Who Built This Metal Lathe?

[Maui]

I just acquired a very old metal lathe and I'm scratching my head about who may have built it. There are no markings on it of any kind that I am able to identify. No numbers or letters anywhere. No tags. No raised lettering in the castings. Nothing. I'm hoping someone here may recognize the design and offer an opinion about who may have built it. The only identification on anything is the four jaw chuck which was manufactured by the Skinner company. My guess is that it was built in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The tail end of the lathe has been horribly corroded. Apparently it was sitting in a leaking shed for decades and water dripped onto the V way at the tail end of the lathe. The next owner who I bought it from stored it outdoors under a tarp for about 2 years. It came with a lot of tooling, and should be an interesting restoration project. Wish me luck.

 

[The Cobbler]

no help on the maker, but you've got yourself a project! good luck with it,it will be fun, post updates of your progress!

 

[tre873]

I'm not an expert, but it looks like a South Bend to me. You might try posting it on Hobby Machinist. I'm sure you'll get tons of info over there.

 

[GrantCee]

Unfortunately you didn't supply a good pic of the apron controls, but the rest appears to be an early (1906-1910 or so) South Bend 10". The stand is different, and it's missing a lot of parts, but the headstock matches this one:

http://www.lathes.co.uk/southbend/page21.html

 

[TC Moto]

Looks old school


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[justanengineer]

The lathe is indeed a South Bend, prob 9B or C. The legs are from a much older treadle lathe - pedal powered, hence the provisions for shafts cast in.


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[Rory Bellows]

Time for 55 gallon drum of Evaporust.

 

[Maui]

Unfortunately you didn't supply a good pic of the apron controls, but the rest appears to be an early (1906-1910 or so) South Bend 10". The stand is different, and it's missing a lot of parts, but the headstock matches this one:

http://www.lathes.co.uk/southbend/page21.html

I have two buckets of parts that came with it. There is a LOT of tooling. And the South Bend pictured in the link you provided is indeed identical in design to this one. It is clearly a very early South Bend lathe. It does not have any serial number stamped on the flats between the V ways at the tail end of the lathe. So this is one of the first 700 lathes that South Bend ever built, and is the only existing example of that group of unnumbered South Bend lathes I am aware of. This lathe is special, and is certainly worth restoring.

Maui

 

[Maui]

It is a 10" lathe. And I'm including several more photos to document the as found condition. It does have an ancient Century motor that came with it too, a big face plate and a bunch of lathe dogs, and other tooling as well.

 

[didit]

Awesome project! Once you get connected to some like minded folks you should be able to get all the info you need to turn that machine into a fine example of early South Bend. Years ago there was a (I think) Yahoo group that I did frequent occasionally that was centered solely on South Bend lathes. I think they closed down but those guys knew their stuff. Looking forward to seeing your progress. Good luck!

 

[slowtwitch73]

Ouch.. that's some deep rust on the end. I would figure out if the bed is salvageable first off and go from there. May be able to save yourself alot of effort. Looks like it could be a lost cause even if it were reground.

 

[Maui]

I already figured out how to repair it.

 

[paulsomlo]

You might post this up in the South Bend subforum on PracticalMachinist.com, specifically, in the "Serial Numbers Wanted" thread. Steve Wells would be interested in hearing about this.

 

[Maui]

I did post there but I can’t figure out how to upload any photos to the practical machinist discussion. I did link this discussion, but members there say that they can’t view the photos I posted here.

I found a plate on one of the legs - it was on the opposite side of the leg where I had trouble reaching to beneath the on/off switch and cord.

 

[Maui]

I figured out how to upload photos to the the practical machinist website, and those guys are a wealth of information! The cast iron legs for this lathe are apparently original. The opinion expressed there is that it is most likely to be a Sears Expert lathe manufactured by South Bend in 1910 or 1911. Some of the early Sears Expert lathes did not have serial numbers stamped on the flats between the V ways. It’s a very rare lathe according to Steve Wells.

 

[Bretny]

Is there anything stuck on it? The bed being so pitted means it will never be accurate and may possibly be very sloppy.

 

[paulsomlo]

I figured out how to upload photos to the the practical machinist website, and those guys are a wealth of information! The cast iron legs for this lathe are apparently original. The opinion expressed there is that it is most likely to be a Sears Expert lathe manufactured by South Bend in 1910 or 1911. Some of the early Sears Expert lathes did not have serial numbers stamped on the flats between the V ways. It’s a very rare lathe according to Steve Wells.

I saw Steve's reply - I figured he would know something.

 

[Maui]

Is there anything stuck on it? The bed being so pitted means it will never be accurate and may possibly be very sloppy.

Just about everything was stuck. I’ve been able to get about half of the frozen pieces moving. It won’t be long before everything is moving again. And don‘t worry about the condition of the ways. I can repair them.

 

[Maui]

I saw Steve's reply - I figured he would know something.

Thanks Paul. Posting there was a great suggestion!

 

[ZRX61]

SB's have the serial # on the tailstock end of the bed.

 

[crguy]

Personally, I wouldn't consider taking on that project and here's why: There are literally thousands of old lathes around in better condition than that one. More supply than demand - many end up being scrapped. So why not pick a better one to work with?
I've spent many years collecting and working on old tools and machinery and decided long ago I wasn't interested in spending my time on stuff in that condition.