I have this old lathe that has had multiple upgrades over the years by the original owner. Has anyone ever seen this lathe and can you give me some information about it. I believe it is from 1940’s ish? I have never seen this type of threading dial.
ID lathe
- Thread starter 10girton
- Start date
RoninB4
Well-known member
-A rather odd looking lathe-shaped-object. The leadscrew doesn't even appear to be supported/captured at the end. The threading mechanism is...."unique". The headstock doesn't remind me of anything designed for industrial use and I've run plenty of old lathes from that era or prior.
-If I've left the OP @10girton with a poor opinion I like to say that if this machine is doing what you want it to do then it's doing just fine. It could stand for the sawdust to be cleaned off now and then. Interesting piece you have there.
-If I've left the OP @10girton with a poor opinion I like to say that if this machine is doing what you want it to do then it's doing just fine. It could stand for the sawdust to be cleaned off now and then. Interesting piece you have there.
paulsomlo
Well-known member
That's an oddball - I would be more inclined to place it at late 1800's.
Thanks for responding! Yes, it is very dusty! I don’t currently have space to set it up and use it. It does need a fair amount of TLC. It seams to be in tight tolerances with minimal backlash.
I didn’t quite understand what you meant by (-If I've left the OP @10girton with a poor opinion)
txvwnut
Well-known member
I wonder if its a screw threading machine.
DocsMachine
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2006
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That is definitely a unique one. It's 90% lathe-shaped, but there's just enough weirdness there to make me think it was possibly custom-built for some specific purpose.
A few bits make me think it was built- as in, it's a 'Frankenstein', made from the parts of other machines.
Most telling there is the "threads" dial, which was cut through the H and R- if that was 'designed in', the cast lettering would have been worked around the bar/mount feature. Ditto the right hand end of the word- it looks like the casting was ground or milled away to make it fit up against what appears to be a soldered-sheetmetal belt guard.
Tony over at lathes.co.uk maintains a collection of one-off, including handbuilt, custom-made and early prototypes. I suspect this would fall into that sort of category.
Doc.
A few bits make me think it was built- as in, it's a 'Frankenstein', made from the parts of other machines.
Most telling there is the "threads" dial, which was cut through the H and R- if that was 'designed in', the cast lettering would have been worked around the bar/mount feature. Ditto the right hand end of the word- it looks like the casting was ground or milled away to make it fit up against what appears to be a soldered-sheetmetal belt guard.
Tony over at lathes.co.uk maintains a collection of one-off, including handbuilt, custom-made and early prototypes. I suspect this would fall into that sort of category.
Doc.
whateg01
Well-known member
I am quite curious about this part of the machine. Do you have any better pictures of it or what it does?
RoninB4
Well-known member
-If it's not currently setup and being used the dusty condition is certainly understandable. Didn't know it wasn't in use.
-My post was rather clumsy in wording. In offering an honest evaluation of the lathe I re-read my post and decided it could be interpreted as being overly critical. I don't like to come off as Mr.-Know-It-All or some sort of machinery snob so I added the last few sentences to apologize for my somewhat harsh sounding post. It's an oddball and may not fit the parameters of some purists or OCD toolmakers (me) but, as I posted, if it does what you want it to do then it's good to go. I would, along with a few others here, look forward to further postings from you when it does get setup for use.
So, there may be some historical relevance to this machine! The Frankenstein reference makes complete sense. I received this from the son of a man that invented and built emission parts for the automotive industry back in 1940’s. Unfortunately I do not have any other information or the son’s name or contact info anymore. I am excited to put this machine to a test. I plan to add a set of historically correct legs and chip pan. It currently sits on a fairly robust wood frame.I am quite curious about this part of the machine. Do you have any better pictures of it or what it does?
I will take better pictures as soon as I can dedicate my full attention to this project.
paulsomlo
Well-known member
I alerted Tony at lathes.co.uk of this thread, here's his response:
Hello Paul,
No, I have never seen anything quite like that before. Very odd indeed and most likely to have been designed for some special purpose.
Unfortunately, the photographs are not quite clear enough to make out some essential details. Do you know if any better ones are available with all the surrounding material removed?
Thanks for sending the link. I'll add it to the "Unknown Section" in due course.
My Good wishes,
Tony
Hello Paul,
No, I have never seen anything quite like that before. Very odd indeed and most likely to have been designed for some special purpose.
Unfortunately, the photographs are not quite clear enough to make out some essential details. Do you know if any better ones are available with all the surrounding material removed?
Thanks for sending the link. I'll add it to the "Unknown Section" in due course.
My Good wishes,
Tony
Thanks Paul, I will take better pictures tomorrow and post them.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
What kind of emission parts were used in the '40s? Something that increased emissions?
"Hey, any chance we can get a little more lead in the exhaust?"
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Google says they were actually starting to experiment in the 40's although serious attention to the subject didn't really take off till the 50's. Who knew? Not me.lol
After a little more reading, it looks like there were serious industrial emissions work done in the 40's and 50's. California smog seems to have kicked it off.