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Nardini TT-1230 E Metal Lathe

olympus-digital-camera

A gentleman contacted us from Canada about this green Nardini TT-1230 E Turn-Tru metal lathe. He just got it, and was needing some wiring diagrams. We had just the manual he needed for the Nardini TT-1230E with the wiring and parts diagrams. More information on it is below. The Nardini TT-1230 E  has a 12″ swing with an 8″ swing over the cross slide. The spindle bore 1 3/8″ with a D1-3 Camlock spindle nose. Maximum spindle speed is 2,000 RPMs. The tailstock has a #3 MT. In 1986 the Nardini TT-1230E sold for $4,795, which is the equivalent to $10,493.13 today.

 

 

 

 Here’s a video of a similar machine:

 


 

 

 

 

 

 Owner’s Operator Instructions and Parts Manual

We carry a instructions and parts manual for this Nardini TT-1230 E at the link below. Nardini manuals are put together very well with all the information you would expect. It has the standard operating instructions with the maintenance and lubrication chart. The manual contains the wiring diagrams and information about making adjustments. The parts diagrams are all explosive view, and show the parts very clearly. This manual covers the TT-1020, TT-1030, TT-1220, TT-1230, TT-125 and TT-150 Turn Tru series.

 

NARDINI TT-1000, 1200, 125, 150 Operator’s Part Manual

Click on image of manual cover above.

 

We carry a lot of Nardini metal lathe manuals. If you have any questions about Nardini metal lathes, feel free to comment below or contact us.
 

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Machine ID’d: HARDINGE HC & HCT Chucker Metal Lathe Chucking Machines

hardinge-hct-chucker01

We’ve had a couple readers ask us questions about Hardinge HC & HCT chucking machines and metal lathes. We recently made available some more manuals for these Hardinge chucking machines. We have Hardinge operator’s, maintenance, and parts manuals for many different vintages, and for the different manual and automatic threading units that were on some of these Hardinge lathes. The Hardinge chucker lathes were workhorses, and even a worn out Hardinge HC & HCT can easily hold tight tolerances. These also had the nickname Kodak Lathe, which is explained below.

 

Hardinge Brothers, Inc. History

Hardinge Cataract lathe

1919 Hardinge Cataract Quick Change Lathe

The American Hardinge Brothers’ origins go back to 1890 in Chicago, when Franklin and Henry Hardinge began developing watchmaker lathes. They purchased the Cataract machine line from Cataract Tool and Optical Co, in 1902. In 1931 Morrison Machine Products purchased Hardinge Brothers and moved them to Morrison’s operations in Elmira, NY. Hardinge Brothers, Inc. machines are well known for their superb quality and dependability. Their popular models are the HLV and the great HLV-H precision lathes. The HC and HCT chucking machines came after WWII. These models were also know as Kodak lathes, because Kodak wanted machines to help in the manufacturing of high quality lens rings, casing, and shells. The engineers from Eastman Kodak Company actually went down to Elmira, NY to work with the engineers at Hardinge to develop these lathes specifically to help with Kodak’s production. That was the original purpose of these lathes, but these lathes also turned out to be great on other jobs as well.

 

Hardinge HCT Lathe Pictures

We received several pictures from some readers looking for information and manuals for their HCT chucker metal lathes. The first set show a HCT with serial #26300, dated 1953. The cross slide was removed for repair and cleaning, and it is missing the threading attachment, which is the “T” in HCT.

 

Hardinge HCT Automatic Threader

Threading attachment shown above

hardinge hct chucker01

Click pictures to enlarge

Hardinge HCT chucker02

This next set of pictures is of a Hardinge HCT chucking metal lathe. I’m not sure what the serial number is, but it is the same vintage of HCT lathe as the one above. Obviously, someone has added a VFD at the top left for variable speed control later, and this one is also missing the threading attachment.

 

hardinge hct chucking lathe 01 hardinge hct chucking lathe 04 hardinge hct chucking lathe 05 hardinge hct chucking lathe 03 hardinge hct chucking lathe 02

 

Hardinge Manual & Automatic Threading Unit Attachment

hardinge-automatic-manual-threading-unit

Hardinge made both a manual and automatic threading unit attachment for the chucker lathes, which were the HCT models. The Hardinge chucker lathes don’t have a quick change gearbox to switch feeds for different threads. Instead the Hardinge have a threading attachment unit that follows what is called a lead screw with a certain pitch that is placed on the back end of the spindle.

