New-to-me 9"x36" South Bend Lathe

[terry lingle]

I have used aloris and dorian tool posts as well as the much lower cost imports.
The holders interchange and I can see little practical difference among them. My 7.5 hp jet has never had an issue with one shifting or not holding true.
Keith (Lkiethr) loves his multifit but like the otther brand names it will break you .
I would go with an import axa equivalent it will take all the cutter that machine needs. for under $200 cdn New. E pay might turn up a used set for less if you are lucky.

[Ironman]

Originally Posted by terry lingle

I have used aloris and dorian tool posts as well as the much lower cost imports.
The holders interchange and I can see little practical difference among them. My 7.5 hp jet has never had an issue with one shifting or not holding true.
Keith (Lkiethr) loves his multifit but like the otther brand names it will break you .
I would go with an import axa equivalent it will take all the cutter that machine needs. for under $200 cdn New. E pay might turn up a used set for less if you are lucky.

Yes, that's been my experience as well.
Hows the AXA fit on your little toy?

[Matt G.]

Primer yesterday, and paint today. Everything is painted except for a couple trim pieces I haven't made yet because I won't know what they need to look like until I've assembled everything. I've assembled part of the cabinet frame to the wooden top, and cut down a scrap of 3/4" plywood to put the cabinet on. Getting closer to using it every day...

[milomilo]

Looking mighty purty.

[Matt G.]

Slightly closer tonight, after repainting the drawers for the left side. I painted the frame and half the drawers with spray cans and got a quart of the same brand and color and painted everything else with that. The paint from the quart can is quite a bit darker, so I repainted the other drawers so at least they will all match. I don't really mind the two-tone paint job, but it needs to be symmetrical

Anyway, yesterday I assembled the table upside down and had a friend help flip it over (I need a taller or stronger friend, or maybe both). Tonight I bolted the cabinets together and slid them onto the shelf, and then bent up a couple of trim pieces to finish out the front. There is some wasted space on either end of the bench that'll be accessible once it arrives at its final place in the garage, so I'm thinking of putting some sort of rack inside of each end to hold my ever-growing collection of clamps. Not lathe-related, but they need to go somewhere, and I am a fan of wasting as little space as possible. More room for tools and working on stuff that way.

Also ordered oil and a QCTP.

Another thing that is not clear in my mind, and I haven't found a picture to help me yet: Does the motor bolt to the countershaft casting or to the bench? The previous owner had done the latter, but with this ghetto-rigged mess, so I'm not sure it's really supposed to be that way...

[terry lingle]

not surewhat you have for the drive.
Post some pictures and we will figure it out.
minee is a 1/2 hp motor driving a jackshaft with a three step flat belt pulley with an over center belt tensioner.

[Matt G.]

Before I drill holes in the tabletop for the lathe itself and the countershaft, does everything look right? How much space should there be between the motor and the lathe bed? It appears the previous owner added a bunch of length to the threaded adjuster for the countershaft/flat belt tension, which I'll want to remove.

[terry lingle]

Before you start bolting thtat drive down you need the belts.
once you have the flat belt in place you can set the distance between the tathe and the drive.
You need good alignment and the ability to adjust the drive unit to get proper belt tracking. My unit has a nice flat belt that came with it 30 years ago
When it goes I will probably go to a serpentine belt running upside down.
Get a belt for the motor as well as you need to run it to set the tracking.
if you have no reversing switch for it just wire it up to run forward for set up.
Once the flat belt is tracking ant the tension adjustment has adjustment in both directions you bolt the drive to the table.

You do not need a fancy reversing switch on this lathe just an ordinary light switch for on and off and a double pole double throw toggle switch for forward /reverse .
in use set the toggle sw for the desired direction this can be done with the motor running because the start switch in the motor disconnects the start circuit. stop the motor completely then start it in the selected direction. I will provide a schematic and suggested parts list when you are ready.

[Matt G.]

Is it me or has my tensioner lever been modified? It swings over center too far instead of locking slightly over center. It appears a bunch of material has been ground away for some reason.

Edit: After looking at 5 or 6 used ones on ebay, it appears mine must be modified. May as well get one of those on the way.

[terry lingle]

Well it certainly belongs to a different phylum than mine as in quite a lot more phylum can the rod be tweaked to make it work?
There are somethings that are worth the cost and others that if they can be made to work are not important.