Purchasing a Hendey lathe

M.B. Naegle · Mar 2, 2022

looks like a taper pin. Use as large a punch as you can fit in the small end and give it a good hit. The misshapen hole on the small side looks like it's been re-drilled before and the larger side has been mushroomed over.

Sumo91 · Mar 2, 2022

M.B. Naegle said:
looks like a taper pin. Use as large a punch as you can fit in the small end and give it a good hit. The misshapen hole on the small side looks like it's been re-drilled before and the larger side has been mushroomed over.

I'll give it another go tomorrow. I started off eith soft blows, but was hitting it pretty hard towards the end. My punch fits in the hole good. I'm just worried about bending the crossfeed screw hitting it too hard

Sumo91 · Mar 3, 2022

Got the ball crank handle off, ended up using a 1/8 drill bit and drilled straight through. It worked great. Got the compound slide off, cleaned the ways with mineral spirits and a Scotch-Brite pad, and did more general degreasing. I started to degrease the compound slide, and clean out the oil ports. I need to pick up more brake cleaner and carb cleaner.

I filled the apron reservoir with a mixture of gear oil and mineral spirits, just something to clean amd lubricate for the time being, it was what I had on hand.

Gonna run power for it soon. Just gotta get all the materials. Then I need to source a cheap VFD to convert the single phase to 3 phase. Probably will just order something off of Amazon. I didn't have any luck on Craigslist, which is surprising for the Houston area.

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

skipd1 · Mar 4, 2022

I just noticed your thread.

Looks like your doing a great job getting your lathe cleaned up. I also have a 12x30 18 speed that's a little older than yours (1938). I have mine pretty much completely disassembled and everything cleaned and painted except the main casting and headstock. I have been documenting my project on the other machinist forum if your interested.
I will start to monitor your progress and give you any help if I can. Here is the link below.

Hendey 12x30 inspection, disassembly and cleaning -

The Home Shop Machinist & Machinist's Workshop Magazine's BBS

skipd1

Sumo91 · Mar 4, 2022

skipd1 said:
I just noticed your thread.

Looks like your doing a great job getting your lathe cleaned up. I also have a 12x30 18 speed that's a little older than yours (1938). I have mine pretty much completely disassembled and everything cleaned and painted except the main casting and headstock. I have been documenting my project on the other machinist forum if your interested.
I will start to monitor your progress and give you any help if I can. Here is the link below.

Hendey 12x30 inspection, disassembly and cleaning -

The Home Shop Machinist & Machinist's Workshop Magazine's BBS

skipd1

Skip,

I came across your thread before purchasing my lathe. You have tons of useful information and I really enjoyed reading it, the pictures are super helpful! I got the carriage cleaned up today. Took me quite awhile. Cleaning out the oil ports was no joke, they were filled with grease and chips. I used a can of brake cleaner and carb cleaner, then filled my oiler can with gear oil and pumped the oil ports with as much force as I could. The thick oil along with the pressure from the oiler really helped get out all of the big stuff. I took alot of parts to the machine shop today to get them cleaned in a hot tank. I should be picking them up shortly, they were simply too greasy for me to clean up with the limited supplies and work space I have.

I need file the big burrs off of the ways, then stone them, but I have no clue what stone to use, or how much they cost. I've never done it before

M.B. Naegle · Mar 4, 2022

Sumo91 said:
...
I need file the big burrs off of the ways, then stone them, but I have no clue what stone to use, or how much they cost. I've never done it before

A fine sharpening stone like you would use on a pocket-knife is a good start. You can also get (or make) "precision" stones that are the same rock, but ground flat, but IMO they would be wasted on a clean-up job like this, and are better suited to stuff like tool and die work or very precise way refitting.

That said, IMO 90% of the precision of stoning things is in the way you do it, which isn't very complicated. I was taught to work in figure-8's as much as possible, as it will hit a burr from every side, but on narrow surfaces like your lathe ways, you have to work within the space you have. Big thing is just watch what you are stoning as in a couple swipes you will see bright shiny spots develop on edges and burrs. Keep your stone level with the work and just keep going until you see the edges of the shiny spots start to blend into the surrounding area. If you're only seeing shiney lines on the edges of the surface and not the body of the surface, you're probably pushing it to one side as you go. So long as you only get shiny spots and don't stone it down until EVERYTHING is shiny, then your stoning won't change a part dimensionally. Don't bear down on the stone much, just keep it moving and let it kinda self-level against the work.

