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real old lathe is gonna follow me home

Rauce said:

There’s some info on the manufacturer of the overhead drive conversion.
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Thank you for that man!!! the conversion on my lathe is exactly the same as the one in the advertising photo except for the filter housing looking thing just below the motor.

Looks like the conversion was done after 1930 from that text. The lathe serial #'s to 1911-13 from what I can ascertain so far.
 
A huge shout-out of thanks to Susquatch for his help and understanding to help solve the issue of wiring this thing up...I have pully rotation both forwards & reverse ....and no smoke or sparks or slow grunting starts. that motor just klicks and starts running freely.
I commented that "the wiring was just a jumbled up dogs breakfast" ....Susquatch's reply from his knowledgeable position was "thats an understatement, also "must have not been any codes when that thing was wired".

I will be away from the machine for a week but am looking forward to getting back so we can try out some of the mechanical aspects that can now be tested under power. I do know that the topslide is jammed up solid so will be the first job to tackle.
 
historicalarms said:
A huge shout-out of thanks to Susquatch for his help and understanding to help solve the issue of wiring this thing up...I have pully rotation both forwards & reverse ....and no smoke or sparks or slow grunting starts. that motor just klicks and starts running freely.
I commented that "the wiring was just a jumbled up dogs breakfast" ....Susquatch's reply from his knowledgeable position was "thats an understatement, also "must have not been any codes when that thing was wired".

I will be away from the machine for a week but am looking forward to getting back so we can try out some of the mechanical aspects that can now be tested under power. I do know that the topslide is jammed up solid so will be the first job to tackle.
Click to expand...

My pleasure. I love helping those who appreciate it - and maybe a few who don't....... LOL

Also thanks to @historicalarms who I put through pure hell tracing wires with non-code colors on them till we could nail it down. He never complained once. Great experience! Glad it all worked out!
 
Rauce said:
The polite thing to do is at least use a bit of coloured electrical tape near the end of the wire in the right colour!
Click to expand...

Ya, I suggested rewiring correctly, but I think he just wants to get on with other repairs. I agree, some coloured tape would be the next best thing.
 
Ha ha ha that colored tape option brings up another story....I owned a Western Star truck built in the mid 80's and that damn thing had 15 miles of wiring inside the dash....and it was only two colors, white & black. The way they chose to differentiate circuitry was to hang a small piece of paper from every wire with a number on it....but over the years and by the time I purchased the truck as a well used outfit, all those #'rd papers papers had all fallen off and were laying on the bottom plate of the dash....every time a wiring problem showed up it was a nightmare of tracing wires until you found the problem.
 
historicalarms said:
Ha ha ha that colored tape option brings up another story....I owned a Western Star truck built in the mid 80's and that damn thing had 15 miles of wiring inside the dash....and it was only two colors, white & black. The way they chose to differentiate circuitry was to hang a small piece of paper from every wire with a number on it....but over the years and by the time I purchased the truck as a well used outfit, all those #'rd papers papers had all fallen off and were laying on the bottom plate of the dash....every time a wiring problem showed up it was a nightmare of tracing wires until you found the problem.
Click to expand...
Therefore, it is important to mark the number of each service and keep a record of it, at the very least you will eliminate it if needed
 
historicalarms said:
but over the years and by the time I purchased the truck as a well used outfit, all those #'rd papers papers had all fallen off and were laying on the bottom plate of the dash....
Click to expand...

Too funny!

I've sometimes used numbered tape. The letters on the wiring in the last motor I replaced was barely readable. So I bought these and added them:

Gardner Bender 42-029 Wire Marker Booklet, 1-45; 10/Ea per Book https://a.co/d/ctoOZuP

There are also many different kinds of durable tags available. Just search on wire labels.

I will prolly label the wiring inside the panel box when I rewire my lathe for 3phase. (A project that will prolly have to wait for next winter along with the lathe DRO.)

@historicalarms - I'd prolly go with something dirt simple for your new lathe. Solder on some short pigtail pieces of coloured wire the right colour. Put green on the black wire, red on either of the white wires, and black on the other white wire.
 
