Reed Prentice 20 inch lathe wanted for parts
1968fj40
Specifically what I need are two of the gears in the headstock. One
gear is about a foot in diameter, with 98 teeth (face gear). The other
gear is a 22 tooth pinion that engages the larger gear. These gears
provide back gear, forget about trying to repair the broken crap I
have, or having new gears made. I've been down that road and it's not
pretty. Other than these two gears the machine is very nice, straight
and clean, but it's garbage without gears. If anyone out there hears of
one of these machines being scraped out PLEASE let me know. Oh, this is
the earlier L-1 spindle, RP went to an L-2 in 1944 and I don't believe
they are interchangeable.
Thanks
Kirk
Tom Gardner
"1968fj40" <kirk...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1154233713....@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
Send me a pic, I might have the parts you need, do you have a book?
dave
undamaged (I'll also assume the gears that're damaged have 'somewhat
complex' inner bores involving angles, keys, maybe tapers, and similar
complexities).
there's another approach to gear repair: remove the 'bad' gears, machine
off the damaged gear teeth entirely, and past them, procure new gears,
from browing, boston gear, or whoever, then have the new gears bored (or
even 'taper or step-bored') to mate with your "old gear hubs". fasten
the new 'outer teeth'/ring gears to your old gear 'cores' with tapered
rollpins, bolts, shrink fits, contersunk allens, etc, as appropriate.
you'll need to determine the correct pitch, face width, and pressure
angle of course, before buying any new gears...
hth,
toolie
1968fj40
Dave;
Thanks for the thought, but as I said, I have already explored all
avenues of repair. Yes, the gears have complicated bores, tapers, keys,
and splines as you assumed. I looked into the possibility of banding
the gears as you describe, Short of finding replacements it is the only
other possibility, but these are hardened gears. They would need to be
annealed, machined, and then re-hardened. The "pros" that looked at it
were skeptical that the large gear would make it through all that
without cracking or warping. I have also spent much time looking
through the Boston Gear catalog, nothing even comes close. So, to band
them I would have to machine them down, fasten a blank band, and then
cut the teeth. The Machine is a 20 x 120, very clean and straight, I
hate the thought of scraping it out, but I have to be realistic too.
The only really viable solution is finding another old machine that is
really ready for the bone yard and snatch the gears out of it.
Tom, I sent you some pictures, did you get them? Do you still think you
might have gears?
Kirk
Tom Gardner
I got the pix and sad to say they are way different than what I have...Damn,
RPs are the BEST!
F. George McDuffee
wrote:
===========================
Unless you are attempting a "100 point" restoration, or are
setting up for high volume production work, you may want to
consider having the outer rim of the gears EDMed off and suitable
stock gears bored out and adhesive bonded/epoxied, possibly with
keys to the "hubs." The hardness of the gears will have no
effect on the wire EDM process.
If you look at history you'll find that no state
has been so plagued by its rulers
as when power has fallen into the hands
of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.
Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466-1536), Dutch humanist.
Praise of Folly, ch. 24 (1509).
DoN. Nichols
>
> Dave;
>
> Thanks for the thought, but as I said, I have already explored all
> avenues of repair. Yes, the gears have complicated bores, tapers, keys,
> and splines as you assumed. I looked into the possibility of banding
> the gears as you describe, Short of finding replacements it is the only
> other possibility, but these are hardened gears. They would need to be
> annealed, machined, and then re-hardened.
Hmm ... are they *through* hardened, or just case hardened? If
the latter, things will be a bit easier. And in that case, I might
suggest machining a mild steel to make the outer gear ring, cutting the
teeth, then case-hardening it, and using a toolpost grinder to put a
good ground finish on the ID prior to shrink-fitting it to the original
hub.
> The "pros" that looked at it
> were skeptical that the large gear would make it through all that
> without cracking or warping. I have also spent much time looking
> through the Boston Gear catalog, nothing even comes close. So, to band
> them I would have to machine them down, fasten a blank band, and then
> cut the teeth. The Machine is a 20 x 120, very clean and straight, I
> hate the thought of scraping it out, but I have to be realistic too.
> The only really viable solution is finding another old machine that is
> really ready for the bone yard and snatch the gears out of it.
If you can do that, it would be preferable, of course. And if
you do, then try making a replacement ring gear for the original hub and
fitting it. Once the hardened teeth are installed, lap them against a
matching gear of brass to get the finish needed on the tooth faces. I
would suggest that you make the brass gear lap with either one fewer or
one more tooth, so you don't wind up with a stable pattern being lapped
into the final gear.
Good Luck,
DoN.
--
Email: <dnic...@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
Ries
I had a similar problem, not with a reed prentice, but an off brand
lathe, and I had to have the gears made.
It was not cheap. It cost me a bit over a grand for two custom gears.
But a new lathe in this size range would run you 20 grand, easy.
And a high quality used lathe of a similar size would still push 10
grand, in most places.
The gear making industry in america is a shadow of what it once was
-largely because very few machines use gears anymore- a cnc lathe costs
less than a new american made manual lathe these days, and one of the
big reasons is it doesnt need the 20 to 30 precision gears a manual
would have for thread cutting.
The few custom gear houses charge a lot, because they know you dont
have much choice.
And good luck finding an exact replacement parts lathe that also hasnt
been thrashed in its 70 years or so of industrial use- not many of em
around at all, much less cherry donor machines.
Scrap metal is worth so much that stuff like that sits around a lot
less than it used to.
F. George McDuffee
============
In response to a Email -- I meant *WIRE* EDM. If a good EMD
machine/operator can cut a complex punch and die to a "line out"
fit, I see no reason you couldn't do the same for the gears.
Indeed, you should be able to get a couppla thou crush and even a
taper/break if you want. When assembled with red Loctite should
be better than new.
A thought -- stock gears, for example from Boston tend to be
prices at their weight in gold. Check and see if there is some
automotive or HD truck gears that are suitable. Because of the
volume production these are *MUCH* cheaper even if purchased at
full list from a dealer. It may even be possible to upgrade to a
helical rather than straight cut gear for smoother operation.
1968fj40
of them already, The gears are hard through and through. The quote I
got for two gears was not a cheap $1000, no, it was $8000 for two
gears, and the gear cutter cautioned that his gears would not even be
as good as the original ones. So far I don't have a lot into this
machine, and I can get by with my smaller RP if I have to. Originally,
the only reason I bought this machine was cuz I wanted the taper
attachment, which I believe will bolt up to my 14 inch RP. It was only
after seeing it (Ibought it on ebay) and seeing what great shape it was
in that I decided to keep it. And yes, a big machine like this can
fetch $20,000, but a week later you'll find one on ebay for less than
$1000. These are all great ideas, but not very practical. My best bet
is to be patient and wait for a scrapped machine to come along. I hope
you will all think of me as you come across old iron that is being put
out to pasture. Please let me know if you come across one of these
machines that is ready to be parted out.
Thanks
Kirk
English
--
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