South Bend 9 Lathe

R

Rickoo

Joined
Feb 23, 2017
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I've been wanting to try a folder for a while and am wondering what kind of results I could get without a mill. I'm no machinist and have never used a mill or a lathe. I have a chance to obtain a South Bend 9 lathe for cheap. (Free!) Needs restoring (which I'm sure I would enjoy) and will likely go for it. But I'm wondering how useful it would be in making folders.

Anyone use a lathe in knife making?
 
Get it! You’ll use it to make all kinds of jigs and stuff around the shop in addition to pivots for folders.
 
Rickoo said:
I've been wanting to try a folder for a while and am wondering what kind of results I could get without a mill. I'm no machinist and have never used a mill or a lathe. I have a chance to obtain a South Bend 9 lathe for cheap. (Free!) Needs restoring (which I'm sure I would enjoy) and will likely go for it. But I'm wondering how useful it would be in making folders.

Anyone use a lathe in knife making?
Click to expand...

I use a wood lathe to rub edges on my sheaths. Have a piece of rosewood chucked up in it with different size grooves. Works very well. Have it set on warp speed. Doubt the metal lathe you are talking about would go fast enough for that use but I mention it just to give ya an idea of how tools can sometimes be used for other purposes.

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Done correctly, it provides a great edge on leatherwork and we use it on almost every project we make. The sheath on the right is the one being rubbed above:

AJM2rKr.jpg
 
There's an old machinist saying that a lathe is the only machine tool that could replicate itself. In other words, there's very little you can't do on a lathe without the right tooling and attachments, though to be really useful you probably want a milling attachment.

That said, you don't really need fancy machine tools to start making folders. Start with precision ground stock, and most everything can be done with a decent drill press and some good bits and reamers. Much of the rest can be done with hand tools. For what folder hardware costs, I wouldn't waste my time turning my own pivots, stop pins or thumb studs. At least not on my first folder.

By all means, I'd still get the lathe. I have a 12x36 Atlas/Clausing and use it all the time. It doesn't really get a whole lot of use for folders though.
 
I recently restored this Atlas/Craftsman Lathe (1937). I tore it down completely to the last bolt and made some repairs. Took me a solid 3 long weekends of hustle, but I'm loving having it in the shop. Lots of doors open when you get a lathe (or mill). Many of those doors you wouldn't even know were there.

It's cool having a tool with character too... Piece of history.

Before:



After:






So.... I'd say do it!
RBO





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Edit: I've only had it going for a few months... but I've made a couple of knife related things so far:

Loveless Bolts:


Finial for Take Down:



Leather Maul:

 
Last edited:
J. Keeton said:
I recently restored this Atlas/Craftsman Lathe (1937). I tore it down completely to the last bolt and made some repairs. Took me a solid 3 long weekends of hustle, but I'm loving having it in the shop. Lots of doors open when you get a lathe (or mill). Many of those doors you wouldn't even know were there.

It's cool having a tool with character too... Piece of history.

Before:



After:






So.... I'd say do it!
RBO





---------------------------------------------

Edit: I've only had it going for a few months... but I've made a couple of knife related things so far:

Loveless Bolts:


Finial for Take Down:



Leather Maul:

Click to expand...

Thats really cool buddy!
 
J. Keeton said:
........ Lots of doors open when you get a lathe (or mill). Many of those doors you wouldn't even know were there.
Click to expand...
J. Keeton said it so well, things you never even considered will happen once you have a lathe or mill. I think perhaps a mill is more important for folders than a lathe would be.

I knew I wanted a lathe when I first moved to this place and had the room. It took me 3 or 4 yrs to convince myself I would use a mill enough to justify the purchase. There is seldom a week goes by with both lathe and mill being used. Normally they're used several times each week.

GET THE LATHE!! then a milling machine {g}
 
Thanks for the opinions. I know there are milling attachments that work on lathes. (specifically this one) Anyone use one of these on a lathe? Wondering how useful they are?
 
Rickoo said:
Thanks for the opinions. I know there are milling attachments that work on lathes. (specifically this one) Anyone use one of these on a lathe? Wondering how useful they are?
Click to expand...

I used a milling attachment on my mini lathe to mill slots in guards for hidden tangs. It's perfectly doable, but at least on my lathe I was limited in terms of workholding, range of movement, and rigidity. If you are planning on milling on the lathe extensively, I would get a mini mill - I got a crappy one couple of months back and I should have done that earlier. The difference is night and day. You should of course get both the lathe AND a mill:)
 
i have a 9C i like it for alot of things but i really dont use it for folders (mini mill did alot back in the day) that said cant beat the price if you have the space for it. i plan on selling mine down the road and picking up a heavy 10 or a 13" to go next to my bridgeport
 
I have a Logan 820 which is a 10" swing and I have a 36" table or so:
4UxWazm.jpg


For knifemaking, i've done a few things with it, mostly jig making or some pinwork. That being said, I've used the lathe for WAY more than I ever expected just in normal life. Its not a tool you'll regret getting.

One thing to REALLY remember here is you will eclipse the cost of the machine in tooling if you use it a lot. If you buy used, try to get as many accessories as you can with the machine.

I agree with others that a mill is far more versatile in the knifemaker shop. Its a super precision drillpress and there are endless things you can do knifemaking with it. On folders, that means milling liner reliefs, integral bolsters, cutting notches at perfect 90 degree angles, etc etc.

With all machines like this stability is a huge deal if you want a really nice finish and you want to move beyond a snail's pace. My lathe weighs 750 on a 300 pound bench and I wish it weighed 3X that when I use it to hog off metal making blackpowder cannons. My Bridgeport mill is 1850 pounds with a 36" table and I'm wishing more and more it was a larger, more modern mill because I just use it ALL the time. DRO, powerfeed and R8 tooling would be a dream.
 
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