Online Catalogue last updated 17th of September 2023
One of South Bend Lathe's competitors in 1942 was Sheldon Machine Co. of Chicago. Sheldon saw the value of South Bend's book "How to Run a Lathe", and apparently knew it had to publish its own. What resulted was a booklet every bit as good as South Bend's, if not better.
We know have a reprint of Sheldon's book. Chapters include: the modern back geared screw cutting lathe, the basic parts of a lathe, the theory of metal cutting, grinding cutter bits for lathe tools, uncrating and setting up a lathe, oiling the lathe, setting up lathe tools, setting up the work on centres, turning, facing, knurling, thread cutting, drilling, boring, cutting off, and more. You get directions on mounting work in three and four jaw chucks, drilling and counter-sinking centres, "Running-In" the lathe, discussions of the variety of tool holders, use of collets, tool-post grinders and much more.
No doubt, every new Sheldon lathe shipped out included a copy of this little instruction manual. You may not own a Sheldon lathe, but the small Sheldon lathe was a generic machine very much like those of South Bend and a dozen other manufacturers. You'll find it useful no matter what lathe you use.
If you're just learning to use a lathe, this manual will help you get started.
Dave Gingery is an author of many "how to" books such as "Build Your Own Metal Lathe", his advice is to read the book entirely before even turning the machine on. You really should not play with a lathe until you know what is in the pages of this book. Then use it as a training guide as you familiarize yourself with the machine. It will tell you how it's made and how it works, how to set it up, lubricate it and run it safely. Best of all it gives great instructions on tool-grinding and every basic lathe operation. And it displays plenty of detail on accessories so that you can easily make many of your own if you can't justify buying them.
Code No. 004807, 105 pages, $13.00