# Nifty Old Lathe



## jtate (Sep 11, 2007)

Saw this lathe at a craft fair and just had to take a picture.

Julia


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## Fred (Sep 11, 2007)

A little cleaning, some good oil, and a spot of paint and I am sure it will give you many more years of turning. And it will appreciate the love and care and in return it will help you make many great pens. Later on repost some picture of the 'new' re-build so we can compare to this one. []


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## leehljp (Sep 11, 2007)

If you want to do some indexing, that appears to be the lathe for it!


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## maxwell_smart007 (Sep 11, 2007)

I was just looking at that myself - looks like a great indexing system built in!


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## Firefyter-emt (Sep 11, 2007)

Julia, that is a Delta 930 and it's even a bit older than mine. That has the steel bed not the cast iron like mine. Mine was sold as a 950 because it had the cast iron leg stand with it (it's still a 930 lathe)  I paid $50.00 with the stand for mine. The full refurb photo diary is on my website. []

It has 2 ranges of indexing, MT-2 and 1x8tpi thread. Originaly an 11x39 mine is now a 14x39 after my custom made 1.5" lift blocks I made. I also converted the original "nut & bolt" banjo to the newer 12" lathe cam lock design.


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## bananajeep (Sep 12, 2007)

That lathe looks just like mine.  I'll have to brush off all the shavings from mine to see if the rails are cast or not.  I have the tool post like Firefyter-emt's and it is labelled as a Homecraft.  It has been floating around family garages and sheds for the last 30+ years.  Before that it was in a school shop.  It's about time to redo the bearings in the headstock and the tailstock is so worn it is bear sometimes to align the tail and head stock.  I have two tail stocks for it.  One that I can use different centers in it and a second one with a dead center built into it (not of much use to me).

Mike


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## CHICAGOHAND (Sep 12, 2007)

This is a lathe that was given to me which at the time was missing a stand and a motor weighing less than 100 pounds.
It may not be pretty and i may not be able to adjust the speed without jamming a sharp tool into some expensive wood but it is working to teach me many things.like how long it takes to throw a large chunk of wood across the shop.


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## Firefyter-emt (Sep 12, 2007)

OMG... Dave, if you EVER want to part with the sanding platform, please let me know! I would love to have one for mine. (although it might not work with my 1.5" lift dangit!)[V]

Have you tried to change the belts that are hidden by that wood belt gaurd? That is how you change the speeds on it. If you can not access the belt, I would add some hinges to the top of that gaurd. A matching 4 step pulley on the motor will allow you to change belt and lathe speeds. A hinge mounted motor that allows the motor weight to tension the belt is best used to change the belt.

Nice lathe with that sanding platform, I am jelous!! [] Those two lathes are the same as ine, but a couple decades newer, probably from the 50's


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## CHICAGOHAND (Sep 12, 2007)

I know that i could set it up for variabl speed but that would take all the fun out of dodging flying bowls and watching the lathe dance all around the shop.
Hey take a look at the oil filler plug in the original pic.
I might have to order me one of them.


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## bananajeep (Sep 13, 2007)

Here are pics of my Lathe.  It is a Homecraft, with rails like the first lathe (craft fair pics). I have a 3-wheel pulley on the motor (stole the 4 pulley for the band saw) which gives me some speed control.  I have the cast iron legs.  This may have been a Franken-Lathe since it was in a school shop at one time.  No other marks on it except the part numbers cast on each piece. I wish I had a second lathe, so I could rebuild and restore this one.

Firefyter-emt,  Are you still willing to help mill the Headstock for new bearings?  I thinbk mine are shot.  PM me and we can talk about it.

Mike


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## Paul in OKC (Sep 13, 2007)

Wow, guys, I love those old things. Going to have to get out more and do some lookin'.


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## ken69912001 (Sep 13, 2007)

Here is a 1913 J.A.Fay @ Egan lathe that a friend of mine has for sale currently.




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He also has this matching joiner.



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## Firefyter-emt (Sep 14, 2007)

Wow, Ken... That's a sad bastid Frankenlathe you have there!!

First off, the headstock and tail stock are not original to that bed. The Headstock is from a much newer cast iron bed one, and the tailstock for a steel bed lathe would not have the "off camber" adjustment block under the tailstock (see the original photo for what it would look like)

The banjo is off of a 12" lathe like mine and that's some kind of ugly going on at the tailstock end near the handle. (not quite sure what ya go at the pully stack though!)

You have the stand which is worth a decent chunk of change, at one time a set of legs alone was pulling $250 on flea-bay.

