Delta Rockwell Lathe Restoration -- Update: VFD Installation

[Matt Meiser]

My dad and I made the drive down to Indianapolis to pick up the lathe. After inspecting Dave Richardson's pair of Rockwell lathes, I decied to disassemble it so that it would be easier to load and more stable for the trip home. Below are pics of the major pieces that I'm getting ready to start cleaning up. The only major problem is that the upper pulley is pretty much destroyed, however it looks like Dave has one that is worn but usable. Other than that the numbers on the handwheel are worn but I've located a replacement on Ebay or I might refurbish ths one by having my dad clean up the faces on his metal lathe and restamp the numbers. I'm also missing a few knobs and levers that I'll probably fabricate temporary replacements for until I can locate suitable permanent replacements.

Edit: I'm renaming the thread and will post progress pictures along the way so that the entire restoration is in one thread.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Not bad at all Matt.

I'd check with Delta, you never know, they might still stock that pulley........worth a try!

[Jeff Horton]

I have heard but don't know this for a fact, that lots of parts are still available from Delta. Well worth a look see. Might even be even online?

While you have it apart why not clean it up and paint it?? No way I could put it together without painting it.

[Matt Meiser]

I'm not going to do a full bore restoration, but everything is going to be thouroughly cleaned and painted. I got the cleaning done today and I feathered the edges of any scrapes, etc on the cabinet so that the paint will spray fairly flat. The rest of the cast iron parts will probably be brush painted since I'm using a Rust-O-Leum paint and they tend to flow out very nicely.

[Corey Hallagan]

Matt, going to be a nice lathe for you. Congrats!

Corey

[David Richardson]

I have heard but don't know this for a fact, that lots of parts are still available from Delta. Well worth a look see. Might even be even online?

That used to be true, but since Delta was aquired by Black & Darker, they have started to discontinue many parts for older tools. Used to be you could get just about anything, but I wouldn't count on that any more... There are other sources though - I managed to find a number of new old-stock parts for my old Uni and the Delta lathes.

[John Hart]

What fun Matt!!! Congratulations! It's got to be a special feeling to have a major tool that you tore down and rebuilt yourself. Steve Ash got me jealous...now you're pushing me over the edge.

[Steve Ash]

Glad you and your dad made a safe journey with the goods.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking lathe Matt. Can't wait to see pictures when completed.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Can't wait to see it finished.

Ernie

[Doug Thompson]

Matt, the lathe looks good. New pulleys are not that hard to find. Your dad has a metal lathe so make the knobs... aluminum works well for this.

[Matt Meiser]

I made quite a bit of progress yesterday. Everything but a few small parts are cleaned up. I also stopped by Dave Richardson's and picked up the pulley he had which will be plenty serviceable. I took apart the headstock and found that one of the bearings is bad so I'm going to replace both while I have it apart. I already located a couple online sources for those. I also found some decent handwheels and levers in the Enco catalog to replace the missing/damaged ones.

This afternoon I sprayed the base. It just fit into my spray booth, but it fit and that's all that matters. I'm using the Do-It-Best hardware store brand of Rustoleum since they were out of the Rustoleum color I wanted. It sprayed nicely with my PC HVLP gun thinned about 20% with acetone per the directions. I probably spray one more coat on the base. After lawn mowing, I'll probably start painting the bed/headstock castings and the other small external parts as well as final cleaning and lube of the speed adjustment mechanism parts.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Going to be another nice old lathe back in business!

Looking good Matt!

Cheers!

[tod evans]

keep `em comming matt. you`ll have one h#ll of a nice lathe real soon..02 tod

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Keep posting Matt! You and Steve have opened a door that I might be able to walk through to upgrade/add a bigger lathe to my tools!