Identifying an old lathe

[Andiwerx]

We are clearing out my father-in-law's workshop. Is anyone able to identify this lathe?

It's a bench top model on a shop made stand. There is no maker's id as far as I can see.
Three speed belt drive from separate motor mounted on the stand.
Tailstock and tool rest have a single bolt clamp with a nut accessed from under the bed.
The tailstock live centre is morse taper, I think no 1.

The drive centre also appears to be morse taper but is jammed tight. I can't see if the disk behind it is on a threaded shaft, if it is I can't move it.
The other end of the spindle is threaded with a knurled disk screwed on.

I haven't been able to find anything similar online, but I could well be looking in the wrong place! It's construction - headstock and tailstock look to be welded up from machine parts while the toolpost is a casting - could indicate that it was a shop made one-off. Unfortunately we can now only guess...

Thanks for looking, and if you have any information I'd apprecaite it.

Andy

 

[Orraloon]

It does have a homemade look to it. The headstock, tailstock and bed look like they belong toghther and it likely was an old lathe but the other bits look to have been added later. The banjo and rest dont look like it matches the machine and that drive center came from Vincent Price's dungeon. That said if it does have morse tapers you could have a decent small lathe there. It looks solid enough and well made. If you like tinkering it could be worth a bit of your time. The pulleys would give you 6 speeds.
Regards
John

 

[Democritus]

I’ve no idea about the make, but the motor mounted where it is seems a bit strange. It might interfere with turning a biggish bowl/platter.
Hope you can identify it. Good luck with any restoration.

 

[Andiwerx]

John, thanks for your comments. F-i-L was a joiner who for a while in the '50s worked on maintenance in factories with a machine shop; it's possible that he rescued it or something that he builtduring slack periods - sadly we will neer know. My wife remembers it being in the shed from the early '60s and it being used to turn up parts for repair jobs. He introduced my son to simple turning in his teens and he is going to give it a new home - though I suspect that I will do the tinkering.

Andy

 

[Andiwerx]

Democritus, a good point about the motor; it's likely that it was positioned to work with whatever belts he had available and we don't remember him turning bowls. We will keep that in mind when it goes to its new home.

Andy

 

[croft36]

Democritus, a good point about the motor; it's likely that it was positioned to work with whatever belts he had available and we don't remember him turning bowls. We will keep that in mind when it goes to its new home.

Andy

Is the motor actually any nearer to the centre than the bed? If not then maximum bowl size is unaffected. Hard to tell from the photo!

 

[Democritus]

Crofty
I take your point. The head stock spindle centre height may be less than the distance of the motor from it, in which case, as you say, turning a bowl of maximum over the bed size would be no problem. It is difficult to judge this from the photographs, but, in any case it seems a really strange place to mount the motor.
Regards
D

 

[Inspector]

The motor might not be reversible thus that orientation. It also takes up less bench length that way.

Pete

 

[okeydokey]

Wipe the motor over with a damp cloth to find the maker its unlikely but possible that the lathe maker (as well as the motor) might be revealed, partly because the motor paint and the lathe appear to be the same colour

 

[Democritus]

Good idea to wipe the motor.

 

[Andiwerx]

The motor is mounted on a board hinged to the stand with a bracket to adjust tension (visible on the second picture just be low the drive centre). I've seen similar on old metalworking lathes. The motor is similar to others around his workshop: his homemade sawbench and large disk sander use the same, and a smaller disk sander that he made for me is smaller but the same style. He worked for a company that built and installed commercial fridges and cold display units and these could be service replacements maybe. There is no manufacturer on mine just a serial number plate, though checking the lathe motor is a good idea.

And yes, it does need a good clean!

Thanks for you comments.
Andy

 

[Henniep]

Democritus, a good point about the motor; it's likely that it was positioned to work with whatever belts he had available and we don't remember him turning bowls. We will keep that in mind when it goes to its new home.

Andy

Wow. How would you change/replace the belt?

 

[Democritus]

Good point, Henniep. Looks like you’d have to take the headstock spindle out.

 

[Inspector]

Good point, Henniep. Looks like you’d have to take the headstock spindle out.

That is a common "feature" among wood lathes. You can get around it on lathes using standard V belts by cutting the old one off and using a link belt to replace it.

Pete

 

[Democritus]

Inspector
‘Drive Belts’ in the UK has replacement belts for the most popular lathe makes, but all are complete belts. The only machine for which a link belt is available is a Myford. Is it possible to use this belt on any machine?
Mind you, I wouldn’t know where to start .

 

[Inspector]

Link belts can pretty much replace any V belt in woodworking machines. You just have to make sure you get the right width of belt for the V size of the pulley. The bearing suppliers that also sell drive components (shafts, pulleys etc) will be able to give you the belt width and length you need if you bring the old one in with you. If you want to replace the belt with one like it has then take it to an automotive parts supplier and they will size it and pull one from stock.

Pete

 

[Democritus]

Hi Pete,
Thankfully I can change the belt on my Stratos without having to either remove the headstock spindle or cutting the old belt off.
Phew!!!

 

[Inspector]

Hi Pete,
Thankfully I can change the belt on my Stratos without having to either remove the headstock spindle or cutting the old belt off.
Phew!!!

Me too except the belt on the old Nova has 5 ribs rather than the usual 6 so a touch harder to find. I have 2 spare so I will never need another.


Pete