Does anyone have,, familiar with Clausing 5914, 5914 lathe,, 12x36 ??

[Ringo]

Hi,
A member here mention I should sell both my Atlas and Logan to justify a larger machine. Well what a novel idea.
I found a machine dealer with a Clausing 5913 12x36 at what seems like a fair price, but I'm not familiar with Clausing.
My research to this point says it is 1 3/8 spindle bore with 4.5MT taper and L00 mount.
What on earth is a 4 1/2MT? There was is a Clausing adapter in the parts book for 4.5MT to 3mt adapter to 3mt center.
How do they get a 1 3/8 bore with a collet taper that is 1 1/4 on the small end?
How does that work?
Also I see in Clausing accessories a Royal collet closer, assumed to be 5C.

Can anyone help me understand the oddity of this 4 1/2MT spindle? (before I commit to buy it)

[AWS]

A 4.5MT is kinda halfway between a 4MT and 5MT, and is just big enough to allow 5C collets.

L00 is a standard, but dated spindle nose. You can still get back plates for it.

To use the 5C adapter you install this taper cover then pop the adapter in and close the collet with the drawbar. The cover also provides a means to extract the adapter from the taper, as it will wedge in there tight.

Clausing's numbering on the 5900 series denotes single/3 phase, whether it has a brake/clutch, etc. I rather like my 5917 (single phase, no brake/clutch). Was a big step up from a Craftsman/Atlas 12x36. The reeves drive for the varispeed can be noisy and the plastic it rides on can wear out. Seems stripping the reeves drive and converting to 3 phase with VFD is a popular option, and on my to-do list as mine isn't in great shape.

[Ringo]

Well gee, whats the odds both those parts are included with a used lathe 60 years old??
Why on earth didn't they just go with 5MT?
Or even a straight up 5C??
No doubt Clausing will sell you those 2 parts for more than I pay for the rest of the machine........

[AWS]

Well gee, whats the odds both those parts are included with a used lathe 60 years old??
Why on earth didn't they just go with 5MT?
Or even a straight up 5C??
No doubt Clausing will sell you those 2 parts for more than I pay for the rest of the machine........

Using a 5MT spindle means larger, more expensive spindle bearings, and as was common on these general use lathes going with 4.5MT allowed for smaller bearings and a lower price point. Wasn’t all that uncommon, from what I’ve read. They’re Ford, not Cadillac.

5C spindle would be an oddball, as not self-locking. Don’t think I’ve run across that outside of aftermarket Taig headstocks.

FWIW, mine came with the cover and adapter (but sadly no steady rest). Faceplate could also work as a cover, and didn’t take long for me to get one on Ebay. Adapter wouldn’t be hard to make if you have a taper attachment. I recall seeing specs for 4.5MT at one point, but I don’t see it in editions 17, 24, 25 of Machinery’s Handbook.

Easy enough to ask if the lathe has these parts (plus draw tube), and take that into account on the offer.

[Ringo]

Gosh, this is beginning to be intimidating.
My little Logan, threaded spindle and all, is tooled up rather well.
3jaw, 4jaw, face drive plate, t-slot drive plate, 5C chuck, ER32 chuck,
geez, should I sell all that to get a better lathe that needs to be built up to get to the same tooling capabilities??

The Logan above has those listed capabilities, how much time/effort/cost would it take to tool up a Clausing L00 mount with a 1 chuck only, to come up to equal versatility ???

[nickel-city-fab]

Gosh, this is beginning to be intimidating.
My little Logan, threaded spindle and all, is tooled up rather well.
3jaw, 4jaw, face drive plate, t-slot drive plate, 5C chuck, ER32 chuck,
geez, should I sell all that to get a better lathe that needs to be built up to get to the same tooling capabilities??

The Logan above has those listed capabilities, how much time/effort/cost would it take to tool up a Clausing L00 mount with a 1 chuck only, to come up to equal versatility ???

