I'm happy to report we now have a set of gears for the 1927 lathe.  Only two unusually large ones missing because I ran out of 6" X1/2" blanks.  Funnily enough, and call me slow if you want, but I only just realised today the significance of the fact that the leadscrew on the lathe is left hand thread.  There must have been an idler stud at one time to insert another gear in the train to reverse the motion so that RH threads could be cut.  I suppose I knew this before but hadn't realised how strange the arrangement is.  Anyway, I've measured up and I'll make an idler stud for it tomorrow.

I now know why Johnny incorporated a bracket in the back mount of the mandrel.  Apart from being handy for the tangential gear it is just right for a stud to carry and idler gear to reverse the motion to the left hand leadscrew.  I've found a friendly sparks and the next job is the get the reversing switch wired up properly.

Every picture tells a story. I investigated the short on the Horace Green motor that drives the 1927 lathe and as I suspected, the fault was in the centrifugal switch, tricky little beasts with lots of tiny leaf springs and contacts. I sorted that out but got a surprise, the new bearing I put in about 4 weeks ago was absolutely shot. Don’t know why but I shall put two new ones in. At least I know now that it will be perfect.  I've made the handle for the end of the lead screw and fitted it, useful addition, I reckon Johnny would approve.  Now to source two new bearings.....  I suspect the reason why the bearing failed was that I didn't use shielded races and a bit of metal has got in.  The new ones will definitley have shields!

I'm happy to report that the bearings arrived this morning and the motor is back on the 1927 lathe and running like a sewing machine.  I've declared the job finished.

Straight on to the next job....  Here's a big dirty lump for you.  It's the one horse single phase Horace Green motor that Johnny bought in 1950, almost certainly for the 1950 lathe.  Anyway, that's what it's going to be used for.  It's a runner and could actually be used just as it is but after 57 years I reckon it deserves a good clean out and new bearings, I have them in stock ready for it.  There is no centrifugal switch in this motor, it runs with both windings in phase all the time.  Not sure how this works as yet, I think I might have to call on Gigglepants for a bit of help.  So, first job is to make some room round the 1950 lathe and come to some decisions as to where I mount the drive.  Look at the size of the motor, a modern motor this size would be 10hp or more.  Some meat in it, no wonder they went out of business, people don't appreciate quality like this any more, it's cost they're looking at.  I wonder how many modern motors will be looking at a refurb in 60 years?

Well, we've made a start!  The first job was to rearrange my assets and get some room under the lathe, then a cleanup and a coat of floor paint.  It's a lot easier to work if things are clean.  A good thick coat of floor paint can hide a multitude of sins.  There's enough room behind the bed at the tailstock end to mount the Horace Green motor on the floor, take a drive up the back to a countershaft mounted on the wall and thus get a drive to the mandrel.  I shall have to take the shelves down and put them back up after the countershaft is sorted out.  I shan't need any big pulleys on the first motion, the motor does 1450rpm and I'll aim to have the countershaft running at about 350rpm, without working it all out I reckon this will give something over 1000rpm for the top spindle speed.  Of course I'll check this.  Funnily enough, once the countershaft is mounted I don't think there'll be a lot to do to get running, the lathe is in better nick overall than the 1927 was, it has a massive set of gears and the tangential dividing is already built into the headstock.  Enoughg lifting for one day, I've taken a couple of the red pills and will now take it easy!