LeBlond Lathe Restoration - Part 7: Apron Disassembly 

In Australia there was a great advertisement series. Most Aussies reacting to your mishap which the advertisement used as their punch line would be "Bugger! ". I laughed as I think we have all been there and feel your pain. Hindsight is a great leveler. keep the great videos coming cheers Doug

Thanks for the real life video, Keith. luckily you can make a professional repair on it if needed.cheers.

Your disappointment was palpable all the way up here in Nuuk. We've all been there and done that. You did it on video and handled it well. It is all part of the process, and a good source of learning for all of us. Thanks for sharing. Great series.

Hey Keith, I'm a rebuilder by trade, that pin looked replaced, Leblond would have never left extra pin hanging out the small end, it probably kept coming loose and wallowed out the hole so they reamed it bigger and went a pin size higher, one of the old tricks for installing taper pins is to heat the part then drive the pin in so when it cools it shrink fits over the pin, that may be what happened on your machine who knows. sometimes on tight pins you can drill a hole through them to release the pressure and they usually tap out much easier. I enjoy watching your videos, most guys would have edited that part out and told everyone it rolled off the table and broke. keep up the good work! Chris German

Mistakes are all part of the human condition. Thanks for not trying to hide yours.

I agree with below Keith , that was real life stuff man , It happens to us all ! I bet you can make a new shaft or braze that one .. Thumbs up man ..

I called my wife in to watch the part where you broke the shaft and the aftermath. Her comment: "You could learn a lot from this man." She wasn't talking only about speeds and feeds.

My heart just sank when that shaft broke! I once snapped a similar shaft on the apron of my Sheldon lathe. I can assure you that I did not exercise the level of grace and control that you did. Mind you, this was my first lathe. I had no experience and I thought that I broke an irreplaceable part and therefore my lathe was ruined! I was un-consolable for a few minutes. When I calmed down and began to think clearly again, I decided to ask for help from my Richmond Vocational Technical Machine Shop Instructor. He showed me how to repair it. I did the repair and the part has served me well for many years.

I respect the fact you did not hide your mistake with editing. I leave all my mistakes in my videos, it makes for a better teaching moment. showing "How not to" can be just as valuable as "how to". it also is more realistic. even the most experienced people like yourself, have the occasional moment where things can go wrong.

What I like about you machine shop utubers is you are real people.We have all done some thing like you did. Instead of giving up you will figure out how to fix it and keep going. Sorry it happen but good for you to keep going. Thanks for helping all of us to keep going and not give up.

I was removing a 1/2" timing shaft on a steam generator governor and it came out in two pieces, my Navy Chief chewed on me, cussed me, promised to make my life a miserable nightmare. Then when we actually looked at the break it was evident that it had been broken for a long time and I was the lucky one that the final little bit gave way for. This video took me back... thanks for sharing the whole thing Keith and know we've all been there more than once.

yes, i misspoke, i meant brazed. this series is really excellent schooling on cleaning and reassembling of old machinery. thanks again.

Thanks for doing this video series. Im really enjoy it.

Great video Kieth, handled all that like a boss

Darn Keith...I sure hated seeing that shaft break. You're a better man than me as I think the air would have been turning blue had that happened to me. Still very interesting seeing the inner workings of the carriage as it came apart. Looking forward to the solution that you arrive at next week. Good luck on finding the part, I hope it is available.

A chill went down my spine when the shaft broke. But as you found out with the part out, and using the block it was not going to come out anyway without a price being paid. Love your workEd Schultz

Great to see your progress. Had a chuckle when you pumped the oiler (done that myself), cursed your larger hammer (done similar as well). It is always good to see how others resolve issues and I thank you for taking the time and making the effort to film, edit, upload and review the comments. I learn something new every time. ATB mat

Your description of the video mentioned "a little damage", but I was not expecting the part to break. My heart sank. I know the feeling all too well. Other than the damage, I enjoyed watching the video. I will follow with interest how the damage is fixed. I appreciate this will be on your mind while you are traveling.

I got a knot in my stomach when I saw that break. But I have every confidence this is nothing more than a speed bump for you. Thanks for the videos!

I always appreciate your videos they are so thorough. I do very primitive work with brown & Sharpe screw machines. Thanks for doing your best to show the reversing mechanism.

Just watching your video on taking apart the apron. If you are anything like the rest of us , the first thing you probably did was look around to see if anyone was was watching. Unfortunately it's on video. kudos to you for that teaching moment for someone who's never done that. But I'll bet that for those of us who follow your videos,their is not many of us who hasn't participated in that " o darn moment" a time or three. good job so far on this series. I at sometime in my life would like to take my monarch down and do the same thing with hit, but I am just to busy to shut it down. keep up the good work.

