Sidney Machine Tool Company 14" Lathe

Unloaded a new lathe into the shop this past weekend. Needs a bit of work, but should suit the dedicated tasks it will be performing with a little restoration. shop number 2185, lot number 183. I'm guessing it to be from about 1915-1925, though that is just a guess.

I've already pulled the apron and fixed the cone clutch for the feed.
I am waiting on a new pump for my air compressor so I can sandblast the body of the lathe, then prime and paint. Currently working on disassembling and cleaning all the moving parts in the meantime.


The good:
-Lead screw seems to be just about mint, halfnuts seem to be the same.
-no spindle play, bearings all seem to be alright.
-mostly, if not all complete.
-everything moves more or less freely.
-Gears all look to be in very good shape.
-Drive-all unit added at some point, gives a bit more control if I want it.

The bad:

-The cross feed screw has a bit more play than I want. May end up needing to redo the screw or nuts.
-cone clutch gear in the apron for the power feed is frozen in the disengaged position. Gonna have to tear the apron apart.
-Saddle tool holder slot messed up on one end, although tool holders still clamp down nicely .
-the apron was repaired at some point, brazed right down the center. Ugly, but seems to be well done.
-Ways gouged in several spots, though they are in decent shape with little wear.
-Electric: 110v, rather than 220v, 18g cord, drum switch wired backwords, switches mounted badly and in weird spots.
-Paint is good in spots, but at least 50% of it was done over a thick layer of grease. They also sprayed over things like handles, racks, screw threads, indicator dials, etc.
-missing the lever for half nut engagement. Gonna have to make or buy one somewhere.
-missing locking lever for the tailstock.


The basic plan:

Fix apron issues: fix cone gear clutch, check cross feed screw, replace engagement lever, clean, strip and paint apron. Fix saddle.
Strip paint off the whole thing, redo paint.
Stone ways, add wipers.
Replace any other missing parts, tighten up what I can.
disassemble headstock, replace one oiler, wicks, etc.

Very nice Matt, I bet it will be an enjoyable overhaul project and a great addition to your shop.

Nice find Matt. There's nothing like old iron in metal working machines; you're going to love it when the restoration is complete. Make sure you use some thick tape on the ways when doing your sandblasting. Personally, I wouldn't sandblast. I used brake cleaner when I restored mine. It cleans the surface well and will take paint off.

My only other comment is that I don't think that tailstock is original to that lathe. It looks identical to the one (which I know is original) on my 1956 11 inch Logan lathe.

Looks newer than 1925, perhaps late 1930s or in the 40s. I am with John not sandblasting the entire machine perhaps selected parts. I restored a 1943 South Bend Heavy 10 years ago.

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Originally Posted by Keith Outten

Very nice Matt, I bet it will be an enjoyable overhaul project and a great addition to your shop.

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Thanks. I think it should.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Ziebron

Nice find Matt. There's nothing like old iron in metal working machines; you're going to love it when the restoration is complete. Make sure you use some thick tape on the ways when doing your sandblasting. Personally, I wouldn't sandblast. I used brake cleaner when I restored mine. It cleans the surface well and will take paint off.

My only other comment is that I don't think that tailstock is original to that lathe. It looks identical to the one (which I know is original) on my 1956 11 inch Logan lathe.

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I do like brake cleaner and carb and choke cleaner for cleaning the old grime off the lathe. So far neither has done much by way of paint removal on this lathe, although they both have done wonders in getting rid of the hardened oil and grease.

This will be the 3rd metal Lathe restore I'll have done in the shop, in addition to 3 wood lathe restores and a bunch of other machinery.. I like to have the paint 100% removed, all the way down to bare metal, before I prime and paint. I do protect the ways and any other part that is a bearing surface or critical in some other way before sandblasting. The paint that is on here was done very poorly, but the paint itself seems to be very tough. I left a cleaning rag with paint thinner on it on part of the lathe over night and it didn't even take the surface of the paint off. The brake cleaner effects the paint, but mostly just as a deglosser, then flashes off before doing anything more.

