On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 16:47:41 GMT, Dave Young
wrote:

Regarding the key, I have an old (1961 vintage) South Bend lathe with an
underdrive cabinet. The cabinet has three drawers on the left side that
were in great condition with a keyed latch. Of course the keys were
long lost. South Bend, nor Leblonde had replacement keys. I took off
the locks and brought them to a locksmith to have keys fitted. It cost
me about $40. The key was an old "flag" style. Of course the keys
aren't original South Bend, but the locks work now. Interestingly, the
locksmith showed me a round washer like part that he took out of the
inside of the locks. With the washer installed, it acted as a block to
keep the lock from working even if you had the right key. With it out,
the lock worked very smoothly. I've no idea why South Bend would have
installed this washer....

Is that on a cabinet stand that has a frame that comes up to the top
in a wide, continuous "U" shape? Or two U's sort of like this U_U?

That particular model was often found on ships and in military shops.
It was built to a milspec standard and there were both South Bend and
Standard-Modern lathes built to meet the same spec on a very similar
style stand. They came *fully* equipped with tooling and the drawers
had exquisite fittings for storing and supporting all the bits and
pieces.

Those cabinet stands with the rounded corners on the frames could be
skidded up and down ladders and passageways on ships and in and out of
trucks on mobile or field machine shops.

It may be that the milspec on those called for drawers that latched
shut but did not lock. If that is the case, it might it be that locks
were an inherent part of the drawers but were not part of the milspec
and were disabled by the piece you mention to meet the spec.



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