 

hardingeleadscrew

Lead Screw

Then you have to place the corresponding follower on the follower arm. This follows the lead screw which with the set pitch, and moves the tooling on the other side of the spindle so you can cut the threads. The following pitches for right-handed threads were standard: 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 48, 50 and 60. Left-handed or special pitches could be custom ordered, and blank lead screws and followers were also sold so you could grind your own threads or leads.

 

hctthreading

Follower and Follower Arm

 

 

Hardinge Lathe Catalog Information

Below are some excerpts from some Hardinge lathe catalogs about the HC and HC-AT that detail the specifications of these lathes. We also have Hardinge catalogs and bulletins in PDF format free to download here: Hardinge PDF Downloads

 

1950

1976

 

Operator’s, Maintenance, and Parts Manuals for Hardinge HC, HCT, and HC-AT

 

We have quite a few manuals available that cover the Hardinge HC, HCT, and HC-AT lathes. Here are some Hardinge manuals that would be useful for these models:

HARDINGE HC & HCT Chucking Machine Lathes Operator’s Manual

HARDINGE HC & HCT Chucking Lathe Maintenance Manual

HARDINGE HC & HCT Chucking Lathe Parts Manual

HARDINGE HC Automatic & Manual Threading Unit’s Operator’s Manual ’57

HARDINGE Automatic Threading Unit on Model HC-AT Chucking Machine Operator’s Manual

HARDINGE Automatic Threading Unit on HC Chucking Machine Maintenance Manual

 

 

Do you have a HC or HCT that you would like to share pictures or information about?

Please contact us or leave some comments below.

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Hardinge Lathe & Mill Parts & New Manuals HLV, HC, HCT, HC-R, DSM-A, TM & UM Mills, Dividing Heads, and more!

hardinge-lathe-mill-manuals

hardinge-lathe-mill-manuals

Our selection of Hardinge manuals have grown over the years, and we’ve always tried to provide the best quality Hardinge Lathe and Mill manuals possible. We were recently contacted by one of our customers Lee Backulich. He has collected Hardinge equipment for years, and has a lot of documentation on them.

He was quite impressed with the quality of our manuals, and offered to let us borrow some his Hardinge lathe and mill documents he had so we could share them with others. We also found out that he has a big selection of Hardinge lathe and mill parts that he has for sale. We’ve included his contact information below. After receiving the Hardinge documents from Lee, we decided to also go through our inventory of manuals we don’t have online, and pull out a bunch of Hardinge documents we’ve had laying around.

Hardinge Lathe & Mill Manuals                       PDF Hardinge Catalog Downloads

New Hardinge Lathe and Mill Manuals

We’ve added a whole new batch of Hardinge Super-Precision Lathes and Horizontal Milling Machine manuals. We have new operator’s and parts manuals, and we’ve added a new batch of Free PDF Hardinge catalogs and bulletins to look over.

We now have an operator’s manual that covers nearly every vintage of the Hardinge HLV series lathes made, and we have parts manuals that cover them as well, plus we still have the maintenance manual for the HLV-H. We also now have Hardinge TM and UM horizontal milling machine parts manuals for both vintages to go along with the Hardinge Mill operator’s manual. We even now have an old Hardinge TR59 lathe parts manual with split bed available (I own one of these machines myself).

Below is a list of all the new Hardinge manuals with links.

1117 HARDINGE Plain or Spiral Dividing Heads Instructions & Parts Manual
1118 HARDINGE Milling Machine Models TM & UM Parts Manual Serial #32273 & Up
1119 HARDINGE Milling Machine Models TM & UM Parts Manual Below Serial #32273
HARDINGE DSM-A Automatic Metal Lathe Parts Manual
HARDINGE HC & HC-R Chucking Machine Lathes Operator’s Manual
HARDINGE HC & HCT Chucking Machine Lathes Operator’s Manual
HARDINGE HC Automatic & Manual Threading Unit’s Operator’s Manual ’57
HARDINGE HLV High Speed Tool Room Lathe Operator’s Manual ’54
HARDINGE HLV HLV-BK High Speed Tool Room Lathe Operator’s Manual ’58
HARDINGE HLV-EM Threading Instructions Manual English, Metric & Dual Gearbox
HARDINGE HLV-H High Speed Tool Room Lathe Operator’s Manual ’60
HARDINGE Second Operation 5C Collets, Step Chucks Tooling Work Holding Techniques Manual
HARDINGE TR59 High Speed Precision Metal Lathe Parts Manual & Bulletin
Hardinge Collet Index Fixtures Parts Manual & Bulletin

