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  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by pipeclay View Post
    Was that a loose thread of belting around the joiner,was that a trolley jack on the floor was that a link belt running on the power coed.
    I think that's yes to all three. The link belt runs the coolant pump. I am not so worried about the belt my local industrial supply place sells it- my 10 x 28 is a flat belt drive too.

  2. #17
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    Default New Machine Day

    Hi,
    Well she's home!
    I took plenty of pics, maybe too many but here are some of them.

    Unfortunately no pics of the unload, as soon as the forklift turned up and we pulled the tarp of her it started to bucket down so it was all a bit of a rush to get her inside.

    Inside and on pallets

    Note the wd-40, not the best choice but the only thing i had handy to spray on all the bare metal surfaces to get the water off. Luckily there is lots of thick old oil everywhere aswell.

    My "apprentice" trying to convince me he's big enough to use the machine


    Although the 2 ton engine crane could just pick her up, there was no way it would roll....


    Spindle speed chart, from a lazy 13rpm to 300rpm, also has a diameter guide for the speeds



    Gearbox plaque, 32 pitches from 3 (yes 3!) tpi to 48 tpi



    Thread counter built into saddle



    Gear train. The bottom gear is missing one tooth



    Larger back gear, missing 2 teeth, i havnt checked the two gears on the main spindle yet.

    Apron, surfacing and sliding is reversible from here, it is also clutched but it doesnt seem to want to stay engaged currently.



    Countershaft unit



    Clutch on countershaft



    Motor plaque-5hp 3 phase (yes i am lucky enough to have 3 phase)



    Machine from the back, you can make out my HM50 and Conrik tailstock in the background




    please continue to next post.....
    Last edited by ubeaut; 24th Feb 2014 at 12:13 AM.

  3. #18
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    Now some picks to give you an idea of the size.











    Yes thats a 32mm spanner...

    And finally,

    Typical! My "apprentice" falls asleep on the job



    Thats it for now.

    The bed is warn, as to be expected, but it seem to be warn evenly all the way along. There are no tight spots any where, it feels great even with no cleaning, lubing etc.

    Ewan

  4. #19
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    Tuckered out after a day helping Dad. Love it!

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anorak Bob View Post
    Tuckered out after a day helping Dad. Love it!
    He wasn't the only one that was tuckered out!

  6. #21
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    Default nice

    Holy Moly

    That's some machine

    The bed looks Ok in the pics . You must have some big projects planned .

    Mike

  7. #22
    Dave J Guest

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    Good to see it home and safe, and thanks for the pictures. Like Bob I love that picture of your young bloke asleep.

    I have my daughter and little 1 year old grandson living with us, and hope he will be a shed type of kid. My son was but he is grown up and I have lost my helper years ago and I now do his jobs. I have another 3 grandsons, that live 3 doors down aged 6,8 and 12, but the video games have got them, so unless I get some CNC machines I wont see them in the shed, LOL.

    It did have me worried when he was standing near the lathe when it was on pallets, and brought back a flashback I had with my son.
    I was painting safes for a guy around 12 years ago and decided to take my son along one day in the holidays, he kept coming over close to me and I kept sending him away as these safes weighed around 1.2 ton and where on a pallet. With the door open it was squashing the pallet at the front, so we put blocks of wood under them, but I still was ready to run if need be. Anyway the next day when he was not there a safe went over, no one was hurt, but I thought back to my son being there, and it still to this day it's always in the back of my mind of what could have happened if the pallet had given way when he was there.

    Keep us updated on your progress

    Dave

  8. #23
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    I sent an email on Saturday to LeBlond regarding the serial number and i got a reply this morning, here is the pointy end of it:

    This machine is so old we could not find any records on it, the best we could come up with is that it was manufactured in 1915. No parts or manuals would be available any longer for this old LeBlond heavy duty lathe. I presume that the lathe stills runs and machines parts, I guess they built them to last back in the day.

    Well my guess of 30's or 40's was a little off, but i don't have to wait long for her 100th birthday do I! I

    I have moved her into the back of the shed so she has the company of my other metal machines, got the countershaft unit up, lubed the bearings and gave her a run. Its the quietest machine i have ever heard, the only real noise is the tick, tick, tick of the belt joiner.
    I also cleaned and lubed the bed, and i must say its a absolute pleasure to move the saddle. If you leave the handwheel handle at the top of its swing, gravity is enough to pull the handle down and move the saddle. Each rotation of the wheel equals 1" of travel.

