Smart and Brown Model L.

Good Morning,

I'm hoping someone would be good enough to give me some advice.

I was given this lathe some years ago and, I have finally got round to trying to make some use of it.

Would anyone know how to remove the headstock spindle and maybe know what size the rear bearings are?

I have tried to remove it, and it will only move about 3/4” forwards.

Do the rear bearings have to be pressed off the spindle with some sort of special tool?

Thanks

David Lloyd

You may find some clues on the Lathes UK website, there are some diagrams of the Model L spindle assembly. They sell a data pack with lots of info on the series.

**LINK**

Edited By old mart on 12/07/2023 19:21:26

Take your time and use the right gear

A workshop foreman would turn the air blue with expletives if he saw the new apprentice mucking around with a high precision S+B

Do you have a late model that doesn't have the plain bronze bearings?

Martin C

Thanks for the help.

It has a plain bronze bearing at the nose and roller bearings at the other end.

David Lloyd

The plain bronze bearings have an oiling hole that leads from the bearing to a sump underneath to hold some oil. There may be a felt wick feeding oil from the sump to the bearing. This can interfere with spindle removal. does the spindle stop after ¾" by hitting something hard or something soft?

I thought if a bronze bearing was used it would be the same at both ends. Are the roller bearings for a collet mechanism?

Martin C

I have looked at the illustration of the plain bearing spindle and would think that the rings either side of each main bearing should be left alone like the model A. They are for adjusting the bronze bush to spindle clearance. The spindle should be stepped in diameter and can only be withdrawn to the right. There are two thin locking rings just to the right of the pulley which look like they are for adjusting the end float of the spindle to zero against the thrust ball race at the right end. They will probably have to be unscrewed to the left. It is not clear just how the pulley drives the spindle, so you might have to remove the screws which hold the keys. There is a mention of the drive from the pulley to the spindle being through a peg.

Edited By old mart on 13/07/2023 17:19:31

OK, thanks.

This is what how far I have got.

There is a collar on the left side of the spindle held by two grub screw. Unscrewed that.

Next there is a flat plate held by eight allen bolts which I removed and can see the rear roller bearing.

Loosened the grub screws on the pulley assembly. The pulley assembly will then slide to the right about 3/4".

If I push the spindle to the right, it will move till the main rear bearing re-contacts the pulley assembly and then it's solid.

It seems as though the rear bearing is fixed to the spindle in some way, but I can't see anything.

I'm baffled, to be honest.

David Lloyd

It seems that you have a variation to the design of the two spindles illustrated in the Lathes UK website. Not surprising with this model lathe.

 I used to be a member of a Smart & Brown group, but Yahoo killed all the groups off a few years ago.

Edited By old mart on 14/07/2023 18:21:47

Yes, the spindle I have is different to the one in the drawing.

I tried to contact Bracehand by email as they say on their website that a parts manual is available, but I have not received a reply. Are they still in business?

The lathes website has what they say is comprehensive manuals, and I wouldn't mind buying that if it would explain how to remove the spindle.

Anyone had any experience of the sort of information contained in them?

Thanks

David Lloyd

Your spindle seems to be plain bearing at the front and roller/ball bearing at the back, which has a bit of both of the spindles in Lathes UK website. The manuals do not normally give directions for dismantling, I bought the Model A manual and parts list with drawings, but had to find out the hard way how to take the lathe apart. After a couple of mods to make things easier, and some dedicated tools, I can strip out the spindle in 15 minutes.

What size is the spindle nose, hopefully 1 3/4" x 8W, unless yours is only for collets?

There is a Smart and Brown group in groups.io with some of the files from the Yahoo group.

Martin C

I contacted Bracehand about a manual and asked if it explain how to remove the spindle. I got a reply asking to phone the factory and could I send some photos of the front and rear of the pulley assembly. I should get round to that this week. I also had a look on the Smart and Brown group. There is a mountain of information there, a lot of it about removing spindles but, I haven't found anything about the Model L in that regard. Thanks