I received Enco and MSC orders today. I was out of clear paint and needed some rubber to make the tailstock pedestal gasket and a few other smaller items. And, I'm setting up to try scraping so I can get the cross slide and compound really up to spec. I ordered a nice new surface plate from Enco. I have one I got at an auction, but it's old and a bit worn and I was able to detect about 0.001" or localized error. So, I ordered a new one for $36.95. As you can see, it arrived with a corner broken off. I called Enco and they are sending a new one tomorrow and told me to just toss this one. Seems like it's still a usable surface plate, though I don't know why I'll ever need three surface plates.

The new plate is 3" thick. The older one I bought at an auction is 4" thick (it's under the one in the picture, BTW). It would be nice if I could get that one back up to spec, but it's bound to cost more than a new surface plate does.

I'm wondering how this 70 pound block of granite can be precision made in China, shipped across the ocean, warehoused, and then shipped to me (for free no less) for all of $36.95. The shipping to me must cost about that much alone. I figure Enco counts on the good will they get by selling items like this at a loss or something. This is the first time I've had a problem with something ordered from Enco and they could not have been nicer or more efficient in dealing with it.

Cross slide

I took the entire cross slide assembly apart today and worked on cleaning it up. Someone apparently crashed it into the chuck or some work at one time, so there is some gouging on the headstock side. This won't effect functionality, but I will try to figure out a way to make it look nicer. Other than that, the parts all cleaned up very nicely.

After discussing it online, I'm setting up for scraping and will look at scraping the cross slide dovetails, though I'll likely spend a lot of time on practice before launching into something real. It should be possible to restore the functionality to original condition with scraping. I ordered a new surface plate and other things to attack that project starting next week.

Saddle

I started work on the saddle today. I have most of the paint stripped off. I pulled the oilers. I didn't want to have to mask around them and, besides, the oil channels need a good cleaning, anyway. They are 5/16" diameter press fit and MSC Industrial has them for $0.87 each, so I figure it's worth it just to have some that look new, anyway.

I'm saving up a list to order, so I went ahead and started in on the saddle even though I've not placed the bed on the pedestals, yet. I figure the saddle will need some parts as well. The casting is rough in places and will need to be smoothed out. I'm probably not going to worry about lapping until I get it on the lathe.

Rack and risers

It was very messy, but the rack cleaned up nicely and has been mounted. I hit the screw heads with a polishing wheel and it all looks brand new. I then mounted the risers and the bed is complete and ready to drop onto the pedestals. This picture also shows the name plate in place.

I spent quite a bit of time with a Scotch-brite pad and WD-40 polishing up the bare metal and ways on the bed. They all came out very clean. It's an older machine, so there are lots of nicks on the top of the ways and inside corners, but all bearing surfaces, the ones that really count, are very smooth and clean. There was a bit of rust, but it was all surface rust and did not pit or anything.

The next adventure is going to be getting the bed onto the pedestals. I need to make an Enco order first, though, to get some new rubber to replace the tailstock riser gasket. I can make one as nice as the original one.

Restoring it's identity

While I had the bed on the hydraulic table, I rolled it under the drill press and mounted the name plate. I cleaned it up the best I could, and it looks pretty nice, nicer than the picture on this blog. I'll likely update that picture at some point.

I drilled and tapped two 6-32 holes. The nameplate was originally mounted with rivets, which I had to grind off to remove it. There was also an inventory tag I discarded. I figure screws will look nicer and make it easier to remove should I want to do so.

Note the neat crossed lasers on the drill press. They are not always perfect and I need to adjust them a bit more, but they really made it easy to get this heavy bed and table lined up under the drill press head. Then I could drill and tap without worrying about breaking a tap off in the hole. I'm not power-tapping, BTW. There's a spring-loaded tap guide in the drill chuck that keeps the tap centered.

A new home

Neil and I moved the lathe bed to the basement tonight. It's sitting next to the base right now on the hydraulic lift table. Next projects include mounting the name plate, shining up the metal, and mounting other items such as the rack and risers. Then I'll figure out a way to drop it onto the bed and screw this all together again.

That hydraulic lift table is one of the best purchases I have made recently. I mainly got it to lift projects I'm working on so I don't have to lift them always by hand, and that has been very useful in this project. It's a 1000lb table, so I can actually lift the whole lathe and move it with it later on, though I'll have to make something to lift it by the bed, not the chip tray. Future project.

Starting to take form in the basement

Today I spent some time doing the final polish on the bed and risers and hauled them downstairs. The rubber gasket on the headstock end of the bed took quite a while to clean. It was coated with that hard grease the machine was covered with when I bought it. It took lacquer thinner to cut it, but it looks pretty good when cleaned up and is a pretty tight seal for being so old. The other rubber gasket on the tailstock end is not in very good shape, so I'll try to find some 1/16" rubber to make a new one to replace it with. It's hard to see the shine in the picture, but you can really see the lights reflecting off the tailstock pedestal and riser in the picture. I'm just glad it's starting to look like a lathe again.

The bed is all painted, but needs to sit a couple days for that final coat of clear to get hard. Then I'll work on getting it all shined up and see if Neil and I can lug it down to the basement.

Part of the reason for working so hard on the finish is the hope it will be easier to clean. I spent quite a while with a Scotchbright pad to clean up the surfaces on the tops of the risers and got quite a bit of dust into the chip tray. It was amazing how easily it wiped up with a bit of Fantastic, so this looks like it may work pretty well. Don't know about durability, but I'll find that out over time. I'm sure a year from now it will be scratched up quite a bit, but that's to be expected with use.