Click Here to See All Hardinge Brothers, Inc. Manuals


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How to Change the Oil in Headstock of Geared Head Metal Lathe, Tips & Tricks

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How often should I change the oil in my geared head metal lathe, and what oil should you use for the gears in the headstock? What’s the best way or how should I change the oil in the headstock of my metal lathe? We have a lot of customers that buy our metal lathe owner’s manuals looking for the answers to these questions. Some of the metal lathe manuals cover lubrication and oiling really well, some don’t hardly cover it at all, and some have outdated information. I’m going to share some of the tips, tricks and techniques we use in our shop with our geared head metal lathes that can be applied to most geared metal lathes in any shop, but, as always, I highly recommend a instruction manual.

Need a manual for your metal lathe? Click Here

Starting with some information about oiling your metal lathe is usually better than having none, and before you take my word on anything, you should always cross reference it with what your manual recommends. Plus, your lathe manual will hopefully include a chart  with all the different points you should lubricate, and each model has it’s own points that don’t like to get dry.

bradford lathe lubrication chart

 

How Often Do You Change the Oil in Your Metal Lathe Headstock?

 

I was doing research before I wrote this article on oiling your lathe, and I read through our huge selection of operator manuals from different manufacturers that cover intervals for how often you should change the oil in a geared head metal lathe. As you can imagine the time varies from one metal lathe company to another. A lot of them state that the oil should be changed out every 6 months, and a lot simply say keep the oil up to the fill line or top it off repeatedly.

“We never change the oil in the heads of our metal lathes in our shop”

Unless you are operating your geared head metal lathe 8 hours a day 7 days a week, you probably don’t need to drain your oil every 6 months in your metal lathe no matter what the model is. Honestly, we never change the oil in the heads of our metal lathes in our shop. My father and I are the only ones operating them, and we aware of the conditions of how they are being used. If your lathe is in an industrial environment, where you can’t keep track of the use by the different operators, it might not be a bad idea to change the oil once a year while you perform general maintenance on the lathe.

 

There are times when you do need to change the oil:

  1. When we purchase a brand new or used lathe. Obviously you don’t know the history of a used lathe, but even a brand new lathe should be drained and cleaned out. You really can’t buy a new lathe made in the USA anymore. More than likely it is coming from Asia. We work 12 miles from Grizzly Industrial’s Springfield, MO showroom and warehouse. I’ve gone through hundreds of their new machines, and they all have metal filings and cast iron dust inside of them. Nothing against Asian machines, but just always make sure you clean them out before you use them.
  2. When something goes “Clink-Clank”. If things aren’t sounding right inside your geared head metal lathe headstock, and you regrettably have to find some wrenches to take the cover off to see what is creating your new noise, you may need to change the oil in your headstock. It’s a lot easier to work on the inside of the headstock of your metal lathe without a pool of oil that you keep pulling your wrenches or flashlight out of.

 

 

 

How to Drain & Flush the Lubricant & Oil Out of a Geared Head Metal Lathe?

 

Most geared head metal lathes have a threaded plug at the bottom of the headstock. Generally they seem to be on the side opposite spindle, and hidden by the gear cover. These are usually just threaded holes in the casting without any sort of drain, funnel, or trough to keep the oil in your headstock from getting all over your metal lathe bench or chip pan when you open it. I’ve seen all sorts of methods to easily and cleanly collect the oil from the headstock. My personal favorite is the taped bag method.

Below is a Grizzly G4003 12″ x 36″ Gear-Head, Cam Lock Spindle, Gap Bed Metal Lathe that I was fixing up. A shaft that holds a gear was broken off at the warehouse, and I needed to replace it to get the metal lathe going again. So I needed to drain the oil in the headstock to replace this part.
image

 

The plug for the oil was on the bottom of the casting of the headstock on the opposite side of the main spindle. What I did was tape a one gallon Ziploc right below the plug of the oil drain. Once I take a wrench and unscrew the plug the oil runs right down the side of the headstock of the metal lathe into the bag. You need to make sure you use a large enough bag to capture all the oil in the headstock. If for some reason you misjudge it, you can always put the plug in and replace the bag, then repeat.

 

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I find this to be the simple, and easiest process to capture the draining oil from a geared head metal lathe. Sometimes there may be a lot of particles or sludge in your headstock, and you may wish to flush it out. Before you start flushing out your heastock there are a few things that you should keep in mind. If’ it’s not very dirty, I would recommend not flushing the headstock out. Usually you have a bunch of open bearings inside, and it is better that the particles or sludge stay at the bottom or crevasses where they belong then risk getting a particle inside a bearing. It can only take one particle to mess up a good bearing at the stress and tension they are under.

