Sheldon Lathe Info

All discussion about lathes including but not limited to: South Bend, Hardinge, Logan, Monarch, Clausing and other HSM lathes, including imports

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whiz
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2003 9:53 am
Location: Louisville Ky.

Sheldon Lathe Info

Post by whiz »

I recently purchased a Sheldon R13-6 engine lathe, it swings 13x42, I don't have it
wired yet but it seems to be it great shape. In the past I considered Sheldon
lathes as small light weight machines for the home hobbyist, which is ok, but not what I 'm looking for. This machine seems to be pretty beefy, weighs 3500 lbs.
I would like to hear from anyone who is familiar with these machines,what do you think of them? The particular machine I bought came from a Tool Shop in Dayton Ohio (ARCO TOOL & DIE CO.) if anyone is familiar with that shop please reply. I am a toolmaker at Ford Motor Co. in Louisville Ky. and have a small shop at home, I have 3 other 3 phase machines that I run static phase convertors with, 2 Bridgeport mills, one an anilam CNC retrofit, the third a grob bandsaw. I am told I need a rotary convertor on the sheldon lathe, can anyone tell me the pros and cons?
larry

Re: Sheldon Lathe Info

Post by larry »

I run my 16"x6' South Bend thru a 3 phase idler motor and it works very well. A word of caution! Always short out large capacitors before messing with them. They can hold a lethal charge. Larry
Mike Black

Re: Sheldon Lathe Info

Post by Mike Black »

Whiz, Supprised you still use a static converter as rotary converters are easy to build and fairly cheap if you do some scrouging and they provide that third leg making the driven machines run better I beleive. I use Square D motor starters(relays) and have not burned the points after two years of hobby use. Do some research on this board and others before deciding which circut to use. There is another method to supply 3 phase called a VFD that uses electronics to convert single phase 220 to 3 phase 220 but the cost goes up with with the HP of the driven motor, again check the archives for sorces. Be careful when working with high voltage, I had an electrician friend of mine check my work! Good luck, Mike
winburn

Re: Sheldon Lathe Info

Post by winburn »

Mike
Thanks for the input, the other 3 ph. machines I run with static converters have been running for several years with no problems, Granted I need converters for
each machine but they are cheap and I don't have wires running everywhere
from the rotary converter to each machine. I've been told that on a motor this large
I should run a rotary converter. I'm old school, I know rotary converters have been around a long time so when I built my home shop I looked for a rotary
converter, I had plans to build one, but talked to several other people that were running static converters that worked very well for applicatons similar to mine.
(Im running a 18" Grob bandsaw, and two Bridgeport mills) one a Anilam CNC, the
controler on the CNC runs on 110v. so that works well. The lathe I just bought
has a 5hp motor, they sell a static converter for this size motor but I think this machine need a bit more, thanks for the advice.
whiz
Orrin
Posts: 307
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 12:24 pm
Location: SE Washington State, near Moscow, Idaho

Re: Sheldon Lathe Info

Post by Orrin »

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif"%20alt="[/img] I have two Sheldon lathes. One is a 13-inch that dates back to the fifties (but it had an easy life) and the other is a ten inch. They are very good machines. Sheldons may be lightweight, but the 13-incher really made my pickup squat when I loaded it for the trip home. It's a very good, rigid machine.

My ten-inch suffered the most abuse, but I have it in perfect trim, now. Based on its history, I'd advise this: be sure to keep the spindle well oiled when using the back gear! You may have a ball-check oil hole or a screw in the step pulley with "oil" stamped by it. Remove the screw and apply oil generously.

My ten-incher came with a three phase electric motor. The simplest and handiest way to drive it was via a variable frequency drive, VFD. I highly recommend them. I have infinitely variable speed on the spindle. Handy! IIRC, my cost was something like $130, but I've seen bigger units sell for $110. I wired mine to operate off the original Fwd, Rev, and Stop push buttons. It took a while to figure out the program codes, but after than it was a piece of cake.

Enjoy your Sheldon!

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif"%20alt="[/img] Orrin
So many projects, so little time.
MikeBlack_NCal
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:50 am
Location: Northern California near Oregon border

Re: Sheldon Lathe Info

Post by MikeBlack_NCal »

Whiz
Yup whats that scientific axiom "simplest answer is usually right"? Fewer wires for sure and if you take light cuts only as I do who needs the horse power. Must say I got a lot of satisfaction from building the rotary and having it work as discribed tho! Good luck, Mike
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ioport51
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:02 pm

Re: Sheldon Lathe Info

Post by ioport51 »

Can anyone tell me what the horse power is on an UM-56-B??
problems can not be solved
by the same level of awareness
that created them
A. Einstein
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Bill Shields
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Re: Sheldon Lathe Info

Post by Bill Shields »

2 HP would be more than enough.

1.5 ok also

No less than that
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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