Help with restoring a BusyBee GF127G / Grizzly G1003 12x37 lathe

[machinist60]

This lathe has had a somewhat unsuccessful CNC conversion done in the past and now I want to convert it back to manual operation. Parts have been lost. While many can be made or bought locally some gears are problematic. The power feed worm and worm wheel and the cross feed power feed drive pinion are missing.

have figured out the cross feed drive pinion is a module 2 22tooth 10mm thick gear. It is a little more difficult to figure the specs for the worm pair. The axial spacing is ~28mm, the worm tooth spacing is ~5mm, the wheel has 17 teeth and the pitch circles look about equal from a photograph.

If anyone can provide accurate specs and better still a source, for these gears it will be much appreciated.
Thanks, John.

Error in title, can't correct: BusyBee GF127G should read BusyBee GF1237G

[jd99]

why not just phone BusyBee. I have found they have spares in the past.

[The Metal Butcher]

Is it really going to be cost effective to convert it back missing those parts? I'd think it's probably either scrap, or a good candidate to finish the conversion on. I'm not one for speaking about wasting time on poor choices of projects, but if you were gonna spend a bunch of time making new parts or buying them, why not start with a better candidate, like an orphaned old toolroom lathe needing a drive conversion or something?

[David Powell]

I second Metal Butcher s post. I gave my BB12 37 G to my apprentice when I shut my shop. I used it for 20 yrs or so but never liked it.
. Regards David Powell.

[Sparky_NY]

Agreed, finish and clean up the cnc retrofit or just get another complete lathe. The missing parts will be cost prohibitive to restore it to manual considering the value of the lathe when done. That is assuming you can get the necessary parts ! I have converted manual lathes to cnc, so many changes are done that returning to manual is not practical even if you have the parts. Often overlooked is the fact that you can operate a cnc lathe in manual mode quite nicely if desired.

A quick google search showed the G1003 grizzly was a 80's vintage machine, being 40 years old, or close, the odds of finding parts will be extremely unlikely! I found 30 year old posts of guys looking for parts that were no longer available THEN !

[RB211]

It would be easier to restore the CNC modification and "tune" it so it is acceptable. Or sell the lathe and buy what you really want. Or buy some gear cutters and make some gears.
CNC is easier because all the parts are "off the shelf"

[Baz]

Instead of trying to get original parts just redesign to fit wha you can get easily. It is a generic design so probably several other makes that are the same with different paint or still the same design after 50 years. You can also just use a separate small DC motor for the feed isntead of trying the traditional complicated methods of getting it off the one and only motor a lathe owner could afford.

[machinist60]

Thanks to all who responded. This lathe has seen little use. The CNC conversion was done long ago with non-standard parts and the carriage ball screw was such that work could not be done close to the chuck. I plan to restore the power feed with common parts and make the rest, we'll see how it goes.

[RB211]

Thanks to all who responded. This lathe has seen little use. The CNC conversion was done long ago with non-standard parts and the carriage ball screw was such that work could not be done close to the chuck. I plan to restore the power feed with common parts and make the rest, we'll see how it goes.

Why not a Clough42 ELS? Sounds like a perfect candidate, won't need to worry about gears.

[Mcgyver]

agree with the Butcher.....you'd probably pocket some dough selling a working cnc and replacing it with a solid standard modern or something and save 100's of hours. Yeah labour of love, I know, but put we're only on the orb for so long..... put the labour of love into a 10ee or antique Rivett or a something really special deserving 100's of hours of labour