Help with South Bend lathe please...

Hi all,

I'm back again, 2 years after!

my previous posts were about when I bought a myford ML7, 2 years after, a split up and having to sell all my machines, I'm back in the game hehehe

So I've recenlty bought a South Bend 9"... but I'm missing the idle gears.
I have a load of gears for screw cutting, but no ide gears...

I've searched ebay, internet, etc.. cant find a place to get it from.
I just want it so the power cross feed works as I prefer it to feed manually as I'll get a better end results if done on the power feed..

any ideas where I can get some gears from?

by the way, Im loving this little lathe, so smooth and quiet!! much much more quiet than my Myford was.

Thanks!
JP

Here's a photo of my new toy

Edited By JP Santos on 10/02/2015 23:00:17

Edited By JP Santos on 10/02/2015 23:00:59

You can probably use Boxford gears since much of the rest of the boxford is based on the southbend. These are available on ebay and from some suppliers like RDG. However check the DP of the gears you have - Boxford are 18DP.

Are you sure you have the apron with power crossfeed?

Ditto Bazyle's comments

The lathe appears to be either a Model 5 or a Model 15, neither of which were equipped with power cross feed. It's definitely not the 9" Model R which has the power cross feed.

The gear cover has me puzzled. It is neither a Model 5 nor a Model 15 cover.

Bill

JP - I don't see the 3 position feed selector lever and clutch knob between the carriage handwheel and the half-nut lever on your apron. If it does not have the 3 position lever, clutch knob and associated parts inside the apron, it will not have power crossfeed capability.

I also have a 9" Southbend, a 1949 model, with power crossfeed, I'll try and dig up a picture of my lathe's apron.

You may be able to find parts at the link below. But don't tell them you are a hobbyist, or they will chew you up and spit you out. Make it sound like you are using the machine to custom make special screws for fine USA firms like Harley Davidson or Smith and Wesson at 10,000 pc a week, to +/- .0006" tolerances and you'll get along fine.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/south-bend-lathes/south-bend-links-sources-parts-info-etc-129769/

Good luck JD

Hi JP,

I have the same 9" Southbend lathe as you which is identical to the 9" Hercus lathe manufactured in Australia. It was supplied to the army workshops in WW2 and schools to teach metalwork. Interesting though that you have painted it green. The original color was grey. My lathe is also painted green. (see my photo album)

Spare gears are available from Mick Moles Engineering in Sydney http://www.moyles.com.au

Also advertised on ebay in Australia http://www.ebay.com.au/

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 11/02/2015 03:09:31

Edited By Paul Lousick on 11/02/2015 03:13:26

Hi gents,

many thanks for the replies, I got it wrong!
not power cross feed.... sorry, I meant the other bit (cant remember the name) where you engage the lever on the apron and it will slide automatically with the lead screw...

Opppss!!! very sorry!!

thanks for the links to the websites, ideally I'd like to get something from over here in the UK though...

Regarding the gears cover, that's off a Buxford.
And it was the previous owner who painted it green, he had it for the last 30 years, and was only selling as he bought one with the gearbox. He has also converted this one to V belt.

thanks

JP

JP,

What you mean is what used to be called "self-act", whereby you engage the clasp nut(s) with the leadscrew using the handle on the apron, so the rotating leadscrew drives the apron along the bed.

How about trying John Ward at latheparts.co.uk, who provides many Boxford parts, but is a very adaptable engineer. He is located here in Lancashire.

Phil

Hi,

Thank you very much, I've emailed him, see if he can help

There is a lot of information on the web for both SB & Boxford. I mean LOTS. There is a yahoo group for Boxford and probably some for SB too if you can stand the new Yahoo format. The Boxford group has all the manuals and the book "know your lathe" which is a copy of the original SB book with pictures of the Boxford inserted.

Have you worked out which gears you want? There are always some on ebay though the prices can be variable as chancers try to catch people out.

RDGtools has a Boxford section which is currently listing two gears remarkably cheap so they probably do the rest. Boxford themselves still have some drawings and parts lists online.

Self-act is now more often called 'feed' or 'longitudinal feed' and maybe 'traverse' though that can be confused with 'cross feed', or 'power facing'.

Edited By Bazyle on 11/02/2015 13:28:37

Hi,

I have an original "know your lathe" book, which was given to me by the previous owner, had a quick read of it yesterday night.

I do have a load of gears, the ones that go in the end of the lead screw, what I'm missing is the other gear that connects the leadscrew to the rest..

here's a photo of the gears it came with

I've looked on ebay and cant find anything, done searches on southbend idle gear and boxford idlegear and nothing comes up...

longitudinal feed! now that names rings a bell! that's more familiar to me...

Hi there i have the atlas lathes and how to use them on pdf about 100 mb ish and sc chart in it as well

can your mailbox take it? or eme at - edit - PM this poster - note the spelling, yes i have atlas too

ebay usa have lot spares, i think u have enough gears! you need the chart

regard s vick

Edited By Diane Carney on 13/02/2015 16:39:05

The word you are looking for is "compound", e..g 72/18, 54/18, ...

There is more on Tony Griffiths site http://www.lathes.co.uk/ than you wish to know (if you have not already found it).

There is a South Bend group on Yahoo but you are welcome to join the Boxford group as well, we don't bite (much) and the lathes have much in common.

I'd guess that all you are missing is a sleeve with a key in it that allows you to fit two gears on it so they can rotate freely on the stud on the banjo.

Neil

I thought you would probably need a compound pair, but I have just found a pic of a similar South Bend which just shows a single large idler gear between the reversing gear and the leadscrew, so that is probably the 80 tooth - it is an 80 on a Boxford. The Boxford would then have a 56 tooth on the leadscrew - this for a Mk1 bench model (not under drive).

You may also find Steve Wells (American) website useful, at www.wswells.com it is solely about South Bend.

Phil

Edited By Robbo on 11/02/2015 23:26:17

It doesn't have to be 80 as it is just there to bridge the gap. It can be any gear that is big enough to cross the gap and it looks like the one at the bottom of the pile is pretty big. Have you tried with the gears you have?

There is an 80 on ebay at the moment.

**LINK**

Hi Jp,

The idler gear is a special gear with 2 sets of teeth on the one gear. 72 teeth and 18 teeth.

You also need a spacer washer with a keyway to go onto the lead screw shaft and fit over the key.

Paul.

Now, this looks more like it! thanks
Do I really need that washer with the key slot? I put one of the change gears I have on the end of the lead screw and it just fits fine....

that's the idle gear I need, exactly that you have there on the photo!
Where to get one from though?...cant find it! might email that guy from yesterday again.

Thanks for all the help gents

JP

Sorry to appear a bit pedantic here, but the double gear on Paul L.'s picture (left) is not an idler gear!

An idler gear does nothing to the ratio between two shafts, it is just idling. But this gear pair does reduce the speed from the spindle to the leadscrew. I was wondering about that when I first saw the pile of change gears in one of the first pictures. What I suppose (I admit I know nothing about South Bend lathes) is that there is something missing on that empty stud. The 'something' should enable to mount two gears in such a manner that they can rotate freely on that stud, but be coupled together firmly. That's how it is done on my Leinen lathe, with the aid of a key in that case.

Regards, HansR.