The last time I tried to set up the old style gearing I gave up without a struggle, just because a feed box makes it so easy that it's part of my understanding of the lathe. One of the questions I stumbled on was the term "stud" and not knowing which position it meant, however, you only have three opportunities, two of which are wrong, so it should still be easy, just don't choose a thread that needs compound gearing to make it work until you make your discovery (I think compound gears go on the stud if I'm not wrong, Haven't looked at a selection plate in a while).
To test your setup engage the half nuts and make a mark on your chuck with a felt pen and an opposing mark on the headstock so they line up. (Leave the power off for this) divide one inch by the number of treads per inch, in this case it would be .050". Set a dial indicator to show the movement of the carraige at zero and pull the chuck over by hand exactly one revolution, the indicator should read .050" if you have it right. Much easier with a DRO.
