| Begin by removing the compound rest from the carriage assembly by removing the set screws on each side. These are accessed from the back of the lathe. There's one on each side. I had to completely remove the screws before the pins would release the compound. The second photo shows the cross slide with the compound removed. Arrows indicate the retaining pins. | |
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To dismantle the compound, first remove the handle.
This is straightforward, once you remove the nut that retains
it.
Be careful not
to lose the little roll pin that fits in the slot in the handle and
engages the cutout shown in this photo! With the handle removed, the graduated dial simply slides off the shaft, once you back off the locking screw. The graduated dial has a locking screw on it. South Bend originally used a thumb screw, but this lathe has a set screw - apparently a replacement stuck in there by a previous owner. The threads are #10-32. I plan to replace the screw-rod-shoe assembly with one long brass set screw for simplicity. I found that the shoe here is too large (diameter) for the hole, and the locking mechanism wasn't working properly. |
| With the handle removed, slide off the graduated dial. To remove the leadscrew, I first unscrewed the "backing dial" (my term) from the compound rest casting. It shouldn't be particularly tight. Once it's free of the casting, you simply unscrew the leadscrew to remove it. |  |
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Next the gib must be removed. This is a
tapered steel
bar that enables wear in the compound dovetail to be compensated.
To remove it, begin by removing this little set screw.
Behind it is a little "shoe" (South Bend's terminology),
which my
or may not drop out of the hole. Be careful, it's tiny. To remove the gib, simply remove the adjustment screw, shown in the second photo. What comes out is shown in the last photo. |
| With the gib removed, there's sufficient slop in the
compound
assembly to permit removal of the leadscrew nut. to do so,
first
remove the retaining screw. Then, the leadscrew nut will
probably
be lightly pressed into the casting, so you'll need to drive it out by
tapping it with a hammer and a pin punch via the retaining screw hole.
On reassembly, I slightly filed mine to reduce the strength
of
the press fit a little. If you do this, don't go overboard
with
the filing - you want a press fit here to maintain precision
of
the leadscrew action. Now that the nut is removed, the two halves of the compound slide apart. |
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Here's a complete parts breakdown for the compound rest. |