Pig in a Poke

[Pete Wass]

Saw an interesting looking lathe on Craigslist so I went and looked at it. It seemed to be in great shape so I made an offer and it was quickly accepted. Hummmm - - - got to feeling I had left money on the table. It's an early version of the Grizzly Gunsmith Lathe, a 12"x36". Not American or European craftsmanship but it's ok for what I want and need I think, at this point anyway.

I wanted a more modern lathe than the 1942 SB 10L tool room lathe I have and wanted one with a longer bed. I also wanted a lathe I could add a DRO to reasonably easily so another 10L seemed the wrong direction for me to go in. So, I have it in my shop. It's a heavy sucker compared to the SB but it's in there.

The previous owner had not cleaned the Cosmoline off the machine in many places, like the gear train and other more obvious areas; now this is a 1994 machine! I've been working on cleaning it and the chucks. The 4 jaw had never been mounted to the machine, for instance. Finally have the chucks fitted and trued up, most of the cleaning done except for the gears. Looking for something to melt the guck off easily and quickly. Chinese QC = the 4 jaw backing plate out by .017". Covered everything up and made it straight. the 3 Jaw was fine but I took a cut anyway.

Made a T nut for my tool post holder and straightned out the hand wheel stuff that got bent by the previous movers. Oh, the guy had spun the drill chuck in the tail stock and it was galled; both pieces, so I found an old timey machine shop locally that has a selection of Morse Taper reamers and they fixed me up. I lapped the pair after to make sure.

It seems to drill a straight hole and cuts metal pretty well. I think I will put a little more power to it as it seems doggy but that is down the road. Next I will put a DRO kit on it if I can find the time before Dec.1. Got invited back to South Dakota in a couple of weeks to shoot at Pheasants again so can't pass that up .

I have enjoyed the working on it thus far. It has cleaned up pretty well and has no sighs of wear to speak of.

Pete

 

[shortgrass]

what you'll find

I think this is probably typical of what you'll find when buying a used import. The original buyers are in much too big of a hurry to get the machine set and cleaned of the shipping/storage coating, and then properly lubricated before "chambering that first barrel". I hope it is what you wanted and having to go through the machine and having to pay to have some repairs made, that you didn't want to do yourself, are lessons in themselves. Regarding the 4 jaw chuck, there's a good chance that chuck isn't original to the machine. When most of those small imports are supplied with 2 chucks, they (the chucks) are usually direct mount,, meaning no back plate. Sounds like you've already 'dialed it in', but I'd have gone one step further and made a facing cut across that back plate before mounting and dialing in the chuck, itself. That's just the way I'd have done (and do it!), but it's yours so do as you wish. J my 2 cents, enjoy your new toy! Added: I'm in the habit of witness marking D-1 mounted chucks to the spindle on lathe where I know I'll be changing from the 4 jaw to the 3 and back again. The same stud goes in the same hole in the spindle nose every time

 

[CMaier]

mark the installed location( lathe to plate)
face the plate
true the bore

 

[Pete Wass]

I considered that

I rotated the plates around using all three holes and saw no difference on the indicator. Of course, there is always room for error when one sees .017" in the rough. I can always re-visit them as they are easy to remove and re-install. Added: A good idea and I will do the index marks, Thanks.

So far, I have been able to do all the repairs myself. In another life some 50 odd years ago I did this sort of work for a living so it's a Busman's Holiday, so to speak. The only other thing is to drill and tap the rear of the spindle for "Spider Screws". Still thinking that one over. Any ideas?

Today I am going to bush and re-mount the threading dial from front to back. No bushing in the thread dial and it wobbles quite a bit, let alone a chromed surface running on rough cast iron! Don't know if that is an error or sloppy manufacturing.

Pete