My Hercus 9 Restoration.

How can I get this pin out without wrecking the key?

I have tried gently tapping it etc with an success.

According to the Southbend Army manual, there is a worm, key, pin and collar.

That pin passes through the locking collar into the key to hold it in place lengthways in the keyway. If you give the projecting end of the key a light tap inwards towards the centre of the bore it'll separate from the pin.

To remove the pin - put the key back in the keyway with the blank section pressing against the inner end of the pin. Put something like a piece of steel tube or a socket over the outer end of the pin, then fit a C clamp over the key and tube, tighten it, and it should push the pin outwards. Don't be tempted to use a hammer/punch from the opposite side as it can damage the collar.

When that's out you can unscrew the locking collar and remove the worm gear. On my Boxford it was a tight fit doing this as the plain end section of the worm went tight up to the clutch gear but it's just do-able.

Edited By Robin King on 25/01/2019 10:16:07

Thanks Robin, got it apart no problems.

Is your Boxford Whitworth thread?

It's 1951 vintage, model A with rear motor mount, all imperial threaded fixings.

Hi Mark

Re 9" Hercus lathe.

When I was 18 as Humphrey Bogart said this was "the stuff that dreams were made of".

It has taken a while to find it but here is a link to a scan of the 9 inch Hercus brochure.
24 pages!

This link will take you to a cloud folder you can download the pages from there.

**LINK**

Regards
John

Thank you very much John,

I appreciate this very much.

Edited By Mark Eisen on 23/02/2019 23:44:30

I back didn't realize it is over a year, got side tracked put a new roof on the house, spent a far bit of the time up and down the track to quacks and hospitals, 1000 km and 500 km south.

My new year revolution is to get stuck in to restoring the old girl.

I am looking for the following bearings, can any one give me a heads up where I can get them from?

Mark,

Good to see you back and hopefully now fit .

There been a lot of recent discussion on the Boxford Lathe User Group - https://groups.io/g/BoxfordLathe-UserGroup - about alternative suppliers for headstock bearings which is worth reading as original Timken bearings are now very costly. Why do you need to replace them?

Btw I've just been notified that a new file has been added to the Boxford group archives on headstock bearing replacement

G'Day Robin,

Main reason is the lathe is

When I pulled the counter shaft assembly apart both bushed appeared tight until I pulled it apart.

I soaked the parts in degreaser then blasted it with a 3500 psi gurni, I found this , makes me think the bearings will be just as bad.

There are some parts the repeated soaking in degreaser and the gurni would not remove the baked on dirt and grease.

Sorry about the rust, I had it stored on the veranda, last weekend we had our first rain in over two years.

Pretty massive assumption that may well not be the case. If the headstock bearings were kept oiled they may be like new. Those countershaft bushes tend to get neglected and being a solid bushing are more lube-sensitive than rollers.

Inspect your old headstock bearings before spending any serious money on new ones.

Have you tried this website for Hercus parts? **LINK**

G'Day Hopper

I am just assuming they will be stuffed going by the condition of the rest of the lathe.

Am waiting for an order to arrive from Mal.

Ah yes. Good luck with the hunt. You will have a great little lathe for your troubles. Far superior to Myfords and cheap later model stuff.

Thanks.

Mark, that is a "standard" set of old Hercus countershaft bearings. The one near the V pulley is the most worn one. It is possible to bore it out most of the way and insert a new bronze (or whatever) bearing - possibly swap it around with the other bearing? Because these countershaft bearings are plain (and largely forgotten about) they should be frequently oiled. In contrast the spindle roller bearings do not need as frequent oiling. They could be still in very good condition

Jon, I found new counter shaft and bearing, ordered on 02/02/2020 still waiting joys of Aust post.

Been removing the rust using electrosis, this pulley was in the electrosis bath for over 24 hrs , the brown is baked on dirt and grease, tried cleaning up the parts using degreaser, it would touch it.

Finally remembered I had some very strong detergent cleaner call vantage, put the parts in a tub of water left it 24hrs, gave them a scrub with a green scouerer the crud came pretty easy.

Mark, I've only just caught up with this thread but looks like you're making good progress. +1 for Hopper's remarks on the headstock bearings.

On an Aussie forum, I ask a couple questions about electrolysis, a couple of the bloke recommended citric acid.

As I had run out of washing soda, and non available in Tennant CK, I thought I would give citric acid ago, ordered some on epay, 5 days later it was here, unbelievably fast in this part of the world.

I have an old vice I want to restore, that I had put in the electrolysis a couple of days before, the difference is unbelievable 150 percent better, Now on the second lot of Hercus parts.

Mark if it is the powder form that needs water to mix then get it dry as soon as possible and primed. I have used citric acid in the past and did forget to prime afterwards

I have been blowing them off with my air compressor, then let them sit in the sun. 15 or 20 miniutes in the mid afternoon sun picked up on part of the vice and burnt my hands, the other bit I left till after dark.