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Need help with a vintage lathe

1K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Tony1212 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Back in February, I created a thread asking for help identifying my grandfather's old lathe. Wildwood pointed to a catalog that leads me to believe it's a Heston & Anderson No. 100 lathe from the early 1930's. Thanks everyone that helped me out in that thread.

But now I have a new problem:

I got an Amazon gift card and finally purchased some turning tools. I pulled the motor I had in storage and hooked it up to the lathe. Everything worked great. So, I put in a piece of 1" dowel (I figured I'd have less of a chance to catch corners by turning something that is already round) between centers and turned on the motor.

The motor spun but the lathe did not - the motor's pulley was slipping on the belt.

It looks like when the spindle is getting jammed up against the headstock (see 3rd picture below) when I tighten the tailstock. In order to get the spindle to turn, I have to almost back the tailstock completely off of the wood and the wood comes off of the spindle and spur. There is no taper on the spindle, it's completely cylindrical.

Since I don't know what I'm doing, I'm assuming that my setup is the issue. This had to have worked at some point, or they would never have gotten made. Any ideas?

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#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
Few suggestions… first, make sure you have proper belt tension. If the belt is slipping on the motor pulley, then you probably need some more tension.

Secondly, how did the headstock/tailstopck spin before you put the belt on it? Could you turn it by hand? Any resistance or unusual noises? I believe back in your original thread I mentioned: "Figure new bearings and a belt as a minimum (~$20)." - however, I notice you have some oil caps on there, so you most likely have open race or sleeve bearings that require some oiling. Did you oil them? Those bearings will last forever if properly lubed… but run them dry, and they quickly destroy themselves.

Lastly… what are you using as a center on the tailstock? Doesn't look like you have one, but from the picture in the catalog, it may have a small pointy bit just barely produding? Anyway, did you lubricate it? A bit of paste wax or paraffin wax now and then is required when using a dead center.

Cheers,
Brad
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
Brad's info is all spot on. Some sort of adjustable tensioning setup like ControlFreak mentioned with help too. With your current setup, you might be able to simply loosen the screws holding down the motor and slide it out to get as much tension as you can and tighten it down again.

I went back and looked at the pictures in your earlier post and I can see that the tail stock has a point for a dead center but it looks like it barely sticks out. As Brad said, the point is the only part that should contact the end. Look to see if you can pull it out somehow or it is adjustable. Maybe it has a spring behind it that is broken or stuck? You might have to take the cylinder out of the the tailstock to work on it.
 
#5 ·
I will 3rd what Brad said. I had/have a lathe similar to this in design, with a dead center on the tailstock, and a similar open pulley to a motor behind it. I put wax, or sometimes oil on the tail stock, and make sure not to tighten down too hard. After that, belt tension, and if that doesn't seem to work, a new belt. Segmented or cogged.
 
#6 ·
Few suggestions… first, make sure you have proper belt tension. If the belt is slipping on the motor pulley, then you probably need some more tension.

Secondly, how did the headstock/tailstopck spin before you put the belt on it? Could you turn it by hand? Any resistance or unusual noises? I believe back in your original thread I mentioned: "Figure new bearings and a belt as a minimum (~$20)." - however, I notice you have some oil caps on there, so you most likely have open race or sleeve bearings that require some oiling. Did you oil them? Those bearings will last forever if properly lubed… but run them dry, and they quickly destroy themselves.

Lastly… what are you using as a center on the tailstock? Doesn t look like you have one, but from the picture in the catalog, it may have a small pointy bit just barely produding? Anyway, did you lubricate it? A bit of paste wax or paraffin wax now and then is required when using a dead center.

Cheers,
Brad

- MrUnix
It has brass sleeves that have oil spaces on the top (spring loaded ball bearings to seal the openings) on either side of the pulley. There is no slop or side-to-side movement in the spindle. From the advice in that previous thread, I used 3-in-1 oil to lube it up.

I don't think it ever saw much use in its life. I never saw my grandfather use it, nor did I ever see any turned projects from him.

Without a piece of wood, the spindle spins easily by hand or with the motor and belt. It's only after I put in a piece of wood and tighten up the tailstock that it refuses to move. I can turn the pulley by hand, but it is very difficult.

Loosening the the tailstock to a point where every turns easily, it barely holds the wood piece in place. A slight touch with a chisel and it jumps off-center.
 
#7 ·
I can remember some old school setups where the motor was mounted on a wood panel attached to a hinge allowing the motors weight to serve as the tensioning method.

- controlfreak
Yeah, that's my plan. The belt on there is a little too long, as well. I will be purchasing a segmented belt from Harbor Freight then putting the motor on a hinged board. I was just very excited to try out my new chisels and wanted to get everything set up quickly.
 
#8 ·
I went back and looked at the pictures in your earlier post and I can see that the tail stock has a point for a dead center but it looks like it barely sticks out. As Brad said, the point is the only part that should contact the end. Look to see if you can pull it out somehow or it is adjustable. Maybe it has a spring behind it that is broken or stuck? You might have to take the cylinder out of the the tailstock to work on it.

- Lazyman
Interesting. I just figured that was the way it was supposed to be (I have no previous experience to go off of). I will look to see if there is a spring issue in the tail stock. Thanks.
 
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