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New to me Rivett 1020S.

X926629

Plastic
Joined
Apr 6, 2015
Forgive me if this is not the right forum, not sure where Rivett threads go.....

Very excited to be the new owner of a Rivett 1020S, serial number 407. This is probably beyond a longshot but it has no tailstock and i would like to have an original tailstock for it. I understand that a tailstock takeoff will probably be impossible to find. I may end up adapting a TA off of a different machine if i cant find one. This machine appears to have the accumulator crossfeed dial and taper attachment. It should be a nice upgrade from my current lathe, a Logan 820. :) Ill take some more pictures when i get it home.

Andy IMG951582.jpgIMG951583.jpgIMG951577.jpg
 
Forgive me if this is not the right forum, not sure where Rivett threads go.....

Very excited to be the new owner of a Rivett 1020S, serial number 407. This is probably beyond a longshot but it has no tailstock and i would like to have an original tailstock for it. I understand that a tailstock takeoff will probably be impossible to find. I may end up adapting a TA off of a different machine if i cant find one. This machine appears to have the accumulator crossfeed dial and taper attachment. It should be a nice upgrade from my current lathe, a Logan 820. :) Ill take some more pictures when i get it home.

Andy View attachment 203222View attachment 203221View attachment 203223

Someone posted a while back with a 1020 sans tailstock, another member had one! I don't know if a deal was done or not.
 
I wonder if a 10EE tailstock would work?
Two downsides.

First is they are not themselves as common as 10EE lathes that need them, read scarce, costly, and often in need of serious rebuild.

Second is the #2 MT (early and MOST) 10EE TS is one of a 10EE's weakest features.

For the same amount of adaptation, it should be possible to do better by a 10XX Rivett.

Fastest, and maybe even cost-neutral "solution", even if temporary, would be to adapt any of several decent hex-turret TS, keep a stub centre in one of the holes or on an adjustable cross-slide toolholder.

Jacking one of those UP with a fairly simple adapter plate is way easier than cutting DOWN a larger lathe TS with integral base, as nearly the whole tribe were designed to be fitted just that way from the get-go.
 
This is the correct forum to post about the Rivett 1020/1030 lathes.

Good luck finding a tailstock, you're not the first.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...ing-tailstock-306835/?highlight=Rivett+collet

Congrats on your machine, you'll most likely love it when you get the tailstock sorted out. You must have one of the last S models. My lathe is #441 and it an F, but things were sketchy once Leland Gifford took over the operation. Mine says it was built in '63, but according to my manual copy, Hershey may have not received it until around '67 or '68.

BTW, I'm not sure the 10EE tailstock would be the best to start with, because the Rivett has a wider bed and different height. The older Rivett S models might be closer in height, but almost guaranteed the tailstock will not fit on the bed ways of the Rivett. I don't know that for certain, just speculating...

Cheers,
Alan

PS - there is a guy in SoCal that has a Rivett lathe, and bought a second lathe during his restore. It might be possible that he has an extra tailstock. He's tough to get a hold of as he's hard of hearing and uses his wife to help, but phone call is difficult. He's slow about email but I have exchanged with him in the past. I don't know how to get a hold of him, here's his web page:

Restoring a Rivett 12S Lathe

I've mentioned this to another PM member, but AFAIK, nobody has contacted Carl or found out if he had an extra tailstock. I only know he had a second lathe as when I was exchanging email with him, he mentioned buying a 2nd lathe from Government auction for parts. AFAIK Carl still doesn't have his lathe running yet. :(
 
I guess when I get it home I'll have to do some measuring. I really want an original bad, but I bought the machine realizing that that may never happen. I am just excited to have what I got, from what I have read these lathes are beyond cool and should be a prized possession in my arsenal. Any body have thoughts on creating an entire TA from scratch? I thought a guy could get a block of Durabar and start carving it out, I have a K&T 2k with universal head that would help the process. Anybody tackled such a project?
 
I guess when I get it home I'll have to do some measuring. I really want an original bad, but I bought the machine realizing that that may never happen. I am just excited to have what I got, from what I have read these lathes are beyond cool and should be a prized possession in my arsenal. Any body have thoughts on creating an entire TA from scratch? I thought a guy could get a block of Durabar and start carving it out, I have a K&T 2k with universal head that would help the process. Anybody tackled such a project?

