Southbend Table

Part of fixing up my Southbend lathe is refinishing the table. It is a pair of cast iron legs with large angle cross members. For the most part, the table only needs a strip and repaint. The only real work it needed was a repair to one of the foot lugs.
I want to have the table done before the heavy work begins on the lathe. This way, as the bed and other components are finished, they can be assembled directly onto the table.

The lugs are necessary to have leveling feet. In order to properly set the lathe up when I am done, the leveling feet will be required...soooooo...time for some welding.

I hate welding cast iron, but here it is. I made a new lug out of a piece of scrap. To weld it, I beveled the edges of the new lug, and ground the area of the foot where it was to be repaired. Here the weld is already ground down. This is one of those lucky repairs that doesn't need to be perfect in order to "disappear." The idea was to get the shape close, blend out the weld, and sandblast it for a bit of texture.

After sneaking the legs into work...a can of primer later and voila!

Here's the weld repair after primer.

Tonight I'll be able to shoot the top coat. I wanted to do an old style industrial green, but couldn't find the shade I wanted. I sat and looked at the other colors for a while. There was Industrial Gray, Ford Blue, some dark greens, and others. I ended up getting Royal Blue. I think that the Royal Blue will look really good on this machine. I also made the decision that the motor and drive components will get a gloss black finish. I like the combination of blue and black. It's basic, and attractive.
Some in the world would ask, "It's just a machine, why are you worried about paint colors and looks?" The answer to that is simple. This old machine (70ish years to be exact), deserves to look good! It's not like these things go through complete teardown and rebuild all that often. While it is apart, you might as well go for it, and make it look really nice.