Boxford Lathe

Gap-Shot

Gap-Shot

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I've had a 4 1/2" Boxford Imperial lathe for a few years now, and it has served me well for my home hobby shop use.
Today I finally purchased the lathe model I was originally searching for, a metric Boxford VSL 500, and with a large compliment of related accessories & tooling. The VSL 500 was the latest version of the Boxford line before the company ceased production in the late 1980's, so acquiring one in great condition is a rare find indeed.

Now I have to organize a road trip for collection. I like a road trip. 🙂
 
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ShineySpanners said:
Cant wait for the pictures, sounds like you're going to be having a lot of fun
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A lot of work initially. At the moment I have no room in the garage for it, but when an opportunity arises, one shouldn't hesitate. It's like they say in the middle isle's of Aldi and Lidl, " Once its gone, its gone ". Yeah, it will be fun, and nice to use a machine with more useful features. I've got to rearrange a bunch of things in the garage before I collect the lathe. Yeah, a lot of work ahead this week.
 
Mr Fettler said:
Let me unburden you Sir, you can store it in my garage - permanently Thankyou spinning
I'd love a Boxford, lovely sized machine.
Will you be sticking a DRO on it ?
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Thanks for the offer, AGF Members are the best 🙂; but I've already figured out a temporary home for it. ;)
Yes on the digital readout, but that will be sometime next year, as I have a house remodel project underway.
Not sure of the fate of my present Boxford, a lovely machine as you say, so I'm going to have to have a think
about that for awhile. Here's a photo of it. You may note that I like repurposing golf balls as handle's for chuck
keys. They provide great ergonomic leverage.
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Been operating South Bend lathes since I was 14. Boxford is an authorized South Bend clone. Neatest light lathes. I have 2. The apron isn't double sided, the back is exposed and the inside gets packed with swarf. Sometimes very little or no oil in the sump. Very often you will find the worm wheel for the clutch driven power feeds badly worn. Check the worm wheel, and they're hard to come by stateside. Most are worn out on parted machines, of which we have many. Get a good spare while you can. The worm can be duplicated if necessary.
Keep the apron sump clean and the oil filled. Replace the paper gasket if it leaks.
This one is in incredible condition. Has a rare hardened bed. 3 ft. I have the 4 step Vee pulleys to convert it to 16 speed.
I also have a real nice 1947 4 ft model.
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KWK1 said:
Been operating South Bend lathes since I was 14. Boxford is an authorized South Bend clone. Neatest light lathes. I have 2. The apron isn't double sided, the back is exposed and the inside gets packed with swarf. Sometimes very little or no oil in the sump. Very often you will find the worm wheel for the clutch driven power feeds badly worn. Check the worm wheel, and they're hard to come by stateside. Most are worn out on parted machines, of which we have many. Get a good spare while you can. The worm can be duplicated if necessary.
Keep the apron sump clean and the oil filled. Replace the paper gasket if it leaks.
This one is in incredible condition. Has a rare hardened bed. 3 ft. I have the 4 step Vee pulleys to convert it to 16 speed.
I also have a real nice 1947 4 ft model.
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I started when I was 14 also. Took metal shop in Junior High School as an elective when I entered the 7th grade in 1966. The older kid down the street from me built a minibike in class, and that set the stage for my lifelong interest in metal working. We had two old 9" South Bend lathes in the shop, and I learned how to operate one just like the model in your photo.

Below is the first lathe I was able to afford when I grew up. It was a bucket of rust that brought a smile to my face. I stripped it down to every gear, nut, bolt and ball detent. Restoration took me a month of my spare time, and I scrounged some 12" wide channel for a base, with a 4"channel welded to the front for a tool tray. A friend sand blasted the cabinet, and the 6" Atlas served me well for doing a lot of small stuff over the years. :)
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Gap-Shot said:
I started when I was 14 also. Took metal shop in Junior High School as an elective when I entered the 7th grade in 1966. The older kid down the street from me built a minibike in class, and that set the stage for my lifelong interest in metal working. We had two old 9" South Bend lathes in the shop, and I learned how to operate one just like the model in your photo.

