Restoring a Smart & Brown Lathe

[Mr Mechanical]

Hi Guys

New to this forum. Thought I'd share my current project. Last week a bought a Smart & Brown Sabel Lathe.

So far I have stripped the lathe down and I'm just staring to clean, de-grease, de-rust and paint.

Also, there is a bit of play in the spindle, so I hope to fix this when rebuilding.

Videoing this project and sharing it on youtube, so if your interested please check out part 1 (strip down) on my channel:

Any tips on how to remove paint from the cast iron parts would be appreciated. (currently I'm thinking of using paint stripper.)

Also, ideas on how to improve / check the the accuracy of the machine would be appreciated.

[DIYSwede]

Welcome aboard, Mr Mechanical and congrats to your find!
I guess you'll find some tips and tricks around here.

Seems like your lathe is abt equal to (or rather: better than) the Blomqvist BS-600 Master
(of mid-seventies vintage) I have at work - a Swedish made South Bend clone.

I'll check up on your progress, and chime in when I can.

Cheers, Johan

[Mr Mechanical]

So this week I've been cleaning the parts I've removed ahead of painting the parts with the new color.

For bare metal parts I have used an 'acid bath' to removed rust. When the parts are removed from the bath they appear to have a dull coating (I assume from the acid crystals). I removed this dull coating by trying a wire wheel in the bench grinder. I was getting impatient with this method and tried emery / sand paper which worked much better.

For the painted parts first I washed them off with clean water (hose pipe). Rubbed them down with degreaser and emery paper. Then applied paint stripper.
The paint stripper didn't work as well as I'd hoped so also used sand paper on the paint work - including the used of a palm sander. I now have some abrasive mops ordered for my drill - I'll let you all know how these work once they arrive.

Again I've video'd my progress and added it to youtube. Thanks to anyone who watched the previous video!

[mejdavidson]

Hi Mr Mechanical,

I have just bought the same beast and it needs a lot of work. I'm really keen to hear how you get on - I haven't got much time to spend on it at the moment but hoping to soon.

BW

Mark

[Mr Mechanical]

Hi Mark, your machine looks good. I with I had a proper base for mine. What does the lever do on the side of the headstock?

I've started putting mine back together finally! Gearbox is back together now. Next video is uploaded on youtube. Should get the spindle back together and fitted this weekend.

[DIYSwede]

What does the lever do on the side of the headstock?

-Isn't it just the intricate "Forward/ Reverse" switch described in the text at:
Smart & Brown "S", "SAB", "Sabel" & 918 lathes ?
Paragraph starting with "As two examples of wonderful attention to detail..."

[Mr Mechanical]

I will have to have a look at that in detail. The lever was missing from mine when I got it.

[Mr Mechanical]

So having some time off this week i managed to get the lathe back together. In fact it went smoother than I expected. I am however regretting the color choice as oily hands quickly make it look dirty. I had seen one of these lathes in this color on YouTube and really liked it so went with it.

Everything is working well with the exception of the back gear. Last thing to do now is re-fit the information plaques.

[Mr Mechanical]

Hi Mr Mechanical,

I have just bought the same beast and it needs a lot of work. I'm really keen to hear how you get on - I haven't got much time to spend on it at the moment but hoping to soon.

BW

Mark

Mark!
Do you have many accessories for your lathe? The manual I have includes details for such things as taper attachments. However I've been struggling to locate any for sale.
I've also struggled to find back plates to fit the 1.75" 8tpi thread on the spindle. I may have to make one / modify the one I have to accept a 4 bolt / 4 jaw chuck.