If I had to do it, I'd make it a simpler weldment and provide for adjusting the ram alignment.

I've drilled from carriage since "childhood", so all I need a "plain" TS for is positioning a centre, and not often even so. Adjustable is good enough, and a bit of cleverishness, you can shape it to gain 4" to 6" of c-to-c daylight.

That can be a serious blessing on a(ny) lathe with only 20" of it, as-built.

No need to "give up", but it might be YEARS before an OEM TS shows up.

Meanwhile, an adapted hex-turret or a DIY weldment, and you can make chips while-you-wait. Reversible in short order, of course.

Not as if there was any permanent disfiguring of the bed. Nor even your reputation.
 
I wondered about that, if I could buy like a 10ee sized tailstock, and machine a plate that matches the ways my machine. Then set the donor tailstock on top of the plate and figure out a way to align it side to side. How would I adjust the height though is what I am wondering. ?
 
I wondered about that, if I could buy like a 10ee sized tailstock, and machine a plate that matches the ways my machine. Then set the donor tailstock on top of the plate and figure out a way to align it side to side. How would I adjust the height though is what I am wondering. ?
Machine it or shims.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
I was going to ask earlier but forgot, the guy that is selling this 1020s had 2 of them for sale, but sold one already. Just wondering if someone on PM picked it up. Had a turret tailstock on it.
 
Machine it or shims.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I think it would be simple enough to adapt just about any tail stock / mostly to hold a chuck and a center..even to mill in an oak slab for starters. Likely I would fit the Rivet pattern to the bottom and the tails bottom at the top... likely make it on my 618 surface grinder.
 
I wondered about that, if I could buy like a 10ee sized tailstock, and machine a plate that matches the ways my machine. Then set the donor tailstock on top of the plate and figure out a way to align it side to side. How would I adjust the height though is what I am wondering. ?

You could do that, but you would pay enough for a 10EE tailstock that it won't make sense. If one falls off a turnip truck you might be able to do what you have in mind, but Monarch parts are highly sought after and go for premium prices.

Get a larger one and just mill it, IMO.

If it was me that was trying to adapt a tailstock, I would probably look for something like a Hendy tailstock of similar height. The reason is that there's been a fair amount of scrapped Hendey lathes that it might be easier to find those for sale. Only speculation also, a lot of Hendey owner's could be looking for those also and there's a lot more Hendey lathes than Rivetts. A LeBlond or L&S would probably be a decent place to start as well.

Any way you do it, it won't be cheap to ship a tailstock and you might look locally, but it might cost you some coin to get one if it's not local. Something to consider.

That tailstock on here was sold, AFAIK, at least a deal was struck by the seller and buyer and a very rare find. Will lightning strike twice? I wouldn't count on it... :nono: (but stranger things have happened)

EDIT: having looked at ebay, I don't envy you. Most everyone is asking pretty high prices on anything that looks like a decent tailstock. Ironically, there's a 1020S in TN that is not too badly priced. It has a tailstock with it, but surely you don't want another machine...someone else might. :)

This one in classifieds doesn't look too bad in that regard, and although a bit big, it would be easier to take away than add, and it looks beefy. Not ideal, as it would need to come down about 3.5", but maybe leeko would give you a better deal on it. ;) Certainly must be wide enough, would not without a bunch of work. That will be the case with most foreign tailstocks to the Rivett.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...ley-20-tailstock-dog-driver-backplate-337353/
 
While you Rivett guys are looking, I have been thinking about a 1020s on Kansas City MO c/l. I ended up buying a P&W. The guy just dropped the price from $3500 to $1500. No tailstock, but...
 
While you Rivett guys are looking, I have been thinking about a 1020s on Kansas City MO c/l. I ended up buying a P&W. The guy just dropped the price from $3500 to $1500. No tailstock, but...

