CLEANING THE APRON ON SOUTH BEND 9" Lathe 328 tubalcain 

These videos are absolute gold, I hope Mr.Pete/Tubalcain knows just how much he's helped people.... like tens of thousands of people.

Thanks for showing this . I have a 1944 South Bend, and I wouldn't trade it for anything , unless maybe a 10" South Bend so I could have the taper attachment. I'm 71 and still working as a millwright, and this lathe is in better shape than I am.

Stellar work!!! Of the highest level. Happy February Sir!!!!

This is by far one of the best videos in years. Reminds me of my late neighbor Gordy. Tremendous amount of knowledge in the old birds! Loved the train, dog barking and lawn mower. Made me feel like I was right there getting the education of a lifetime!

Just picked up one of these at an estate sale. I need to breathe life back into it. Thanks for the schooling, well done!

Excellent video, great to see what's going on inside. Thank you!

This has been good therapy. Blood pressure back to normal. Thanks!!

Love the way you teach people how to work and maintain our own equipment properly. I just bought a 9" model c myself and really want to convert to the model a in the future. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise with the south bend late.

Really great well I know what I'll be doing in a few days thank you for your time . You remind of my shop teacher he was a great man like yourself

It's wonderful to watch; an old machine getting taken care of.

Wonderful explanation Mr Pete! Will be very handy for my project. Thank you!

So I have looked back at many videos (nearly 2021 now; yours and others) and we collectively owe you a great debt. I find your videos both enjoying and educating. I can only say thanks, Lyle.

Great work. Desperately needed cleaning. Thank you

FANTASTIC I have been looking for an explanation on how the feed works. Thank you!

Thanks for another great video, Mr. Pete. Looking forward to the carriage.

This is fascinating. I love to see how machines work. I'm sure your disassembly, cleaning and reassembly has added years of useful wortk to this South Bend. This will be a wonderful series to watch.

I just picked up a SB model A so this video will be a great help to me. I hadn't planned to take the apron apart as it appeared to be working as it should. Thought just giving it a good dose of oil would be sufficient. But after seeing yours I guess it would be prudent to give it a once over to make sure the oil can get where it needs to be and get the gunk out that is sure to be there. I knew already that your channel would be my go to place for information on this machine. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what a great legacy you are creating for yourself. Thank you for all the great information you are making available to the world.

My 1950 Boxford A has exactly the same apron. I rebuilt mine about ten years ago and after watching your video, I may take it apart for a clean up. Thanks for the lesson, Mr Pete

Lyle, I bought a Model A last spring and ordered your course on lathe operation. Now with the colder weather starting in Minnesota, I starting the process of cleaning and restoring it. This series is very helpful. Thanks!

Thankyou, this helped me immensely refurbishing my Hercus Lathe.

Another very interesting video, Mr. Pete. It's always fun ti see what your up to in your shop.

I just picked up a crossfeed carriage for my 9-C and as I'm opening up the apron I'm watching your video! Very informative! I am now armed with the knowledge needed.

This series has excellent timing for me as my recently acquired South Bend 10k is practically identical to the 9A. I'll be doing soon what you are doing now and greatly appreciate the time you take to make these videos. Thanks!

Great stuff as usual, Professor. Thank you!

Lyle, I have a Southbend 9A that I have owned for over 25 years. I went through it a few years back. You did a very nice job, Thank you. One point that you might be interested in. The cap screw holding the clutch knob on. Originally that would have been a slotted screw with left-hand threads. I am sure that at some point in this lathes life, some hammer and chisel mechanic did not realize it was a left-hand thread, and broke the screw off. They then butchered it with the screw that exists there now. Gary, North West Arkansas 73 year old home shop machinist.

Wow, does this bring back some memories. A couple of years ago, I bought a similar lathe. It too was full of junk, but not as bad as that one. I had prepared for that job, by buying the manual with gasket kits from a seller on Ebay. That manual was a lifesaver. I have a nice Nikon camera and took lots of photos and referred to them often. Even now, I learned things about the SB I didn't know. Great video indeed. Thanks again for sharing with us. My lathe is a bit of a money pit, because I have purchased just about every update or gadget out there, and it's still a 9 in lathe. Ebay is my demon. I think I may have to attend some clinic, to keep from going into withdrawals from buying. Open heart surgery put a cramp in my style, but it looks like I'm back out there making chips. Again thanks for all the great videos and information. I look forward to your videos every morning. ....Ken, Marina CA

I am so thankful for your hard work! I just got a SB model C handed down to me and currently going through it. Started out as a total loss as to lack of qualified instructions but now moving forward

THUMBS UP......Now I feel a lot more confident about getting my "brand new to me"13 inch South bend /apart/and cleaned/and back together! Thanks again!

thanks for the great video. keep them coming.