Mike, I did not change by bearings, the original oil bath bearings were just fine. However, the original bearing caps held felt or leather washers for the oil seals. I simply fit the caps to use modern oil seals. That I could do if you wanted to pick up the seals and mail them and the caps to me. I need the seals to get an exact fit. However, if you change over to a sealed bearing you don't really need the seals as the bearings do not require the oil bath. It depends on the condition of your bearings.


Ken, that's a sweet F&E package!  That's a flat belt lathe in case you did not know. The lever under the headstock would be to slide the flat belt from pulley step to pulley step and lock in in place with the slots. I am almost 100% positive that's a babbit bearing lathe too, see the oiler cup behind the spindle? 

What's he asking for it, you know??


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## ken69912001 (Sep 14, 2007)

Firefyter, last i heard he wanted $350 for it.I knew that it has babbit bearings. The cover for the motor was taken off for the pics. Darn thing weighs 40 lbs. by itself.Right nowits a two wire 220 volt system. Just needs a ground
attached to it.


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## bananajeep (Sep 14, 2007)

Lee, Thanks for your the insight into my FrankenLathe.  

What is interesting is that the bed rails are closer set than your or Dave's.  When did that change come about? They are just like the lathe in the first photo.   The headstock and tailstock are the same height and have bottoms that match the rail spacing.  Is it possible that they were changed at some point to match the rails? Iâ€™ll have to look to see it these have part numbers or if these were made to fit.   

The end of the tailstock certainly does not match any of the other photos??  I think both of my tailstocks are like that.  Probably a "frankenfix". On the end of the headstock pulley cluster is an insert for a 8" faceplate (reverse 1X8 threads).  I sometimes use the faceplate as a hand wheel, but it can get in the way too, so it has been removed right now and only the insert shows. 

In terms of replacing the bearing, how involved is this? They are making a noise and there is a little play in (noticeable when turning pens) I'd love to put sealed bearing on and not bother with the oil bath anymore as the cap is now gone.  Do you have 

What are your suggestions for fixing the slop in the tailstock mount?  I could weld material onto it and get it machined true again?  Or get a new base machined?  What is nice is having the off camber adjustment, so I don't have to be exact with it as long as the resulting machining puts it parallel with the rails.

When I take this apart, I'll get all the part numbers for the pieces and post the information on OWWM with photos too.  Lee can I call on you if I end up having issues with the rebiuld? 

I thought my lathe was ugly.  You guys confirmed it, But it works!

Thanks
Mike


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## Firefyter-emt (Sep 14, 2007)

Your bed is made from steel, where the newer versions were cast iron. (strange as that may be) 

I assume that you headstock had the tab filed down to match the tab needed for the narrow ways. This would of been very simple, as the heastock is cast alloy. As for the tailstock, that would be harder, can you take a photo of the bottom of it and I will have a better idea of what is going on there. There should be a tab under it with a 1.5" (I think) section removed where the cam lock clamp pad would set into it and lock it in place. 
If they messed it up, you can replace the tab with a new one which has been bolted in place. This, however needs to be centered very good. The best bet would to have it all milled off flush and then a new piece of stock (slightly larger) would be bolted to the original block. Once it's bolted on, the tab can be milled to size and milled true in the process. It might cost you a bit unless you have access to a voc. school that would take it on, but then you have a wait. However, if you have a spare .... [] Welding in s poor optionbecause it's castiron. You may be able to cheat a repair with JB weld, but it might now last as long. If you have 2, I would JB weld one for now (drill holes for the JB weld to fill into) and have a Voc. school fix the other one for good. (I will add more in a bit..)

The end of the tailstock should of had a threaded on end cap which is missing. The round block on there now is a shop fix. If you look at my photos in the lift block section, you will see that I removed mine and polised it. (One day it will be polished again and clear powdercoated.)

The bearings are easy enough. You need to measure the races inside the headstock and the shaft diameter and buy new bearings that match that. You will also need the width of the races for the new ones. I am going to be looking into this myself soon so feel free to e-mail me down the road to see.  It would be an easy swap, the shaft has a larger diameter inside that the bearings would stop against and then the "float" inside the housing held in place by the bearing retainer caps on each end.

Here is the shaft with the original inner bearings on it.
{img]http://www.yankeetoys.org/lee/delta-13.jpg[/img]


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## Firefyter-emt (Sep 14, 2007)

Ok, Mike.. I had to run out, but I had a thought. Look at my lift that I built for mine. You might have better luck to make something like that and have the new blocks built for your bed. Then instead of having a tab for the tailstock to fit into, just remove the rest and bolt the two togather.  Something to think about, and it would bring the lathe up to a 14" when done. I would not go larger than that, but with the 12" lathe banjo, I think you will like the extra spin over.


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