Project South Bend 9A AKA “The General” is a South Bend Lathe Model 9A which I acquired in 2019. It was a garage find from my wifes Uncle Paul, who purchase the lathe from the original owner sometime in the 1960s. Originally, when we moved it, we move the lathe to my fathers home machine shop until such time I could bring it home. I got the lathe cleaned a bit, setup and did a few projects. The lathe was nick named “The General” because it was produced in 1943 under the War Departments.
In 2021, we moved The General to my home shop where it will be cleaned up further and then used for a few projects I have in mind. The short list of tasks is to clean up the lathe, which suffers from 75 years of oil and grime build up. The motor is a bit small and the cord is badly frayed. Finally, the stand could use some paint and I plan on building a storage cabinet below to store the tooling and perhaps some material or unfinished projects.
Project Updates
 South Bend 9A Lathe – Project General RelocationIn July, 2018 I received a phone call offering me an old South Bend 9A lathe and a mill. I will not go into the… |
 Project South Bend 9A – Aging “The General”Getting Closer to Chips on the South Bend 9A AKA "The General" In July, 2018 I was gifted a South Bend lathe, model 9A which… |
 South Bend Lathe is upgraded with new tool postLast year, I was fortunate enough to acquire a 1945 South Bend lathe Model 9A. Prior to the 1960's the history is known, but after… |
 Milling a South Bend Lathe T-NutOriginally, the old South Bend came is a lantern style tool holder. I am sure a skilled machinist can swap tool bits with a minute.… |
 Project South Bend – Cleaning 80 years of grimeWhen I picked up the Project South Bend 9A lathe from its previous owner, it was in perfectly servable shape. But... it was dirty. There… |
 South Bend 9A Status UpdateSouth Bend 9A with an aligned tail stock, rewired motor, new tool post and cleaned up from 80 years of use. It was been sometime… |
 Lighting up the South Bend LatheNow that I have a few months working on the old South Bend Lathe, it has become crystal clear that I need to improve the… |
 Headstock Spider – Drilling and TappingDrilling a hold at 180 degrees for the South Bend 9A headstock spider The headstock spider for my south bend 9a lathe made some great… |
 Headstock Spider – Boring DownOnce I had the Headstock Spider out of the Lewis Horizontal Mill, I needed to open up the bore to have a snug fit on… |
South Bend Lathe Summary
| Model | South Bend 9A |
| Serial No. | 162,763 |
| Production Year | 1945 |
| Original Owners | Harold Kempel Eccles & Davies, Los Angeles |
| Motor | GE 1725 RPM, 1/4 HP, 115 Volt, 3 AMP |