And I thought that the most ' difficult to be restored was the gearbox , the problems always come out are part of the work , and when it happens unfortunately have pains, I read that you are already in the process of repair and i'm curious to see the result of repairs . Thanks as always for sharing .

Great series Keith. Super helpful to see the guts of this machine and get an idea of how all of the power transmission works.

There are two classes of restorers in the world. Those who have broken parts on disassembly, and those who will. Big hugs, big guy.

Keith - Great video as always. I'm absolutely loving this series on the Lathe restoration. You are a natural in front of the camera and it's always just a joy to watch your content. It's great seeing your new shop come together, it's taken a lot of hard work and a lot of years to come together I'm sure but it really seems like it's a dream coming true for you. Hopefully some day I'll have a small shop with a Bridgeport (or similar mill) and a lathe to call my own, don't think I'll ever manage a 28" behemoth though! Best of luck

Beautiful video, Keith. These are things that can happen during disassembly

You handled that like a champ. Thank you for all of your work, I absolutely love these videos and your personality. Wish PBS would make you into the Roy Underhill of Vintage machines.

I feel for you, Keith. There isn't a single one of us who hasn't been in a similar situation. No sense dwelling on it. There are several good options for a repair; Brazing the broken shaft (depending on the break), facing the broken ends flat and spacing the shaft with a spacer and a short threaded coupler (clocking could be a bit of an issue with the cross-pin hole), or outright shaft replacement The only ticklish part I see with the replacement shaft is your needing to run a tapered reamer through the cross hole to match what is already there - getting close and then using the reamer with both parts assembled is an option as well.

Its a good thing to see accidents like the broken shaft. We all do it and its the brave who are prepared to admit the error. If thats what it was. Keep up the good work.

Hi Keith, Really enjoying your vids, European machine manufacturers love to put set screw 90deg to a taper pin to put "side load" pin the taper pin. I have struggled with that for years in machines from Italy and Germany.

How did you know what I was thinking? You were absolutely correct. That is what I was thinking at first but then I remembered you've done this before. Oh well. There's at least one good solution. If that's the only issue you have, that's still a job well done. Cheer up. We've all done it usually more than once. 👍😊 Thanks, John

Boy that apron fought you pretty hard. Again you demonstrate that it's how we deal with our mistakes that sets us apart. Great work. Personally I would love to see a video of a repair. I really liked seeing those bevel gears which we wouldn't have seen if the shaft didn't break.

Ouch that stung! Formerly being e mechanic I've had similar situations where I grabbed the BMFH and things degrade from there, just not on anything quite this vintage. To be fair, given how the pin was in there in the first place I suspect it was already weakened prior and you added the last bit of straw to its back. Thankfully a repair if comes to that is easily within your skill set and will make a good video.

That's an "Oh, Crap" moment for sure Keith! The pin was driven in much too far by a previous owner. There was no need for it to be that tight, considering its use. Now to be looked at as an improvement by way of replace/repair. The lathe will be a better machine for it and your knowledge of the inner workings expanded. Its a win, win for you! Cheers.

good luck with your part Hunt! when things like that happens to others I make me feel less alone in doing similar stuff.your not alone !Tthank you for sharing!

Hello Keith, I have been watching your videos for quite a while and just wanted to say I really enjoy them. Keep up the great work. I look forward to many more! Greetings from Michigan!

You showed amazing self control on camera. The air would have been blue in my shop with the many choice words coming from me. Hope it all works out

I shed a tear for you when I saw the handle snap.....It looked like you wanted to cry too. Good luck finding a replacement.

I've worked with a lot of taper pins and more than one wouldn't knock out. I've had to drill some of them out and that's not any fun. Looking forward to seeing your repair.

Thanks for showing the entire disassembly. It is good to know that we are all human. I could not imagine taking a lathe of that size apart. This entire process has been very educational. Sorry that part broke, I know things like that can be hard to come by, but even if you end of fixing it, the half nuts will work just fine. Keep up the good work!!!

I think every one of your viewers died a little when that handle broke off. We feel for you buddy. Thanks for the video Keith, as always. The adventure never ends at times! lol

I'm quite impressed with how well you controlled your temper! (I might have had to delete a minute or two of video.)

How about a window A/C unit or two for that hot GA weather. Absolutely loving this restore. Thank you very much for sharing

I love how for real you are! Keep it coming!!

