South Bend 7" shaper refurbishment

Ian

Notorious member
Like most of my projects, this one has turned into more than I bargained for. However, I'm finally starting to get the upper hand. I didn't take pictures of the paint scraping or wire-wheeling, but we all know what that looks like anyway.

Here's what I started with:

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Someone had painted it with an emerald green metallic automotive paint without disassembling much, so it was rough in places. They did a good job masking it, but painted over all the gib screws and lock nuts and painted things like the top rails of the tower which are supposed to be in the white.

My first concern was the condition of the ram ways. Almost no lubrication was getting to them from the oil pump and the ways were coated in a grey paste of old oil and stuff that should be part of the machine and not the contents of the sump. So I know the ways need work and so does the oil pump.

Once I got the machine stripped down I found the left way oil tube plugged up at the pump manifold and the right way tube plugged at the orifice that lubricates the gib. The oil pump was bypassing most of its oil through the pressure relief valve and not much was getting to the gears and none was getting to the funnel that lubes the sliding block. The bronze sliding block is severely galled and the way arm is worn wider in the middle from the block not being lubricated. The machine's design allows chips to get inside the tower where they get run through the gears, through the sliding mechanism, and collect in the sump where the oil pump can siphon them up.

Here are the bug chunks after being washed in my varsol vat:

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Ian

Notorious member
After inspecting all of the dovetails and ways I decided it is probably going to live without having to be re-ground and hand-scraped. Not ideal, but hopefully good enough for a home shop. [Edit: Yeaahhh....not so much. The plot thickens later]. Next thing I did was take out the oil pump which isbthe one thing almost no one does because there are aluminum plugs that have to be driven through the tower and screws coated with sealant that hold the pump to the tower inside. Once I got the pump out and torn apart I discovered that the suction check ball wasn't sealing well and the pressure check ball under the plunger was rust-pitted and the seat rough. Here it is all apart:

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I bought a ball bearing assortment to replace the check balls. First thing was to lap the pressure ball seat with lapping compound using a pencil eraser and a sacrificial ball from the assortment:

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The suction ball is in the bottom of the tall piece, held in place with the long spring. I didn't try to lap it but instead peened the seat with a fresh bearing and brass rod until I got a good seal. Same drill with the pressure relief check ball. Then I polished the pump plunger and bore, cleaned it all up really well and put it back together with fresh check balls. It pumps really well now!

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Ian

Notorious member
I didn't want to strip the paint completely down, but oil had seeped through the Glyptal primer in places on the tower and the original filler and paint was letting go of it. I got the tower down to the Glyptal by scraping. Apparently the castings were primed inside and out and cured in an oven before being aged, filled, painted, and finally machined. I did not want to remove the original sealing primer so I just degreased it really well with Purple Power and used an adhesive primer on it followed by several coats of high-build automotive primer in an attempt to fill the rough casting somewhat. The vertical slide had to be taken down to bare cast iron (wasn't primed) because the filler coat was letting go. The paint on the base of the machine was all stuck really well so I sanded it down, blended the chipped places, primed, and painted it.

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The tower:

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The vertical slide:

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Not perfect but good enough for who it's for. Three good coats of paint should be enough.
 

Joshua

Taco Aficionado/Salish Sea Pirate/Part-Time Dragon
Now we all want to know what color you are gonna hit the top of the lettering with. “South Bend T Shaper” really deserves a little pop of color!!!
 

Ian

Notorious member
Sea Foam is the same color but darker and I would have used it if I could have found any. In the shop lights it looks better, photos were taken in direct sunlight.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Most machine shop machinery is battleship gray. There were some exceptions. Avey painted some of their drill presses black. If I remember correctly, Walker-Turner had some red accents on drill presses. Monarch, who made possibly the finest most accurate toolroom lathe, the 10EE, at one time painted it ivory white.
 

Joshua

Taco Aficionado/Salish Sea Pirate/Part-Time Dragon
The 10EE that I run at work is that white color.

I have seen quite a few funky and fun paint jobs on Power Forging Hammers over the years.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
The 10EE that I run at work is that white color.

I have seen quite a few funky and fun paint jobs on Power Forging Hammers over the years.
I talked to the owner of Monarch Machine over the phone about 10 years ago. He gave me a price on a new 10EE and a refurb. He mentioned that the refurb would be just as good as the new. Said they had just finished a complete refurb/upgrade on a 10EE for NASA that they had bought new in the late 1950s.
 

Ian

Notorious member
The correct color for this shaper is a light grey. The original paint is visible in one of the photos above, on the side of the tower behind where the power switch was mounted. I'm really not a purist about these things; if I was I would have stripped down to bare cast iron, repainted everything with red Glyptal paint, baked it in my shop oven, filled the outside with a mixture of lamp black and boiled linseed oil, and sprayed on a couple coats of color-matched grey oil-based paint.
 

Ian

Notorious member
So . . . Ian, what ya doin in your spare time? ;)

Well, I took apart and cleaned the upstairs mini-split unit, got all that back together, fiddled with the gate opener that got zapped along with our modem two nights ago, took my daughter to town to buy a new gate opener kit, and am now visiting with my Dad. How's your Sunday going?
 

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
If I was the owner of that I would have done the same thing! May as well set it up the best as you can! If that means rebuilding and painting I would go fo it! Great job!
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Well, I took apart and cleaned the upstairs mini-split unit, got all that back together, fiddled with the gate opener that got zapped along with our modem two nights ago, took my daughter to town to buy a new gate opener kit, and am now visiting with my Dad. How's your Sunday going?

My Sunday? Fire. Much fire. Fire all day. Had a huge burn pile to deal with, will probably get the other half done tomorrow.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Got all the ways and gibs lightly dressed with a flat stone and polished up so I could get the main structure back together along with all the gears and shafts for the Z-axis. It's a little bit of a puzzle to take apart and put back together, if I hurry I won't forger how the rest if it goes. I also installed the bull gear shaft bushings back in the case with threadlocker since they were freely spinning in the bore previously.

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Ian

Notorious member
The Glyptal primer was pretty sparse in places once I got a good look inside the tower, so I decided to degrease and repaint it. Got some Rustoleum red oil-based enamel and brushed on a nice coat inside. It should be dry in about 15 years, but will give the outside paint a fighting chance of staying put by keeping the oil from seeping through the casting.

Removing paint the easier way on some small parts:

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Ian

Notorious member
Got the oil pump and distribution tubes installed tonight.

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Left side before pressing the fitting into the case, note the oil groove it feeds in the dovetail:

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Right side just started in, note how the fitting stakes the flag tab of the dripper tube in place:

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All together:

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One of the aluminim galley plugs that drive in opposite the way lube fittings. These have to be driven all the way through the housing to push out the fittings so the oil pump can be removed. Most people be skeered and don't try to remove the oil pump, but if the drainback check ball leaks and needs service, it has to be.

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