Craftsman 101.06260 lathe restoration

[MGladue]

I have the same model inherited from my great grandfather. Attempting to refurbish, but having the same problems as you. I removed the spindle thrust nut and spacer, but still cannot get the thing apart. Did you use the 1”8 LHT nut and a puller to remove it out the back end? I really appreciate your post!

[BuckeyeDennis]

I have the same model inherited from my great grandfather. Attempting to refurbish, but having the same problems as you. I removed the spindle thrust nut and spacer, but still cannot get the thing apart. Did you use the 1”8 LHT nut and a puller to remove it out the back end? I really appreciate your post!

Hi MGladue, sorry it tool me so long to see your post! My memory was very fuzzy on how the spindle assembly came apart, but I think I've managed to reconstruct the process, with the help of some additional photos that I took at the time.

This first photo just shows the outboard end of the spindle, with the threaded collar and the spacer loose. I gather that you've already gotten that far.

Outboard end.JPG (67.43 KiB) Viewed 2302 times

The next photo shows the front end of the spindle, with the bearing retainer and preload shims loose. It should help in understanding how the assembly comes apart.

Inboard end.JPG (72.79 KiB) Viewed 2302 times

With the threaded collar removed from the outboard end of the spindle, the pulley set screw backed out, and the front bearing retainer removed, the spindle should slip easily out the front (inboard) end of the headstock casting. The problem on my machine was that the step pulley had at some point slipped on the spindle, and the set screw had kicked up big burrs that were locking the pulley to the OD of the spindle. So what I did was use a couple of oak strips as blocking between the pulley and the spindle casting, and then drive the spindle out the front of the casting. Presumably using the orange deadblow hammer visible in the previous photo, and a steel rod bearing on the back of that frozen drive center. In any case, the next photo shows how I arranged the oak blocking strips, in an attempt to avoid any further damage to the pulley.

Oak blocking.JPG (84.27 KiB) Viewed 2302 times

And finally, here's the front of the spindle assembly after extraction, with the bearing retainer removed to reveal the front spindle bearing and pulley spacer.

Extracted!.JPG (94.68 KiB) Viewed 2302 times

After getting all the mechanicals disassembled and repaired, my next step was going to be stripping and repainting all the castings. But that's an outdoor job for me, and the weather wasn't cooperating at the time. So the project got put aside, and I still haven't gotten back to the cosmetic part of the restoration. But for inspiration, here's a photo I found on the internet of the same model, after being restored with the original paint color.

2006-11-22 13.56.15.jpg (44.34 KiB) Viewed 2302 times

[MGladue]

That looks amazing! Thank you for your time and advice! I will try the oak shims. I really appreciate you taking the time and effort to help me get this family heirloom working again.