Restoring a Scully 501 lathe-anybody have literature/manual?

[Virtalahde]

Kiitos! (Been to Finland many times)

Ole hyvä!

I'll take a couple of photos of what I have and PM them to you.

[audiocarver]

I've always liked the looks of those 501 and 601 Scully's when all polished up and running! Like a work of art in and of itself!

[Deke Dickerson]

For those following this thread, I was able to hook up with Ralph and Bob in Minneapolis and see their Scully 501 in action. Here's a short video, enjoy!

[Deke Dickerson]

Can anybody get the video to play? I uploaded an .mov file from my iPhone, perhaps that won't work on the forum upload images link.

[W.B.]

IMG_3261.JPG

Hello all--

I've had a long break since I first posted about my Scully lathe project. Been going through an 18-month divorce but finally back to concentrating on the Scully 501 restoration.

I have visited Len Horowitz at HRS Sound here in LA and he let me copy some invaluable Scully literature which really helped me figure out what parts went where.

Although the lathe looks really rough from years of storage, 99.5% of everything is there, it just needs to be cleaned up, polished, re-chromed, new bearings installed and reassembled.

I do need the following items, if anybody can help, that would be great: Pipe stand/table, lamp and base, microscope and base, tonearm base, terminal strip, relay box. I prefer to find the real vintage stuff but I know there are a couple folks who make reproductions of these items.

Serial number, which I found located on the aluminum base near the turntable drive shaft, is 0263. Or, 026-3, possibly. Len says it's the earliest serial number he's ever seen, possibly a 1930's machine, possibly early 1940's.

The machine was fitted with a variable pitch unit at one time, but strangely enough all that was missing when I got it and it had all the parts to the original "gear box" fixed pitch assembly.

WB, to answer your question about the pitches, I have several different pitch marker plates, but it would appear as though the gear that I have for the gearbox would be the one already mounted on the machine: 88 through 136. I've taken a picture of the other pitch plates for you, though, showing the secondary pitches. I don't believe I have the correct gears to make any of those work, however.

[ . . . ]

Here are a few pictures of the lathe "BEFORE" shot--please don't laugh. It's rough but just wait until you see the "AFTER" photos....

Deke

Much obliged for that pic of the differing plates for the gearbox. I know Columbia's New York studios, as I may've said before, had their Scully 501 modified so that they cut 150 - 234 lpi as well as 88 - 136 (and did things so that they'd cut pitches 1.5x the various amounts, 132 - 204 and 225 - 351). Decca's New York studios, it seems, had the 178 - 274 secondary pitches on their 501, as I have a 45 of The Who's 1969 "We're Not Gonna Take It" (from Tommy) with what looked like the 274 lpi pitch throughout the record. Ditto for Columbia's Nashville studios; I saw online a log of lacquers cut for the mono release of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding Lp which seemed to have the higher pitch of the 178 - 274 set, I think listed as 208 lpi for one side (rather than 210) and 240 (as opposed to 242) on the other.

[EmAtChapterV]

Smithadamm, thanks! Next time I drive through Ohio I definitely want to visit Mr. Hull at Musicol.

Anybody else know of anybody actually using Scully 501's today? Besides Robert Hughes in Minneapolis and Mr. Hull at Musicol, I'm not sure how many 501's are still in existence, especially with the fixed pitch gearbox intact. Len Horowitz thought that Palomino in Kentucky used a 501. Rare beasts, indeed.

Deke

I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm reasonably sure at least one of Aardvark's lathes is a fixed-pitch Scully with the gearbox.

[Deke Dickerson]

The Scully lathe restoration crawls along. I just got back my metal parts from polishing and chroming. The stack of little plastic baggies you see in this photo are all the little chrome bits, with their chromed screws and washers and such. Now it's up to Len Horowitz and myself to get it assembled and working again!

I am still looking for a proper Scully table and 3-speed drive unit. Anybody? Also need a microscope and light.

For those who saw the earlier photos, it sure looks prettier now!

Deke

[petermontg]

Any update on this?

I'd love to see how the mechanism to engage/disengage the feedscrew was constructed.

Best
Peter

[Deke Dickerson]

Thanks for asking!

The restoration is crawling along, slowly but surely. I had a year's delay because the chromer chromed a couple of the moving parts assemblies in place. I thought I was screwed, but eventually found a hot rod machinist buddy that was able to free the parts and get them all working properly again.

I Was also able to do a trade for a bathtub drive that was missing a few parts, then 6 months later was able to get the missing parts from another trade. Then, the scully base and carriage both needed some machine work done before it could be assembled, so right now the thing is at Findlay's Machine Shop in LA waiting on its turn (been there since August, and it's already....uh, November).

I was also able to get a proper table in the deal on the bathtub drive, but still missing some odd bits and pieces. Once I get it back from the machine shop, however, I'll actually be able to re-assemble the thing and make it actually work.

Been a long, slow, arduous process. I'll post more pics once it's actually assembled. Some of the folks on this list have been really helpful, though, thanks again for this forum!

Deke

[petermontg]

That's great news Deke. Glad you are still chugging away at it. It seems a massive labor of love.

Keep us updated with the reassemble as it progress's.
What I'd really love to see and would be most helpful to me is the locking mechanism on the feedfinger.


Best
Peter

[Deke Dickerson]

Peter--

It's at Findlay's Machine Shop for now, when I get it back I'll try to upload some photos for you.

Deke

[petermontg]

You are a star.

Thanks Deke.

Best
Peter