]

Can't call MSC and tell 'em I want a rubber belt for a Heavy 10 and here's the part number... Sigh...

A friend in a garage is keeping an eye out for a serpentine belt or two for me to try... But I'm ordering a leather one with clips, just so that if I screw the pooch on making a rubber one, I won't have a lot of down time.

Just pulled the chuck off the back plate, and it is gnarsty in there... Cleanup and bolt back on, see if anything improves. And drive over to Fastenal and get some fresh socket heads...

Oh, and the other mods this thing is going to need: A way to use MT3 tooling in the tailstock (it is only MT2), and a way to increase tailstock travel to at least 2.5".

[bogiestl]

Well, got chuck runout down to about 0.0023ish...

[aarggh]

I'd be rapt to pick up an SB! Unless it's been trashed it would be an awesome machine, and if it needed a bit of work done, it's still a great bit of history.

The Chinese machines are great for the price, but you do really notice the subtle differences after a while between them and quality machines, even if they are older.

cheers,
Ian

[fretsman]

Oh, and the other mods this thing is going to need: A way to use MT3 tooling in the tailstock (it is only MT2), and a way to increase tailstock travel to at least 2.5".

They do make sleeve adapters for these, although I have not used them, but they are out there.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Morse-Taper-Adapter-Drill-Sleeve/dp/B008KKADVS/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1342699078&sr=1-6&keywords=MT3+to+MT2+Morse+Taper+Adapter]Amazon.com: MT3 to MT2 Morse Taper Adapter Drill Sleeve No. 3 to No. 2: Home Improvement[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Union-Butterfield-Adapter-Spindle-Length/dp/B003JY6O9U/ref=sr_1_7?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1342699078&sr=1-7&keywords=MT3+to+MT2+Morse+Taper+Adapter]Union Butterfield 411 Morse Taper Adapter, MT#3 Spindle to MT#2 Arbor, 4 3/8" O'all Length, Black Oxide Finish: Amazon.com: Home Improvement[/ame]

Hope that helps-
Dave

[rowbare]

South Bend Lathes is one of the best places for info and help with your South Bend. There are a bunch of sticky threads that list available resources.

This thread talks about using serpentine belts.
Don't delay... do the Serpentine Belt Fix today!

There was someone there who was doing tailstock mods to extend the travel though he has stopped doing them SBL Tailstock Extension Modification. In post 4 there is a link to his original thread. You might be able to figure out how to make one from his photos. It is still 2MT though. I think 3MT is a bit big for a 10" lathe. If you have some 3MT accessories you can't live without, there are QCTP MT3 holders.

Tools4Cheap is a good source for accessories. He carries the spindle MT and 5C adapters as well as a good selection of chucks and backplates.

My Heavy 10 dates back to 1942 and still works well. I have the previous owners to thank for that since they took good care of it. You are having to put a bit of work into it up front but once you get it sorted out it will do great work for you.

bob

[bogiestl]

Well, today, in between trying to get a dishwasher installed in a house that was never meant to have one, I was messing with the chuck. Which, as installed, had about 0.006 runout. Not acceptable.

Cleaned up the front. Seemed to make the 0.006 runout more consistent.

Took it off, cleaned up the back. Very consistent runout.

Clocked it over 120 degrees on the faceplate. 0.002ish runout. But vibration from being out of balance. And tonight it is soaking because it is completely coming apart tomorrow, so that I'll be sure I'm not correcting for crud when I balance it.

I'm guessing I wouldn't be doing this with a G4003G...

It seems I have purchased a hobby.

[aarggh]

It seems I have purchased a hobby.

As my wife says, "keeps you off the streets, and out of the pub!"

Although that might be because they like to keep tabs on us.

cheers,
Ian

[mrcodewiz]

I have had a heavy 10 for over a decade. I picked it up cheap and had the bed reground and it has performed great. I did switch over to a serpentine which is the best thing I ever did to it. Once you get it set up, you will be thrilled with it.

[bogiestl]

Have considered picking up a mini lathe with a four jaw, just so that I can slowly crank out some of the stuff I owe people while I wait for parts.

Interesting now is that one of the guys who told me that "Old and American is better than New and Foreign" doesn't have time to cut threads for a heavy faceplate... But that doesn't matter, because I'm probably gonna order a set-tru copy with a fully machined plate...

Betcha there is more "kit" stuff to CNC the Chinese stuff too... This is only going to be a manual lathe- sigh...

[bogiestl]

Just an update...

Bought a $300 handwheel collet closer. Runout on a .750 piece of turned, ground and polished is approximately 0.0001 to 0.0002".

Bought a four-jaw, haven't done a backplate yet.

Cushman chuck that came with it is holding down the rubber in the toolbox drawer.

Opened up the headstock/spindle area, because one of the bearing caps would get warm, cleaned the pudding (!) out of the oil system, flushed, replaced filters, filled with new oil. Added shims to account for crud I cleaned out.

Did a serpentine belt. More of a hassle to change speeds (and I do that a lot), but nice. Laced it with steel wire, rather than glued. Still runs very quiet.

Aligned/shimmed the tailstock vertically and horizontally (it was way off), made new key for the tailstock's keyway - It'd disappeared somewhere, but there had been enough crud in it that it didn't go sideways... Until I drilled something larger, and it let loose.

Added coolant system to tray so I can flood for drilling.

Going to try to design/build a tailstock for it based around a Grizzly 12x36 tailstock spindle. Hard part will be convincing a buddy to broach the dang thing for me.

[wizard]

Some used cars run like tops for years, others have been so abused they aren't worth the trouble. It is all in the shopping of course. In your case it looks like you picked up a lemon.

Speaking of hardware comparisons between Asian and old Us iron, I never considered SouthBend to be high end hardware. For the most part they made light duty machines and as such aren't comparable to some of the machines from the golden years of American machine tool making.

Speaking of tail stocks the short throw that most tail stocks have these days is a problem, it isn't just an issue with this old lathe. While a justifiable complaint in general it isn't an issue unique to your machine and is as much a problem on new machines as it is on old. If it truly is a significant problem for you the only good way to deal with it in my mind is to make your own tails stock. Just realize you don't get anything for free, you will likely loose distance between centers.

Just an update...

Bought a $300 handwheel collet closer. Runout on a .750 piece of turned, ground and polished is approximately 0.0001 to 0.0002".

Bought a four-jaw, haven't done a backplate yet.

Cushman chuck that came with it is holding down the rubber in the toolbox drawer.

Opened up the headstock/spindle area, because one of the bearing caps would get warm, cleaned the pudding (!) out of the oil system, flushed, replaced filters, filled with new oil. Added shims to account for crud I cleaned out.

Did a serpentine belt. More of a hassle to change speeds (and I do that a lot), but nice. Laced it with steel wire, rather than glued. Still runs very quiet.

Aligned/shimmed the tailstock vertically and horizontally (it was way off), made new key for the tailstock's keyway - It'd disappeared somewhere, but there had been enough crud in it that it didn't go sideways... Until I drilled something larger, and it let loose.

Added coolant system to tray so I can flood for drilling.

Going to try to design/build a tailstock for it based around a Grizzly 12x36 tailstock spindle. Hard part will be convincing a buddy to broach the dang thing for me.

[bogiestl]

Meh, overall, I do have to say "not that bad." And it'll be better once I get a VFD installed, and do something with the tailstock...

Now, I'm not a "machinist." I make stuff. So this is basically just a tool to be used for a few purposes, and as I make more stuff, more purposes. If I need to do bigger stuff, I can go to my bud's mold shop - It might be close, but I think we could possibly chuck the Heavy 10's headstock in his lathe...