I agree with the Tailstock assessment. It does seem to line up properly, although in a few days I'll be at the point that I can do an alignment check.

The thing I am most annoyed with is the drive gear: some one put a plastic gear on the drive. (I couldn't tell at first, it looked Identical to the cast Iron gears with all the grease and swarf all over them. As soon as I cleaned the gearbox up a bit it became very evident.) Looks like I get to hunt down a new gear.


Picture notes:
A: Drive gear, 41 Tooth, plastic, missing a tooth.
B: Stud gear, 16 tooth, cast
C: Box gear, 32 tooth , cast

Could be. On further research I'd say it was 1920s. There isn't a good serial number list like there is for South Bend Lathes that I have found so I can't narrow it down much more than that. There is a 1920 catalog of with this particular model of lathe featured in it, so that is probably the earliest it would have been. Its a Sidney 14" light pattern lathe. specs and pictures match perfectly.

I think Sidney merged or what not and became part of Sheldon lathes who lasted into the 1960's. I will check Tony's site and update this info later.
Bill D.

You say 14" does it measure 14" or does it measure 16.5"?

http://www.lathes.co.uk/sidney/

And a litlte history
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...ool-co-114348/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill Dufour

I think Sidney merged or what not and became part of Sheldon lathes who lasted into the 1960's. I will check Tony's site and update this info later.
Bill D.

You say 14" does it measure 14" or does it measure 16.5"?

http://www.lathes.co.uk/sidney/

And a litlte history
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...ool-co-114348/

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I have read that thread at Practical Machinist. Good info in it.

The lathe is a true 14" swing. I think the "Light Pattern" lathes were badged in actual swing, whereas the others were badged at 2 or 2.5" under actual capacity.



I've made a bit of progress on the lathe so far. Stripped it all down, cleaned, primed, painted, etc. It is mostly back together now, but I still have a bunch to do on this lathe. There are several parts that I need that I can't either make or modify without the parts to fix the lathe. . .

Overall the lathe was in decent shape. It has had some crashes in its time. From what I can tell it got swiped by a forklift at one point. There are several Brazed or welded fixes on various handles and suck, but the worst break was the apron, as mentioned originally. All of them seem to have been fixed very well. The Welds/brazed material was done for function rather than appearance, so it will likely always look a bit uglier than it might have. (Its a working machine though, beauty contests aren't something my machines participate in. . )

The fixes/brazed/welded areas are why I take things down to metal when I get them. Better to know from the outset what the machine has been through and what limitations it might cause. Fortunately, in this case, a little more delicacy with the apron should be about all that the fixes mean.

It does need a new crossfeed screw and nut. Already bought From Roton Industries (Man, they ship fast! Less than 24 hours from time of order to delivery) The Nut and screw need modified a bit though, so I'll need to get that done by a third party locally since its a bit more than I can handle precision-wise with my Wood lathe.

I am still looking for a halfnut engagement lever. I may just end up making one eventually if I cant find one.

The tumbler gears are worn a little, and the shafts that they are housed in are badly scored. They need replaced before I put the lathe in operation.

The Drive gear needs replaced as well. The Gear is a rel=placement made of some variety of plastic. It is missing a tooth, and I'd rather it get replaced now than later when I need it in the middle of a job.

The three gears needed should be pretty simple, but Boston gear does not have EXACTLY what I need so I may just have them modify the three gears when I order.

Making a new Locking lever for the tailstock as well. I'm not planning on getting fancy, but I need some arrangement that works better than what is on there now.

I decided to leave the drive all transmission in place. I don't care for it, but it will hopefully be either useful or fade into the background so I don't notice it too much.

Still Have a bunch of touch up painting to do, but that can wait until it is 100% back together and operational.

I do have some new belts on order I may simply replace them, or I may switch the DriveAll units pulley to a flat belt pulley and go back to a flat belt. Not sure yet. I hate having to pull the spindle to change belts though. Also, since you have to remove the belts to pull the cover, a flat belt would make that much easier.

Next up is waiting for parts and switching the electrical over to 220v single phase from 110v. I'll need to make a switch mounting bracket once I figure out where I want it on this lathe.