That is actually the one I bought. Just got home with it. 😁
 
So I went for a roadtrip today and picked up this hulk of a lathe. Wow, it is amazing how much cast iron is packed in, on and around this thing for such a small footprint. It literally will fit in the exact space my Logan 820 is currently residing in. I will be enjoying all the added mass it has when I move it into my shop, as the Logan, while a decent lathe, is about as rigid as a wet noodle. I am sure this 1020 will be rigid beyond my wildest imagination. The trip went well. It was 302 miles there and back and everything went as planned. The seller was a great guy, very nice to work with. I do have some questions now about this machine. I briefly connected it to power, and turned it on. Every function works, but the mag contactors buzzed really bad and the spindle was slow to reach speed. I opened the side cabinet, and removed the two motor contactor coils and contact assys. I noticed that the contact pads were badly burnt. I also noticed the coils were marked 110v. Shouldn't they all be 230v? I took the contactor apart for the coolant pump and the pads were fine in it. I traced the wiring out of the line in fuses and the wiring goes straight to the contactors. My line in is 230v. I also checked the motor connections and made sure the motor was 'set' to low line, 230v, which it is. Did someone swap out the 230v coils for 110v? Also when operating the lathe speed the fastest it will run is about 2000 rpm. Could this be because the contactor pads are so badly burned?KIMG0338.jpgKIMG0339.jpgKIMG0344.jpgKIMG0342.jpg
 
Anyway, you should try to get the electrical, some are on vintagemachinery.org and there is at least a couple electrical diagrams there.

You need to figure out how your machine is made up. And I wouldn't assume any particular voltage until you confirm yourself what is there. Mine had a transformer removed and separate line run for the 120v control circuit. Although the motor/brake is running on 3 phase XXXX volts, it gets stepped down appropriately to 120v through transformer.

Always best to check that out, took me a bit to figure mine out as it was running on 460v in the Hershey factory, but they ran a 120v line in separate and patched it through to the control circuit.

Different electrical diagrams for coolant models, and S vs. F models, but if you are ok at electronics it should be pretty simple, but I'm electronically challenged, so needed to get a friend to help me.

There are quite a number of different diagrams. I finally found the one I needed with a pic on the web that we figured out the transformer had been taken out. Why? I'm not sure, I wish they would have just wired around it. But I found the same one on ebay, believe it or not, just got a vintage Westinghouse like the ones in there (as I recall).

Good luck, test those voltages before you run it anymore, IMO. Make sure the motor is wired for correct voltage you're putting in, that's pretty easy to check with the wires coming into the electrical compartment.

With that said, I need to get out and prep a fender to prime and paint and would like to get at least primer done today.
 
So I went for a roadtrip today and picked up this hulk of a lathe. Wow, it is amazing how much cast iron is packed in, on and around this thing for such a small footprint. It literally will fit in the exact space my Logan 820 is currently residing in. I will be enjoying all the added mass it has when I move it into my shop, as the Logan, while a decent lathe, is about as rigid as a wet noodle. I am sure this 1020 will be rigid beyond my wildest imagination. The trip went well. It was 302 miles there and back and everything went as planned. The seller was a great guy, very nice to work with. I do have some questions now about this machine. I briefly connected it to power, and turned it on. Every function works, but the mag contactors buzzed really bad and the spindle was slow to reach speed. I opened the side cabinet, and removed the two motor contactor coils and contact assys. I noticed that the contact pads were badly burnt. I also noticed the coils were marked 110v. Shouldn't they all be 230v? I took the contactor apart for the coolant pump and the pads were fine in it. I traced the wiring out of the line in fuses and the wiring goes straight to the contactors. My line in is 230v. I also checked the motor connections and made sure the motor was 'set' to low line, 230v, which it is. Did someone swap out the 230v coils for 110v? Also when operating the lathe speed the fastest it will run is about 2000 rpm. Could this be because the contactor pads are so badly burned?View attachment 203331View attachment 203332View attachment 203333View attachment 203334
In picture #3 right hand corner that looks like a control transformer 220 to 120 make sure the primary is wired for 220 not 440. If it is wired for 440 then the motors are most likely wired for 440.
 
In picture #3 right hand corner that looks like a control transformer 220 to 120 make sure the primary is wired for 220 not 440. If it is wired for 440 then the motors are most likely wired for 440.
Correct, I took another look at the wiring and the transformer is stepping down my controls to 110v, so the coils are correct. The transformer is wired for 230v on the primary. I definitely missed that. Could my contactor pads being burned cause the start up current to be too high which pulls the system voltage down and causes the contactors to buzz?
 
Check your voltage on the line while you are starting up the lathe I assume you have 3 phase power from the power company if on a rotary converter it may be too small.
 








 
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