The Home Machinist!

My tool dealer friend just took in a 12X36 5914 Clausing with a chucks and a Taper attachment. As usual the vari speed hydraulic system has issues. Spend 3 hours or so today sorting it out to see what other issues it has ,other than a bushing in the QC box shift lever and crappy paint work really seems fine. Hardened bed no wear .Had some SURFACE rust here and there ,some WD-40 and a quick hit with some Scotbrite other than a few small stains never know any rust was there. Problem is WHERE can I put the dumb thing !!! That would make 4 lathes . So sell one er don't think so ,my mind don't work that way. I guess the SB Heavy 10 and the Miller 35 MIG can move into the living/family room as neither me or the dogs use it any way. Is there a 12 step program available for old iron collectivites ?
Believe me all the rust in the pics came right off !!

How does it sound when you run through the gears? Is the bottom of tailstock worn or level and smooth - easy way to tell how much use it's had - if a lot, contact area with ways will be deeply scoured.

I have four lathes. No problem. just put them back to back until you can't walk around anymore.

Glenn

Put the heavy 10 on a pallet and send it out to me.

Steve

Did someone say "Clausing"?????

Probably a great lathe, provided the seller isn't trying to cheat you by sending you a different machine, and that he's not telling you the machine has "very little wear" when it's pretty worn.

SteveHGraham wrote:Probably a great lathe, provided the seller isn't trying to cheat you by sending you a different machine, and that he's not telling you the machine has "very little wear" when it's pretty worn.

Or that it threads metric when it doesn't.

John - check out this thread - someone is parting one out, in case you think you need anything:
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/to ... -a-321844/

Steve

Hi There,

I like Clausing 5900 series lathes. Having said that, you should check it
out thoroughly. Bed wear isn't always easy to see on these lathes. Mount
a dial indicator on the carriage so that the button rests on the inner flat
way (tailstock ways). Crank the carriage towards the tailstock end of the
bed and zero the indicator. Crank towards the headstock and note the
changes in reading. This isn't super accurate but it will give you an idea
of the level of wear there is.

Second, check the motor VS pulley. This pulley is the one that wears the
most and often needs rebuilding. Also, there is an epoxy coating (green
in color on these later models) that can become damaged if the bushing
in the pulley is allowed to wear excessively. Once this happens, it is very
expensive to repair. Last time I checked with Clausing, new pulleys were
just under $1000. I have re-coated the epoxy and repaired these pulleys
but it is a time consuming process and materials aren't cheap.

If the bed wear isn't bad and the pulley hasn't been damaged by neglect,
repairing the hydraulic system isn't expensive. all the seals and a new
hydraulic hose will cost you less than $100. A new bushing for the lower
VS pulley is (or was) under $20. You may have to replace the VS belt due
to wear and/or oil contamination (industrial equivalent: 1930V400).

The only thing that jumps out at me is your description of needing a bushing
in the QC gearbox shift lever. Which shift lever are you talking about?
IIRC, the tumbler lever doesn't have a bushing in it. Neither are there
bushings used on the "ABC" selector shaft. There are bushings and bearings
in the housing that the various shafts run in.

The 5900 series doesn't come with metric threading capability but there was
a metric trans-positioning gear set available for them.

Anyway, enough for now. Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

I won't accuse anyone of promising me metric threading. I will say that when I found a set of used metric gears, it was something like $400. But you can always buy taps and dies. Which will probably cost more than $400 unless they're Chinese.

Somehow I feel like I'm not being all that helpful.

Steve's experience notwithstanding, they are great lathes.

The beds are SUPER heavy and rigid. The bed is a solid chunk of iron from the left to the right with four oval holes that go down and back for the swarf. MUCH heavier than the typical twin rails with cross-pieces.

I had to sell my dad's rather than taking myself because I didn't think I could get it into my basement.

The guy that bought it proved me wrong when he completely disassembled it and carried it up the stairs and out (well, two REALLY strong guys with shoulder straps moved the bed).

Dad kept his South Bend 9A after he got the Clausing because he thought he would need it for smaller work, but then he realized that the Clausing was more accurate, took larger collets and could spin at double the RPM of the 9A, so there was no reason to keep the smaller lathe.

Steve

Webb: The tumbler lever is fairly loose on it's shaft ,I assumed there was a bushing there. If not no big issue as I'm sure I could bush it if needed. Like I say the biggest issue at the moment is where the heck to put it,as what little room that I have has a Cincinnati #3 grinder coming to live here.

If you really want that lathe, I suppose you could store that Cinci at my place...

Update !! still on the fence about buying this lathe ,but the speed control is now functioning ! Spent some quality time with a tape measure a bit ago and still can't make it stretch the &#$^**%&( garage any bigger.