Springfield lathe video

[Doc Nickel]

Some of you may recall a '42 Springfield 16" lathe I've been working on for entirely too many years.

Here's what it looked like in August of 2013 when I dragged it home...



And here's what it looked like in January:



I have since put several hours of use on it, and it's proven smooth, powerful, reliable and accurate. And yesterday, I had a couple chunks of heavy-wall pipe to bore out, and since I had the camera and tripod out already, I put together a quick video:

Not bad for a machine built almost eighty years ago, which was probably scrapped at least once, was used by several ham-handed operators over the years (I know several of them, none are particularly sharp) and then left out in the Alaska weather for at least five years, if not ten.

With a freshly-ground bed and newly-Mogliced carriage, she's ready for another eighty years.

Doc.

[plunger]

Looks a bit on the light side.Damn fine job. What kind of bearings did they use eighty years ago.

[macona]

Finally got something for the little stuff, huh?

[Black Forest]

That is an amazing transformation. Great job.

[Doozer]

Those power feed clutch handles look a lot like the Dean Smith and Grace design.

-D

[Dan Dubeau]

Looks great Doc, I hope you get many more years of happy service from it.

[plunger]

Isnt it just wonderful to resurrect something like this. It could have been recycled and landed up in some chinese brake discs but lives to work another fifty years. It must give great pleasure to switch this machine on. Its actually amazing how little manual lathes have changed over the last fifty years. This is so much superior to any new chinese machine of similer dimensions. You are spoilt for old iron in the States etc.

[skunkworks]

Who centers work like that!?

Great job!

[Richard P Wilson]

Who centers work like that!?

Great job!

Doc does, obviously! Its a bit more sophisticated than my method which would be to use the tip of the boring bar.

[Doc Nickel]

Who centers work like that!?

-I do, out of expedience. The bore of the pipes were so rough from rust pits, and badly lumpy-egg shaped, that using an actual indicator would have been an exercise in frustration.

And, I only had about 30 thou to take out of the bore. Just throwing them into a 3 jaw showed the bore is more like 90 thou eccentric to the OD, so I had to use the 4-jaw. The pointer was just to get it close, no way I could have gotten it "spot on" with those bores.

Doc.

[plunger]

-I do, out of expedience. The bore of the pipes were so rough from rust pits, and badly lumpy-egg shaped, that using an actual indicator would have been an exercise in frustration.

And, I only had about 30 thou to take out of the bore. Just throwing them into a 3 jaw showed the bore is more like 90 thou eccentric to the OD, so I had to use the 4-jaw. The pointer was just to get it close, no way I could have gotten it "spot on" with those bores.

Doc.

Every Pakistani machining youtube video Ive watched uses a pointer like that

[Michael Edwards]

Well done. That chuck wrench looks just like the one for my Lodge & Shipley

[BCRider]

Nice job on the restoration. It sounds like it was a labor of love and dedication.

But clearly you got yourself a great machine for the effort.

[Doc Nickel]

What kind of bearings did they use eighty years ago.

-According to the brochures, they rather proudly used Timkens. They are pressure-oiled, and when I cleaned out the sump (and lord knows when last that was done) I found virtually no debris whatsoever, and none magnetic.

That chuck wrench looks just like the one for my Lodge & Shipley

-Probably obtained from the same source. I got it from that fellow on PM that CNC plasma cuts them from AR400 or AR500. Needs a little grinding to fit a little better- his template is likely a slightly different "nut" than mine- but works great and was only, like, forty bucks.

Every Pakistani machining youtube video Ive watched uses a pointer like that

-I've learned a lot from those Pakistani videos. I don't have to keep my shop clean, safety glasses are unnecessary, loose flowing clothing is fine, and hammers are perfectly acceptable tools to fine-tune the adjustment of precision machine tools.

In this case, these tubes, part of a homebrew trailer "walking beam" sort of thing, as I understand it, were not high-accuracy pieces. Each one has about 15-20 thou of slop, and I told the guy I can't control what or where it may warp or distort when he welds it all together. I very much suspect that once it's in place, there may have to be some 'adjustment' with a die grinder and a sanding drum.

Not exactly a case where I need to get out the Last Word®.

Doc.
.

[Tundra Twin Track]

Very nice Doc,congrats on a Big Project ,nice to keep good machines from being melted down.I’ve had similar type projects,I usually run out of steam towards the Finish Line,Kudos for staying on course🙂