Well I hadn't planned on writing this post but since I had a few good days decided to put up one final post before I go on Holidays.
First thing I did was correct the issue with my tailstock on the #39. When I had centres in the tailstock and the headstock they did not line up on the horizontal plane. My guess was that there was around 20thous difference between the two. So I ordered up a package of brass shims and carefully cut some shims up to place between the two bottom plates of the Tailstock. Luckily the Tailstock has a split bed to allow the movement forward and back and there is enough movement to place shims in there. I first inserted 15thous then added another 5thous and finally ended up with 25thous worth of shims between the two sole plates to get the tailstock centre up to the height of the headstock centre. I used a precision ground test bar that I purchased awhile ago to prove the work. When this test bar was between centres I rode a dial indicator on the carriage up and down the test bar. The test bar is approx 12 inches long with 2mt taper at one end giving about 8-9 inches of calibrated round stock. When the 25 thous shims were in the dial indicator dropped about 2 thous in the middle of the bar and came back to zero at the tailstock end of the bar. I'm very happy with this. I'll include three pictures one showing the initial difference between centres. The second one showing the layout of the first setup of shim stock and the last picture shows the final placement of the two centres with the shim stock installed.

 I then decided that I would start working on cleaning and prepping the lathe bed for the #86 lathe. First thing I did was clean out the inside of the webs beneath the lathe bed and give them a quick coat of paint. I still had some Blue metal paint left so that's what they got. Later on i'll give it a coat of most likely flat black before the bed is mated to the rest of the body. I then carefully cleaned the back "t" slot with a razor blade some 400 grit sandpaper. Cleaned out the slot with laquer thinner and then gave the exterior of the "t" slot a cleaning with polishing compound. Once all the painting it done will go back and use more polishing compound to shine this section up. I also stripped, scraped, sanded and finally primed the back side of the lathe bed. I initially wanted to use water based products so I bought the water based Tremclad primer. All the labeling said it was designed for metal the only issue they stated was that if going on bare metal do not leave the metal for any length of time and to not apply with high humidity levels. So soon as I cleaned it I immediately primed it. After about one hour I looked at the paint and it looked like there were all tiny little specks of rust showing. So I cleaned all the paint off the body however there really was no rusting showing under the paint so not sure why those little brown specks were there. However for my peace of mind once all the paint was removed and the area cleaned up again I sprayed it with oil based primer. Here are some pictures showing the inner webs painted, the "t" slot cleaned, polished and then oiled. Lastly the lathe body cleaned and then primed. I was in the local NAPA store looking at paint brochures and found a paint colour, Metallic Charcoal Grey, which I think will be the colour I end up using for the exterior of the lathe body.

 Well on Friday off to see Mom and Dad and then off to Kalamazoo to see my Grandmother for her 101st birthday. Also plan to pick up some pieces I ordered from EBay since shipping them across the border is ridiculous and they're much cheaper across the border.
So see you back here on or around the 9th of June.

Harold

Well it won't be a very big post this week either as I did not do much in the shop. Worked all week and since I've started biking into work I just don't have as much energy to work at night.

Well the big start has occured. I sent the legs, the shelf and the two pedestal cupboards and doors off to the sandblaster to be blasted before I paint them. Here's a picture of the parts in the truck before I dropped them off.

 These parts should be ready for me when I get back from vacation.
Since the small pedestals were shipped out for sandblasting I removed the two knobs from them and cleaned them up. I've decided to leave the face and rim clear so they were stripped and smoothed out and then buffed up to a nice shine. The Lathe I've decided will be a Gloss Black so when I pick up the paint will paint the back of the handles to match. While I had the handles off I cleaned up the screws and to confirm the pitch I checked them with a thread gauge. Low and behold the threads were not 26TPI as I expected, they were 24TPI. Looks like somebody replaced the originals at some time. Got out the 1/4 by 26TPI Tap and dies. First cleaned up the knob with the taps and then cut two new screws on the #39 and threaded them to match. Carefully cut and filed the slots in the heads and then polished them up. Works like a charm and they are now more authentic than the old screws. Heres a picture showing the two knobs.

I'll give them a quick coat of primer on the back and then store them away until needed in the restoration project.

Been looking around a little with an eye to picking up an electric motor for the lathe. The only issue I'm dealing with right now is do I stick with the authentic system with motor, 2 speed transmission and 3 step pulley giving me 6 speeds plus using the back gear to get another 6 or do I install a 3phase motor with VFD and therefore get essentially multiple speeds. I'll have to do some real thinking on this. If I stay authentic then I believe I'll have to look for an older Century electric motor maybe one of those Repulsion-Induction styles.

