I bought a Boxford idler gear for a SB 9A i`m doing up and it fits fine without any altering ,dont know about the rest though as you dont need many gears on the 9A as it has a gear box. This one im doing up now had a few change gears with it and im not sure what they are for as you dont really need them for a 9A. I think they were 20, 30,  40, 50 and 55 tooth.

Edited By mark smith 20 on 04/09/2016 11:05:01

Edited By mark smith 20 on 04/09/2016 11:11:25

On checking up i believe the 9 A only needs 20 and 40  small idler gears, The 40 being used for 4-7 threads per inch.

Edited By mark smith 20 on 04/09/2016 11:27:21

I second Brian W's comment. When I swapped the SB for the Boxford, I kept the change wheels even though I had the Norton Box. They come in handy when you are cutting metric on an imperial lathe and vice versa. You can't have too many. I believe the main difference between the two lathes is the thread angle on the headstock spindle, same pitch and diameter though.

BobH

There may be one difference that might matter if some one buys a Southbend on the basis that it's the same as a Boxford. I believe the Southbends are about with the spindle running directly in cast iron or plain bearings. I don't think Boxford every did that but am not entirely sure due to a small one I used at school.

I did look at a Southbend years ago that definitely ran in cast iron. Like most lathes that do that the chances of finding one with little to no wear is pretty remote really.

John

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