Landis Threading and Tapping Machine

[Movin/on]

A local scrap yard had this piece and didn't want to scrap it so he asked if I wanted it. For free it was hard to pass up. He loaded it onto my car hauler trailer and 2 miles later it was at my shop.

It came with a full box of cutters and chasers and the Landis Handtool book that describes the use of the machine and sharpening the bits.

I disassembled the drive mechanism (3" belt to a chain drive) from the electric motor and put it on casters to get it to the side of my shop. Now it sits there until I get a car finished.

It has to weight over 800# and is about 6 ft long of very solid cast iron.
Has anyone used on of these? It seems somewhat complex.

I'll update with pictures later.

Richard >>> Movin/on

 

[bigcaddy]

I work with and repair Landis machines every day. I have a pipe fab shop so there are abut 6 Landis machines running all day long here.

What exactly did you get? They made tons of different styles from single to double heads from 3/8" up to 16" pipe. If complete and working, its worth lots of money but it will need to be gone through and that is expensive.

Most machines will have a brass ID badge attached to the side. If its missing, check the actual threading heads. Somewhere around the perimeter of the head, near the oiling bead, will be a model number like 12R or something similar.

 

[Movin/on]

Pictures & sizes: Landis Threading and Tapping Machine

The size on the cutter head is 195.
The center bore where the rod/pipe would go through seems to be 2"

The last edition of the Handbook is 1940. That's the drive chain off the belt to chain shaft (can't think of the proper name) and the belt off the electric motor.

The rest of the old tools I bought from a defunct fishing boat repair shop.
4ft Taylor Holbrook Brake
36" Di-Arco slip roller
Shape-Rite 8" Stroke Shaper
18" Jet COM (cut off machine) 18" abrasive disc size 10HP Dayton single phase motor
and this Outlandish roll bender made to bend 5/8 rebar for crab pots. I modified the rollers to adjust for different diameter bends.

 

[bigcaddy]

That looks like a old single chuck/head thread cutter. There are 2 set of handles, one for the jaws to close and one to advance the pipe into the threading head?

The head on yours should go to 2". If you look on the face of the cutting insert clamps, numbered 1-4, you should be able to find markings for the size adjustments. It might go down to 1" or it might strictly be a 2"- 1 1/2" machine. As I said before, these machines were very adaptable to many kinds of work.

Unbolt a thread chaser out and look it over for any identifying marks. They will have the thread pitch marked on them. If it's 11 1/2, its a standard NPT and I might be interested in some if you have a few extra sets

 

[Movin/on]

BigCaddy: sent you a PM but no reply so I'll ask the questions of others.

How do you read the size measurement or number & code on the side of the thread chasers?

USS is machine thread?
18P is pipe? one set has Taper Pipe. 18P.
USF 12P and USF 14P
How about UN? universal?

I do have one set of the 11 1/2 that does not seem to fit the Landis
All in all I've got USS sets from 3/8 to 2" in 1/8" increments and 7Un 8Un and 13Un but that set has 2 shattered chasers.
I'd like to know what I've got here.
The threader runs smooth and has all of the parts including the pump and adjusting tools. It does have a rear steady rest/clamp that is on a rack and turns with a 4 spoke handle. That seems to feed the stock in if there are not any starter threads.

Thanks for any insight

Movin/on