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Old lathes photo thread.......

Joined
Jan 24, 2010
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Cleveland, Tennessee
Love the old photos and old machinery of any kind.
Bill, that is a nice segmented bowl on the lathe!
In my travels, ran across a fellow who restored old horse drawn buggies, wagons, etc. He had an ancient belt driven mortise machine to make wagon wheels like the olden days.
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2020
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Hoschton, GA
I bought this old Rockwell Delta lathe about 20 years ago. It came from the residents' workshop in a retirement complex. They were upgrading to a fancy Reeves drive lathe. They threw in a set of 5 Craftsman lathe tools that were priced at $7.99. According to the serial number, the lathe was made in 1972. It's in great shape with no rust and the original paint. It even has the original 1/3 hp Rockwell/Delta motor. It now enjoys retirement as a buffing station.
 

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Joined
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Ponsford, MN
Bill I bought my first band saw with paper rout money in 1961 and it was a "Delta" so I believe Rockwell had to have bought Delta after that I think in the mid sixties. I have owned lathes similar to yours but they didn't have the little hand wheel on the face of the headstock so I am curious what it it is for.
The "bowl Lathe" is something I have never seen before.
 
Joined
Oct 13, 2016
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Rainy River District Ontario Canada
Bill I bought my first band saw with paper rout money in 1961 and it was a "Delta" so I believe Rockwell had to have bought Delta after that I think in the mid sixties. I have owned lathes similar to yours but they didn't have the little hand wheel on the face of the headstock so I am curious what it it is for.
The "bowl Lathe" is something I have never seen before.

I’m not Bill, however to your thoughts, it was Delta that bought out Rockwell, Rockwell did also buyouts, like Beaver, and then Rockwell got bought out by Delta.

For that handwheel, I’m quite sure that changes the reeves drive pulley width, thereby changing the speed of te spindle.
 
Joined
Dec 5, 2015
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Seattle, WA
My first lathe was an old Delta, given to me by a friend.

What really got me excited about turning was a production lathe for 50 bucks from a business liquidation. It was a Bignell automatic variety lathe made in the late 1930's. Variety lathes were designed to quickly make small parts like knobs and handles, etc. The maximum capacity was 2" diameter by 3-1/2" length. Weight of the lathe was about 2000 pounds. Originally it appeared to have been powered off an overhead line shaft. When I got it it'd been converted with modern motors.

The video link below shows a hand operated version of a variety lathe which is similar only in concept. Mine was fully automatic after the square raw stock was put into the machine. Bignell Machinery showed history of a local company having owned and used the lathe after WWII. These lathes are fast, but complicated to setup. It was at least a year before I was able to get it running since there's very little information available on knife design and other issues specific to this type lathe. Proper knife design was a shearing action.

The video shows a part taking about 6 seconds to completion using 4 knives. Mine could do 2 seconds per part at highest speed, although at that speed surface finish suffered. The knives are shaped specific to the part and cut by more or less pealing the design from the rounded work piece. All four knives could work simultaneously or individually as with the hand operated version in the video. Knives were made of high carbon steel honed to a very sharp edge. Knives might need honing after 500 or so parts, never grinding though, only honing.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSQvoP59pwY
 
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Joined
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I’m not Bill, however to your thoughts, it was Delta that bought out Rockwell, Rockwell did also buyouts, like Beaver, and then Rockwell got bought out by Delta.

For that handwheel, I’m quite sure that changes the reeves drive pulley width, thereby changing the speed of te spindle.

Here's some history of Delta:

http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=1141

The lathe in question with the hand wheel looks to me like Walker-Turner. Good machines unless you needed bearings, most of their's were proprietary, meaning the only source was W-T who was purchased by Rockwell. Rockwell owned New Departure bearing company so a good deal of Rockwell-Delta machinery used proprietary bearings also, although those weren't hard to find a cross over to a standard bearing by using a spacer to extend the inner race.

The current Delta has no connection, especially in quality, to the original Delta except by name.
 
Joined
Feb 15, 2020
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Location
New Castle, Delaware
Bill I bought my first band saw with paper rout money in 1961 and it was a "Delta" so I believe Rockwell had to have bought Delta after that I think in the mid sixties. I have owned lathes similar to yours but they didn't have the little hand wheel on the face of the headstock so I am curious what it it is for.
The "bowl Lathe" is something I have never seen before.
The hand wheel is the speed. It uses a couple of expanding pullies to change the speed. I changed the belt to a link belt. Easy to change now, but have never broken it since I put it on. I have a 3hp motor on it.
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2018
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Ponsford, MN
Well no longer in my service, but I owned and turned on this 1974 PM 90 for two years. Initially a 12” swing, but I raised it to 18” swing. Bought from a school auction for $180. Great lathe, but decided I wanted a modern lathe as so many things different such as a 1-1/2” 8 tip spindle thread. I just about took it totally apart and rebuilt. Surprising I could still buy many OEM parts from Powermatic

View attachment 30844 View attachment 30845
I still have my PM90 that I use for extra long work. The changes that I have made include a larger 3Ph motor and VFD, junked the variable pitch sheave setup, 3" height blocks, had the spindle thread reduced to 1 1/4" and bed extensions for up to 110" between centers.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2020
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Shelby, MI
I have a Rockwell 46-111 that I got new about 55 years ago,,, still works great, all cast iron, Rockwell gave me an extra head which I haven’t needed yet..Replace the bearings every 20 years or so, whether they need it or not..
 
