Parke & Lacy Lathe Information Needed

[PWRstroke_smoke]

Lodge and Shipley 14" Lathe Restoration

So I have the opportunity to pick up a 2 hp belt driven lathe that belonged to my grandfather. It has been sitting in the corner of the family business for decades. It still worked great when he retired and stopped using it.

It has an Emerald 2hp 220v 3 phase motor.
it has an id tag on it that reads:
PARKE & LACY
machinery merchants
San Francisco, ca

the table is about 6' long
bed of lathe to center of spindle was probably about 8" so probably about a 16" swing.
At some point my grandpa fabricated a safety cage around the belts and moving parts. Its works very well and the front part of the cage swings open to access everything
it looks very complete, the motor is sitting above the safety cage not shown in the pictures below.

Is this thing worth my time to restore and use in my personal use home shop? I would love to see it running again in memory of my grandfather.
Should i get a phase converter to setup 3 phase or find a new single phase motor
I have no idea how to set up 3 phase but have some family that could help me, I already have standard 220v present.
Any information on the age of this lathe, who made it?
the value of it in current condition would be great.

here are some photos they are kind of dark i will try to get better ones if i go pick this up!

 

[Whitworth]

Never heard of Parke and Lacy. Cagney and Lacy, well yeah, but..

Anyways, do you know the spindle thread/spindle taper? If it is something no longer supported you will have a difficult time finding chucks, drive plates, etc, rendering it almost useless as an operational lathe. Tailstock, as long as it's a common taper like Morse, not so much an issue.

Gary

 

[Fretters]

Is this thing worth my time to restore and use in my personal use home shop? I would love to see it running again in memory of my grandfather.

Absolutely. Both for sentimental reasons and for the fact that it's a solid, vintage piece of machinery.

Anyways, do you know the spindle thread/spindle taper? If it is something no longer supported you will have a difficult time finding chucks, drive plates, etc, rendering it almost useless as an operational lathe.

It's standard practice to make a dedicated backplate for each chuck on a lathe, so that would be no issue.

 

[zkling]

Lacy is probably the dealer that sold the machine. Pretty common back in the day for machine dealers to have nice tags attached to the machines they sold. It's a dinosaur of a lathe, but given its history to you and the low purchase price; if you have the space avaiable go for it.

 

[PWRstroke_smoke]

Thank for all the information, I think zkling is right, from some of the research i have done so far it looks like a very early south bend.
Please keep the info coming I am young and learning so any information is appreciated. Unfortunately my grandfather is no longer with us so I cant learn directly from him, but my father and his brother are very knowledgeable as well.
Im a mfg engineering major so i get to work on new lathes quite often.
I just made an account on the practicalmachinist forum today, and will post up over there as soon as my account is approved. I could only find one thread on parke & lacy and it was regarding a wood planer

 

[Whitworth]

It's standard practice to make a dedicated backplate for each chuck on a lathe, so that would be no issue.

Ah,....No. It is standard practice to purchase a chuck with a back plate that matches the lathe spindle. Whether cam, taper or threaded. One would be hard pressed to make any other than a threaded back plate, and how would you mount the blank without first making the plate for the chuck that you need to make a plate for ?

Gary

 

[Fretters]

Ah,....No. It is standard practice to purchase a chuck with a back plate that matches the lathe spindle.

For vintage or antique machines, I think not. Some manufacturers may still be in business and supplying parts, but most will have bitten the dust years ago, and with the slight tolerance discrepancies to be found in a lot of older machines, the standard practice is to make a backplate to fit that specific machine. You may drop across a second hand chuck with the correct backplate, but even then you're not guaranteed that it will be a perfect fit, and how do you go on if you order a new chuck for it? A circular argument.

 

[PWRstroke_smoke]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121278599687?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
found this

 

[PWRstroke_smoke]

Lacy is probably the dealer that sold the machine. Pretty common back in the day for machine dealers to have nice tags attached to the machines they sold. It's a dinosaur of a lathe, but given its history to you and the low purchase price; if you have the space avaiable go for it.

lacey was a dealer figured out its a lodge and shipley lathe, the information on practical machinist is very extensive found a manual and sales brochure from a user over there

 

[DocsMachine]

As I was scrolling past, I was going to say it was a Lodge & Shipley, too. I have photos of an abandoned 1918 machine that has a number plate screwed on that looks virtually identical to that one- same font and everything.

Doc.

 

[2mJps]

This will make a great lathe to start out on. I would spend some time cleaning and oiling it.Dont let the negative nancys talk you out of haveing a good shop tool. It would take a skilled machinist to build space shuttle parts on this lathe but after you use it some it will build alot of stuff for you.

 

[PWRstroke_smoke]

just got confirmation its all mine! I will be picking it up in three weeks or so when school is out and im off from work for the holidays.
I will be doing a full restoration on it in memory of my grandfather