Clausing 5914 purchase

[Axkiker]

Well I just bought one... What does everyone think about them? Any specific areas of interest with these lathes?

Here is what I do know:

The good:

• Bed seems to be in good condition... At least better than what I currently have and is flame hardened. Very few nicks and no rust pitting etc.
• single phase
• Head stock seems tight
• Tail stock seems much much tighter than what I currently have.
• Has the clutch for starting while already under power. Kinda cool
• No broken gears in the head stock and no sign of shavings etc.
• Vari drive and hydraulics are complete

The bad:

• Has a few broken teeth in or around the quick change. nothing too major and nothing i cant braze and fix.
• The hydraulic parts are off of the vari drive but are with the machine.
• There may be a few bearings in the quick change which need to be replaced but again no big deal.

Anyways i'm really curious how people would compare my current 11" Rockwell to this new Clausing. The rockwell is an 11" and this Clausing is a 12" So they are similar in swing but are built very differently. Curious for anyone who has experience with both if they have an opinion as to pros and cons of each. All I can verify at this point is the Clausing has a slightly larger swing and weighs a couple hundred pounds more.


Also curious what people think about fixing the vari drive hydraulics etc. I have a VFD and motor setting around i can use. Would be it better to just ditch the vari and go VFD ?

Thanks

[lakeside53]

I dumped the hydraulic VariSpeed and converted a 63xx (similar to the 5914) to vfd. I kept the counter shaft and clutch/brake system. Machined pulleys make them work with J section poly-vee belts. Worked very well... but I had a 3hp motor to start with. I even used the old hydraulic speed control housing to hide the vfd potentiometer.

Pic - http://s238.photobucket.com/user/lak...?sort=4&page=1


Basically... if your epoxy coating on the vari speed or drive shafts is shot... convert to vfd. if not... consider rebuilding the original.

[Axkiker]

I dumped the hydraulic VariSpeed and converted a 63xx (similar to the 5914) to vfd. I kept the counter shaft and clutch/brake system. Machined pulleys make them work with J section poly-vee belts. Worked very well... but I had a 3hp motor to start with. I even used the old hydraulic speed control housing to hide the vfd potentiometer.

Pic - http://s238.photobucket.com/user/lak...?sort=4&page=1


Basically... if your epoxy coating on the vari speed or drive shafts is shot... convert to vfd. if not... consider rebuilding the original.

We think alike... I was already thinking about how I could hide the pot under the speed knob to keep an original look.

Ill have to look up with this epoxy coating deal is. Im unfamiliar with what this is ????

[J Harp]

Axkiker, did you get the one on Craigs List Louisville?

[Axkiker]

Axkiker, did you get the one on Craigs List Louisville?

yup sure did

[lakeside53]

We think alike... I was already thinking about how I could hide the pot under the speed knob to keep an original look.

Ill have to look up with this epoxy coating deal is. Im unfamiliar with what this is ????

The moveable disk slides on the epoxy coating, but it flakes off and cracks over time.

[Axkiker]

The moveable disk slides on the epoxy coating, but it flakes off an cracks over time.

Gotcha... Ill check it out when I get it back home. Im still kinda leaning to a vfd regardless but we will see when I can get stuff apart

[J Tiers]

No pics?

Then it didn't happen!

[J Harp]

Looks like a sturdy machine. Have fun fixing it up, I was tempted, but wasn't sure I would be able to make the necessary repairs without buying a lot of equipment to do it with. Let us know how it goes.

[Axkiker]

Ill post some pics as soon as i get it back. I gave a deposit and hope to pull it home tomorrow or Sunday. The repairs are I hope not that much different than what I dealt with when fixing my current Rockwell. (Gears shafts etc) Time will tell i guess...

Im anxious to see how this whole vari drive setup works. On one hand I want to see it in good condition so I can just fix and put back in service. On the other I kinda feel like a VFD is a better more modern alternative.

We shall see

[lakeside53]

There are tradeoffs with the vfd if yours has a smaller motor. Preservation and rebuilding of the of the jack shaft with brake and clutch is worthwhile.

Take a good look at all my pics -I have many more if you need them.

[JoeLee]

It's well worth the effort to repair the hydraulic variable speed and clutch brake.

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

[PStechPaul]

I am curious if this lathe is similar to the Clausing (Colchester) 12" machines we have in our school shop. I'm not sure what model they are, and I couldn't find anything quite like them on searches.

You can see the Clausings in the shop in this video, but not much detail:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKOzdVaVDig

[MikeHenry]

FWIW, there's a guy on the Yahoo Clausing group that does repairs on the vari-speed drives, including recoating the Turcite-like material on the pulley hubs (both the motor and countershaft pulleys).

About 10 years ago the otherwise nice Clausing 5914 I had just bought turned out to have a badly worm motor pulley. Clausing sold me a replacement pulley for $900 or so and may still sell them though the price may have gone up some <g>.

Mike

[Rosco-P]

It's well worth the effort to repair the hydraulic variable speed and clutch brake.

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

Very nice machine. It's so clean.

You have a sliding/floating chip pan within the chip pan? Great idea. Camlock tailstock?