Jet BD-920N

[alinc100]

Ok so a metal lathe followed me home today.I had been keeping an eye out on CL,EBay and the other usual places.I have heard they are fun to work with and to make pens/parts/accessories with.I know very little of metal lathes but with the wisdom and knowledge shared on this site I'll bet I will be up and running in no time.
the pics are not the best as I was waiting to get some assistance to get this thing out of the truck I decided to snap a few pics.






The wonderful gentleman I met today confessed that he had this lathe tip over and hit the floor.There are some broken pieces.i have found replacement parts are available from Grizzly and appear to be identical.
I am not sure yet of the full extent of the damages but from a quick look at Grizzly I can get all the parts I think I need for around$150 delivered.I paid $150 + a Celtic knot Polaris pen I made a couple years back when I got started in penmaking.
The gentleman ,who was elderly, had told me that after retiring from farming he had wanted to try woodworking and set up a nice second floor shop in his carriage house/barn. Either he lost interest or decided it was not for him.















So my next questions are: Is there a better route for getting the parts?
What doors have I opened with the metal lathe capabilities?
Did I get a good deal?Who can come over and give me a quick lesson?
Any books/DVD's?videos I should seek out?

Thanks in Advance,
Andy

 

[mredburn]

They are 1900,00 new without a stand. So if you can find the replacement parts for under $200.00 and the ways are not pitted or damaged beyond use you got a great deal. looks like first thing is a serious cleaning and oiling of parts and lathe.

 

[jedgerton]

Check out the Little Machine Shop for accessories. They offer some pretty reasonable deals for small metal lathes.

tooling, parts, and accessories for bench top machinists - LittleMachineShop.com

John

 

[Rich L]

I admire your motivation and it really looks like you have your work cut out for you. If that thing hit the floor the first thing I'd look at after getting everything disassembled, cleaned, oiled, greased, and reassembled is spindle alignment with the ways. You'll need to make sure everything is still straight where things are supposed to be straight.

I'll be darned surprised if all it takes is $150 worth of parts to restore it to reasonable working condition. You do have a noce new-ish dead center in the bag! That's a start!

My approach would be to take the whole thing apart - looks like it's been sitting in the back forty for a while, but I'm not looking at the actual thing. However, if you can get the headstock turning at least by hand and the spindle axis is straight with the ways then I wouldn't unbolt the headstock from the base.

You will need a dial indicator if you don't have one to check out all the alignment factors. There is so much to examine and clean up - you didn't say if anything worked.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[alinc100]

Thanks all for the replies.It is a place to start.
The lathe is under power and all the parts move freely.
It will be a chore to clean,disassemble and lubricate.
I think I get a better understanding of machinery when I take them
apart and put them back together.
I believe most of the rust is just surface rust and will clean up fairly easily.
I am thinking Naval jelly followed by scotchbrites and wd-40.
Along with a generous coat of oil/gear lube etc.
I will then set out to tune,adjust,and check all alignment features.
I am not in a rush to obtain parts I don't think the parts will vanish anytime soon.

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Rich L]

...
I am thinking Naval jelly followed by scotchbrites and wd-40.
...

Thanks,
Andy

Here's a link to an informative discussion by some very experienced folks about cleaning up a lathe and the use of solvents and mechanical cleaners including Scotchbrite.

Is it ok to use scotchbrite on lathe ways?

Sounds like it's working better than it looks.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[jd99]

Looking at the first picture it looks like the handle for the speed selector for the lead screw/feed bar is busted off did you get that? if so maybe it can be welded back on, that might be a hard part to find.

The other thing I see that worries me is the cross slide screw is sticking out of the cross slide, hopefully the bolts that hold the nut to the cross slide just busted, if not you might have some damage under there.
I've seen lathes that the part that holds the nut is part of the casting of the cross slide and not bolted on, and if this lathe is like that then casting might be broken.

Good luck, looks like a lot of work.

 

[randyrls]

Grizzly is the easiest way to get parts for these lathes. While MOST of the parts are identical, some are unique to the model you have. You can find a lot of info on the YAHOO group "9x20Lathe".

Lathes of this type can have a spindle thread of EITHER 39x4mm OR 1-1/2x8TPI. You will have to check the lathe you have. Also, some lathes have a US-NEMA electric motor, some have IEC-metric motor. The motor pulley and belts may be slightly different in that case.

I don't know if I would try to fix up that 3-jaw chuck. chucks are precision, and it looks like a lot of rust.

 

[Haynie]

Some times I wonder if bringing an old beat up tool back to life is more fun than actually using it. Considering that every machine I have except the little wood lathe needed serious messing around with, cleaning, etc I have done it a lot and I enjoyed it.

For scrubbing I use those yellow sponges with the green plastic scrubby part. They work well and don't scuff the metal.

 

[Curly]

For rust removal of parts not assemblies.

Evapo-Rust. Evapo-Rust™ - Lee Valley Tools Also available a automotive parts suppliers etc.

Or similar. Rust Remover Concentrate & Gel - Lee Valley Tools

Or electrolysis. http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/electrolysis-removing-rust-100525/