    The bad news is the clutch is stuck on, although i may have scraped some silicone off the outside of the plates, so maybe it could have been slipping and some bright spark stuck the plates together. Then again it could just have been old dry grease i scraped off...
    The other bad news is the faceplate provided is not from the machine. She will swing 440mm and has a 2 5/8 5tpi nose, the faceplate is 460mm and 2 7/8 6tpi. Hmmm interesting....

    I did work out a better way to move her than using both the palled jack and crane



    My young fella is still convinced he's big enough to use her....




    Ewan
    Last edited by ubeaut; 24th Feb 2014 at 12:17 AM.

  9. #24
    Dave J Guest

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    LOL, thats how I moved my 12 x 36 lathe around before I put wheels on it. It had a steel cabinet under it, so I just slipped the pallet jack under it like you have done.

    Not so good news about the clutch (or the face plate for that matter), but on these old machines it should be pretty simple to fix or make something up. I hate when people put gear with a machine that doesn't fit it.
    It sounds like your gibs need doing up a bit if the handle works it's way down.
    Doesn't look as big in that picture for some reason, but will make a nice old lathe to use. Lets face it, if it has ran for this many years, your son will get his wish of running it and will probably inherit it when he gets older.

    Dave

  10. #25
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    Default forum

    If you register and post a query on this forum:

    Antique Machinery and History - Practical Machinist - Largest Manufacturing Technology Forum on the Web

    you might find somebody in the USA with the same lathe

    Mike

  11. #26
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    Ewan,

    Have you looked at the illustrations of early Le Blonds on Tony's website? Look mighty like yours.

    Page Title

    And he has a manual reprint for some early lathes but probably not early enough. The Regal is a lighter lathe than your behemoth but some features may be similar.

    ML71A LeBLOND REGAL Lathes first types from early 1930s to early 1940s. An operation manual: "Running a Regal". This first LeBlond Regal handbook that deals, in a very comprehensive way, with all sizes of "Regal" lathes made during that period. (72 pages, small format). £30.
    .

    BT

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave J View Post
    LOL, thats how I moved my 12 x 36 lathe around before I put wheels on it. It had a steel cabinet under it, so I just slipped the pallet jack under it like you have done.
    I also had to chock between the chip tray and bed so the tray didn't just bend in half (having said that its pretty thick)

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anorak Bob View Post
    Ewan,

    Have you looked at the illustrations of early Le Blonds on Tony's website? Look mighty like yours.
    BT
    Thanks Bob, i have had a quick look, but you are right its very very similar. I think maybe his pics are slightly older, only because of the toothed clutch in the apron, and the lack of dog clutch on the feed shaft. Otherwise most of the details seem to be spot on.

    Ewan

  14. #29
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    Mike,
    I have searched that particular forum for info, but sadly havent found much. I will take up your idea and post there though.
    Rean

  15. #30
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    I had a few minutes this arvo so i pulled the apron off.

    I'm trying to post as many pics as i think i need to, with descriptions for 2 reasons, so i don't forget what i did, and so if anyone else in the world decides to do what i am there is some info. I have scoured the net and found very little.

    these 2 guides and gibs run against the front edge of the bed. The gibs have been built up with braze so i'll need to make some new ones. I can see i'm going to need to learn to scrape. If only i had the time and money to come to melbourne.



    Two halves of the dog clutch. Its in such good shape i dont think its been disengaged under load once



    The bearing and gear from the LH end of the leadscrew (missing the retaining nut from the pic- i think its still jammed in the socket) The gear is 2 3/8 PCD 8DP.



    A couple of the workings of the apron. All the gears are 10DP. the gear that drives the saddle is camed so any backlash can be adjusted out. The feed clutch is engaged by screwing a nob (something you dont say everyday) in which drives the cone shaped clutch faces together. To disengage all you have to do is grab the nob (he we go again) and the feed will unscrew it. So simple but looks like it will work great.





    The feed and lead screws up against the HM50. I'd bet more care went into those 2 screws than the whole mill. feed is 7/8", lead is 2 7/16" 4tpi



    Ewan

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