Parts Auctions, May 2011

I don't normally post links to online auctions but tonight I'm going to make an exception because I haven't posted anything here in a very long time and because I know that these parts may be of keen interest to somebody out there. I just happened upon these by accident while searching for other things. I am not the seller nor do I know who the seller is. Just a public service announcement of sorts.

Factory spur center, 7/8-14 tpi and MT1 tailstock cup center

Factory toolrest base

Wherefore Beaver?

Someone in Canada in search of parts has inquired which model of Beaver lathe most closely resembles the Rockwell/Delta 46-140. It is the Beaver 3400 lathe. They have inboard and outboard spindle thread sizes in common, thus faceplates and drive centers will be interchangeable. Just from looking at the photos over at OWWM it is almost certainly the case that the bed ways, headstock and tailstock of the later models will be interchangeable with the 46-140 as well. Look up the Beaver 3400 lathe on OWWM and you'll find considerable information there, including a manual that describes the procedure for removing the spindle from the headstock. The most significant difference (from reading the manuals -- I do not own a Beaver nor have I ever touched a living, breathing 3400) is that the headstock spindle of the older models from the early 50's would accept #2 MT tooling, whereas later ones were solid. I have no idea whether the spindle from one will fit the other or vice versa.

Busy Bee

At some point during the past year BusyBee of Canada had redesigned its web site and in so doing invalidated most of the hyperlinks I had made to individual lathe parts. I have since updated the links. Please refer to my previous (and now updated) post.

Steelex Faceplate and Spindle Adapters

I received a Steelex 8-inch faceplate (D 1088) and a pair of inboard and outboard spindle adapters (D 1096 and D 1105) as a birthday gift. These were obtained from Amazon.com for substantially less than other sources (19.50 USD for the unthreaded faceplate, 7.80 USD for each adapter).

The adapter mounts to the rear of the faceplate and is held in place by three rather small hex head cap screws. I spun up the outboard side first and turned the lathe on at its slowest setting. A slight wobbling of the faceplate was detectable by eye and by feel. Ditto for the inboard side. For the sake of comparison, no such imbalance is detectable with my Nova chuck. I shall have to spend some time with these to determine whether or not a little shimming of the adapter will get it to run true.

Replacement Headstock Spindle Bearings

Fortunately for me, I have never had to replace the spindle bearings on my lathe. However, the guys over at OWWM who have traveled this road before highly recommend that you call the Accurate Bearing Company for parts and guidance. Here is some important guidance on how best to proceed with placing your order.

At the time of this posting, here's a link to the only discussion I can find over at OWWM on how to remove the headstock spindle and bearings for the 46-140 and similar Beaver lathes. If you're at all unsure how to go about it then by all means join OWWM and post a question there.

Making A Buffing Shaft

Here is another accessory item that you can make for any lathe, not just the 46-140, that is also an example of where a scroll chuck can come in handy.

It consists of three stock buffing wheels that I picked up at Sears mounted on a length of 5/8-inch diameter allthread. Although they're not easily seen in this photo, each wheel is held in place on the shaft sandwiched between a pair of nuts, two flat washers and one split washer.

The tailstock end is dimpled for the point of the live tailstock center.

The headstock end of the allthread has a standard connecting nut on it, and is thru-pinned with a common finish nail. The connecting nut is in turn grasped by the scroll chuck.

Each wheel is charged with a different type of polish or rouge.

Simple, cheap and effective.

Mounting A Wire Wheel

Sometimes you have to take a lot of rust, scale or other crud off of something and you don't want to spend all day cleaning it up with a handheld wire brush and a can of turps. On one such occasion I ginned up the following using a standard wire wheel, a length of 5/8-inch allthread, some nuts and a split washer.

That's a connector nut on the left end, thru-pinned with a finish nail. Here's another look at it.

This end goes in the scroll chuck, obviously. The other end is dimpled to accept the tailstock live center point.