9” South Bend Lathe from 1926

[Maui]

I bought this lathe several years ago, and finally found the time to move all of the various pieces down into the basement from the garage. Over the course of the past two days I put everything back together, cleaned and oiled all of the working surfaces, and adjusted almost everything. I still have some cleaning left to do, but I wanted to get everything working first. It came with an original quick change gear box, a full set of collets, 3 different chucks (one of which is an original Atlas chuck), and a steady test. It runs beautifully. It’s smooth and quiet, and everything works as it should. It is amazing to me the quality they put into these machines 94 years ago. Does anyone else here have one of these lathes? If you do, let’s see some photos!

Maui

 

[Roberts210]

Looks nice!

 

[Maui]

Thanks Roberts! I'm surprised that nobody else here has one of these older South Bend lathes. Maybe there are fewer of them still around than I had thought.

Maui

 

[bctexas]

Hi Maui!

Here is my 9x36 South Bend shipped in November of 1935. Quite a bit of wear, but will still turn out useful parts. It sat unused for several years before I got it. I learned a ton working with this old girl. On its way to a new home once the coronavirus restrictions are lifted. I now have a Precision Matthews PM-1236.

Are you aware of the South Bend database? A fellow named Steve Wells manages it. If your lathe is not on it you should send him the info for yours just for grins. Mine is serial number 61781.

http://www.wswells.com/sn/sn_db.html

Also, there is a very active forum for South Bend owners at:

https://groups.io/g/SouthBendLathe

Enjoy!

 

[Bob/Ohio]

Here is my 9'', but it is a little newer,almost the same as bctexas. I don't remember the year without looking up the serial number again.

Bob

Just went out and checked serial # and it is a 1950 model.

 

[Maui]

Hi Maui!

Here is my 9x36 South Bend shipped in November of 1935. Quite a bit of wear, but will still turn out useful parts. It sat unused for several years before I got it. I learned a ton working with this old girl. On its way to a new home once the coronavirus restrictions are lifted. I now have a Precision Matthews PM-1236.

Are you aware of the South Bend database? A fellow named Steve Wells manages it. If your lathe is not on it you should send him the info for yours just for grins. Mine is serial number 61781.

http://www.wswells.com/sn/sn_db.html

Also, there is a very active forum for South Bend owners at:

https://groups.io/g/SouthBendLathe

Enjoy!

Thanks for posting up a photo of your lathe and for the links! For the record the serial number on my lathe is 32003.

 

[Maui]

Bob, that's a beautiful South Bend Lathe. Did you make the bench for it, or was it repurposed from some other application?

 

[Bob/Ohio]

Maui,

The bench came with the lathe. I always thought it was a South Bend bench, it is not homemade. This lathe came out of a school shop..

Thanks
Bob