MY OLD SMART & BROWN LATHE RETURNS - PART #1 

If you love something, set it free, if it comes back to you, it was meant to be. 😂😂😂

The moment you said it came from a school I thought "oh oh", schools are notorious for taken things apart but not putting them back together properly. Where I used to work we sent an old 4-cyl diesel motor to a school for them to play with. We got it back two years later all nice and clean and painted. But before running it on the test stand I ran it on the starter just to make sure everything turned freely and noticed no oil pressure showed on the gauge. Sure enough, they had rebuilt the motor and left the oil pump out! (and lost it!) We intended to use the engine as a spare while overhauling another like it, but first we had to buy a new pump. We kept swearing never to loan the school anything, but we never refused them.

On my old LeBlond the previous owner thought the plate that said "oil daily" as simply there to remind you to oil it. He didn't realize it rotated and exposed three ports for oiling the quick change gearbox. No harm done since he had sheared off the key on the drive gear so nothing ever rotated and wore out. A little TLC and paint, good as new!

Used to work at Smart and Brown in Biggleswade for a few weeks in the late 60's

I like your channel. I have a couple machines at home, a little Rivett 608 lathe, a Clausing 13 x 36, a Index Mill and a little Rockwell Mill. I'm a senior but I'm still working at a real shop part time. Recently the owner had gotten a pretty good deal on a large 19" Summit lathe but the seller said the clutch was slipping, had new clutch plates but never installed. Sure enough, the machine was connected up, I leveled it and proceeded to test it and the clutch did indeed slip. Started taking things apart and discovered the machine had seen a really bad day once as the drive pulley and mating shaft had been broken in the key way area. The "forward clutch" was burned blue. A really shoddy repair had been made so I brazed up all the broken areas on both the shaft and bored the pulley for a sleeve and started over. After over 50 years in the machine shop this was the first time I broached a key-way with the company's hydraulic press. Summit is still around but could only provide a manual that didn't even cover what was an obviously earlier style of Summit. Not to brag about myself but I'm old machinist, having started in the High School metal shop. After a couple false starts and taking it apart a second time I got the clutches working! Pulls a good cut now without stalling. Hate to rub it in Mr Keith but the UP #4014 is coming to Houston again! -'lil stan

It does look somewhat to a Monarch e10 lathe. Glad you recovered it.

I'm glad that it came back to you. S&B are very good lathes.

Amazes me to see the inner workings of those kinds of machines.

What a nice return

Great looking machine can’t wait to see you operating it

It must be like seeing an old friend

I'm glad to see it's return!

Great looking machine. I too thought it looked a bit like the monarch 10ee

I’ve got exactly the same machine and straight away you have taught me two things, 1. that the Smart and Brown name plate hinges open, and 2. that the gearbox chart is an access panel. What oil do you run in yours? My oil seems much thinner and doesn’t glob as much in the glass, it’s more of a trickle past the glass, I’m wondering if my oil pump is not as good as yours. Thanks for the video, a great help!

Must be a good feeling to get the lathe back Keith. Looks a real good bit of kit. Good luck with it. Regards from Wales

Nice, those gears did look a bit parched.

First project for the lathe: make replacements for the gears that were discarded.

Funny looking Traction Engine.

Why would they cut, block, bend and throw away things for this lathe making it unusable to its full potential?

The contrast on the video will not be as good as in the shop,but given you tend towards the meticulous, it would seem advantageous to clean and repaint that brass plate with the ( thread pitch ?) numbers on them. Could barely read them . Likely similar your end of the camera.

That machined face and tee slot at the back is crying out for a taper turning attatchment 😏😏😏

⭐😃👍

Of course you'll paint it first.

scraping off the silicone rubber . . . also known as *paying for doing that*