 

If you do feel like your headstock should be flushed out, then this is the procedure I recommend. I would try to vacuum out everything and get in there with a brush to keep the particles out of the bearings. Then I would try a mixture of kerosene and oil. To flush out the headstock. If it is really bad, then you may need to use a water hose with pressure.

 

If you use water, you are going to want to let everything dry for a day or so. Then after the kerosene and oil flush, and letting it dry, you will want to turn every shaft individually by hand. We are trying to see if there is any dirt or particles in the bearings. So are going to want to do this slowly and with your most sensitivity. You are trying to feel for any hesitation in the bearings. The Standard Modern metal lathe manuals actually recommend you fill the headstock with an oil and kerosene mixture, and run the lathe without a load for a few minutes. When you are finished draining the oil, flushing and servicing your metal lathe, then you just need to fill it back up with the correct oil.

 

 

What Oil or Lubricant Should I Put in my Gear Headed Metal Lathe Headstock?

 

I always recommend that you check the manual of your lathe and go by what the manufacturer states. We have manuals here if you need one. But sometimes, if you have an old lathe, you get an old manual that has outdated information. Generally for most people that have a personal or small shop, I recommend non-detergent Mobil DTE Heavy/Medium 20 Sae Grade Circulating Machine Oil. This will suite most lathes just fine. Some metal lathe manuals I read do recommend 30 weight, but unless you are running your lathe 8 hours a day, it probably doesn’t matter a whole lot if you aren’t sure. You can pick up a gallon of this oil at Enco. I recommend getting on their mailing list, and waiting for a free shipping and percentage off sales. Either weight of oil should be fine, but you need to make sure your oil is non-detergent.

 

mobil heavy medium 20 sae lathe oil

 

Detergent Vs Non-Detergent Oil for a Metal Lathe or Machine

 

You need to use non-detergent oil in almost every machine. What’s the difference? Detergent oils were introduced in the 1950’s. They have additives in them that are designed to suspend and trap particles. Detergent oils are what you put into a modern car with a oil filter. The idea is the suspension carries the particles to the filter, which is replaceable.

Non-detergent oils are just straight oil, and they let all the particles sink to the bottom. These are commonly used in small engines without filters like two stroke engines, lawnmowers, tractors, etc.. Since the headstock of our geared head metal lathe doesn’t have a filter, we want all the particles to sink to the bottom, and stay out of the gears and bearings.

 

Please let me know if you have any other recommendations, questions, or ideas about changing the oil your geared head metal lathe in the comments below.

 

Do you need an owner’s operator’s and parts manual for your geared head metal lathe?

Click For Metal Lathe Manuals

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Machine ID’d: South Bend 13″ x 6′ Metal Lathe Catalog No.1866-C similar to 166-C

South 2BBend

We had one of our readers that wanted to learn more about his great 13″ x 6′ South Bend metal lathe. These South Bend lathes are beautiful machines They were built like tanks. As long as you install them properly, keep them clean, keep them trim, and oil the lathe properly they should last forever.

The serial number of his lathe was No. 50328 and the catalog number was stamped 1866-C as you can see in the picture below. This information dates his lathe around 1931. The reader wanted some clarification as to if the 1866-C was misstamped, because most of the information and advertisements with a similar machine show the catalog number as 166-C.

 

The 1866-C is a real and correct catalog number for your lathe. The difference between the 1866-C and the 166-C is the 1866-C was considered a “Tool Room Precision Lathe”, which came with various attachments like the collet attachment, taper attachment, threading dial, etc…

This particular South Bend lathe is part of the “N” series, which is distinguished mainly by the design of the apron. The “N” series wasn’t in production for very long. South Bend started producing them around 1930. It was replaced by the “R” series after 1934, and that is what South Bend used to the end. They sold the “N” until about 1937. There is always a lot of overlap with South Bend on some of their parts.

Here are some pictures of the South Bend Lathe after it has been cleaned some.

