Hey guys lurker turned poster. Hopefully someone can help me on here. Hello everyone. I will try to explain my problem the best I can. I am fairly new to operating a metal lathe. I picked up this Lodge & Shipley lathe a little while back and have just started using the machine. I have 2 pics one of the machine and the other of the geardrive area. So here is the deal I need to slow the speed of the lathe down. Right now where you see the belt that is set for the slowest speed, I also have set the transmission gear to the lowest setting as well. I need to tap some threads into a bung. So as you can tell in the pic the two gears to the left are my back gears. Basically when I run the machine those 2 gears are not engaged and the machine turns no problems. It just turn to fast to really tap threads. So on to the bakgear. You can see 2 gears to the left they slide left or roght so you can choose which gear gets engaged, well the problem I am having is when I engage the gear (it basically moves forward so the teeth of the gear merge into the gear that drives the chuck) Well when I turn the machine on it won't turn the chuck then it eventually starts spinning (the part closest to my wall) and the belt stays staionary. Almost like the belt needs more tension so that it can't slip? Bu the belt has pretty good tension. Im just pissed sick of messing with it and cannot figure it out.
I believe you will find a pin that is engaged for direct drive and needs to be pulled out for back gears. You may be trying to run it in two gears at the same time.
Its called a bull gear lock pin - look at the head stock, you pull the pin out to use the back gear set up & push it back in for standard pully speeds.
Ok see the handle on the left hand side? It has a little lever on the handle that engages into a slot and there seems to be two slots. one at let's say 9 and another at 12. The 9 position keeps the gears from making contact. when I rotate the hand to the 12 position the little lever basically clicks into it's slot. Then when I turn the lathe on it just binds? Im really sure where a pin would be. I don't have a manual for this lathe and the only one I found online was 150 bucks ouch
Looking at my lathe, on the left side you can see the handle for the transmission box speeds, then a little lower and to the left ther is another handle. That handle has 2 holes one at 12 and one at 6 Not sure what it does, I think it has something to do with threading. when I lower it seems to move some gears around, I tried running the lathe with the backgears engaged with it in both positions same effect. The chuch just seems to lock. Not sure where this pin would be? above the lower left hande is some sort of knob that goes into a bolt but that sucker does not move left right up down or back and forth so I have no Idea what the hell that is. Also know of any companies that can fix my tailstock it has to much slop in it. Want to egg holes out. Of course that bitch is heavier than hell
Are you running a tap with the machine? If so it's just as easy to do it by hand. Use your tailstock to hold it in place and then tun the tap with a wrench. Way less trouble and less likely to break the tap as you can feel when it is not going smoothly and back it back out. Not that this helps your working of your lathe. The whole thing doesn't engage when you start the feed of the bed does it?
You should find a small knob on the inside perimeter of the bull gear. It will be on the chuck side of the bull gear. It has two detents. Usually you pull it to separate the bull gear from the shaft. The chuck will turn very freely then. Then you put the back gears in with the external lever. To go back to normal speeds you need to take the back gears out with the external lever. Then rock the bull gear back and forth a little more than 180 degrees to find the detent knob hole then push the knob in until you feel or hear a 'click' from the detents. Putting the back gear lever in without releasing the detent knob will have you in two gears at once.
Thanks for all the help. I will check this bad boy out when I get home. Some hope alas. I hear ya on the tap by hand but tapping 3/4 and 5/8 holes by hand can get old. I mean that's what these machines are for speeding that proccess up Sorry for being such a noob but where is the BULL GEAR? what is it?
Go in and register on this website---there is a lot of knowledge there about lathe and mill work. http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/forumdisplay.php?f=3
the bull gear should be the gear with the knob on it , the gear right next to the flat belt pulley. the front left side. look on the side of this gear, there should be a knob on the side that you pull out . try yahoo groups for lodge shilply lathes www.practicalmachinist.com is ok ,but hsm is a little more my speed. let us know how it works out!! Daye
Here is a pic of a Blomqvist lathe at work. Not the same, but their all similar. You should be looking for a pin like the one pointed at by the red arrow. The pin should be disengaged when trying to use the back gears. BTW. My Tech teacher, back when I was an apprentice, would cut threads at 1000 rpm. That was scary!
Well I went home with high hopes, messed with the lathe for a few could not find any "pin" I was just about to give up when I noticed this little brass knurled knob, low and behold pull that sucker out and the back gears worked like a charm. Thanks for all the help. At first I couldn't see the knob since it is not always exposed. Here is a pic and you can see the little guy.
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