Later this week heading into cottage country to look at a Van Norman #10 milling machine. As well dropping of the parts I made for Bruce in Toronto on Friday and then heading of to the parents to drive them to my Grandmother in Kalamazoo who turns 101yrs old this year. Should be a good trip and while there will be picking up the overhead drive I purchased from David Mathis down in California. I've emailed him a while ago to see if he finally got rid of the rest of the lathe or if he still had some pieces laying around, never did hear back.

I anticipate the next update won't be until 7 Jun. See you then and enjoy the weather. To all my American readers have a great Memorial day weekend next week.

Harold

Just a short note today. I finished shellacing the  pattern and I believe it's ready for the foundry. I'll be passing by  there in 2-3 weeks and will drop it off at that time if they agree the pattern is capable of being used. Once that's done I have a few pieces cast so that I have one for myself and at least one more for one of the other Hardinge owners. Once I find out the cost will email the group to see if anybody else wants a casting for their machine.
So now it's on to working on the #86. We'll look at getting the big pieces out for sandblasting next week. This is going to start forcing my hand as to deciding what colour to paint the machine. Still haven't made the final decision. Oh well still have some time

Harold

Well the weather outside is gorgeous. I just wish it could stay like this all summer. Not too hot and beautiful weather to work in the shop. It was a pretty productive week for me all things considered.

I started off with removing the headstock for the #39 lathe so that I could readjust the bearings. While running it previously I thought the front bearing was getting just a little warm. Once that was done we were back in business. Now previously I had bought an Aloris AXA tool post set and although they will machine the tool post nut, I did not have the correct dimensions when the order was placed so I just asked for the plain blank and I would mill it myself. Well still haven't bought a mill so we had to machine the nut the old fashioned way, hacksaw and file. After maybe an hours worth of work the nut fit nice and snug on the compound vise. This setup is way better than the lantern post setup I had before which was missing the little half moon piece so it was never a really secure setup. Now we could do some work.

First thing we did was to make the 5 wheels I needed for the collet tray. I needed one for the #86 lathe and I promised Bruce in Toronto that while I made the one I needed I would make 4 more for him as well. I had bought some cold rolled 1.5" steel rod that I turned down to 1.25". Then I proceeded to use the cutoff tool to part off the 5 wheels. I'll include a picture showing this(I did not have a cut off blade for the Aloris so needed to used the old lantern post setup for this operation). Once this was done I chamfered one side of the wheel and then used a bastard file to get it the roundover required. Once this was done I drilled out the 3/8" hole required and finished parting off the pieces.  When they were all off I finish sanded the marks down with a dremel tool and a sanding wheel. Once all was done they looked pretty close to the original. I'll attach a second picture showing the 5 new wheels alongside an original wheel.

 Once this was done almost all  the parts needed to finish the collet tray for the #86 and for Bruce were done. Bruce will get his pieces later this month when I drive through Toronto. The only item still left is the bolt securing the tray to the spindle and I'll need to purchase some 3/4" hex bar for this in the future.

With these parts done I could go back to the pattern for the tray supports. I carefully drilled some 1/8" in holes in one side of the centre split point of the pattern and halfway into the other side. Then glued small dowels in these holes to be used as locating pins for the foundry when place both sides together and they tamp the sand around the pattern. I then started the first of at least 6 coats of shellac to coat the pattern. After the 2nd and 4th coats i'll give it a light sanding and hopefully when the 6th coat is dry we have a totally smooth slick surface that the casting sand will not stick to. Here is a couple pictures of the pattern before and after the first coat of shellac. In the first photo you can see two clamps holding the two halves together, along this seam is where those small locating pins are inserted. The pattern is not 100% accurate however I think i'm at least 95% accurate. There are two stubs at the ends of the shelf arms that were most likely from the casting process and not needed for the pattern. Whether the foundry includes these or not will depend on how they pour the casting and how they set up the vent and pouring holes.

Since I'm back to work this week most likely will not be posting next weekend as I don't expect I'll have much done. At this time I think the first thing I want to do is get the major pieces sand blasted from the #86 lathe and give them a coat of primer and possibly bondo. Haven't decided whether I want the casting to have the rough look or the extremely smooth look that bondo can give. I guess I'll wait to see how they come back from the sandblaster. I also need to still decide what colour I'm going to paint this lathe, at this time I'm leaning to black with possibly red or silver lettering however still not sure. I have decided that whatever colour I use I'm going to try and use a waterborne spray to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Well that's all for this weeks installment see you next time
Harold