Any older machinists here? Or persons with knowledge of vintage machines

[billyboyr6]

Have a couple older lathes id like to know more about.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Have a couple older lathes id like to know more about.

Here's a starting point for you:

VintageMachinery.org | Welcome

 

[chezuki]

Churchmouse is really old. I think he might have some machining experience as well, but he's definitely old.

 

[printcraft]

Churchmouse is really old. I think he might have some machining experience as well, but he's definitely old.

True. He knew the Dead Sea back when it was just the sick sea.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Churchmouse is really old. I think he might have some machining experience as well, but he's definitely old.

True. He knew the Dead Sea back when it was just the sick sea.

You guys won't give a mouse a break, will you?

 

[mom45]

There are also some good groups on Yahoo. I know very few people use Yahoo groups anymore, but I found some good info there when hubby drug home his 1914 American Tool lathe and we needed info on it.

 

[Backpacker]

What make and model or size do you have?

 

[dak109]

Might try Practical Machinist. I think they have a vintage section. I used to work with a guy that was into old lathes, seemed like that is where he got a lot of info.

 

[MontereyC6]

I've got 25 years in the field. Don't know if that's old enough or not.

 

[Cameramonkey]

You guys won't give a mouse a break, will you?

I heard he was too busy to give Jesus swimming lessons and thats why Jesus had to walk on water. (to reference the old hunting dog joke)

 

[Notalentbum]

I run several lathes from the '40's from time to time. Also have some experience with several old hobby type lathes. What do you have?

Matt

 

[billyboyr6]

Have a chance to pick up an older lathe. Missing some pieces and couldnt find any tags on lathe at all. Transmission cover was missing and im pretty sure that is where the model and serial number would have been. I have a couple crappy pics that i took while I was there. Im trying to id it so i can look for missing pieces. Roughly 8"-10" lathe. Bed about 3' long.



also i did pick up an old craftsman 109 lathe missing cross feed and compound that appears in pretty good shape otherwise.



and lastly i grabbed this




has 4 jaw chuck on it which is why i grabbed it, but i cannot figure out what it is. It was ring and pinion driven and has an angle gauge on on it.

 

[IndyDave1776]

and lastly i grabbed this




has 4 jaw chuck on it which is why i grabbed it, but i cannot figure out what it is. It was ring and pinion driven and has an angle gauge on on it.

There was a time when milling attachments for lathes were in vogue for the person who didn't want to buy both machines, so I am guessing that this is part of a lathe attachment for some other machine. Of course, this is just a guess, so it could that part Scotty was looking for on the Klingon ship to start the ship before the planet blew up in Star Trek III.

 

[CountryBoy19]

The blue lathe appears to be missing the cone-pulley. It should have a step pulley for the flat belts, on the end of that cone pulley is a spur gear that engages the back-gear (the one behind the spindle). With that missing and the fact that it's a change-gear model (not a quick-change), it's nearly worthless IMHO.

Look for one with a quick change gearbox.


Regarding the OP, can you tell us anymore about the lathes? I know a little about vintage machinery. I have a 1950's Leblond lathe that I'm working on completely restoring right now.

 

[billyboyr6]

A friends old man passed and he is cleaning out all of his stuff. My friend is not into machining what so ever and just wants to get rid of all of this stuff.

The pics show the two lathes i have found. (Barn finds). I was afraid someone was going to give me bad news on the blue lathe just like you did. I was hoping it was just missing parts of the transmission and the gear selector knobs. But im afraid you are correct in that is an old manual gear change model. I have been looking for a lathe about that size for several years now and i guess im still looking. Oh Well. If anyone is looking for one like the one i have pictured for parts or restoration i can get it cheep. Just let me know asap or it will probably end up in the scrap yard.

The second lathe is the small craftsman 109. Im kind of excited about it too. Reviews say their worthless but i think it has some potential. Especially for the $50 i paid for it.

One that i have not mentioned yet is a bridgport j head mill. I will definatly be bringing it home and putting it to use. almost got it for free too.

 

[CountryBoy19]

BP J-head, even in bad shape for "almost free" is a good deal.

Regarding the blue one, I wouldn't pay more than $100 for it and from there I would consider parting it out.

 

[billyboyr6]

BP J-head, even in bad shape for "almost free" is a good deal.

Regarding the blue one, I wouldn't pay more than $100 for it and from there I would consider parting it out.

starting to think your reading my mind. Lol $100 is exactly what i can pick up that lathe for and was just skimming ebay to see what parts were going for thinking about parting out. On the other hand the mill is complete with lots and lots of tooling and in good condition for another $100. Been sitting in barn for about 10 years so needs lots of clean up but for the price i cannot pass it up. Just need to find new motor or 3 phase converter.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Moparracer89]

There was a time when milling attachments for lathes were in vogue for the person who didn't want to buy both machines, so I am guessing that this is part of a lathe attachment for some other machine. Of course, this is just a guess, so it could that part Scotty was looking for on the Klingon ship to start the ship before the planet blew up in Star Trek III.

Looks like an old school indexing head for a mill.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Just need to find new motor or 3 phase converter.

What you're looking for is called a variable frequency drive that has single phase input and 3-phase output. It acts as a static phase-converter but gives you variable frequency (variable speed) at the same time. VFD's price are similar to the cost of a single-phase motor or rotary phase-converter (sometimes they are even cheaper). I would recommend you don't go with a single-phase motor, single-phase motors have a single pulse of power for ever revolution, 3-phase motors have 3. The single "pulse" can sometimes cause noticeable surface finish defects in your work. If it has a 3-phase stick to 3-phase and get a VFD or phase-converter.

Regarding which VFD to get, there are only a couple Chinese made ones I would consider. Teco is on the low end, and IMHO, I don't like them (had one fail explosively on me for no explainable reason), Hitachi's are made in China but generally have better quality control and more sophisticated programming options. That being said, the Hitachi manual and programming format is hard to follow and takes a lot of "studying" to figure out what settings need to be changed. For more info head to a place like wolf automation, automation direct, or drives warehouse (all retailers of VFD's).

 

[billyboyr6]

So i brought the two machines home this past weekend. The mill is a 1954 round ram with j head. And complete. The guy threw in a home built rotery phase converter that i also have questions about but ill get back to that later. I told the guy i didnt want to buy the lathe because it was missing too much so he gave it to me. Lol. Im definatly going to part it out or sale it, but i dont know exactly what it is to advertise. I believe it is an old south bend but not sure.


the serial number is stamped in the way which is weird, and is only 4 digits which is also weird. Any help would be appreciated. I also posted help thread on practical machinest.

Back to the rotery phase converter, to me i kind of looks like someone built it. I am looking for someone who is familiar with controlls and motors to go threw it before i run power to it. Really dont want to burn down the barn. It was definatly hooked up and used at some point, as you can see that it was just cut loose and not dissconecred.