What a fabulous piece of engineering design that apron is...

Thanks Mr Pete, this was very helpful when working on my UK Boxford AUD which is derived from the venerable South Bend.

I think you have conclusively proved your often-repeated comment about using compressed air on a lathe. I had no idea. What a bag of chips! Well done, Mr Pete.

Thank you for this video! I am going to clean up my 1939 South Bend again after 35 years of my use and will use your video as a guide. There is a South Bend lathe model "A" rebuild kit available on ebay for $49.95 and it has all the wicks and gaskets for rebuilding. Amazon also has the kits and includes a book on correct rebuilding, they also have some parts that you might need. Note for using silicone for a gasket, I am a jet mechanic and if we have to use RTV we put some on the part and smooth it out very thin with a single edge razor blade, do both mating parts and let them set until tacky. Clean off any globs that might be on the INSIDE or hidden face and assemble. This will prevent globs from being on the inside that will become like snot in the future and break off possibly clogging oil ports. We have had this happen on aircraft.

Thank you so much mrpete222! I have, I think a 1947, 9A S.B. It was given to me about 8 years ago. An acquaintance had it in a pole barn. It was a mess, talk about rust. A bunch of pitting on the bed except where the carriage was sitting for a long time. Any way I set it up and could not believe how accurate it was in spite of the neglect. The owner had no idea how to run a lathe. He is a landscaper. LOL He bought it from an armorer who unbelievably also neglected it. I cleaned painted and lubed everything except the inside of the Apron. I have gotten a lot of use from it. I've been noticing the carriage clutch and some of the controls aren't working like they should so I was thinking of checking out the apron. I was skeptical until I ran into this video. Thanks so much I feel very confident about doing this after watching and learning from you. You have a new subscriber. 83 year old tool maker now retired 20 years. John

You do really good work, thanks for being descriptive

Another excellent video Mr Pete! I've got 2 lathes that need to be taken apart and I feel more confident tearing into them now. Nice to see how the clutch works too. I was curious about that.

always love going back,and catching up on something

Thank You! Excellent tutorial.

Nice job, I don't have a lathe, but enjoy your machinery videos.

Brings back so many memories of restoring my South Bend.-Adan

Love the "behind the curtain " knowledge. Will also give you a mental view of how much oil to put in !!

Hi Lyle, $29.95 was just the color of the day, deluxe for 39.95 you got to pick from a plethora of different colors, and then the challenge was to remove the overspray from tires and door jams. Nice job of reassembly of the SB 9", we all had faith in you.

Thanks to Mr Pete I never use compressed air to clean any of my machine tools.

Excellent - I just purchased a South Bend 9 in. Model A - The 1st thing on my list is to tear down - clean & oil !!! Possibly even paint it - make her new again.

Hey Mr. Pete, just got my hands on a 1947 13" SBL. Missing a few parts and it's already disassembled, so may as well clean it up! Thanks for the video and I'll be watching the next. I hope you get to the reassembly of the whole thing soon. I need to get with you and buy whatever resources you have that you think will help me get this machine up and running again.

Thanks, Mr. Pete!

Thank you friend is all I needed to see to fix mine that I bought already missing parts.

Thanks for this segment too. I don't think my friend's 9A will require an apron cleaning, but this is an excellent presentation. Thanks for the time it took to do. I am a bit surprised you're not using a brass drift to tap that rack gear out.

Great video Mr Pete. I've done a disassembly on my heavy 10 and 13" lathe and while I'm no expert I wanted to comment that both the 10 and 13" machine have regular clutch assemblies in the apron. The clutch plates are similar to those that would be found in an automatic transmission but of course much smaller. Maybe sometime you could make a video for us about how to fix our worn out half-nuts?

Very interesting ... Thanks for sharing ... Stay safe ...

Very well done I have just picked up a SB 16/24.

