I'm always grateful to those engineers who design things with the expectation that they'll never have to be serviced, so they can't be disassembled. (Snap joints on plastic housings and cases are an especial pain -- the little hooks always break when you try to pry open the case with a screw driver.)

As a young US Navy sailor one of my duties on my first ship was to help 2 machinists from our Machinery repair shop, tear down "to parade rest" A Leblond and an Atlas lathe... one had an 18" swing and one was a gap bed... don't remember which was which, but they were totally torn down, inspected, bead blasted, new bearings etc. I helped them with scraping the ways and learned a lot during the 3 month repair yard/ drydock time. I got to paint both as they were finished, Navy Machinery Gray of course. I envy your endeavor but glad I don't have to do it now at my age. It seemed back then that every part was so heavy, even for a young strapping man like myself. Thanks for sharing Keith, it looks like you are having fun.

You are absolutely right about the pictures Keith. I had a Harley that I took apart without pics... It was before the advent of electronic cameras so it really wasn't a big thing back then. It took about a year and a half to get it back together. But, boy was she pretty when I got her done !!! Great job Keith. You're a great guy to listen to. Thanks for posting this.

Amen on the pictures! When teaching students how to build a fireplace, it was impossible to get them all at one time around a demo but with pictures, they could understand better what was going on. Videos would have been even better in my case and well, you got em! Greg

No grass grows under your feet Keith! Wow! Like the ever ready bunny. Glad you took some time for yourself and your daughter. Its good to pause now and again to smell the flowers and reflect. Cheers.

A priceless video for those who are doiing LeBlond lathe restorations. Lots of South Bend stuff out there, but few if any LeBlonds. To your advice on taking photos galore I would add: go to the grocery store, buy a zillion zip-loc bags and a sharpie. As you take off a screw, bolt, nut, pin, or whatever, put it in the a zip-loc and label it with its origin. Watch Brad Jacobs (Basement Shop guy) videos, see how he does it. Otherwise you will get into the "where does this screw go?" hell. I learned this the hard way when I was rebuilding a roto-tiller, and I had the parts manual at hand.

I was polishing the brass on the wicks on my lathe and i just walked in from my shop and thought it would be nice to see a video of a lathe rebuild.

This takes me back to my years running machines at Dresser. Machine Repair guys were fantastic at sorting out the problem and getting you back running. Considering the huge number of assorted metal working machines, that crew, and the wire twisters were tops.

Whew! That has you exercising your brain as well as your muscles. This looks like it will be an exciting and enjoyable series.

Hi Keith, Many larger lathes have a telescopic leadscrew arrangement for taper turning. It means you can still put a cut on with the cross-slide rather than having to swing the compound round. On my Harrison L5 it's a splined shaft arrangement, rather than a simple key. My lathe is from a school and they would have been required to do a Metric upgrade. The compound has a metric dial and leadscrew (which is still 1/2" diameter), whilst the cross-slide still has the Imperial leadscrew, but with a Metric dial fitted! I checked the price of a Metric telescopic leadscrew and it was something like £750 (nothing is inexpensive from the 600 Group)!

Really loving this lathe restoration series. Great video, Keith

Really enjoying this series.

I appreciate you sharing this project with us. Fun and informative.

.......what a difference just cleaning old oil and dirt off those sliding parts is going to make! Really its all about the cleaning, nice progress Mr Rucker........no better way to get to know the machine than to tear it apart, clean it, pain it, and reassemble it.....cant wait to see it make its first chips..........

Another great video Keith. Its always great to watch your videos.

Keith, I'm a retired machinist and I really enjoy watching your various videos. I'm in the process of restoring a 16"x 72" Carroll-Jamieson lathe right now. After 4 back surgeries, I have found a new friend, from Harbor Freight. It's a 2 1/2 ton portable engine hoist. It would have been perfect for removing the tail stock, saddle and apron on this old LeBlonde lathe. I love "old American iron" but it is heavy! I look forward to the next video. Tree Top

Nice work Keith, that LeBlond looks to be exceptionally well made! I jumped as high as you did when that dog screeched!

As usual, very informative; very interesting; very entertaining. Thanks Keith

THANK YOU...for sharing. What a great feeling it is to be out in the new shop working on a new project.

Hi Keith, Really REALLY terrific video, I loved to strip down the machines at work which were old school like yours.

A pleasure to watch as usual.

Mechanical detective work. It is an intriguing puzzle.

Kieth, I don't know what I admire more ... your mechanical aptitude or your patience :) ... In any event, great video, appreciate the series !