 

Manuals for South Bend 13″ x 6′ Metal Lathe Catalog No.1866-C

We have a few manuals that cover this South Bend 13″ x 6′ Metal Lathe Catalog No.1866-C. We have new revised parts manual that shows the main parts of the lathe here:

 

These are very helpful when trying to take the the lathes apart or put them back together. Also, locating parts can become easier, because most parts have the part number casted into them.
We also have a manual that shows explosive view parts break down diagrams of the accessories for these larger lathes like the, taper attachment, milling attachment, threading dial, turrets, collets, steady rest, etc… here:
A lot of people didn’t realize the the threading dial was an accessory. It seems like a common part today, but it is actually possible to do threading well without the dial and the version of How to Run A Lathe explains this procedure.
South Bend basically made one book for operations that covered all their lathes, but it is important to find the one that covers the correct vintage, because they made lots of changes to these lathes over the years. They keep the book with the same title “How to Run a Lathe” all through out the years, with different editions. The edition we have here covers this style of lathe, and we’ve enlarged it so it is easier to read:



 

Submit Your Machine
Do you want to know more about your machine?

Email us your details with pictures, and we’ll put together the best information we can find. Plus, we can get other readers’ input to help you learn more.

Also, feel free to email us if you want us to share your machine on our site.

Email your information to: info@ozarkwoodworker.com

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Machine ID’d: Atlas V42 10″ Metal Lathe Restored

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Here is an image from a reader that nicely rebuilt and restored this Atlas 10 inch metal lathe model V42 with serial number 05140. This is a older version of the Atlas 10 inch lathe, because it has babbit bronze bushings and doesn’t have a pull knob to engage the power cross feed on the apron. We actually used to have a similar model in our shop.

 

The reader said that he had our parts and instructions manual for this lathe, which we have here:

 

 

This manual covers the following models.
  • For Atlas timken bearing lathes:
    with horizontal countershaft-Cat. Nos.: TH36, TH42, TH48, TH54
    with vertical countershaft-Cat. Nos.: TV36, TV42, TV48, TV54
  • For Atlas babbitt bearing lathes:
    with horizontal countershaft-Cat. Nos.: H36, H42, H48, H54
    with vertical countershaft-Cat. Nos.: V36, V42, V48, V54
  • For Atlas quick-change lathes:
    Cat. Nos.: QC42 and QC54

This manual does cover the basics. It explains lubrication, and labels the different controls of the lathe. The reader said that he wanted more information about the operation of the lathe. He’s not the only person that has asked us about this, and that is why we carry the Manual of Lathe Operations and Machinist Tables books, which is full of almost everything you would want to know to get started, plus it contains information on the gear and machinist tables for threading.

The problem with these books is that Atlas and Craftsman sold thousands of these over many decades. They made changes to the books as they made changes to the lathes, but they never stated on the cover or in the book which manual covers which vintage and size of lathe. We’ve collected over 25 of these books and have done the research for you, and we have the one that covers this lathe at the link below:

 

 

 
 

Submit Your Machine
Do you want to know more about your machine?

Email us your details with pictures, and we’ll put together the best information we can find. Plus, we can get other readers’ input to help you learn more.

Also, feel free to email us if you want us to share your machine on our site.

Email your information to: info@ozarkwoodworker.com

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Machine ID’d: CL-195-C South Bend 16/24 Metal Lathe

IMG 20130925 04169

Received this image of a South Bend heavy metal lathe the other day. It was made in the 1950’s, and has a 6 foot bed catalog number CL-195-C. These South Bend lathes are beautiful machines They were built like tanks. As long as you install them properly, keep them clean, keep them trim, and oil the lathe properly they should last forever.

We have a few manuals that cover this lathe. We have a parts manuals with exploded view diagrams that shows the main parts of the lathe here:

These are very helpful when trying to take the the lathes apart or put them back together. Also, locating parts can become easier, but most parts have the part number casted into them. 
We also have a manual that shows explosive view parts break down diagrams of the accessories for these larger lathes like the turrets, collets, steady rest, etc… here:
A lot of people didn’t realize the the threading dial was an accessory. It seems like a common part today, but it is actually possible to do threading well without the dial and the version of How to Run A Lathe explains this procedure
South Bend basically made one book for operations that covered all their lathes, but it is important to find the one that covers the correct vintage, because they made lots of changes to these lathes over the years. They keep the book with the same title “How to Run a Lathe” all through out the years, with different editions. The edition we have here covers this style of lathe, and we’ve enlarged it so it is easier to read:

Submit Your Machine
Do you want to know more about your machine?

Email us your details with pictures, and we’ll put together the best information we can find. Plus, we can get other readers’ input to help you learn more.

Also, feel free to email us if you want us to share your machine on our site.

Email your information to: info@ozarkwoodworker.com