Headstock Bearing | 14.5 South Bend Lathe | 5.1a

GreenGander75 with Buddy Philips
Today we are taking a look at the headstock spindle bearings on the 14.5 South Bend Lathe. I've been talking with Mike, his channel is dynoguy, about the bearing on his lathe. He has an earlier model of the same lathe that I have. I wanted to give him a closer look at the bearing on my lathe for his reference and for you to have a closer look as well.
Mike has a great channel. Check out his channel dynoguy at:
bit.ly/2IwRy5x
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[@alejandrofonseca9679]

Thanks very much that information help me . because the bearing shell bolted on. is for now the solution to keep my south bend working until finish the original bearing YESSSSS

[@GreenGander75]

Glad it helped

[@johnstrange6799]

I bet it'll feel good to get that all cleaned up, painted and reassembled.

[@GreenGander75]

Hi John. It’s on the schedule for this evening and I’m ready to get going on it.

[@dynoguy]

Thanks very much Buddy, exactly what i needed to see, great job, i owe you one. It looks like your bearing shells are much thicker than mine, i will compare your measurements with my headstock, but i got the strong feeling that your's is significantly different, will keep you posted with my discoveries. Mine is a 1941 model, btw. I was a bit surprised seeing your bearing shells bolted on, but that's perhaps they did it in the factory. ... don't forget to change the oil wicks when you put it all back together. Thanks again, Mike

[@GreenGander75]

Hi Mike. Happy to help out. I'm not sure if the bearings are factory. I do know that this lathe has had extensive work done to it in the past. I have found the evidence of that work all over it. Some good and some bad. I do know that the headstock has been disassembled and worked on. This weekend I found evidence of a screw inside the cone pulley that someone had trouble removing. The only way to access this screw is to take the entire spindle apart. So that being said, if the bearing aren't factory somebody did a good job replacing them. It's a mystery. My lathe is roughly a 1947 model. I have new oil wicks ready to be installed :-)

[@dynoguy]

Yeah, that's the trouble with old machinery, you never know what happened in the past, i have an Alba 1A shaper from 1929 and some bits are a mystery, too. As long as it's reasonably well done, i just live with it and make the best of it. Perhaps we can convince "Lifes Jouneyman" to pull his bearing caps, apparently he's got a SB 14 1/2 as well

[@GreenGander75]

Removing the paint from the bearing caps today I discovered evidence that my lathe had sleeve bearings. The former adjustment holes for the bearing spreader had been filled in and blended out so they weren’t obvious until the paint was removed. With your lathe and my lathe both having the bearings replaced it makes me wonder if there was some issues with the old sleeve bearings. I think it would be great if “Life’s Journeyman” would look at the bearings on his lathe for comparison and to see if they have been replaced also. I’ll have some photos of the bare metal caps in my next video late this week.

[@dynoguy]

Well, this does not surprise me, it's just normal that machinery gets repaired over it's lifetime. I still think that there was a version where the spindle ran in the casting, my engine bearing shells are only about 2mm thick. And when i watched yours, it looked quite different to what i've seen elsewhere. All we need is another machine in original state to look at.

[@RustyEast]

Can you switch the top bearings with the bottom.

[@GreenGander75]

Rusty. I think with some modifications to the bearings it’s possible. The top bearing doesn’t have a hole large enough for the oil felt, so it would have to be enlarged. Otherwise the top and bottom seem to be identical. However if I was in a position of needing to replace the bearings I would do everything I could to find new bearings or some other suitable replacement. Thanks for the question and for watching!

[@Timburcham-lr5tu]

I'm looking to make new bearings for my lathe. What material are the bearings made out of? Bronze or brass ?

[@GreenGander75]

Hi Tim. I believe the bearings are made of bronze.