Great video, I always enjoy watching your videos. I do have a few additional comments. 1: You are missing a spring that separates and holds the clutch shoes expanders in alignment with the shoes. it is unknown how important that spring is. 2: in some cases if you do not use a gasket on the Clutch backplate, the clutch will rub on that backplate and could cause problems. 3: the star knob retention screw is a left-hand thread. And yes it is the wrong screw. It is supposed to have a very large very thin slotted head. 4: all shaft wicks should be at the top of the shaft when installed. On some models a hole is drilled from the wick to the outermost portion of the end of the shaft to allow you to force oil into that wick. 5: generally, it is not recommended to use Greece on these machines. the reason is, Greece holds the chips more than oil. But this may not be a problem, if you're not using an air hose anywhere around your machines. Also a full wick/gasket kit is available for these machines on eBay. I just wanted to add a few points that may be helpful to others. Again thank you for making a great video. We hope you can continue for many years. Joe.

Very helpful. Thanks

Beautiful video. I’m doing the same thing to a 1937 class c 9” 4’ south bend

Great tear down video. I had to do the same to my SB9" Model A I wished I would have had your video when I did the same to mine.

Thank you for your continued teaching as one of the other youtube machinists said you are the "Godfather" of youtube contributors in the machinist venue love all your video's if that 9" needs a permanent home i sure can use one want to find one at a reasonable cost

I really like your videos, so educational. To clean out he metal shavings I would put a rare earth magnet in a plastic bag and pick up the metal shavings on the outside of the bag then remove the magnet over a bin and all the metal bits will fall off the plastic bag.

thanks that was an amazing video i love your chanel

Must be automotive years on the intro where it says 2017. Good explanation on the cleaning up and checking over.

Great video, Thanks for sharing this information with me. Now I can get started cleaning this on my lathe. Duane

Eu quero te agradecer pelo vídeo. Estou planejando construir um torno e este vídeo mostrando como funciona o sistema de movimentação do carro superior foi de grande inspiração. Obrigado ao Sr.

Nice job.

THANK YOU...for sharing.

RTV silicone can be cleaned up with methylated spirits/denatured alcohol or (depending on the formulation) maybe shellite/ronsonol, but in this case it's probably best left to cure, then physically trimmed with a razor/box blade. Now that the tube seal is pierced, put it in the beer'n'bait fridge (it'll give it a few years of shelf life rather than a few months). As always, I love your work, Sir.

Mr Pete, it would be interesting to see a repair to hand drive wheel shaft for the cartridge, this would be the sort of repair someone my need to do if they had acquired a lathe with such wear.Great video as always

I can't wait to see the cross feed being disassembled.

Nice job mrpete. Now I need to pull my Boxford model AUD apart to see why the clutch seems to slip. ( I can probably guess why after this video) Thanks for sharing. regards from the UK

Tubelcain, I know you get these types of messages all the time, but I felt compelled to leave a comment. Thank you, for everything you do for this channel and this community. Your videos contain an absolute wealth of knowledge, and your detailed explanations and narration do so much to bring us all into your world of experience. I've been watching your videos for years and every video I watch I become even more inspired to learn new skills and try new hobbies. I'm 30 years old now, and I plan on buying my first metal lathe this year, and in part, that's thanks to you. Thank you for all you do, and please don't change a thing.

I am viewing your Tips#328 for the first time.. Thank you for posting "Cleaning a South Bend 9" Lathe".. After Graduating from a 3 Year Machinist Course in 1961 I became a Research Technician at Dalhousie University Chemistry Department, where I Operated their Machine Shop from 1961 - 1973.. The first major Purchase I made was a South Bend 9" Lathe "A" Model.. There were other Lathes ... However, I was familiar with that Lathe and I felt comfortable with that Machine along with my capabilities.. Remembering... I was only 18.. going on 19... My biggest complaint with the Lathe was the FLAT BELT that drove the Headstock.. I was forever breaking the BOND that held the BELT Together.. AND the CHATTER the BELT made as it passed over the FLAT PULLEY(s) as it drove the Headstock..I was unable to make a proper Leather Bond of the FLAT BELT that drove the Headstock.. Shame-on-Me....

Thanks for sharing sir..