A couple grand, spread out over a year or so. I think you might actually be better off keeping the Logan for now. Wait till you can find another Clausing that's already tooled up.

[Ringo]

A couple grand, spread out over a year or so. I think you might actually be better off keeping the Logan for now. Wait till you can find another Clausing that's already tooled up.

OH just great !!! Thanks !
Would it be better to just wait for a machine with 5MT/D1-x mount versus a 4.5MT/L00 mount??
Better availabilty / cost effective?

[AWS]

FWIW, a couple weeks back I got an 8" L00 backplate from CME in Michigan for $69, so converting your existing chucks may not be so bad. If the 5C has a drawtube they don't seem that hard to make.

[nickel-city-fab]

OH just great !!! Thanks !
Would it be better to just wait for a machine with 5MT/D1-x mount versus a 4.5MT/L00 mount??
Better availabilty / cost effective?

Frankly I think its a toss-up far as what different kinds of mounts. I know you wanted to get away from the threaded spindle and move up a notch, but I think something thats already tooled up is likely to be a better deal. So you might just want to play the patient game and keep an eye on all the craiglists, PM and the dealers etc. I like to browse HGR every now and then. A lot of it is junk but sometimes theres a diamond in the rough. https://hgrinc.com/?all=1&view&aisle...max_price&pn=1

[BCRider]

If you get or can find a 4.5 center then you have what you need to make your own 5C adapter. And making a draw tube to secure the 5C collets is not hard. When I did my own 5C chuck the draw tube was one of the simpler pieces of the project.

You went to a lot of trouble to move "up" to the Logan though. Was the Logan still not as big as you wanted? Do you really need the only slightly bigger machine? Or is it all about the lure of a proper QCGB for threading and feeds?

[Ringo]

If you get or can find a 4.5 center then you have what you need to make your own 5C adapter. And making a draw tube to secure the 5C collets is not hard. When I did my own 5C chuck the draw tube was one of the simpler pieces of the project.

You went to a lot of trouble to move "up" to the Logan though. Was the Logan still not as big as you wanted? Do you really need the only slightly bigger machine? Or is it all about the lure of a proper QCGB for threading and feeds?

the logan chucks are threaded, cannot swap to L00 backplate
The Logan new bench stand is not all finished yet. Nearly at the end of the new bench I came to realize that for all the work in the bench, I could have just got a bigger machine for the similar amount of work.
Then I used the logan to make myself some machinery skates, I realized it is the gibbs in the logan I don't like. it has those flat gibbs.
I do like threading in reverse, so I want a keyed or camlock chuck.
I do want tapered gibbs.
The dials on the logan sometimes slip, and booger you up
the dials on the logan are rather small, or my eyes are that bad,
I have collected enough tooling for logan I hate to see it go, but it has the unwanted threaded spindle, and I want a bigger spindle bore
The QCGB is not a deal on logan, I can gear swap imperial or metric now, and just plain turning, the carriage feed doesnt care which gearset is in at the time
yeah, the logan can turn metric, another plus for a machine I want to move on........

The 5C drawtube....they are pricey to go buy one, I heard of a guy make one from drawn tubing, can that be accurate enough? do you have to bore and turn the whole ID & OD?


edit, I found this, looks rather simple, does this look like it will work?
https://www.homemodelenginemachinist...ng-5904.30630/

[AWS]

the logan chucks are threaded, cannot swap to L00 backplate

Threaded does not necessarily mean no backplate; depends on whether the chuck was made with an integral mount or not.

[Ringo]

No, the threaded chucks are threaded as in threaded. no backplate.
they are naturally 1 1/2-8

[Doozer]

No, the threaded chucks are threaded as in threaded......

Oh, they're threaded, not threaded. Eye sea.

-D

[Doozer]

No, the threaded chucks are threaded as in threaded. no backplate.
they are naturally 1 1/2-8

See the solution with your imagination, not with your eyes.

-D