Well, like a lotta folks you've got a looooootttt on your plate. I would not have been so calm. A torrent of curse words and a few hours and I would have been back to normal. But, saner heads prevailed (yours!) and your options are , well, doable. Best of luck and I enjoy the progress. And you inspire me to get my projects done, be certain of that!

That is so brave of you to post this for the entire world to see the mistake. Thanks Keith, I chuckled for a long time after that. Since misery loves company all of us have done somethin close to that in our lives. Bigger hammer !!! OOPS... LOL

*pats you on the back* Been there way too often Mr. Rucker. Its heartwarming for you to share that broken shaft screwup with all of us. Even if you can get a NOS part for a good price, it would still be worthwhile content to repair the broken part if you can find the time. Mr. Keith Fenner one time chose to braze on and machine new teeth for the broken lathe spindle gear for a customer just to show the process for his viewers AFTER making a new gear from scratch for said customer. Meanwhile just about fell outta my chair at seeing you get oil squirted into your face playing with the oil pump! XDD

KEITH Like this work on the LeBlond Been there with breaking shafts also trying to drive taper pins the wrong way. When driving pins I now try to put a counter weight (chunk of steel brass or lead) on the opposite side (but free of pin) to where I drive the pin. This helps put forces on the pin and not the shaft. Looking forward to the repair video.

Love seeing the screwup - thanks for leaving that in. Maybe I can even learn' some from your mistakes.

Happened to us all Keith!!! Great video as always.

Don't worry Keith it looks like to me the way that taper pin was jammed in it was doomed to break i think make a new one it will be stronger than the cast part but i think we all felt for you when we saw that happen. But you are a machinist you can make better stronger we have the technology but good video

Great video Keith! I'm enjoying this series. Jason

Considering your busy schedule you have done pretty well on the lathe work. Oh crap, ouch - breakage due to enthusiasm!! Sympathies.... the nasty pin was more than awkward. That apron was pretty fiddly to deal with in several ways.

Hello Keith, It sucks that the shaft of that handle broke but I guess that maybe another one had the same problem. So maybe there was already a weak spot in that shaft because you didn't really hammered down very hard. But hopefully you get an replacement but when not, than I am happy to see another video with the repair. Again a very nice and interesting video and I hope when the restoration is completed that you maybe can demonstrate it when it is working. Now it is a bit difficult for me to really understand how things work, but when I see it on the working lathe than it explains much more. Looking forward to the next one and many greetings from Roel !

Enjoyed the video Keith. I hate that the shaft broke, but honestly it makes me feel a little bit better about all the dumb stuff I manage to do.

Mr. Rucker, when something like your mishap happens to me I have to walk away get a good old cheeseburger and some iced tea and have a good bit of quiet time. Just remember life is full of happy mistakes, thanks for being honest and an educator by showing us yours.

Did something similar to my Sidney lathe gear box...beat myself up pretty good. At the time I didn't have any welding equipment but I brought it to a great welder and you can barely tell where it broke. Tig or braze it. While machining a new one would make for a great series...I think you have more things to do.

I totally agree with Stormin 13 in terms of authenticity I hope you find a replacement. In terms of what next I'm in some ways hoping you repair ,mend and improve. Meantime, just glad Captain Bash gave me a day off

Good video. It was nice to meet you at the bash, hope to see you there next year. I admire your calmness and good attitude at unfortunate circumstances. I have read some of the comments, and coming from a retired carpenter, not a machinist, I wonder if you could first braze the 2 pieces together then drill down the center and add a steel rod for reinforcement. Opposite order from an earlier comment. This will insure proper alignment. You could always bevel the 2 ends later and complete the brazing correctly, then finish turning on a lathe. Just a thought. Anyway, looking forward to the next video. JB.

Thanks for not trying to hide that Keith (although you didn't really have much choice 😂 ). I'm glad it's not just me that these things happen to. What I find the most interesting is how people overcome problems they run into. When you reach a basic level of competency in any subject I feel the way you can rectify any problem will be where the next level of skills lie.

Sorry to see your bad luck with the broken part. If you have to fix it I think it is not a big problem as I have seen you fix lots of things that were at least as difficult. Keep on keeping on.

Keith, another really interesting vid. Just seeing how these things worked gives me ideas for projects that I'm working on. You are performing a great service to the "know nothings" like me. I've already used some of your techniques to accomplish some pretty cool stuff using my Taig lathe (which is a "toy" lathe compared to what you are using".) Kudo's to you for all your hard work and willingness to share with others! All the best!

