Pedestals are in the basement...

For the first time I can declare a major part done. The pedestals are painted a polished and in the basement. I wanted to get a picture that would show the shine, but could not figure out a good way to do so. It's not a mirror, but it's pretty close.

Returning to the project

I was away from the project for a week vacation, then another week to recover from the vacation, but I'm back to it now. I spent some time with body filler getting a nice fillet in the corners by the headstock. The welds there were pretty rough and I figure this looks much nicer and will be easier to keep clean. Here it is with a coat of primer on it.

I also finished the headstock pedestal and I'm about done with the tailstock pedestal. I'm still learning the best process. Here's what I'm doing now for a nice finish:

1. Use body filler to smooth out any major scratches and other issues. I've also done a bit of grinding to smooth out some welds.
2. Prime with the Rust-o-leum industrial primer. I'm usually doing four very light coats a few minutes apart. Wait overnight for this to dry.
3. Sand the primer. This shows any issues pretty well and I can do more body filler and more sanding if needed. I've often had to repeat this process to get a smooth finish.
4. Four coats of the Rust-o-leum industrial almond. Again, very light coats with a few minutes between. Let dry 24 hours.
5. Wet sand the paint with 320 or 400 grit paper. I know this seems course, but I'm putting on another coat.
6. Four more coats of paint. Again, dry overnight.
7. Wet sand with 800 grit paper.
   
8. Four coats of Rust-o-leum industrial crystal clear. Dry overnight.
9. Wet sand with 600, 800, 1000, and 1500 grit paper. I found I had to start with a courser grit to smooth out the clear. It's pretty tough, but you have to be careful not to sand through anywhere. If you sand through, go back to almond and catch up!
10. Rubbing compound, then polish.

I've found this gives me a nice high-gloss finish. It takes a while, but looks really good. The clear is very hard, you can't easily sand it off, so I hope it will better protect the finish from the ravages of machining in the future.

Painting, painting, painting, and the chip tray

I'm working my way up from the floor. The pedestals are both in the painting process. I'm painting, wet sanding, painting, wet sanding and finally will clear coat. It takes a while, but each pass looks nicer. While waiting for paint to dry I'm starting in on the chip tray. It was caked with grime when I got it, but is now down to bare metal everywhere. I'm using body filler to fillet the rough welds under the headstock so they will be easier to clean later. There's a few minor scratches I took care of and only a couple of dents. The rail is very rough so I'm using filler to smooth it out. This is before any sanding. I bent the end a bit dismantling, but have hammered that back flat already.

Work on bed and painting the pedestals

I had a nice full day today to work on this monster. I have been spending some time on the bed. The sides and ports are roughly machined. Clausing had used some filler to smooth out the sides and the ports were left somewhat rough. I'm working on using body filler to smooth out the visible surfaces that will be painted. I figure a very smooth paint job will not only look nicer, but be easier to clean. I've little experience with body filler. I've been trying Bondo, a lightweight filler from Napa, and USC Body Icing. What appears to work is to fill with Bondo, then smooth the surface with the Body Icing. Body Icing says it is paintable, pourable, and self leveling. I don't get that at all. I can barely squeeze it from the tube and it is much thicker then regular Bondo. I wonder if I got a bad batch? It does make a very smooth finish, though and is very hard.

In case you wanted to know, the bed completely stripped weights 185 pounds, actually much less than I expected for a 1000 pound machine.

I took time out to work on the pedestals. I have both of them painted on the inside and the tailstock pedestal smoothed and primed on the outside. In case you are wondering, the paint is Rust-Oleum Industrial. The color is Almond. I've never been a big fan of gray and see no reason the lathe has to be gray again, so I choose a color I like. I love green, but that would be way to Grizzly. The Almond does suggest Jet, but I can live with that. Their machine tools may be junk, but I have a Jet band saw I've been happy with. Besides, I can paint it whatever color I want.

Working on the bed

Most of today was devoted to working on the lathe bed. Lots of Citristrip has finally cleaned off the grime and old paint. It's not too heavy to move around, so I'm able to turn it to work on it. I'm going to smooth out the sides and ends with body filler. I tried a lot of stuff. Bondo does not stick reliably, but a lightweight filler from Napa works okay, as does the USC Body Icing. I sanded the sides, then applied a coat and have been working on getting it smoothed out. It should give a mirror finish when I'm done.

Teardown

You may wonder about the dates. I started this blog a couple weeks after I got the lathe, so I'm catching up right now.

I've taking it all apart, which has been fun. I'm taking lots of pictures and bagging the small parts and labeling them so I hopefully can get it all back together. The inside of the headstock is very clean and in great condition. No wear on any of the gears that I can see. Compared to my Chinese 9x20, this sucker is built! Everything is larger and well design and fits like a glove.

It's been fascinating to take something that weights more than half a ton and reduce it to parts that I can carry around myself! Well, maybe not the bed, but I can lift one side of it no problem, so it can't weigh that much. I'm going to stick a scale under it soon just to get an idea what it does weigh.

Grime

The grime is positively incredible. It's up to 1/4" thick in places and is a hard, congealed mess loaded with sharp swarf. It doesn't even scrape off. I took some parts and pressure washed them and some of it comes off, but some is like varnish. But, Citristrip seems to work wonders on it and the multiple layers of paint as well.

You can see the slave cylinder for the variable speed drive. There's parts missing so it would be very hard to recover it from dead and I don't plan to.

A benefit of the grime is that I think it really protected the machine. As I get under the garbage, the machine looks very nice. The ways are in great shape and nothing is damaged or broken that I've found. I am going to completely restore it including a complete teardown, strip, and repaint.

Getting it home

I rented a Uhaul trailer and drove to Elkhart, Indiana (about two hours) to pick the lathe up. I got it very cheaply from a dealer who was going to part it out. The variable speed drive is dead, but I'm planning on putting in a variable frequency drive, anyway, so I'll just drop the entire system. I'm still not sure about losing the clutch and brake though.

It was incredibly filthy when I got it. The grime was so thick in places that I could not even pressure wash it off. Most everything is here. The threading chart is gone and I need some minor parts here and there. Getting it off the trailer was an experience. I've never tried to move 1000 pounds around like this before. I bought the requisite engine hoist, but it would not reach far enough to get to the center of gravity of the lathe. I had to push it to the end and then lift it over the tailgate. Next time I'll know to push it onto the tailgate and then just lift it off, but had to start somewhere, right?

Selecting a lathe

I've always wanted to try metalworking, so I did what so many people have done before: I bought a minimill and a 9x20 lathe from Harbor Freight. I have mixed feelings about these machines. On the one hand they are very cheap and can do good work. On the other hand, they are really poorly made and I mean REALLY POORLY MADE. They are just this side of junk. So, I decided I wanted something more substantial. I've not found a good choice for a milling machine (I can't get a Bridgeport to my basement), but there are lots of great American-made lathes around. After looking around, I found myself most attracted to the Clausing 4900 and 5900 series lathes. I almost bought a 4900 locally. Then I found a 5914 in Elkhart, Indiana which I bought and have launched into restoring. I'll try to write about some of my experiences as I go along. The picture is the one I was sent of the machine from the used equipment dealer. Yep, it's filthy, but it's a solid machine.