Going to see a lathe today.

[hawkeye10]

Look at the link below please as I am going to see this lathe today. It doesn't look too bad and it's about what I have been looking for. I am thinking with the oil ports it most likely has sleeve bearings. Do you think I can still get bearings for it?  If can get bearings for the lathe it might be worth getting. One big problem I could have is the lathe is in a basement and with neuropathy, in my feet and legs, it might be too much.

 

Comments wanted and advice is welcome.

 

https://nashville.craigslist.org/tls/d/antique-lathe-and-older-table/6706426342.html

[Steve Krumanaker]

I have a very similar lathe that my brother and I put new bearings in a few years, so yes, I would guess you can get bearings to fit. With that said, I no longer use the oil ports as we packed the bearings with grease instead. My brother actually did the rebuild, he is a machinist and I was just along for the ride. If I remember correctly the bearings were pretty expensive. 

 

 

Steve

Edited September 25, 2018 by Steve Krumanaker
ad a picture

[John Morris]

I sure love that look, I hope you get it Don, hopefully @Larry Buskirk will re-appear, this would be right up his alley as far as helping with the restore advice and knowledge base. But too me, looks like a fair price, and a really cool lookin machine.

[HandyDan]

I have a 46-111 Rockwell lathe.  It is a new version of the lathe you are looking at and it performs well.  The lathe you are looking at does have bearings in it.  Here is a video of a guy taking one apart and it has tapered bearings in it.  As these lathes got newer they changed to roller bearings.  With the oiler on yours I would suspect it has the tapered bearings which in my opinion are best because they take a side load better than a roller bearing.  Side load comes into play when the tail stock is used to hold a spindle in place and other jobs too.  It is a nice old lathe and has some good accessories with it.

 

 

 

[hawkeye10]

Thanks for the video, Dan. I did buy the lathe and brought it home and everything unloaded. I wonder what the small table was on the lathe? He has deleted that part of his ad so if you don't remember I will post a picture tomorrow.

[HandyDan]

1 hour ago, hawkeye10 said:

I wonder what the small table was on the lathe?

If you get or make a sanding disc to fit the spindle the lathe becomes a disc sander.  This picture shows it up at the head stock and gives you a better visual on it.  Imagine a sanding disc mounted on the spindle or the grind stone that was mounted on it in the picture for that matter.  He may have used it to sharpen his tools.

 

[Grandpadave52]

Glad you got the lathe Don. I didn't see the pictures but looking at what Steve & Dan posted, get an idea.

 

I'll agree with Dan, tapered roller bearings would be my preference too for the reasons Dan mentioned. Assuming the bearings are still in good condition, I'd remove them, clean with mineral spirits, then pack with high temperature, no sling wheel bearing grease (think of these as what used to be on the front wheels/axles of your car).

 

Tapered roller bearings, regardless of application should have minimal end play to some degree of pre-load. Not having any specs for this particular machine, a good rule of thumb would be .000" +/- .003".

If you install new bearings I would set pre-load to ~.003-.005". If you re-use bearings, I'd aim for the .000" (e.g. no end-play, no-pre-load) To determine end play, once the drive head is assembled, you'll need some method to apply moderate end pressure to the shaft. YOu really should move the shaft fore /aft and measure several times to obtain an accurate measurement.

 

On the opposite end, position a dial indicator to measure the amount of movement. Once you have a known amount of end-play, then remove shims from under the bearing cap (or tighten a retaining nut if equipped) equal to the end-play amount plus an amount to give you the correct pre-load. Hope this makes some sense and helps a little.

 

Good luck on getting this going and don't forget to post "gloat pictures" so we can drool over your good fortune.

[hawkeye10]

On 9/26/2018 at 9:37 PM, Grandpadave52 said:

Glad you got the lathe Don. I didn't see the pictures but looking at what Steve & Dan posted, get an idea.

 

I'll agree with Dan, tapered roller bearings would be my preference too for the reasons Dan mentioned. Assuming the bearings are still in good condition, I'd remove them, clean with mineral spirits, then pack with high temperature, no sling wheel bearing grease (think of these as what used to be on the front wheels/axles of your car).

 

Tapered roller bearings, regardless of application should have minimal end play to some degree of pre-load. Not having any specs for this particular machine, a good rule of thumb would be .000" +/- .003".

If you install new bearings I would set pre-load to ~.003-.005". If you re-use bearings, I'd aim for the .000" (e.g. no end-play, no-pre-load) To determine end play, once the drive head is assembled, you'll need some method to apply moderate end pressure to the shaft. YOu really should move the shaft fore /aft and measure several times to obtain an accurate measurement.

 

On the opposite end, position a dial indicator to measure the amount of movement. Once you have a known amount of end-play, then remove shims from under the bearing cap (or tighten a retaining nut if equipped) equal to the end-play amount plus an amount to give you the correct pre-load. Hope this makes some sense and helps a little.

 

Good luck on getting this going and don't forget to post "gloat pictures" so we can drool over your good fortune.

Hey, Dave here is a picture of my lathe. I have been working on setting it up but not full time. It will not be long I hope.

 

[Grandpadave52]

42 minutes ago, hawkeye10 said:

Hey, Dave here is a picture of my lathe.

Thanks Don.

Ya' did good...that is one very nice lathe considering it's age. Obviously it had been well cared for and seen limited use during it's lifetime.

Looking forward to seeing your projects.