Kieth, its is just a light force lever-- never going to have a lot force to close the half nut. Trim off the apron end of the broken shaft, drill the center out to /1/4", 3/8 or what ever hole size makes sense. Fabricate a new lever end shaft with a spigot to match the hole. Press, locktite or braze it in place and your are good to go. The fabricated part could be larger in diameter and longer. Then once brazed it could be chucked up in the 4 jaw from the extra length, indicated on the remaining original shaft stub then the the new part turned down to match the stub and finally parted off. A Boyar Schultz 1A618 surface grinder followed me home the other day, I know what dirty grungy oily parts look like. Was nice meeting you at the bash. Good Luck, Craig

Wonderful machine.

Hi Keith, I think you can fix your part real easy by drilling the center of your parts and cut a keyway in it or heat shrink or both. Make a totally separate shaft going out with a shallow keyway to match. You can lock everything together with a set screw but you have to watch for the location the shaft to the body. The shaft diameter could be small where it fits the back part then the other side could be the original diameter shaft just incase you don't have room for drilling and key way. If everything fails, I can machine you the face of your part on my Bridgeport CNC Mill using cast iron metal and I will send you the whole part unfinished and you can then cut down the shaft on your lathe and finish it up. NOTE: Thank you for showing the whole videos and thank you for your hard work. We appreciate you!

I may be wrong, but i saw a kerf around the shaft exact were it broke. This is a "must break point".

The red paint you're finding inside the lathe is probably something like Glyptal 1201 (available from Eastwood). It's made to seal pores in castings, prevent corrosion and improve oil flow. I think it's a good idea to leave it alone if it's in good condition. Worth replacing if you find it missing or damaged. Also used inside electric motors. Good videos, thanks.

Hi Keith that was bad luck I thought you where hitting it the wrong way, but not. Hope you can repair it. Thanks for the video just love them. I too have a lathe that needs painting. Had it for years will now want to do it after looking at your one.

Hey, don't feel too bad...we've all been there...

very revealing video. but mistakes are made and they will be made. the crux of the issue is in how one deals with complications. i have every trust in your operation! i am sure the shaft is going to be repaired, and the whole unit will get to be better than from the factory!! thanks for the video, -toly

Hi Keith, have a good trip. thanks for sharing the mishap - proves you're really like us when you're not better! ;-)

I HATE it when that happens! ;-) Just found your channel a month or two ago, love it. Keep up the good work.

The way that pin was jammed in i think it was inevitable something would break. hope you can find a new part without to much hassle. Thanks for the videos. I like the project videos and the odds and ends ones too.

Hey Keith, please don't lose your calm over that accident. You can make a new better half nut lever axle. Thanks for this LeBlond series. As with all your other projects, this is a must-see for me. Enjoying every episode. Imagine if it broke while you were working on another project and could have hurt yourself. There is aways a silver lining somewhere. For it can be: one extra episode of this project :-) Regards Per M

One time I was installing a new head on a 1979, 350 chevy. Old was cracked well enough to have water flowing out of the exhaust. Got a "new" one from the junk yard, picked up a gasket set and started working. I got "done" installing the head and started my car, and (of course) it ran like crap; time to adjust the rocker arms. I've done this more than a couple times and so far all was going as normal. Oh, I forgot to mention, this was mid January in Northern Michigan, and I was outside doing this in the middle of decent size blizzard. Needless to say I put a socket on the first rocker arm, with hardly any pressure at all, the pressed in stud snapped. My heart dropped to my toes and I had a few choice words to say. I ended up borrowing a acetylene torch and melting a threaded rod onto the end of the stud and slid an old sledge hammer head onto the rod with big washer/nut on the end, waited for the stud to cool (it was 18 degrees out, this was the only thing that didn't take long), then heated the head a bit and used my makeshift slide hammer to pull out the stud. I pressed in a new stud and carried on. BUT!!! all the other studs broke in exactly the same manner. I have never been so frustrated in all my life, hehe... Hope my stupid little story makes you feel a tad better.. Great video series BTW, I have watched them all and I'm catching up on your other videos.

Dam thats to bad. I watch your channel all the time and you always seem to be so careful. That's ok, it can be fixed one way or another. I am probably as excited as you to see the thing all done and workin! Your doin a great job.

As everyone has remarked, been there and done that. I thought it was mild outburst on your part! I saw on down the comments that you chose to repair it. At the price, it was an expensive hammer blow, but selfishly, I will now get to watch you repair it. BTW when I subscribed to this channel there wwere 2000 or so of us. You have grown. Congratulations and well earned.

