Hardinge Lathe Handwheel Repair

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Dropped the lathe on its face a while back, and have been spending real time recently learning about the machine, and lathe work in general.  Even though the old girl has power feeds on the X axis, I still needed to get that hand wheel repaired, or replaced.  I've found ONE online, after LOTS of searching.  $350 used, for a unit that's in excellent condition - http://www.ebay.com/feed/2972175126Pic 1.  Busted!  The knob is in perfect condition, but the outer ring had completely separated from the hub.  Ouch.  The complete assembly is attached to the machine with four small hex bolts.  After I removed the unit, I pulled the wheel with a three-jaw, and my Makita 99 ft / lb impact gun.Pic 2.  Material is cast aluminum.  I cut off the bad stuff, and ground the hub flat where the spokes would attach.  Same goes for the ring.  Finish grinding with a rolock disc.Pic 3.  Added material with my Squarewave 175, 3/32 red tungsten, 150 amps.  For this pic, I started grinding one of the welds back down.Pic 4.  Material added, removed, front and back of hub.  Time to grind it again, need it round!Pic 5.  All ground n round.  I needed the ring to be stationary, so I cut down a couple small pieces of angle, and tig-tacked them to the table, while I tried to figure out how to find center of the hub.Project is done, hub is mounted to the machine.  I'll come back later today and finish up this post with more  pics, and details.  Thanks for looking.Jet 17.5" Drill Press1942 South Bend 16x84 Lathe1980s Miller 320A / BP --- 2013 Power Mig 2562012 Jet 7x12 Horizontal BandsawVictor O/A Setup
Reply:Just a shot of the hub, ready for some layout work.  Only thing left to do to it is weld prep. I decided to locate center by adding another piece of angle iron.  I measured across from point to point (right to left), divided that in half, then again divided the OD of a section of the hand wheel assembly to get a close approximation of where the side of the hand wheel should be, assuming the outer ring was actually round.  To center the hub up / down, I just measured the thickness of the ring, did some quick math, and used 1/4 and 1/8 steel to block it up.I then scribed a line along the center of the three pieces of angle iron, set the square to the approximate distance I needed to locate the side of the assembly, then moved around from each piece of angle iron, until it was centered.Had to run to grab some 1/4 aluminum, as I really never have that much lying round.  Thanks Home Depot.  Took some measurements, ground a radius onto the parts, did a bit of weld prep on these parts, and the hub, lined them up, and fired up the tig welder.Next........Jet 17.5" Drill Press1942 South Bend 16x84 Lathe1980s Miller 320A / BP --- 2013 Power Mig 2562012 Jet 7x12 Horizontal BandsawVictor O/A Setup
Reply:With the spokes in place, I got to welding.  I used a Harley sissy bar I'd built a couple years ago as a third hand.Everything tacked in place.I welded up the spokes to the hub on 150 amps, but had to crank the machine to 175 to weld the parts to the ring itself.  I'm still pretty new to welding aluminum, as the only other location I've had this Squarewave 175 had 30 amp service.  Now, I've got 60, and can max out this great machine.  After I was done, I put the assembly in a vice, and checked the run out.  I was surprised to see .0040" radial runout.  Wasn't surprised to see .045" axial runout.  Installed the thing, and it works just fine.Now, I need to repair the other hand wheel.  FAR less work for this piece.-Aaron Attached ImagesJet 17.5" Drill Press1942 South Bend 16x84 Lathe1980s Miller 320A / BP --- 2013 Power Mig 2562012 Jet 7x12 Horizontal BandsawVictor O/A Setup
Reply:Good job on the fix. Sorry to hear you dropped your lathe. Glad it missed you. Any reason you opted do it the way you did rather than simply tacking the wheel back together, grind it out, and weld it?
Reply:Randy, the spokes were broken off, completely separated from both the ring and hub, in a couple of places.  Besides, this fix was challenging, time consuming, educational, and fun!  -AaronJet 17.5" Drill Press1942 South Bend 16x84 Lathe1980s Miller 320A / BP --- 2013 Power Mig 2562012 Jet 7x12 Horizontal BandsawVictor O/A Setup
Reply:I then scribed a line along the center of the three pieces of angle iron, set the square to the approximate distance I needed to locate the side of the assembly, then moved around from each piece of angle iron, until it was centered.
Reply:Originally Posted by larpheadLove this trick!Filing that away in the grey matter. Hopefully it  is not gone forever. Great fix man.
Reply:Originally Posted by rabidchimpHeh, I think my brain already forgot it.  Had some of this while working on the project:
Reply:Originally Posted by rabidchimpHeh, I think my brain already forgot it.
Reply:Originally Posted by alanhOK, that was a great fix and glad to se it came out so good, but I'm going to put the pressure on for the part we all want to know; How the  ell do you drop you lathe on it's face?  Inquiring minds want to know something like this. My little lathe is one of my most prized pieces of equipment and I just want to be sure I don't do what you did.