Jehannum
Well-known member
Purchased a '70s vintage Hardinge HC at auction. My bid was supposed to be a thumb in the eye of whoever won it, because usually tool auctions around here go to the moon, so I figured $1500 was reasonably low, so I'm calling it the Spite lathe.
Tested the spite lathe yesterday with a "digital phase shifter" from amazon and after repairing the rotary switch for speed range, reseating a wire in the brake solenoid switch, and fixing a switch detente spring, and it works almost perfectly. The only thing that doesn't work right now is the variable speed control motor, and possibly the coolant pump (didn't want to try running it dry).
Hardinge lathes from that era use a sheave pulley system for speed control, kinda like a CVT. When one of the speed control rheostats on the control panel is adjusted faster, the speed control motor turns a carriage (carrying the main countershaft) on a jackshaft towards the headstock, forcing the motor's belt deeper into the sheave pulley, forcing the countershaft to turn faster. The only wrinkle is that the motor itself has two three-phase windings, a 0.5HP and a 1HP. It has a switch lever on the front to go between those ranges (1 is low, runs on the 0.5 winding, 2 and 3 are high and run on the 1.0 HP winding, but have separate sheave pulley ranges). Anyway, I can hear relays clicking away in the cabinet when I turn the appropriate rheostat, but the jackshaft doesn't rotate.
I've just about convinced myself to give up on all of that, throw a VFD on the main motor's high power winding, figure out a 1 phase coolant pump, and a 115VDC converter for the power carriage and crossfeed motor.
It hurts a bit though, because it is so damn cherry in the electrical cabinet.
Here's where it will rest, once I figure out the electrical issues (currently working to move the material rack out to a shed).
Tested the spite lathe yesterday with a "digital phase shifter" from amazon and after repairing the rotary switch for speed range, reseating a wire in the brake solenoid switch, and fixing a switch detente spring, and it works almost perfectly. The only thing that doesn't work right now is the variable speed control motor, and possibly the coolant pump (didn't want to try running it dry).
Hardinge lathes from that era use a sheave pulley system for speed control, kinda like a CVT. When one of the speed control rheostats on the control panel is adjusted faster, the speed control motor turns a carriage (carrying the main countershaft) on a jackshaft towards the headstock, forcing the motor's belt deeper into the sheave pulley, forcing the countershaft to turn faster. The only wrinkle is that the motor itself has two three-phase windings, a 0.5HP and a 1HP. It has a switch lever on the front to go between those ranges (1 is low, runs on the 0.5 winding, 2 and 3 are high and run on the 1.0 HP winding, but have separate sheave pulley ranges). Anyway, I can hear relays clicking away in the cabinet when I turn the appropriate rheostat, but the jackshaft doesn't rotate.
I've just about convinced myself to give up on all of that, throw a VFD on the main motor's high power winding, figure out a 1 phase coolant pump, and a 115VDC converter for the power carriage and crossfeed motor.
It hurts a bit though, because it is so damn cherry in the electrical cabinet.
Here's where it will rest, once I figure out the electrical issues (currently working to move the material rack out to a shed).
