Sidney Lathe Manual
You sure it was 11' swing? All the Sidney lathes I've ever been around were big and stout. I don't believe they made anything smaller than a 14' size lathe that would swing 16-1/2'. I know that John O. Has catalog literature on later built Sidney lathes. I don't think he has any on anything older than 1950. Be worth a PM to him asking if he has anything that is close to what you have that he could scan and send to you to have something to look.
I don't know of anyone having a service manual or parts manual to one. There is a lot of historical information out on the web, including a good thread on the other site. Appears that what was left to the company was lost in a fire in 2004. So having said that, another lathe builder bit the dust!
I have a Sidney scroll to post 14 of this thread. Its a 1941, 14X30 Whar infro are you looking for? I may be able to help. Just re reading your post, You must have a 30s or older Sidney. This would be a flat belt machine if it is. The spur gear Sidneys like mine were12 speed, and the herring bone 16 speeds. Is yours like mine in the link?
Sidney Lathe Photos
Or is it a flat belt machine? Mine is a baby Sidney 14X30 @ 4200 lbs, and swings 17 inch. But we need some pics of what you have. If you go to PM and search for Rockcrusher, he has a early flat belt Sidney. Next to no infro on the older Sidneys. Though if it is like mine, I have the complete manual, Service and breakdown.
But sounds like you may have a early Sidney. I have a pic of a lathe some where on my computer, I had saved it because the chip pan looked so much like the Sidney lathes, and a few other things. I didnt know what brand it was. The headstock set up must be a design they used for a few yrs between flat belt, and spur/herring bone headstock. Over the yrs, Ive seen alot of sidneys, butyou must have a rare low production made machine. Mine is Lot 140 serial 6654 but much different machine.
If you are sure that you have the herring bone headstock, you must have one of the very early ones. Those headstocks run very quiet and smooth. It appears your machine has the L-1 spindle / chuck mount. I have to ask, are you sure about the swing? Those Sidney lathes are built like a tank, and over built from what Ive ever seen.Sidney was bold enough back in the day, they gave life time warrenty on industrial machines.
Not that it means anything now, since they didnt survive over the long haul. Seems allmost no infro for Sidney exists for machines built in the very ealy days to the late 30s. I will see if I can dig up the pic of the one I had seen on the internet from yrs back.
It was sitting in the back ground in a pic of a metal fab shop. Looks just like yours. I am not sure but I think this lathe was built between fat belt and stand alone electric motors.My guess is based on these two access holes in the drive cover. I think this might be a first attempt to use this machine to power another flat belt machine.This just a guess on my part.
Or I could be wrong and it was a flat belt driven converted to run on it's own motor at a later date. Been known to happen.The last guy that walked in the shop and looked arround said 'Nice shop,what do you make?'
With out missing a beat I said 'Mistakes'.Just Saying.GG. I did look for that pic, but have yet to locate it for you. Yes, I think yours has to be right around the point of the flat belt, and the stand alone motor.
You have a Sidney that few have. I have seen many since I got mine, and have only seen the spider wheel on the headstock in a pic once. There is a Sidney from around the same years as yours, that looked alot like a Monarch CK, especially the shift levers on the headstock. I was looking at it on another site today.
It was old enough the headstock had babbit bearings rather than the tapered timkins. I cant tell from the pics, but is that a clutch type engagment machine? Sorry the pics arent very clear, and my old eyes have a hard time seeing well.
Also, Sidney had changed the script on there tags I believe in the 1920s, that could give some clue to approx yr. Post more pics of it, if you dont mind. If the lathe is still all there, and in decent shape, other than needing to be cleaned and de rusted, it should make a fine machine.
Your passed away loved one, would be looking down smiling on you. I think Ron is right, that thing probably swings mor than 11 inches, I get the tap measure out and check. Many lathes of yrs past swung much more than they advertised. Mine says 14 inch on the tag, but swings 171/4 inches.
With any luck, it will be restoreable. It sur is a Sidney you wont see around to often, if at all. Sidneys like mine, are still found in low numbers, but still around just the same. That one you own must be a rare Sidney.
Attached is a scan of a photo I took back in 1986. My daugther, who was 5 at the time, is standing next to a gear head Sidney I got on a swap with a farmer. It had the clutch, and was probably originally setup for line-shaft use. The farmer had it sitting outside of his barn for about 10 years, before that it had been in a Diesel shop for many years. I think all that grease from the Diesel shop helped it when it sat outside for so long. As I recall it had a 12 or 14' swing and about 40' between centers. The spindle had a 1.250' bore which I increased to 1.375' for use with 5C collets.
I used the lathe for several years, then replaced it with a modern machine. Packers power spread offensive guide. The best thing about the story is that after we made our trade, I was going to go rent a trailer to bring it home. The farmer said, 'Don't worry, I have a front end loader, we can put it in the back of your truck'. I was a little worried, since I was driving a Mazda B2000, but I let him set it in there.
The truck bed was 7', and so was the lathe. The tailgate closed (probably because a big rock I was once hauled had rolled back smashing the tailgate from the inside). I looked at the overload bumpers, and it wasn't sitting on them, so off I went. It took 2 hours to drive the 60 miles home, sweating blood the whole way. I got it off in pieces using a big engine hoist. I like to think I'm alot smarter today, my wife is not so sure.
Hi Doug, Yes, I have a manual in pdf format or individual scans. The manual is for my machine, a 1944 Sidney 14 in. My s/n is 7774, and the machine was formerly owned by the U.S. Why don't you post some pics of your machine? I would love to see it.
Is yours a spur gear (12 speed) or herringbone gear (16 speed) head? There are a few of us on here that own similar vintage 14 in. The pdf is 57 megabytes though. I don't think most email services will take such a large attachment. The alternative is that I can send you individual scans in jpg format, high resolution. If your email can take 10 Mbytes of attachments I can send about 3 or 4 pages of scans at a time. See attached image for an example (at reduced resolution).
I also have a few brochures, although I have not finished scanning them all: Regards, Mike Muha.Yes, I have a (Sidney) manual in pdf format or individual scans. The manual is for my machine, a 1944 Sidney.I also have a few brochures, although I have not finished scanning them all: Regards, Mike Muha Hi Mike, I recently put up this about Sidney.
Your comments very welcome. The catalogs are spead over several pages and some are at a reasonably high resolution - so may take time to download on a slow connection. If anybody has Sidney catalogs from other times - especially pre-1940 and can provide high-resolution scans, I'll be delighted to add them to the Archive. If the files are large, an excellent way of transfering them is to use wetransfer.com It's free and easy to use.
Just use my regular email address:. My thanks, Tony. Last edited by tonylathes; at 07:57 AM.