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.
--
Jim in NC


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On 5/4/2014 9:48 PM, Morgans wrote:
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.


If you are asking if you have to assemble them, yes I had to assemble my
radial arm saw. to some extent.

What type of lathe is this. Is this the round tube lathe? or the older
atlas /craftsman lathe with standard ways?



--
Jeff

"Morgans" wrote in
:

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.

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.

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.

"woodchucker" wrote

If you are asking if you have to assemble them, yes I had to assemble my
radial arm saw. to some extent.

What type of lathe is this. Is this the round tube lathe? or the older
atlas /craftsman lathe with standard ways?

Yep, round tube. I guess I was extra frustrated at Crapsman for having to
go completely through an older radial arm saw last week to make it work.
--
Jim in NC


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"woodchucker" wrote

What type of lathe is this. Is this the round tube lathe? or the older
atlas /craftsman lathe with standard ways?

Do you happen to know what you have to do to grease the headstock bearings?
Have not even looked it up yet, but I think they need it.
--
Jim in NC


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"Morgans" wrote in message ...

Do you happen to know what you have to do to grease the headstock bearings?
Have not even looked it up yet, but I think they need it.

Im 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 http://www.wbnoble.com/ for faceplates.

Regards,
Tom

Morgans wrote:
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.

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.

--
 GW Ross 

 There's no such thing as strong 
 coffee -- only weak people. 

"tdacon" wrote in message
...


"Morgans" wrote in message ...

Do you happen to know what you have to do to grease the headstock
bearings? Have not even looked it up yet, but I think they need it.

Im 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.

Something had gotten jammed in the tool rest, and caused me to have to drill
the rivets. Happened in the move or storage, I suppose.

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.

So no grease needed; sealed 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.
Mine is no where near that old. I know it had to have been purchased
sometime after 1988.

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 http://www.wbnoble.com/ for faceplates.

I have a 4 jaw chuck, a drill 1/2" chuck, spur, dead center, live center
and two smallish faceplates. That will keep me going for a while, I guess.

Thanks for the info.
--
Jim in NC



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"G. Ross" wrote

If you need a face plate for it I can send you one if you
like.

thanks for the offer, but I'm good.
--
Jim in NC

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"Morgans" wrote in message ...


So no grease needed; sealed bearings?

Yes - sealed bearings.

Tom

"tdacon" wrote in
:



*snip*


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 http://www.wbnoble.com/ for
faceplates.

Regards,
Tom


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.

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.