I decided to sell the Southbend to a good friend of mine, Jeremy Korte. He was getting into machining and was looking for a lathe. I knew he would treat it well, and we worked together to finish fixing the lathe up. He did all the electronic controls for the motor and we both worked on the countershaft fabrication.
I finished making a number of gears that broke *Cough* my fault *Cough*. They were needed for sending power from the spindle down to the lead screw for threading, AND for forward/reverse direction. I made up a new counter shaft pulley and welded a frame that would hold it in place. I also made the micro v-belt pulley that took power from the motor and sent it to the countershaft. We bought a new BRIGHT ORANGE flat belt and got the spindle powered that way.
The whole process bringing it back to life was awesome. He’ll be taking good care of the lathe, hopefully making cool new things with it! Nice to see a lathe from 1913 being used today to make new things in 2019.
Fully Setup, ready to go! Fully Setup, ready to go! Fully Setup, ready to go! Leaving my garage, heading to a new home Lathe assembled for trial turning. It cut very well! That flat belt was REALLY ORANGE! showing the motor driving the v belt pulley that was made for the lathe. Turing the countershaft pulley. Keep in mind, this was made from 2 pieces. Making the drive pulley for the countershaft The spindle now drives the lead screw, allowing for threading operations New gear fits and works! The setup on the mini mill to cut the gears. It JUST fit. Old gear, New gear Both gears mesh well, new works with the old.