Hello Keith, Most of the time I've seen you making things with the lathe and it is great that you now show the inside of it. Knowing the inside and how all the gears and the mechanics works explains much more about the way it works. Maybe you know or didn't know but I'm building computers and repair them for a long time, not professionally but only for hobby. But most of the people don't know what is inside a pc and it is good that they know more about the inside just like machinery. Anyway, I am looking forward to the next one and can't wait for it when you have cleaned all the parts en painted them. What I can see seems to me that the lathe is in very good shape for such an old machine. Many greetings from Roel !

Well done, great work.

Good start! I look forward to the next installment. All the best! Mike

Kieth..an engine crane for cars...handy for handling stuff, easy on the back too! nice videos just started watching, very enjoyable.

Super awesome series!

The parts that you have removed all look to be in very good condition, considering it's age you might have got yourself a little gem of a lathe providing no surprises down the track

I used a engine lift on my lathe. I took it apart like you.Going back was a bird of another color. Lining up all the rods was almost without the lift. Enjoyed the video.

wow that's going to be a chore cleaning all them parts great video Keith I can't wait for more keep up the good work

Nice progress Keith!

Keith, thank you for taking time for video. I have a new machine i have to remove apron and carriage for repair. As a side thought, even today that is a great machine; however, when it was new very few of us could have bought it. I concur with others, build a rolling crane.

Beautiful video, Keith. Because you still have a lot of work to do when the lathe is completely revised.

I was in pain seeing you on your knees, but very much relieved to see the knee pads in a later shot. Also, you need more stuff in that new shop, there's an echo now when you drop something. 😀 Great video, enjoying the tear down & looking forward to the restoration & reassembly.

Great stuff! Can't wait to see how this comes along.

nice job. my phone has saved me quite a few times when taking something apart or seeing if it went back together right. have fun

Awesome video! Vice grips have saved me ass more times than I can count.

thanks Keith, very excited about this series! i vote for black

Good work Keith , Thumbs up !

Great vid! When i tore my logan down for cleaning it was a chore. I didn't do any paint just old grease and dirt removal, and a few new parts. It still took me 3 months doing it here and there.

I just did this on my Storebro. My video isn't as elegant but the process was almost identical! Great video!

I'm about to replace the bed on my Graziano, Your timing could not be better. Thanks Keith

I enjoyed watching you work on the lathe. Thank you for the video of the apron gears it is much plainer as to how it works and how the power transfer works now. I would also like to see how the power is transfered on and off the drive shaft. Again THANK YOU you have made my day much more enjoyable, Keith.

You'll never go far wrong, following Keith's advice.

very very interesting! keep em coming!

something I picked up rebuilding transmissions is keeping fasteners and related assemblies together when tearing something down. not only does it allow you to take the job in smaller simpler bites but because you put that screw right back where it came from and that stack of parts was put right back in order and orientation you dont have to worry about remembering every single part in each sub assembly. then when you get atound to each sub assembly you do your work in one go amd finish with it back together, even if you will need to pull it apart again during final assembly.

Brilliant video. So many of the same problems I faced with my old Colchester (Clausing)

Excellent & interesting, as usual.

hey Keith! Get some lifting equipment and place the Lathe on a set of thick rubber pieces. like from tyre. Place them in a way, that the headstock end is supported at the front and back. The tailstock-end should sit on a center-orientated piece of rubber. So you have the load distributed in a ( not ideal) triangle and the ways are able to twist themselves back. Especially the lathe suffers from standing unbalanced on a not that flat surface. I did that with my lathe from around WW2 and the twist of ways came back over a few weeks. Think of it :) Keep your nice work up and stay healthy. Greetings from overseas

Thanks Keith for this very interesting video It is a great satisfaction to watch you work. you are very clever Marco from Italy

I was taking apart a Leblond lathe about 30 years ago and when I got to the quick change gear box I ran into two nuts that I removed like any one would think they should do to get something apart. I studied it and studied it and I could not figure out how they got the bolts in it because they were inline with the input shaft. Well to make a long story short I would up getting it apart after I drilled what I thought was bolts out. I had never scene a threaded taper pin before and now I know all I had to do was instead of taking the nut off; tighten the nut and it would have pulled the pin out. I learned a valuable lesson, #1 you are not allowed to brake anything working on machinery, #2 they put machinery together differently back then so if you get stumped find an old timer and do some asking so you don't brake anything.