It also really really helps to clean parts before you stone them so you don't load up the stone with grime rust and paint. Use mineral spirits or a light oil as a cutting fluid really helps too.

Keep an eye on the surface of your stone and as soon as it starts "loading up" with grit and grime, wash it in mineral spirits or gojo hand cleaner with a plastic brush. In general it should clean up quickly and easily. If you see little shiney spots on the stone, that's metal that's building up on the surface. You can run it over another stone, or a piece of sand paper on a flat surface, or use a pick to carefully flick out the metal. Those spots can scratch your surface if they build up too much. The cleaner and more evenly you stone, the less of that you will see.

Sumo91 · Mar 4, 2022

M.B. Naegle said:
A fine sharpening stone like you would use on a pocket-knife is a good start. You can also get (or make) "precision" stones that are the same rock, but ground flat, but IMO they would be wasted on a clean-up job like this, and are better suited to stuff like tool and die work or very precise way refitting.

That said, IMO 90% of the precision of stoning things is in the way you do it, which isn't very complicated. I was taught to work in figure-8's as much as possible, as it will hit a burr from every side, but on narrow surfaces like your lathe ways, you have to work within the space you have. Big thing is just watch what you are stoning as in a couple swipes you will see bright shiny spots develop on edges and burrs. Keep your stone level with the work and just keep going until you see the edges of the shiny spots start to blend into the surrounding area. If you're only seeing shiney lines on the edges of the surface and not the body of the surface, you're probably pushing it to one side as you go. So long as you only get shiny spots and don't stone it down until EVERYTHING is shiny, then your stoning won't change a part dimensionally. Don't bear down on the stone much, just keep it moving and let it kinda self-level against the work.

It also really really helps to clean parts before you stone them so you don't load up the stone with grime rust and paint. Use mineral spirits or a light oil as a cutting fluid really helps too.

Keep an eye on the surface of your stone and as soon as it starts "loading up" with grit and grime, wash it in mineral spirits or gojo hand cleaner with a plastic brush. In general it should clean up quickly and easily. If you see little shiney spots on the stone, that's metal that's building up on the surface. You can run it over another stone, or a piece of sand paper on a flat surface, or use a pick to carefully flick out the metal. Those spots can scratch your surface if they build up too much. The cleaner and more evenly you stone, the less of that you will see.

Man I really appreciate the detailed reply! This will help immensely. I'll have an old knife sharpening stone that's small, flat, and will work perfect for this.

skipd1 · Mar 6, 2022

If you don't have access to a surface grinder you can flatten a sharpening stone on a diamond sharpening stone to get it as flat as you can. The most important issue is you only want to take any high spots off the major surfaces. You definitely don't want to remove any parent material.

Sumo91 · Mar 7, 2022

Made alot of progress, albeit slow progress. Wire brushing and scraping decades worth of gunk takes quite awhile. But at least when I'm ready to disassemble and paint, it will be pretty painless.

I got all sliding surfaces, oil ports, and ways completely clean of gunk, grease, chips, scarf, buildup, etc. I oiled everything with gear oil, and all seems great for what it is. There is some wear on the compound slide, if I adjust the gib too much, it binds on the ends of the slide, but if I loosen it, it has backlash in the center. I'll address it once I'm able to make some cuts and determine more about the machine.

There are some repairs that were done, all to the taper attachment. And from what I see, they did a great job. Some were brazed, and one looks like it is stick welded. Definitely a skilled craftsman that made the repairs.

Parts I'm missing for the taper attachment include the rod bracket clamp, and the thread stop rod. No big deal, those can be fabricated fairly easily.

I'll be working on tearing down and cleaning up the tailstock tomorrow.

