8X12 Lathe in sad shape

[lathe nut]

Fellow just gave me this 8X12 Lathe it is a Harbor Freight production, be sitting in his shop that was torn up by the Hurricane here is S.W. Louisiana, he gave to me and a milling machine that was home made by a local machine back in the 1946, knew the fellow that built it, taking it apart no wear the only problem thus far is it is missing a starting capacitor, and maybe the switches, I was surprised how heavy it was two of to load it, 250 pounds, it is a lot heavier than the 7X10 Lathe, post more pic's later, Joe

 

[Eccentric]

This is why I keep a can of ways oil near my lathe and use it liberally. just kidding ;-)

 

[lathe nut]

Eccebtric, guess that the lathe and other tools are not a priority when the Hurrican destroys your house and don't have a place to live, guess things in the shop are way down the list, poor little lathe don't think oil would have helped him in the rain for more than a year, but now has a second chance.

 

[Gedeon Spilett]

the corrosion looks very deep, not just a rusted haze on the surface, as we sometimes see after a wet winter. the rehabilitation will be difficult, and not necessarily "cost effective"...
unless it is to prove that one can fight against the adversity and desolation caused by the hurricane, which is a priceless task and respectable choice...

 

[stevehuckss396]

Crazy thought but it's a cheap lathe and not worth what it would take to restore it. This is a perfect opportunity to turn it into a crankshaft/camshaft grinder or another handy tool that you wouldn't want to strip a good lathe down to build.

 

[SmithDoor]

The rust can be removed
It just take a little time to do but worth it for a good old lathe.

The lathes today are very light and it getting harder find good lathes.

Dave

Fellow just gave me this 8X12 Lathe it is a Harbor Freight production, be sitting in his shop that was torn up by the Hurricane here is S.W. Louisiana, he gave to me and a milling machine that was home made by a local machine back in the 1946, knew the fellow that built it, taking it apart no wear the only problem thus far is it is missing a starting capacitor, and maybe the switches, I was surprised how heavy it was two of to load it, 250 pounds, it is a lot heavier than the 7X10 Lathe, post more pic's later, Joe

 

[dnalot]

Soak the rusty parts in vinegar and the rust will be removed to the bone. Easy and cheap. Save the dirty vinegar to age wood.

Mark T

 

[lathe nut]

Gedeon Spilett the photo looks a little deceiving, there is no pits, in the ways, like most of us in this area lost shop, homes and thousands of trees, I am getting too old for that kind of setbacks, if the Mrs. would agree I would have already moved.
stevehuckss that is a different way to see it but have restored them in much worse looking condition, my phrase, "It's not what it is but what it can be"
SmithDoor you are right, I once helped an old man receive several lathes that was turn of the century model, they were rust and froze, the old fellow ask me son, what has happed to the lathes for them to all be froze up, I said time and he said right and time will get them unstuck, when he was finished the looked like works of art. you right about harder to find and I am one who cannot trash something that is not trash, thanks.
dnalot you right have done that is the past and works great, then I glass bead all the small parts and gears, might look into power coating it, don't know much about that but time to learn about it, thanks.

 

[harborfreight8x12]

Fellow just gave me this 8X12 Lathe it is a Harbor Freight production, be sitting in his shop that was torn up by the Hurricane here is S.W. Louisiana, he gave to me and a milling machine that was home made by a local machine back in the 1946, knew the fellow that built it, taking it apart no wear the only problem thus far is it is missing a starting capacitor, and maybe the switches, I was surprised how heavy it was two of to load it, 250 pounds, it is a lot heavier than the 7X10 Lathe, post more pic's later, Joe

It is well worth restoring. It was the best mini-lathe that HF carried. I should know, I have one and it was perfect out of the box. The ways are induction hardened cast iron. You can still get the drive belts from Little Machine Shop, the toothed belt is no longer available from HF.

 

[tim9lives]

Yep, I remember after Katrina that a storage building I had in which all my tools were in flooded. By the time I got around to going through my tools and equipment, some of it was pretty bad. It was probably a year before I actually had time to go in there and clean and lubricate my stuff. Like LatheNut says,, priority ends up being your house.
Some things did get trashed but I ended up really lucking out. I ended up with much less damage than I thought I would have because a parts washer turned over in the building. I’m guessing that a lot of that oil was floating on the top of the water and when the water went down everything got coated with mineral spirits.
Heck, I still have a few Makita tools which all survived. Funny thing is that every Harbor Freight power tool was toast. I sprayed all of them with WD and then blew them out. The Makita’s are still going strong. The Harbor Freight were trashed.

 

[William May]

My personal opinion is to get some Evaporust, and put the small parts in a bucket of that. Once you see the results, you will be willing to do the next step.
For the lathe bed, you have the option of making a tank to submerge the bed, using irrigation pipe, which comes in large diameters. You only need enough to be able to submerge the bed, so it only needs to be 2" longer than the total bed length.
Use Kroil, wait a week, then take everything apart and put it in the Evaporust. No rubbing, no scrubbing, no sandblasting, no chemicals, no abrasion damage. When it comes out of the Evaporust, use water and a brush to clean off the residue, and apply paint to the normally painted areas. Then start putting parts back on it. If you don't have it yet, get the manual and parts list, so you can see where everything goes. Then just work slowly and carefully as you reassemble it, and grease and oil the parts as you go. You can probably have the entire lathe reassembled and ready to run in less than a week, assuming you don't have to hunt for damaged parts. Good luck. Nearly always better to repair something than replace it, especially an entire lathe.