Taking pictures along the way is a great idea, but, if you grew up and spent half your adult life working on stuff before digital cameras became common, you tend to forget that you have that option until you are well into the job. :-)

Hi Keith, Yes, the French do it in there own way. Lathes, cars, coffee machines, whatever! Unexpected bits of machining. Takes some time to fiddle it all out. You are very right to take pictures of every step of the de-assembling. A nice color would be a dark blue from Hammerite. Easy to brush on and it contrasts very nice with the left bare metal. Also oil resistant. But that choice is up to you. Big job at hand, lots of work to do besides all the work you still have to do. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Thanks for the video Keith I just love stripping machines down and clean adjust and make new if needed

You sir, are a very busy man, between the new shop, the new machines, the museum, the foundry furnace, a full time job, and a family you have a lot of irons in the fire! Thanks for the video and the advice on taking pictures. I know you could get more done if you weren't taking the time to share with us. I'm sure the lathe will be much more pleasant to use when cleaned up, repainted, and looking good. Glad to hear there are no serious mechanical issues. May I suggest Machinery Gray as a color to paint it? Best wishes and good luck on all of your endeavors! Keith H.

I've been looking forward to this all week. my antique south bend has a lot of neglect in the cleaning dept. and I have been wanting to take the apron off and clean it and paint it but I was afraid that the big long screw was a touchy area and was leary of taking the bracket off the end. Basically I am doing to it what you are doing to yours, in this oklahoma heat and humidity....so I feel you there. thanks for doing this video series, it is timed perfectly.

Enjoying the tear down. Success so far, job is looking good! ....13

That perfect excuse to make a shop gantry :-) Thanks for sharing Keith

This I like very much!! Keith that lathe will be better than new. Willem

Beautiful and inspiring work, Keith. Looking forward to the next steps... I'm about to attack my recently acquired French-built 1950s Delta 14" wood and metal bandsaw. I'll go slow and try to document the process, more soon... Thanks and Keep on trucking ! (from France)

Absolutely wonderful to watch Keith! I don't have a lathe, don't know if I ever will manage to get one, but being the wannabe engineer that I am, I have really wondered how one of these big lathes tick and you're showing the current and next generation juicy info. ^^ After seeing how that cross-slide nut came out, hoo boy, that nut looks like its going to be FUN to get it back in place if the saddle has to go back onto the machine first! Hmm...thinking back right after watching the video, I'm speculating that you may need to fully reassemble the cross-slide and saddle OFF the machine first, then bring in a burly jib crane for picking up the entire cross-slide and saddle assembly together for lowering back onto the ways. That just sounds to me personally the best way to avoid trying to figure out how to drive the cross-slide nut back into place from the bottom, saddle and slide on the machine... @__@

I just went totally through (every! piece) an Atlas 10" from 1945-46 and He is totally correct about taking pictures and take pictures EVERY STEP of the way taking it apart. You think you will remember but you will not remember enough.

Your comments about taking lots of pre-disassembly is RIGHT ON. Save my bacon many a time. Before, during and after (so you can admire your skill). Also, work on one components (i.e carriage, tail stock, etc) at a time. If you are doing a total breakdown put components related to a particular part into its only container. One last through is that what is a same-size-but-too-long bolt can do a world of damage when shoved into the wrong hole - so if possible after removing a part put the bolt(s) back in the hole they came from.

Great video Keith . You need a Hydraulic Trolley Lifter. saves your back. Great job

Pretty involved I'd say. Lots O parts and pieces. I do hope you're going to paint over that hideous blue! Thanks for the video Keith.

Hi Keith just started watching you Because Adam Booth mentions you quite often glad I looked in

I am just about to start reassembling my LeBlond after 6 months of scrubbing every last part to bare metal and painting it all back, fixing all that needed fixing... I really wish I had found this before. I didn't take enough pictures.

My knees are shot but I make myself bend at the knees. I'm 48 now and my knee still ache but my back is good. So glad I did what the old guys told me to.

Love that nice new pine workbench. Mine used to be that color. :-)

wery nice job, be careful and tanks for sharing this nice and interesting restoration work.

I am looking forward to having you show how the taper attachment works.

.....this would be a good time for that shop crane to make an appearance......

Very nice subject matter Keith, I have always wanted to know what is involved in a Lathe restoration, as I have seen so many beautiful Monarchs that have been brought back to their"glory days". I am sure this series will get even better as it progresses, kudos to you!

Thank you.

Keith, I too, thought of an engine hoist when you were struggling with those awkward parts. It will be even more handy when you start going together. For your edification: that block of wood you used on the lead screw hanger is properly called a "cellulose drift". (;

extremely cool

Keith, great video. I'd be careful lifting those heavy parts. You don't want to end up with back problems.

Hey Keith, you need to get you one of those in expensive "cherry pickers" or "engine hoists" to pick up that heavy iron. I wish that I lived close by. I'd come and give you a hand just for the pleasure of your company!

Cant wait till part 3

Those tapered pins coming out looked like a "Hallelujah" moment. Maybe if the lower body of the lathe blue cleans up, it could remain ? Agreed on the Gantry issue. If I ever needed a gantry, I would copy Keith Fenner's. Great adjustability. His press also. That LaBlond is going to be awesome when completed.