Joined
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Yours looks different than mine, color wise,,,,,and a few parts, but mine is much older. I’ve replaced the bearings twice. Remove that circular plate on the front, and the pulley on the back side, and pound it out with a block of wood and a wooden mallet.....then do the same in reverse to install the new.
And I am sure someone is going to come on and say it’s all wrong to do it my way. But each time the bearings lasted over 20 years.
 
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
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Earlysville, VA
Yours looks different than mine, color wise,,,,,and a few parts, but mine is much older. I’ve replaced the bearings twice. Remove that circular plate on the front, and the pulley on the back side, and pound it out with a block of wood and a wooden mallet.....then do the same in reverse to install the new.
And I am sure someone is going to come on and say it’s all wrong to do it my way. But each time the bearings lasted over 20 years.
I’m guessing my bearings were original. I bought a cheap HF bearing pulley tool, though there was lots of pounding with wood block to reinstall. But it seems to work well now.
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2009
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Location
Astoria, Oregon
I bought this Yates-American J-170 former high school shop class lathe from the early 1960's, in 2008. The original motor and Reeves drive were replaced with a 2hp Baldor built Reliant permanent magnet DC motor, and a Woods industrial inverter that takes 220v off the wall and sends DC to the motor. It has true zero start variable speed and separate torque rheostats, and magnetic off and on switches. The bearings were replaced with off the shelf double sealed units. I have since sold it to make room for my Stubby 750.
 

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Joined
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Auburn, Alabama
Gunsmith-Lathe.jpg
 
Joined
Nov 24, 2010
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Location
Lexington, KY
Strictly speaking not an old lathe, since I built this about 10 years ago, but it replicates the traditional bow lathe used in North Africa, particularly Ottoman Egypt, over the last 300-500 years. Built from photos of an Eqyptian turner working about 60 years ago. I built it since I have long been interested in the traditional turning craft and its products in Cairo in the Ottoman era.
View attachment 32865 View attachment 32866 View attachment 32863 View attachment 32864

For its use, see
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnv0DAR_gWA
-- a video of a Moroccan turner using a bow lathe.
 

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Joined
Jul 6, 2020
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Overland Park, Kansas
Here is my old lathe. I called it the Harris 3000. I built it early in the 90's.
The box is filled with sand.
About fifteen years ago I made some modifications. Fixed the toolrest holder, put some heavy, wide legs on the head stock, traded out the I-beams for box-beams. Added some extra weight on the end of the bed.
Gave it a new name, the Harris 3001.
The only piece that isn't personally built was the tail stock. The riser on the tail stock is stacked plywood - definitely an inferior choice.
In the original version, it was all put together with bolts, no welding, so that one person could take it apart and move it alone.
I am too old now to move it alone, so that no longer matters.

harris3000.jpg
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2018
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Baltimore, MD
This Sears Craftsman lathe was my first lathe (not my picture, but one from the internet). Was in the basement of an apartment we rented in Akron, Ohio in 1978. It had been the landlord’s and he let me use it, then let me take it when we moved out. Pretty simple but it even had an indexing head and four step pulley for speed changes. The motor would smoke when it was overloaded. 9F2F2DF0-2E7C-4F2F-89CF-8037CF3D999C.jpeg
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2018
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Location
Oak Hill, VA
A picture is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately pics are all the info I have on this beauty. Saw it in a small shop in New Orleans.
 

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Joined
Jun 16, 2017
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Location
Hanapepe, HI
My 1950 Delta Homecrafter lathe bought new by my father (same year I was born). Upgrades include a Rikon banjo, a reversible motor and a 12v control system with an emergency stop button. The furniture dolly on the end is to move it inside when not in use; no garage or workshop and you cannot leave cast iron outside in the tropics (Kauai). Dust extraction is by trade winds which mulches my lawn then Richard's. I would upload pics but my computer can only shrink them to 7-800kb which were rejected as too large.
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2023
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Duncan, OK
I have a Delta HD circa mid-70’s, and a 30” New Haven patternmaker’s lathe of significant but unknown age, discussed here:

I also have a custom-built elliptical turning machine that I first built over 40 years ago.

Tim
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2023
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Location
Cayucos, CA
Ok, apparently my Jet 1642vs is ancient as Jet says it’s obsolete and no longer sells the main spindle for that machine…anyone need a photo?
 

odie

TOTW Team
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Panning for Montana gold, with Betsy, the mule!

odie

TOTW Team
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Panning for Montana gold, with Betsy, the mule!
I would think it would be a safer bet that it was powered by a line shaft.

That could very well be, Don..... :)

Given the late 1800's look of this lathe, I'd guess it's likely that the lathe was offered both ways. Obviously this one has gone through some modifications over the years, and it would be difficult to pin it down to one or the other without more information.

-o-
 
Joined
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Bristow, IN
That could very well be, Don..... :)

Given the late 1800's look of this lathe, I'd guess it's likely that the lathe was offered both ways. Obviously this one has gone through some modifications over the years, and it would be difficult to pin it down to one or the other without more information.

-o-
Hard to be sure, but I would bet that the motor brackets were added much later. Early electric motors were rather large for their output compared to more modern motors and those brackets are spaced pretty close together. I would lean toward power by a line shaft.

We had an old bandsaw when I was a kid that was 1HP. The motor was easily as big as a 10 horse modern motor of the same speed.
 
Joined
Sep 27, 2017
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Windsor, Pennsylvania
I have the rails, head stock and tail stock of an old lathe that ran from a leather belt hanging down from the ceiling. Haven't set it up or found/made a wheel for it yet.
 
Joined
Mar 1, 2006
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When I first got interested in turning my Mom found this at a junk sale. Around 1984. A standing joke in my shop for many years. She always made me laugh.
 

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