New machine gloat (lots of pics)

[nickel-city-fab]

It finally happened, I've been preparing for this moment for the better part of a decade.
Got myself a decent machine at a great deal. Did my homework for a few years and it paid off.

1945 South Bend 9A with almost no use on it. Ser. 167360. The card from Grizzly says lat 1945 -- possibly ordered for the War and never used since the war ended. The spindle is like a mirror with .0015 play, you can still see the original tooling marks on the screws and nuts with .015 lash on the dials. The corners and teeth of the gears and screws are still sharp and crisp, no wear, rounding, or pointing. You can still see about half of the original scraping/flaking. Has the original reversing motor with the 12-speed rear drive. Never restored, no rust. First batch of pics:

[nickel-city-fab]

It gets better: this machine was originally equipped with the full metric change gear set in addition to the usual QCGB:





YES that is the 127/100 set from the factory, along with the other required gears to cut the full range on the chart.

[nickel-city-fab]

Detail pics of saddle/apron, headstock, tailstock:

[JoeLee]

What a rare find. That's beautiful. I love the way they flaked the bed ways on those machines. I have a friend that has that same machine. His father bought it back in the 50's..

JL.................

[nickel-city-fab]

The seller was extremely generous: he included both the 3-jaw and 4-jaw chucks with extra jaws. They work perfectly. He also included the original SB collet setup and the milling attachment. He included a pair of faceplates; I got the set of JH Williams drive dogs on eBay for $35.

[nickel-city-fab]

Included in the sale was *all* of the literature: the parts list, the motor tags, the leveling tag, the maintenance booklets, the belt splicing instructions, the setup drawings, the motor wiring drawing, the lube chart, et. etc. etc. etc..... Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled! There's a lot more that I didn't post.

[nickel-city-fab]

What a rare find. That's beautiful. I love the way they flaked the bed ways on those machines. I have a friend that has that same machine. His father bought it back in the 50's..

JL.................

Just wait till you hear what I gave for it... I suck.

[nickel-city-fab]

I decided it was only right to add some period tooling and the proper oils:

[nickel-city-fab]

It gets even better: theres no wear at all on the leadscrew or the gears. The edges are still crisp and sharp, no pointing or rounding over. It runs quieter than the vacuum cleaner. I have it setup with an one-piece automotive belt in the spare bedroom. The bench top is 1.5" thick hardwood plywood (doubled up), 30x48 was perfect. Glued and screwed on 6" centers. Yep, here's the part list with the hand written serial number... I noticed that everything in the JH Williams book was less than $5.

[mickeyf]

I see a "4 way" tool post. Did they have those in 1945? I would think "original equipment" for that would be a lantern type tool post. The shop I worked in was old school to the extreme to be sure, but I don't remember seeing 4 ways, much less QC even then in the late '70's. Nice find in any case!

[Ringo]

Just wait till you hear what I gave for it... I suck.

yes indeed, you suck !!
WHERE did you find this ?

[Bob La Londe]

With a title like that I'm giving you a great big you suck before I even look at the pictures.

[nickel-city-fab]

yes indeed, you suck !!
WHERE did you find this ?

About a 6-1/2 hr drive each way. Northeast PA via a forum member on PM.

[gambler]

very nice. congrats

[nickel-city-fab]

Pics of the leadscrew about a foot from the spindle nose show no wear or use: macro with no flash.



And pics of the end gears setup for imperial threading also shows no wear: macro shot no flash, crisp gear teeth: