Metal working lathe

[dennishoddy]

Find an old south bend lathe and restore it. I just saw one of marketplace a few weeks back restored for $1000. What a steal!

Convert them to quick change tools posts with carbide tooling. Get an adjustable chuck from Shars tools and a 1-1/2 x 8 TPI threaded back plate to adapt the chuck to the lathe. Have Power Equipment and Engineering in OKC make a modern material belt to replace the leather belt. Replace the motor if needed. Now you can do anything.

Love my South Bend. It was in dissrepair when buying it at auction but it had a ton of tooling. Completely dismantled it and put it back with new paint, etc.
The old belt drive uses a belt from South Bend that was way over $100. They knew it's an essential part of making them run so the pricing was set accordingly.
I've noted the Power Equipment and Engineering in my saved links if I ever need another belt. The glue and cleaner was almost $50 when I got my last from South Bend.
It's set up as a milling machine using an Atlas lathe for metal turning.

 

[Profreedomokie]

Joe Pie
Advanced Innovations, LLC


ABOM79

mrpete222

He has some really good clips.

 

[kd5rjz]

I just made it through a whole lathe thread without anyone referencing a rotary phase converter! I'm so proud of you OSA.

Seriously though, VFD's are awesome for converting single to 3-phase, and also for some cool features that weren't available when the lathes were built like speed control without gears and torque/current limiting.

 

[264killer]

I have phase converter running 5 hp 3 phase motor witch runs 3 phase milling machine.,

 

[panayoti]

Kieth Rucker on vintage machinery has some cool vids

 

[Ahall]

My dream machine is a monarch 10ee. In case I win the lottery or some other winfall

Sure folks ask a fortune on ebay for used ees, but the demand for small manual machines that weight 3000 lb and are 3 phase is limited. The ward-leonard and tube-based drive systems of the EE also cause folks to shy away.

Yes the 10ee cost as much as a house new, but they can be found for a couple of grand on the secondhand market, if you can beat the dealers to them.

Having run both the 10ee and several 9, 10, and 13 inch south bends, there is no comparison. Go with the EE.

I spent about as much on my 10ee as I did on the SB heavy 10.
The heavy 10 was sold long ago. The EE is still here.

It has about the same footprint as a cabinet mounted heavy 10.
3 times the iron in the machine
10 times the chips in the pan at the end of the day.
The ee has hardened ways
Its fast enough and strong enough to perform well with carbide inserts

For gunsmithing the EE has two issues when compared to a comprable sized southbend.
The complexity of the electrical system.
The length of the headstock. The spindle is longer than most barrels, so you can't put a cathead on the back of the spindle and chamber in the headstock easily. Thats one place a 13" SB shines.


The upside for a southbend - its simple, pre WWI design. Stupid simple electronics. They are just slow, undepowered and not very rigid. They were designed before carbide tooling and work better with very sharp tool steel cutters (or positive rake carbides).

On either, bed length is an issue for profiling barrels, but that's a great reason to buy another lathe.

 

[Ahall]

I have phase converter running 5 hp 3 phase motor witch runs 3 phase milling machine.,

Phase converters are a great choice if you have multiple 3 phase machines, or larger horse-powers.
The downside is you don't get a true 3 phase signal and are limited to about 2/3 nameplate horsepower on a motor. Upside is you can run multiple machines on the same rotary converter. They are not that hard to build from salvaged components either.

The VFD is dedicated to a machine, and produces a truer 3 phase signal.
On a small belt drive lathe or mill they also let you fine tune your speeds.

 

[kd5rjz]

Phase converters are a great choice if you have multiple 3 phase machines, or larger horse-powers.
The downside is you don't get a true 3 phase signal and are limited to about 2/3 nameplate horsepower on a motor. Upside is you can run multiple machines on the same rotary converter. They are not that hard to build from salvaged components either.

The VFD is dedicated to a machine, and produces a truer 3 phase signal.
On a small belt drive lathe or mill they also let you fine tune your speeds.

If you're not using the VFD for speed control, you can actually use most VFDs to provide 3-phase to multiple machines. I have done this many times, providing power to shops for machining equipment or welders when 3φ was not available or there were incredibly long lead times to get 3φ built in from the power company.

 

[BillM]

I don’t know anything about lathes or have ever used one, but a website I visit has a great deal of info on multiple subjects, including reloading , varmint hunting, metallurgy, etc. etc. has a page dedicated to mini lathe and tools for lathes. Some of you that are into that hobby might find some useful information.

I have enjoyed this website over the years.

Here is the link to the mini-lathe info page: Varmint Al's Mini Lathe Page

And his Mini-lathe page is still one of the great go-to places for useful info on things you can do with a Mini-lathe.