I am planning a simplification of that old wiring soon as i get some other stuff sorted on the machine. getting rid of a couple old junction box's that aren't needed to start with.
The "start-stop swithch isnt in the best place for safety, you have to reach above the spindle so that needs changing and will install an emergency stop swatch where it is easy to hit.
 
historicalarms said:
Ha ha ha that colored tape option brings up another story....I owned a Western Star truck built in the mid 80's and that damn thing had 15 miles of wiring inside the dash....and it was only two colors, white & black. The way they chose to differentiate circuitry was to hang a small piece of paper from every wire with a number on it....but over the years and by the time I purchased the truck as a well used outfit, all those #'rd papers papers had all fallen off and were laying on the bottom plate of the dash....every time a wiring problem showed up it was a nightmare of tracing wires until you found the problem.
Click to expand...

This hits me personally...as I'm a parts guy @ a Western Star trucks dealer. When a customer calls and asks for a diagram on those older models...I can feel my teeth disintegrate from grinding.
 
What is going on with the Quick change box....no handles?
That drive system! Good Golly Miss Molly, when you take that thing off, there goes a thousand pounds.
 
The trans handle is back on it now, they are easily removed and just fit into a socket in the trans change mechanism.

Yes that top drive is a chunk, it came off easy for the move ( 4 7/8 bolts) but that damn thing wont hang perfectly perpendicular from any of the hanging points so lots of prying and using tapered guides I had to manuf to get it re-hung.
Its back on and tightened now, just waiting for me to get back at the thing to install a new belt. The old belt appears to be an original factory leather belt & I dont want to damage the thing with use so am making a new belt out of a chunk of baler belt I acquired from a Sask farmer.
That old belt is a thing of beauty....3/8 thick piece of the heaviest bull hide I have ever seen & soft tanned to almost equivalent to a thin piece of garment leather. an interesting point - the belt is joined by alligator jaw clips and I expected the usual short wire joining axle that we ure in baler belts but it was joined together by a piece of leather about the thickness of a heavy boot lace...interesting that that would hold the belt tight & together for that amount of torque.
 
a bit of an update on this old girl as I've been busy with other "family" and yard affairs for a bit.
I managed to find two old PDF manuals for the machine, one partial one that is current to the machines age and another from the 40's that still crosses to that era. Hendey was long on telling folks what their machines will do in those manuals but very short on actual mechanical operation of the feeds & such so spent a little time on "Practical Machinist" this week.
The ser # research done by the holder of factory records more or less confused the situation, his search come back that my lathe was manufactured in 1913 but is is listed as a 14" not a 16" x 6 that is clearly cast into my lathe bed...so either their records are faulty or my lathe is a parted together machine. I can find no evidence/measurements that my machine is not a totally together 16" machine.
I havent made any chips yet but we are close. The boys at Practical have been very helpful with getting all the power feeds and mechanisms working as they should. Some of the treading options/features on this 110 yr old machine should be on every modern lathe....that quick change reversing clutch is gold, you could throw every thread dial away with that clutch.
One thing I will really enjoy is the slow speeds possible, my Taiwanese minimum RPM is 90 and this Henday will happily cruise at 13 RPM....threading heaven!!

I have a couple projects to try and finish next week and hope to use this lathe on some of the pieces- threading 7/8-14 reloading die bodies for obsolete 38-56 reloading and some bit & pieces for a new rebound bullet puller design.

Edited to add; I almost forgot to ask, does anybody on this forum know how to release the cross slide lead screw so the slide can be used with the taper attachment.
 
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Yes could use a slower threading speed on the bigger lathe, a future VFD will fix that. Still going thru boxes, looking for things, realized I haven't seen the reloading dies yet, man, hope they all made it here.
Went to a gun show on the weekend, that's an eye opener now, $120 a box for 32 Win. Spec. Ammo, if they have any. The prices in general, holy holy cow!!!
 
I had to google as I originally thought you meant 38-55. Interestingly wikI gives the case measurements in mm.
 
I took a quick look at specs for the 38-56, appears to have a fairly thick neck wall. Limited other dies neck to that size, none I could see would allow for the shorter case length to size the neck. Thought 380 revolver might do it but it is inside lubed.
But you have a lathe and a good project. Often I crimp after seating the bullet.
 
Not sure about your crossslide release, some lathes have to remove the screw/cap screw from the slide to lead screw block.
The taper attachment can be used to made long tapered threads too.
 
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