Thread: Today's yard sale find..

er what?

damn, you're fast. I just went back to find the file size was too big, so it didn't post.

That was a good find a South Bend metal lathe, over here we have a copy made with South Bends cooperation for the war effort called a Hercus.

I have one made in 1967 if you go to the metalwork part of the forum you can get the URL where you can draw down a manual for either, big help to understand, I have made a number of contributions re my lathe and usefull contacts, such as yours needs a toolpost,chucks etc all of these are available reasonably in the USA.

I use mine a lot for so many things, if you make cartridge pens for drilling they are ideal using a set of collets.

On Yahoo there is a South Bend forum as well.

Enjoy Peter

Magic
That looks like something one needs to sit back with a few coldies and study for a while. I'd take it slow and slowly discuss and pontificate all possibilities before turning it over.
The trail of beer bottles is bound to get some help in getting it up the stairs ... in fact I can feel a certain urge to head West Nor West as we type
I'm interested in seeing what it can do!
cheers

Yep.. been reading up on the Hercus and Atlas lathes, too.
Anything I can read that will help further understanding is good,
as I have zero experience with metal lathes. (and only a little
with wood lathes)

Don't plan on firing it up for a bit.. just spent 4 hours with a
brass brush, carbeurator/brake cleaner, TSP, primer and such
just on the motor. Haven't even gotten the rest of the lathe
up the stairs yet. Seems like the motor and bracket weighs
about 80 or 90 pounds. There were lots of people walking around
this morning, then when I went out to find a few to help lug
it up the stairs, it started raining really hard. Not a soul to be found.

This thing has a taper saddle and power crossfeed, so there's an
extra 30 or 40 lbs right there..

Still, it's gonna be fun learning.. I'll post some photos when I
get it up out of the dungeon..

If it would not be inconvenient on your thread and if you like I will take some pics of my Hercus and give you an idea of a different set up, ie chuck and quick change tool post etc. My skills with sending pics except posting on the forum is nil.
Regards Peter

I use my Hercus for various tasks including Cartridge pens etc, making mandrels, bushes and special inserts for live centres and a variety of other tasks.

Have a look at Lindsay Books ( http://www.lindsaybks.com/ ). They have several books on South Bend lathes including reprints of long-lost technical work. The catalog is a hoot to read. I'm not sure if they ship to Oz, but many of their titles are probably sold in Oz bookshops, and may also be held in libraries. No affiliation, etc.

Are you willing to reveal your purchase price? Even if only to make us sick?

Joe

Originally Posted by joe greiner

Have a look at Lindsay Books

Are you willing to reveal your purchase price? Even if only to make us sick?

Yep .. have looked through LOTS of this over the last week or so.
have the parts list, waiting on "How to Run a Lathe". Lots of good
info online, too.

I picked it up for 200 and it included a 3 jaw chuck, extra jaws and
a few cutters. The seller had picked up two lathes and a milling and
boring machine for scrap prices. He used this one till he got the larger
lathe set up and moved the milling machine into place. (too a crane
to do that.)

Once he listed it, most of the calls he got started with "How much does
it weigh?" .. scrappers. He wanted someone to use it. I plan to. And
he can do some milling operations for me, too.

Still havent gotten it up the stairs. Must weigh 450 or 500 lbs..

Aint it funny how people tend to disappear whenever there is heavy lifting to do? I can't imagine the fun once you actually get to start playing with it and learning its capabilities. Keep us updated.

Rick

Originally Posted by NewLondon88

Yep .. have looked through LOTS of this over the last week or so.
have the parts list, waiting on "How to Run a Lathe". Lots of good
info online, too.

I picked it up for 200 and it included a 3 jaw chuck, extra jaws and
a few cutters. The seller had picked up two lathes and a milling and
boring machine for scrap prices. He used this one till he got the larger
lathe set up and moved the milling machine into place. (too a crane
to do that.)

Once he listed it, most of the calls he got started with "How much does
it weigh?" .. scrappers. He wanted someone to use it. I plan to. And
he can do some milling operations for me, too.

Still havent gotten it up the stairs. Must weigh 450 or 500 lbs..

Good thing I had my barf bag handy. That's a really good price.

Without prowling your previous posts, I'll guess your username indicates you're in Connecticut. A bit of a hike for me to help, and best not to risk any of your tools growing legs anyway.

Moving upstairs is harder than moving downstairs, of course. Some folks partially disassemble for transport, but likely to destroy alignments. The safest way to move something like this is to use a substantial carrying beam for about 3 or 4 additional helpers. Even old artillery pieces can be moved if you get enough people around them.

Joe

Originally Posted by Penpal

If it would not be inconvenient on your thread and if you like I will take some pics of my Hercus and give you an idea of a different set up, ie chuck and quick change tool post etc. My skills with sending pics except posting on the forum is nil.

That works for me! As I said, I know nothing, and anything I get with my
eyes and ears is free.

Originally Posted by joe greiner

Good thing I had my barf bag handy. That's a really good price.

Yep. I figure even if I decide I don't like it, I won't lose any money
on the deal.

Originally Posted by joe greiner

Without prowling your previous posts, I'll guess your username indicates you're in Connecticut. A bit of a hike for me to help, and best not to risk any of your tools growing legs anyway.

Moving upstairs is harder than moving downstairs, of course. Some folks partially disassemble for transport, but likely to destroy alignments. The safest way to move something like this is to use a substantial carrying beam for about 3 or 4 additional helpers. Even old artillery pieces can be moved if you get enough people around them.

Joe

Different New London .. I'm in NH. (even further, would cost MORE beer)

As for the alignment, I'm not that worried. I figure that the first few weeks
would be spent cleaning, priming and painting. Then as the paycheck
allows, I'd add on missing parts and parts I think I should have. (dead
center, half center, collets and such .. maybe a follow rest, boring bar,
4 jaw chuck, multiple tool holder etc.)

Anyway, after that I plan on hiring someone to come over and help me to
fine tune it. There's plenty of machine shops hidden behind other companies
when you start looking.. I'm sure that for some extra cash, someone would
be willing to share their expertise. I already hit a few this morning to pick
their brains. Most are more than willing to give you the benefit of their
experience. Plus I walked out with some pieces of scrap to get started!

Found the same thing with kitchen cabinet makers, too. Thought about
finding some scrap Corian for bushings and such .. walked out with around
300 lbs of EOS, sort of like Corian but it's 5/4 stock, no need to glue up
pieces to get the thickness. (meant to put some in DJ's package, but lost
track of where I put those blanks I cut ..)

Anyway, it will be a learning experience. And I love to see how things work.
There's enough handles, levers, cranks and dials to make me feel like I'm
working on some sort of spacecraft.
(Not the space shuttle kind .. the Flash Gordon kind..)

Just a few pics before I start stripping it down to refinish so I don't
need to take a shower every time I turn a handle..

It's going to be a project, no doubt about it.

Then, I can start learning

From your pics it would appear that the bed rails are in good nick near the chuck end where most abominable damage occurs, from dropped chucks , careless hacksawing etc, to me it shows great promise under all that neglect by previous people. Taking pics later of mine so you will get an idea of normal confirmation, ie the saddle etc on yours is part of three different attachments two identify as the angle boring set up and a nifty vice on the cross bed.
Regards Peter