We all feel the pain and the frustration. It's usually all better the next morning. Chin up!

I have watched you work for a long time at least four years or more you seam like a likeable person and some one who likes doing all kinds of projects like I do the videos I like the best are the restoration and fixing of machining's when you broke that part I thought that's not good but I know you can repair it when you do those odds & ends I watch and see the kind of things people send you and see things I would love to have. I am looking forward to the finish of the leblond lathe I think it will look better than new

Tough luck with the shaft Keith. I am certainly enjoying this series. Hope the parts you want aren't too expensive. Greg

I did the very same thing on a 15" trainer on the half nut lever shaft....I could see it coming... Luckily I had another apron I could rob the half nut shaft from... Who would have guessed that the shaft was a casting? Mike in Louisiana

You can get taper pins with a threaded section on the large end. You tighten a nut onto the threads to pull the taper pin. Useful for locations where you can't get a punch to the small end, either obstructed or into a blind hole. BTW, all inch taper pins have the same taper (1/4" per foot); all metric taper pins also have the same taper (1 mm in 50 mm). If you have a long taper pin a size larger, you can drive it part way in and cut off the excess at the large end. (In theory, you could stock one size of taper pin long enough to taper from the small end of the smallest to the large end of the largest. Drive it in as far as it will go and cut off the excess from both sides.)

'Crap!' - wow, I would have said a whole lot more. Been there, done that but I think the difference is you'll have the skills to repair the stuff up. :). Early on your unintentional setup with 'Is there any oil in this?' followed by a face full of oil was hilarious. Keep up the good work.

Wow you handled that a lot better then I would have.. If you can't get a new one, I am sure you will fix it. Great video series, thank you

I've done the same in the past Keith, "Clean it until it breaks." LOL

Had the same thing happen on my old Pratt and Whitney lathe when I stripped it down. Broken castings are a royal pain. And in case you're lacking more in the jargon department, the pin and set screw holding the bevel gear on in that fashion is commonly referred to as "dutch pinning/keying" best of luck repairing/replacing that dog shaft.

Bummer on the broken part. And a good lesson on always wearing your eye protection when the oiling pump shot out strong enough to hit your face. Looking forward to seeing how you decide to fix (or buy). Take care.

Hi Keith, Congratulations on your verbal restraint. Not sure, well pretty sure that that would not have been my reaction . Sometimes, "Oh dear I've just broken the shaft!", just doesn't do it for most of us. Again well done and carry on regardless. Regards.

Sorry about the broken shaft there Keith. If it is too pricy for a new one at least it is good fodder for another informative video showing how to do the repair. I plan to do something similar to a table jointer I have in the shed. It works but really needs to be freshened up. Looking forward to the next installment.

OH wow that will ruin your day! I called the LaBlonde folks about our a pre-1950 20" heavy duty and they were very nice and shipped the same day. Looking forward to seeing how you fix it.

Oops, hate when that happens, Great video, looking forward to the next one. Keep them comming. Greg

The apron is quite a challenge. Too bad about the broken shaft. I looks repairable, but I agree with you, if you can get a new part, all the better. Thanks for sharing.

alle afleveringren zijn geweldig,,, proficiat

Great vid, as always Keith!... I felt for you when that shaft let go, but I know you will sort it in your usual professional manner!

Love to see you reason through a repair. I'm thinking, JB weld it, then drill and dowel pin it, then turn it down and press on a steel sleeve. Don't know how you could drill the sleeve for the taper dowel other than using an oversize hole in the sleeve. Then again, grinding a V and brazing it would be simpler and require less machining.

Weird. I bought a Lodge and Shipley. I decided to buy another, and put the two good parts together into one machine. When I bought my second Lodge, the half nut actuator was broken. I tig welded up the broken cast iron one. It came out beautifully.

Wow, bad luck there! I was thinking as you were driving the pin out that you were going to have to take some things apart anyway to get it driven back in, this because of the orientation of the taper. Great job, keep it up!

I did the exact same thing with the reverse lever on my south bend. I found a good way to press out accessible pins like that is to use a stout, flat, square piece of metal with a hole in it on the back side and use a gear puller to press the pin out. It's never easy though and there will always be casualties. I could really feel your disappointment though because I've been there

I am fixing to pull the apron off of my Leblond lathe. My half nut keeps going closed, I was wondering if you remember if there was a de-tent somewhere that would hold it open? I have studied your video and I cold not tell if there was one or not? Keep up the good work I enjoy and learn so much by watching your videos! Many thanks

Sorry about the broken handle Keith but all will be well. Thanks for posting. Bob