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WWII-era South Bend Lathe-Repair?
Hi! My name is Tom Hill. I’m looking for someone to talk to about an old lathe.
I’m in the process of inheriting a 9” South Bend Toolroom Lathe. My grandfather worked on it near the end of WWII until the 1980s, and after he died it passed on to my dad, who had it in his house in PA until he died in 2005. The lathe stayed there while my mom lived in the house, but she passed in February, so my brothers and I are now going through the estate process.
My dad taught me to use the lathe, and I used it to make some pretty neat projects. My plan was to bring it to my home in Maryland and continue the family tradition. I get up there about every two weeks, and would always run it whether I was doing a project on it or not. About 3 months ago, I noticed that it was having problems starting in its high speed (no back gears, highest ratio from drive pulley to spindle). I applied oil to the bearings and found that, after it ran for a while, a high-speed start was possible. The next few times I visited, I’d be sure to run it hoping that I was just ‘working it out’ and that all would be OK. The last time I ran it for a while, I noticed that the spindle bearing away from the chuck was warm. I haven’t run it since.
I’m approaching the time where I’d planned to move the machine to my house. I’d like to know the odds of my being able to repair it, and an estimate of how much something like that would cost before moving it. I’m willing to spend some money, but if it gets to be too much, I’d rather purchase a new lathe and continue the metal working tradition.
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