Category Archives: SB lathe milling attachment

South Bend lathe milling attachment – Part VIII

Surfacing the mill bed and test run With the bed attached to the cross slide and the motor wired hooked up, I could finally start running it.  The first task was to true the bed, which was a simple (but … Continue reading

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South Bend lathe milling attachment – Part VII

The motor To power the milling attachment, I bought a 1725 rpm 1/4 hp DC motor on eBay.  My brother sent me a DC drive unit for the motor, which gives me the luxury of variable speed (from about 35 … Continue reading

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South Bend lathe milling attachment – Part VI

The milling table The milling table will mount to an extra cross slide that I picked up on eBay.  The table will bolt to the cross slide, and left there permanently.  It takes less than a minute to switch between … Continue reading

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South Bend lathe milling attachment – Part V

Mill column fabrication While the milling head was the most involved part of the build, the column was also time-consuming.  Lots of drilling and tapping, as well as some machining, can really eat up some time.   I think everything … Continue reading

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South Bend lathe milling attachment – Part IV

Milling head/spindle completed The milling head is assembled and ready to be attached to the column.  The pictures below show the parts.  Just the frame, a collet holder, the pulley, and two bearings.  The bearings are just radial ball bearings. … Continue reading

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South Bend lathe milling attachment – Part III

Milling head/spindle fabrication The most challenging part of this build is the spindle assembly.  Not only does it need to run true, it needs to have a means of vertical or height adjustment.  The first concern is easily addressed by … Continue reading

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South Bend lathe milling attachment – Part II

Cutting out the components After months of thinking about it, there was no more putting it off.  I was able to get all of the parts for the frame out of these two pieces of 1×4 aluminum that my friend … Continue reading

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South Bend lathe milling attachment – Part I

I bought a South Bend Model A lathe late last summer.  It is a wonderful tool that has greatly increased my capabilities, allowing me to make, among other things, my own saw bolts/nuts and saw filing guides. Although this lathe … Continue reading

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