Below is the first lathe I was able to afford when I grew up. It was a bucket of rust that brought a smile to my face. I stripped it down to every gear, nut, bolt and ball detent. Restoration took me a month of my spare time, and I scrounged some 12" wide channel for a base, with a 4"channel welded to the front for a tool tray. A friend sand blasted the cabinet, and the 6" Atlas served me well for doing a lot of small stuff over the years. :)
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FWIW That's not a 6" Atlas. It's an Atlas 10F
 
KWK1 said:
FWIW That's not a 6" Atlas. It's an Atlas 10F
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Well, unlike here in the UK, we designated size according to the full swing, rather than by radius; so that's new to me.
Thanks for the correction. I never knew it was listed as a 10F. (y)

Edit: Story about the cracked window behind the lathe. One morning when I went into my garage, I saw a ferral cat in there and it saw me. I walked around my Jeep to chase it out the door I just came in from, but it had other ideas and hissed at me. Well after a frantic run all over the garage, the cat leapt onto my Clausing lathe on the opposite side side of the Atlas, tripped the start lever and the chuck instantly spun the cat across the garage and into the window. I went outside and unlocked the garage door opening it up. The shellshocked cat ran out never to be seen again, lol.

Found an old photo of my 14" by 48" Clausing Lathe, 4900 Series. 🙂
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Sir Veylance said:
Not after a Denford Viceroy by any chance are you? Mine's up for sale via FBMP currently.
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Denford, now that's a rare machine, no sorry, I currently have a Colchester Bantum, plus a small Chinese and all the equipment at work.
What model is it ?.
 
Mr Fettler said:
Denford, now that's a rare machine, no sorry, I currently have a Colchester Bantum, plus a small Chinese and all the equipment at work.
What model is it ?.
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TDS 1 S/L converted to Single Phase electrics. I think it's either a 4" or 4.5" - can't remember.

My father used to have his own Precision Engineering business with a Colchester Bantam (and Student) as well as a few other machines. My 'pocket money' job was to help him on a Saturday morning (when I was about 10 or 11) - so I've been into maching for a while...
 
Collected the VSL 500 lathe yesterday. About a 250 mile round trip. All went as planned, with help from a friend and the seller to get it loaded into my van for the return journey. Yeah, happy with my purchase and the included accessories. I didn't take photos when collecting, but my friend did, and will forward them to me. It was dark and raining when we returned, but here's a quick photo of it safely back home.
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Looks real nice. I hope the ways are as good.
South Bends are abundant here and strangely sellers almost never show good pictures of the ways when advertising a lathe.
South Bend didn't ever make improvements beyond the 10k lathe which is exactly the same as a 9" except for a different spindle nose that accepts 6k collets directly. And bronze spindle bearings where the 9" spindle runs very effectively directly in the cast iron headstock. Correctly lubricated they can run many years without any attention. Otherwise the 10k is just a raised headstock, compound rest, and tailstock. Same smallish spindle bore.
One improvement on the 9" lathes was instituted about 1960 was the introduction of the plunger catch for the tumbler gears to reverse the lead screw rotation. Replaced the bolt that cinched the tumbler gear lever to the headstock for selecting direction. Unfortunately this eliminated the lash adjustment screws that made it possible to fine tune the entire end gear train to a very quiet operation. Unachievable with the updated plunger selector.
Adjustable side cinch lever. Notice the small slotted screw.
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Top adjustment screw allows fine tuning the lash for very quiet operation. There’s another one on the bottom side to adjust the opposite direction.
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Non adjustable laterplunger type
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KWK1 said:
Looks real nice. I hope the ways are as good.
South Bends are abundant here and strangely sellers almost never show good pictures of the ways when advertising a lathe. ................................
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Visually the ways look good, but I'll snug up the carriage and move it along from the spindle to the far right of the bed to see if I can feel a change in effort. Then with a test bar after I line up the tailstock and checking the bed for level and twist. Those are the methods I know of.
 
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