I'm planning to use this thread to document the cleanup/refresh/restore of my Rockwell Metal Lathe 11"x 36" model 25-100. Serial #1450825 which puts it in the 1967 date of manufacture.
Some background:
I stumbled across this lathe a month or so ago while purchasing a lot of older drill presses. A semi local furniture manufacturer was cleaning out some old machines and I was lucky enough to get them. While there loading the presses, I inquired about any other machines they might be preparing to list (always try to ask the question even if I have no money to buy at that point).
There was a South Bend heavy 10 near the presses that I was super interested in but ended up already being sold to an employee (which I think is a super cool benefit employers can provide to their folks). He mentioned there might be other lathes elsewhere and would check for me. After finding another guy, they took me to a storage area with a bunch of old retired machines...lots of cool stuff! That's where this Rockwell lathe was sitting, tucked back behind a bunch of other stuff.
I wasn't that interested at first, not knowing squat about Rockwell lathes and still being a little bit bummed the SB was already sold. Left it as I was semi interested but wanted to do some research and interested to hear how much they wanted for it.
Week goes by and after my research, learned that Rockwell lathes are highly regarded from a hobbyist perspective and in some cases are more stout than SBs, etc. They also seem to have a following in the gunsmith space. One important downside is the lack of parts. Also heard back they only wanted 500 bucs for it...which I wasn't in a place to accept over the phone since I hadn't done a detailed inspected.
Yesterday I had a chance to make another trip and inspect the lathe. It ended up being in really good shape minus the years of experience (grease) covering it. Both the back gear and bull gears are undamaged...this is important due to the lack of parts. It's also been painted a couple times during it's life, but that should be an easy fix. Not too much tooling was included other than cutting attachments, etc. but the main parts are all there. I easily handed over 500 bucs and 30 minutes later I was loaded up heading home.
I plan to work on this during the winter, disassembling it part by part, cleaning, repainting, wiring to a VFD and then learning how to use it. I'll document my prgress here. It might be a couple of months until I make enough room to get it unloaded and into the garage.
I've also included a list of 'wanted' items and will update the list as I come across specific parts. If anyone has any of these then please shoot me a PM.
- Factory knob for the Forward/Reverse feed motor
- Milling attachment
- Steady rest
- Follower rest
- Taper attachment
- Factory light/lamp
On to pics!!!!!
Some background:
I stumbled across this lathe a month or so ago while purchasing a lot of older drill presses. A semi local furniture manufacturer was cleaning out some old machines and I was lucky enough to get them. While there loading the presses, I inquired about any other machines they might be preparing to list (always try to ask the question even if I have no money to buy at that point).
There was a South Bend heavy 10 near the presses that I was super interested in but ended up already being sold to an employee (which I think is a super cool benefit employers can provide to their folks). He mentioned there might be other lathes elsewhere and would check for me. After finding another guy, they took me to a storage area with a bunch of old retired machines...lots of cool stuff! That's where this Rockwell lathe was sitting, tucked back behind a bunch of other stuff.
I wasn't that interested at first, not knowing squat about Rockwell lathes and still being a little bit bummed the SB was already sold. Left it as I was semi interested but wanted to do some research and interested to hear how much they wanted for it.
Week goes by and after my research, learned that Rockwell lathes are highly regarded from a hobbyist perspective and in some cases are more stout than SBs, etc. They also seem to have a following in the gunsmith space. One important downside is the lack of parts. Also heard back they only wanted 500 bucs for it...which I wasn't in a place to accept over the phone since I hadn't done a detailed inspected.
Yesterday I had a chance to make another trip and inspect the lathe. It ended up being in really good shape minus the years of experience (grease) covering it. Both the back gear and bull gears are undamaged...this is important due to the lack of parts. It's also been painted a couple times during it's life, but that should be an easy fix. Not too much tooling was included other than cutting attachments, etc. but the main parts are all there. I easily handed over 500 bucs and 30 minutes later I was loaded up heading home.
I plan to work on this during the winter, disassembling it part by part, cleaning, repainting, wiring to a VFD and then learning how to use it. I'll document my prgress here. It might be a couple of months until I make enough room to get it unloaded and into the garage.
I've also included a list of 'wanted' items and will update the list as I come across specific parts. If anyone has any of these then please shoot me a PM.
- Factory knob for the Forward/Reverse feed motor
- Milling attachment
- Steady rest
- Follower rest
- Taper attachment
- Factory light/lamp
On to pics!!!!!
I've never ran the Rockwell (3 phase which I dont have) so I dont know much about it other than it is all there with the exception of the steady rest and no taper attachment. VFD would make things a lot simpler for you as stated before me! If you need other parts or a whole machine - let me know 
