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

Canadian Source of Parts and Accessories

N.B Hyperlinks updated as of 21-Sep-2010.

U.S. Shipping info added 25-Oct-2010

Busy Bee of Canada stocks a number of 7/8-14 RH and 3/4-16 LH headstock accessories as well as Nova and Oneway scroll chucks, accessory jaw sets and standard Morse Taper tooling. Since the 46-140 was manufactured in Ontario it makes sense you'll be more likely to find parts and accessories there. Their web site says that they now ship to the U.S. and generally internationally, which formerly had not been the case, however it is necessary to phone them to find out the shipping costs involved.

• 6-inch faceplates (already threaded for 7/8-14)
  
  
• 8-inch faceplate (unthreaded) and required 7/8-14 spindle adapter (for inboard turning) or required 3/4-16 left hand spindle adapter (for outboard turning)
  
  
• 6-inch, 4-jaw independent chuck (for holding square and irregularly shaped objects) and required 7/8-14 spindle adapter or required 3/4-16 left hand spindle adapter (for outboard turning)
  
  
• 6-inch, 3-jaw independent chuck (for holding square and irregularly shaped objects) and required 7/8-14 spindle adapter or required 3/4-16 left hand spindle adapter (for outboard turning)
  
  
• 7/8-14 insert for Nova scroll chucks
  
  
• Cole jaw set for Nova chucks
  
  
• No-name brand scroll chuck and required 7/8-14 spindle adapter.
  
  
• Accessory pin jaw set for no-name scroll chuck, above.
  
  
• MT#1 live tailstock center

Tailstock Accessories

While the standard "dead" (i.e. non-spinning) tailstock centers are sufficient for most spindle turning work, if you do a lot of turning you will probably want to invest a few dollars in "live" (i.e. ball bearing) centers. Any center having a Morse Taper #1 shank will fit. They are quite inexpensive and well worth the money.

My first one was from Sears (item# 00925356000, model# 25356). It has withstood a fair bit of abuse. I still use it.

My newest one is from Penn State Industries (item #: LCENTLT1).

I also have a 1/2" drill chuck. I picked mine up at a garage sale somewhere.

Penn State Industries has them in 3/8" (Item #: TM21) and 1/2" sizes (item #: LDC1MT)

Standard Drive and Tailstock Centers

My lathe came with an original equipment drive spur center and a 3-inch faceplate. These are right-hand threaded at 7/8-14 tpi. You'll need a 1-1/8 inch open end or spanner wrench to loosen or tighten the drive center. Apparently there was a 6-inch diameter faceplate for the lathe as well but the seller had somehow lost track of it over the years.

Also included with the lathe that I bought were a Morse Taper #1 dead center and a cup center for use in the tailstock. These latter items were also original equipment.

The above standard accessories are sufficient for turning spindles and small bowls.

An Inexpensive Entry Into Woodturning

From the questions I've answered for others in the past, I have learned that I am not alone in having acquired this lathe relatively inexpensively. I paid 85 USD for it some 7 or 8 years ago. For that price it came with a complete set of Delta chisels and a 3-inch faceplate, as well. All I had to do was drive 50 miles to pick it up. I think it was quite a bargain, considering that contemporary lathes of similar size and quality cost at least four times that much.

Why so cheap, especially since there was nothing mechanically wrong with it?

There are three limitations that seem to dictate the price:

• You will have a hard time finding or buying tooling for it because the headstock spindle threads measure 7/8-14 tpi. It seems that the lathe manufacturing industry has settled on 3/4-16, and 1.25-8 tpi as "standard" sizes for auxilliary tooling.
  
  
• The headstock spindle is solid. It does not have a Morse Taper socket.
  
  
• The tailstock spindle, while it accepts standard Morse Taper #1 tooling, does not have a thru-hole to permit deep drilling, such as one might do with a lamp auger.

In my opinion none of these limitations are or should be considered fatal impediments to buying or using this lathe because they all may be easily worked around. Subsequent blog postings will discuss these matters in more detail.