Then onto the (original?) 4 jaw chuck. The 3 jaw chuck that's currently fitted is an American made Cushman chuck. No.8236E5

I've tried emailing hendeyman about some brass labels I need, but haven't heard back. I tried [email protected] but maybe it went to spam.

Here's some pictures of my progress, and the repairs I've noticed along the way

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Sumo91 · Mar 8, 2022

Taking the tailstock apart, and there is a .005 shim between the top and the base, only on the front side. I'll clean and reassemble without the shim, and adjust whenever I'm able to make some cuts

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

dundeeshopnut · Mar 8, 2022

Leave the shim in there! If you are lucky it will be all you need, and if so go buy some Powerball tickets!

Sumo91 · Mar 8, 2022

dundeeshopnut said:
Leave the shim in there! If you are lucky it will be all you need, and if so go buy some Powerball tickets!

Will do! I believe the tailstock has a dead center installed. It doesn't turn or anything. How would I tell the difference between a dead center and live center if the live center is seized? I have zero experience with this, so I figured I would ask the professionals! I'll post some pictures

I got the tailstock completely disassembled and cleaned, and I had to get another keyway from the hardware store, it needed a quarter inch keyway, and this one was worn down to .237

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

johnoder · Mar 8, 2022

Will do! I believe the tailstock has a dead center installed. It doesn't turn or anything. How would I tell the difference

Its easy - a live center ordinarily has an "enlargement" for a set of bearings - while a dead center is more or less one piece of metal - no bearing housing

Dead center lathe - Google Search

Have fun

Sumo91 · Mar 8, 2022

johnoder said:
Its easy - a live center ordinarily has an "enlargement" for a set of bearings - while a dead center is more or less one piece of metal - no bearing housing

Dead center lathe - Google Search

Have fun

Thanks John! Looks like a dead center. This has been a really fun learning experience tearing this sucker apart

dundeeshopnut · Mar 8, 2022

Actually, you have a dead center and a couple of drill sleeves there. All should come apart fairly easily.

Sumo91 · Mar 9, 2022

Got the tailstock finished today and it is smooooooooothh, I can give the handle a good turn and it will spin and spin. Hopefully that's a good thing. The locking lever took a little while to adjust, but it holds the quill in place pretty firm now.

It looks to have the original motor, which is really good to see.

I have a question about the carriage. Whenever I turn the handle to move the carriage back and forth, how much resistance should there be? It has some resistance to it. Which I imagine is to be expected as heavy as it is. The resistance doesn't change throughout the travel of the carriage. I hung a 10lb weight from the handle, and it turned it. But I know a 5lb weight wouldn't turn it. So ill say 8-10lbs of resistance to turn the handle. All ways and sliding surfaces have plenty of oil.

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

johnoder · Mar 9, 2022

I have a question about the carriage.

See if star knob in center of carriage hand wheel is actually loose. This is the "on-off knob" for the longitudinal power feed -

Sumo91 · Mar 9, 2022

johnoder said:
See if star knob in center of carriage hand wheel is actually loose. This is the "on-off knob" for the longitudinal power feed -

Is this something I need to take apart to get to? There is a nut holding the handwheel on, but it's tight. Reading the hendey operating manual, and the parts manual, I can't find the star knob in the center of the handwheel you're referring to. All levers are disengaged for cross feed and longitudinal feed. Whenever I pull up on he longitudinal feed handle, I can't turn the wheel. Here's a picture of my apron

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

johnoder · Mar 9, 2022

My apologies - your lathe is "too new" to have those "knobs"!

Sumo91 said:
Is this something I need to take apart to get to? There is a nut holding the handwheel on, but it's tight. Reading the hendey operating manual, and the parts manual, I can't find the star knob in the center of the handwheel you're referring to. All levers are disengaged for cross feed and longitudinal feed. Whenever I pull up on he longitudinal feed handle, I can't turn the wheel. Here's a picture of my apron

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Sumo91 · Mar 9, 2022

johnoder said:
My apologies - your lathe is "too new" to have those "knobs"!

Ahhh that makes sense. I appreciate the help regardless, your posts are very informative and I enjoy reading them.

Purchasing a Hendey lathe

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