Riiiiight! I'll paint any car for just $99.95 No ups, no extras! (Unless you want the car masked, jambs painted....) Enjoyed seeing "what's behind the scenes" on the South Bend apron. Thanks!

on eBay stevewb sells complete wick and wiper kits for southbend lathes. 62$ includes the gasket and a rebuild manual. I bought mine from him and he was really professional with some questions I had when installing the kit.

thanks Mr Pete for sharing your knowledge, it's much appreciated, reading thru the comments because there is much to be learned in the comment section also, one particular comment reminded me of something that I used to tell my guys, if you give 10 mechanics the same job 7 if them will go about it in different ways all finishing with the same result, 2 of them will go about it in the same manner because one probably learned from the other and the last one will tell the other 9 you all did it wrong, the only way is my way, that one my friend is the least knowledgeable of them all!!, just my 2 cents

Nice to see that clutch mechanism. Knowing how it works may let me make an automatic disengagement system which will operate when the carriage reaches an adjustable stop. I'm thinking of a rotary cam to fit under (or possibly replace) the clutch tightening knob. The cam would tighten against a spring return and be held by a ratchet, and the pawl would be withdrawn by hitting the stop. (Maybe even by a sort of hammer activated by the stop so that the clutch would disengage instantly rather than incrementally.) I'd like to do it in such a way as to not modify any original parts. (Just in case someone wants to restore the lathe someday.)

Brilliant video Mr Pete, I have just started to restore a Boxford Lathe, which would appear to be a replica of your South Bend. Mainly cosmetic work, but I'm sure it will benefit from a complete teardown and thorough clean & regrease.I'm keen to see your next video on the carriage, and would like to know if you will be taking apart the headstock of your machine? Best regards, Chris.

well done sir and thank's

27:19 - Coffee must have kicked in...

That casting was amazing. I would like to have seen it machined

Interesting video. I was watching the key on the table when you said it was all back together. I assume that you discovered it and put it in.

...nicely done...i hate wearing gloves too!!!!

Do you have a video showing the methods and solvents that you use to clean parts? Would like to see your experience in that also. Thank you for all your wonderful knowledge,

We had an earl sheib in Dunbar WV when I was a kid, I guess he had a chain of stores, in the 80s the sign said they'd paint any car for something like $59.99 !

What timing! Now I can figure out why the clutch on my SB10 isn't working.

Very interesting. Thank you. would you be able to tell me where I can find a manual for a rockford metal lathe that I purchased. I'm slowly taking it apart and cleaning everything. any help would be appreciated. thank you for your time

Upcoming video: "Tubalcain changes his mind: machining the South Bend apron for a longitudinal feed shaft bushing." Looking forward to seeing you set up that wicked casting on the Bridgeport for boring! A fun basement winter project video!

How were you able to get the gear past its worm with the worm in place? It doesn't seem like that's possible.

I seem to be missing that lockout pin for the half nut lever. I wonder how I should go about replacing that.

Superb video! I miss the left hand threaded screw that holds the feed knob in place,as i can see it is left hand threaded,do you know the dimentions on that one?

Great video, I will reference it while cleaning the apron on my 1943 model A. Makes me wonder why they didn’t design a cover for the back of the apron to limit the chip build up.

Nice work. Its not everday you have to start with a shovel to clean a mo- sheen.

will the apron fall out if the lead screw is still in? incase i only want to clean the top slide? how did you remove lead screw? in the overnight cut scene how did you clean the piece?

Heck, it's all that goo that was holding it together. Probably going to be all kinds of back lash now, with some of the parts being so worn. Thanks for the video.

Thanks Mr. Peterson, now I can explain to my young apprentice how the clutch works on his old South Bend. Better yet, he can watch your videos and clean out 50 years of yuck!

Ótimo vídeo valeu

thank you I brought home a huge line shaft lathe - with no manual and thread guage unreadable. now i have a clue lol

I'm listening and I hear train horns blowing, and I don't know if it's local or over the video. Love what you do, keep it up until you're 95. Or 125, I don't mind.

Does soaking the apron in solvent affect the wick in the clutch reservoir? How do you remove any solvent in the wick? Or is it not a problem?

thanks now ill do mine again thanks Tom

Great video! I have mine apart now. My problem is that the apron hand wheel has a ton of wobble in it How would I go about fixing the hand wheel. By wobble it has a ton of nod in it.

Thanks again. What kind of solution do you use to clean gears etc. like this?