Hi Keith, I agree with you on taking a ton of pictures before you start and as you go. Of course, you now have a bunch of video to go back to if you need to. A lot of work, but don't forget to have fun, too. Joe PS From my experience working on my lathe, I think you got lucky getting those taper pins out so (relatively) easily.

Looks like that will keep your mind off the insulation and other tasks for a spell, Once finished you should have a very nice lathe to use in your shop!Cheers

I had that same issue when pulling the taper attachment from my Cincinnati. (except yours is on a larger scale!) Great advise to the viewers on stepping back and thinking about it before going after a bigger hammer!!

Keith, get yourself a folding shop crane...I can never seem to find my stepson when I need him. I have a HF folding 2ton and have used it to change hubs on military trucks and to move my Sydney lathe around and put it back together( partly).

You have quite a job on your hands! My own back is shot - that tail stock is heavy and you didn't use your legs getting it to the floor - be careful Keith. Some cleaning up sure needed but it'll be worth it... some hours ahead and some challenges too! Ain't vise grips handy! Reassembly will be fun! Some awkward bits can be considered when trying to get to sleep and resolved, eventually.:)

that is a very well made lath you could do with a cherry picker to help you lift some of the components or you could end up giving yourself a hernia so take your time but i am enjoying the process. i think with all of the adjustments there ore on that lath it will be just like new after you make all of the adjustments and tighten things up good video Keith

KEITH, JUST A THOUGHT. A ENGINE LIFT WOULD WORK GREAT ON YOUR FLOOR, AND COULD SAVE YOUR BACK. THEY AREN'T VERY EXPENSIVE. GREAT VIDEO. THANKS

Most probably you already figured it out, but anyways: you can pull these alignment pins out by actually tightening the screws. I had the same problem when I restored my milling machine and it took me a while to figure this out, because it doesn't sound logical that you have to tighten a screw instead of loosening it during disassembly. I wish you all the best for your project and hope you will find the time to keep filming it. Many thanks Harald

Keith nice job, looked like it was some hard work and heavy lifting. Glad you got those tapered pins out. Have a look at morgan knokker they make a nice sliding hammer kit with an attachment to connect to the adjustment screw of a pair of vise grips.

keith very interesting video.

Hi Keith, a great video as always. Harbor Freight has a nice gantry set up probably as cheap as building your own unless the steel is available at no cost,check it out on line, I think you'll like it.

by 2:30, it was clear you need a crane.. keith fenner put one in his shop that looks like it walks just about everywhere in his shop. Your shop is MUCH bigger, so just an example. Something to think about. We don't get any younger, can't lift as much and if we can, it sure hurts a lot longer if we strain something.. love the videos! keep em coming!

From 3/4" plywood, make a "comb" with horizontal slots that will support all four rods/leadscrews at their proper height. If you make the "back" (it will be in front of the rods) of the comb narrow enough you should be able to swivel it into place before removing the bearing block. Set the comb at the end of the rods until the apron is close to the end; then move the comb to the left of the apron to remove the apron the rest of the way. Reverse this for reassembly. (You have already disassembled the apron from the rods, but it may help with reassembly.) The comb will help with aligning the rods for reassembly, and reduce the risk of bending the rods under their own weight and the weight of the apron.

And it helps to take pictures while you are taking it part too. From a clock repairer perspective.

I tried and tried to get the apron apart on my LeBlond lathe. You made that look way to easy.

That taper attachment looks pretty similar to the one on my South Bend. On the SB, the tube that runs across the top of the taper attachment is fixed to the attachment right in the middle with a taper pin. If you remove that pin, the whole tube with the screw in it will come loose and slide out of the back. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if the L&S is similar. Doesn't matter so much since you got it out, but on the SB if you're trying to put the screw in with it already in the taper attachment, its a giant PITA. How that is supposed to work on the South Bend is you bolt up the taper, attachment then stuff the screw through the taper attachment with that tube already in place. Once it gets up to the nut on the cross slide, you screw it in until its where it goes. Once thats finally in, the handle end and the taper pin installs and all is happy. Found all that out after doing it the wrong way 3 times. The L&S parts are probably a lot heavier than a 10" South Bend's parts, so trying to juggle the taper attachment while lining up that feed screw without breaking something would be pretty hard.

BTDT with not remembering. I try and take pictures of everything that is more than a "done in the next 5 minutes" type project. Its saved me more than once, and failing to get a pic has caused me no small amount of headache before. Nothing like having to find someone on the internet and beg them to get a picture of something for you.

It's a sturdy machine.

Keith I think you need a gantry crane or some kind of lift for your new shop . Good start on the lathe . Thanks