 

[lathe nut]

harborfreight8x12
Thanks so much for the copy of the Manuel, I can see that it is of good quality, I have a couple of the 7X10's this is a lot more machine than them, I am going to get an extra belt from little machine shop and in the future going to try and find one at the local belt shop, if there is success there will post contact info., thanks again for the help, Joe.

tim9lives
we sure have something in common besides lathes and tools, what part of the state do you live in, I am in Ragley, 20 miles north of Lake Charles, we were on the side where the tornadoes were, we actually got it worse than Lake Charles, but they have a television station they made sure they were the only one on the news which assured the federal help, we were without water and electricity for six weeks, never seen Red Cross or MRE meals and insurance companies were worse than the storm to deal with, took 8 months to get the house repaired and had to be there with the contractor, I think some of them watch a video on you-tube and though they were contractors.
William May
thanks for the tips, have never used Evaporust, guess like a lot of people will check on Amazon, for now got most of it apart and soaking in Diesel, was really surprised that nothing was froze up, looking forward to getting it back together, I have restored several lathes, Atlas, Southbend Shaper and other machines, I always tell my wife when she first see's one, "it is not what you see, it is what it can be", I will post other pics of progress.

 

[harborfreight8x12]

Lathe nut. Is this a small world? I moved to Virginia in 2016 to be with my son. I lived in Ragley since 2006 in the Los Ranchos Del Norte subdivision, 135 Sonnier Rd just off of Horace Cormier Rd. A suggestion for the Evaporust, the lathe is heavy, do you think that laying Evaporust soaked rags over the ways would be easier. Before buying the 8x12 (actually is an 8x14") I thoroughly researched it on the internet. I paid $599 with free shipping (back in those days HF would let you ship to store for free). My 8x12 is still rock solid and my goto for anything that I need.

 

[lathe nut]

harborfreight8x12 well that is something, we moved here on Gatyine, Road in 2009 from the Jennings area, worked in the oil field and really liked this area and the people, 43 in that business so happy to be retired but tell you how I am feeling another Hurrican like we had I think I am out of here, the first was on 200 mile per hour wind and more tornadoes than I have ever seen and the second on hit seven days later, it got the east side of it so we had 100 miles per hour wind from the north, so that finished for the damage form the first on, I was lucky only took 8 months to get the house fixed, got the machines in the shop that are ok but the roof pulled off and the 30X80 lean to is gone, not a piece to be found in the area, what part do you live in and what is the worse weather threat that you must deal with.
I have been cleaning and still taking it apart, might try that rust stuff, never have yet time to try, I can say that is much more heavy built than the 7X10 and the 9X19 or whatever that other one was called, looking forward to doing work on it, that make lathe # 11, told my wife no more lathes but I have been know not to tell the truth to her but that is what wives after 51 years does understand

 

[harborfreight8x12]

Hi lathe nut. My wife and I moved to Ragley from Houston in 2006. I also worked in the oil field. Started as a roustabout in the Gulf of Mexico and retired as a safety specialist (the "Safety Man") in the Houston office. We bought the home on Sonnier Rd a month before Rita hit but were still living in Houston. Rita took almost half the shingles so we had to rush and nail tarps up and then make our way back to Houston. The devastation was shocking, I can't even imagine how bad it's been for y'all. I live in Virginia Beach Virginia where we have the threat of hurricanes and winter storms but so far we have been fortunate.
So, you have 11 lathes. That's impressive. I have the 8x12 for metal and the 10x18 for woodwork, and a round column mill, all Harbor Freight. I bought the bed extension for the 10x18 so I can turn long spindles. We both know from experience with Harbor Freight that you either get a jewel or a junk, but the jewels are priced so low that they hard to resist. The reason I moved to Virginia was to be close to our son after my wife passed away in 2015.

 

[awake]

... that make lathe # 11, told my wife no more lathes but I have been know not to tell the truth to her but that is what wives after 51 years does understand

"Well, honey, this one is certainly no more lathe than my larger 12 x 30 ..."

 

[Apprentice707]

As a Model Engineer and backstreet mechanic (Respect to Fred Dibnah) of 63 years standing and married to the same lady for 53 years, I think the task of ladies coming to terms with what we do is very slim. I recall an engineering friend visiting unexpectedly and enquiring of the said lady if I was in. She replied yes he is "Chucking in the workshop" I have no idea what she thought I was up to? My friend still laughs about the incident to this day.

Best wishes to all, keep that swarf coming.

B

 

[animal12]

Do you have any pic's of the homemade milling machine ?
hanks
animal

 

[Dubi]

Soak the rusty parts in vinegar and the rust will be removed to the bone. Easy and cheap. Save the dirty vinegar to age wood.

Mark T

Which is better, Citric acid or Vinegar?

 

[dnalot]

Which is better, Citric acid or Vinegar?

I do not know. Perhaps someone will test both and tell us. The citric acid comes in a powder so it would be easy to play around with the concentration. I like to use the vinegar because I have a use for it after its used.

Mark T