WTB:old "bench lathes" - Pratt&Whitney, Potter,Hardinge...

[Chrisnj]

Located in New Jersey. Thanks.

[egpace]

Chris,
If you run into someone in NJ with parts for a 7" S. A. Potter or 9" Hardinge Cataract let me know. I have one of each on the back burners to be brought back to life.
Ed

[Thrud]

Ed
Are you still looking for head stock bearings for the Cataract? If so, contact these guys about a rebuild - http://www.setcousa.com/ they routinely rebuild precision spindles and what not...

[SGW]

If in New Jersey, you ought to investigate Dave Sobel, who advertises in HSM.

[Chrisnj]

Hey egpace, where are you? The Potter is made in NY, as is obvious if you own one. I have a Potter, but it's not for sale. What parts are you looking for anyway?

[egpace]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Thrud:
Ed
Are you still looking for head stock bearings for the Cataract? If so, contact these guys about a rebuild - http://www.setcousa.com/ they routinely rebuild precision spindles and what not...

</font>

Thrud,
Thanks! I'm not quite up to that point yet. Neither lathe is complete enough to fire up, and I haven't striped them down yet, so I'm not sure how the spindles are. By hand they both feel smooth, so I'm hoping I can get by. I did bookmark the website though.
Best regards,
Ed

[egpace]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Chrisnj:
Hey egpace, where are you? The Potter is made in NY, as is obvious if you own one. I have a Potter, but it's not for sale. What parts are you looking for anyway?</font>

Chris,
What parts do I need? I’ll try a top of my head inventory of what I have first.

Hardinge:
1 bed
3 Compounds, 2 9’s and a 7.
2 Head stocks, a 7” & 9”, both take 4C collets direct
2 tail stocks, a 7” & 9”. Both with chucks (Jarno Tapers?)
1 3 jaw chuck.
1 Hand wheel Collet closer.
70 some-odd 4C collets round & a few hex fits both Hardinge & Potter..

7” Potter:
1 bed
2 compounds (1 Ames & a no name, neither fit well)
2 Head stocks (1 stripped) both take 4C collets direct.
1 face plate & 1 chuck back plate, (1 5/8 – 8 thread.) no chuck
1 Hand wheel Collet closer.
1 Tail stock with chuck.
1 Flat belt drive pulley
1 motor mount (Potter?)

What I need most of all is original back drives for both lathes. I’m not sure about the tail stock tapers, just haven’t the time to check them out. If they’re in fact Jarnos I’ll need a time machine to shop for them. Like I said both lathes are on the back burner. Once I get them fired up I’ll see how far I want to go with them.

I’ve got a 9” SB model A in my shed that needs to come in first, that is after I fire up a bulldozer to make room in the basement. I’ll see if I can get near enough to the lathes to get some pics.

Best regards,
Ed

P.S. I’m in Westwood, Bergen County.

[Joe H]

Egpace & Chris,

The bearings on the Cataract and almost certainly on the Potter are Cone angle bearings. Metal to metal with a film of oil between the surfaces. They are identical to the typical bearings found on watchmakers lathes. Unless they have been severely abused they should be as accurate as the day they were made after cleaning and adjusting. It shouldn't be necessary, but they can be rejuvenated by lapping the bearing surfaces in place using Timesavers lapping compound. Tighten the bearing adjustment while lapping. Don't use the belt drive. Set up to drive axially via a collet and power drill while lapping. I have a article from the BHI on adjusting bearings in a watchmakers lathe. The adjustment of the typical Precision Bench lathe is identical. I'll Email it to you if you are interested. The taper in the cataract tailstock is a "Cartaract" taper (special made only by Cataract). This was replaced by #1 and #2 Morse in later machines.

Joe H

[This message has been edited by Joe H (edited 02-17-2005).]

[egpace]

Joe,
Any info is better than none. When I first picked up the Cataract, I noticed a little play in the spindle. I went to the lathes-uk
site and found a cross section view through the headstock.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/cataract/page4.htmlFrom

From the views at the website, I got the jist of how to adjust the spindle. I then filled the oil cup with spindle oil & while rotating the spindle, I adjusted the play out. I haven't tried it under a load yet. I thought I'd fine tune it when I had it up and running. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ed

[Chrisnj]

Yeah these things can be relapped. The problem with my potter is the front bearing is loose, and the rear conical sleeve has a crack. Someone told me I shouldn't worry about it...
My Pratt & Whitney seems in fair shape. No threaded spindle though. The nice thing about the Potter is the relatively large spindle hole and the threaded spindle. The Pratt takes some weird 3PN collet, and I don't have a one, though I do have an old Samson 3-jaw and the adapter for it. I'm in Ocean County by the way.