I've been making a tail stock for an old Delta lathe. 1950's? I cast the body using a junk alloy wheel from a Mazda. Bought a piece of 3/4" acme threaded rod and a 1 3/4" piece of steel rod. The rest was from various pieces of scrap. Took me way longer than it should have but it turned out to work quite well. I did it mainly to see if I could. I'm a wood worker not a machinist. In retirement I decided to try metal working. Bought a mill & lathe. I still need to do some cosmetic clean up. Now I need to find a tool rest for it.

Very impressive.  I like it!

What @HandyDan said!!

 

Nice work!!!

Very impressive!!  

Wow, nice work.

1950's Delta 1460? 

couldn't dream of how to do that much less doing it.

Larry B, There is no model # on it. Serial # tag is 121-6167. It was given to me in the early '70s, in pieces. No tail stock or tool rest. The spindle taper was damaged, had been spun. Spindle bearings were locked up. Step pulley was missing set screws and had been spun on shaft. Had glue all over it. I have an employee that likes to turn. His lathe is a total, flimsy, cheapy. I have the leg set and original motor & wooden shelf. I told him he could have it and I'd try to make a tail stock. Making the tail stock pushed the limits of my metal working. There were a lot of setups to do. I made the casting pattern in wood and the core was made using sodium silicate & sand. It took me 7 tries to get a good core. Sand casting aluminum isn't all that hard but doing it well..., I hope to get better at it. The pattern is split down the middle and indexed with dowels.

In addition to a machinist, you are also a tool and dye maker.  Wow!  Impressive.

21 hours ago, FlGatorwood said:

In addition to a machinist, you are also a tool and dye maker. 

Not even close! Sometimes I get lucky and something works. 

I'm considering making a knock off of a Stanley router plane next. Model 71 1/2+-. Actually closer to the Veritas Router Plane which is a much better design. I can't cast iron so it will be machined from a steel block. Anyone have suggestions for how to improve/simplify the design?

Larry,

The serial number dates the lathe to 1957.

Made at the Delta Bellefountaine Ohio plant.

There were a couple of different tailstocks used with that 1460 style headstock.

The heavy duty style was used on the 46-460 school machines, and the 46-450 gap bed lathes.

 

Here's a link to photos of the standard 1460 lathe with the standard tailstock.

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=36623

 

And a link to photos of the 46-460 school machines.

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=10638

 

And the 46-450 gap bed lathe which used a different headstock.

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=13484

 

And photos of one of your lathes siblings from 1957.

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=17145

 

Some of the model numbers did not appear in the Delta general line catalogs.

The school machines being among those.

Larry B, Interesting that they made a different tail stock for the school machine. Was the standard tailstock too weak for the abuse in schools? 

5 hours ago, Larry Schweitzer said:

Larry B, Interesting that they made a different tail stock for the school machine. Was the standard tailstock too weak for the abuse in schools? 

Not sure why they used the heavier tailstock on the school machines.

It might be due to the fact that it didn't require a wrench to tighten the tailstock to the bed.

You know kids, they probably figured the wrenches would disappear in a heartbeat.