# Unusual Lathe.....



## toolsntat (29 Jan 2011)

Hi there , I have recently come across a chunky looking "Fell Windermere" lathe and thought you might like to see it,
there is a huge cross-slide which must have taken the cutting knife.
From my research it would appear to be a bobbin lathe....
Anyone else seen this sort of lathe before?

Cheers
Andy


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## dickm (29 Jan 2011)

toolsntat":1gcthsfs said:


> Hi there , I have recently come across a chunky looking "Fell Windermere" lathe and thought you might like to see it,
> there is a huge cross-slide which must have taken the cutting knife.
> From my research it would appear to be a bobbin lathe....



Not sure if I have seen one, but given that bobbin making was a major industry round Windermere, your diagnosis is probably right. There was one bobbin mill still just working about 35 years ago in the South Lakes, and I *think* it's been made into a museum of bobbin making, so might be worth a visit if you are there on holiday. There was also an article in Woodworker about it around that time. Will try and dig it out.


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## toolsntat (29 Jan 2011)

Hi Dick, hope your well...
Yes there is a museum and forgot to put in the link to it :roll: 
Stott Park Bobbin Mill
Finsthwaite
Newby Bridge
Cumbria
England
LA12 8AX
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... ogle.co.uk
Bottom pictures in the background of the centre one....

Am having to try my hardest to resist the "something old must have it" syndrome as it may be on the market at some point :wink: 

Andy


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## toolsntat (29 Jan 2011)

Just found it working 2 mins 28 sec......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE1EDVHip9s

Andy


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## Tinbasher (29 Jan 2011)

Stott park bobbin mill is about 16 miles from me.

I can pop in at some point and see if they have something like it, can't promise when.

Tin


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## toolsntat (29 Jan 2011)

Cheers Tin, wouldn't mind getting up there mesen as it looks right interesting :wink: 

As for nipping in, not to worry as I,m pretty sure it is the second in the video...

Wonder how many are left, must have been a niche market and when the trade died 
dare say the machines on the whole went with it ?

Andy


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## dickm (30 Jan 2011)

toolsntat said:


> Hi Dick, hope your well...
> Yes there is a museum and forgot to put in the link to it :roll:
> Stott Park Bobbin Mill
> /quote]
> Yes - remembered that name this afternoon while we were out walking up Millstone Hill near Inverurie. Then started wondering whether "stott" in the name was the same word as "stot", which in the Doric dialect up here is the word for a bullock. I guess the actual mill was not that far off the drove road south from Scotland, so it might make sense.


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## rileytoolworks (30 Jan 2011)

I used to have a Fell Windemere lathe bed, with a lathe cobbled together DIY style. The guy I bought it from said it came from a mill, and was powered by overhead belts. 
Had to sell it on in the end as I couldn't give it space in the shed.

Adam.


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## Jacob (3 Aug 2019)

Brilliant. if I'd known I would have rushed out and bought all the right kit! live-centre-t118546.html
I wondered why the base was so massive in Andy's first pic until I saw similar in action.
Notice circular saw and TWO push sticks in the vid, though one is the actual workpiece being cut to length. My guess is that the originals would have been to a standard design, not just any old two sticks, but simple wooden artefacts tend to get overlooked and discarded with the passage of time


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## Jacob (14 Aug 2019)

Had a quick look in at the bobbin mill. Ran out of time so just a quick shufti around the outside and didn't have to pay to go in. All the below is from the outside, some through windows.
There's a walk around exhibition with display boards:




Lathe with belts and workpieces. They used up all the small stuff first, from 2" diameter branches upwards. Very economical. Used to be the same with door knobs etc - nearly all from small stuff, which is easy to overlook in these wasteful profligate days!




Spectacular belt driven saw




Views through windows








The saw again. Is it a planer as well, with that wide table?




Bobbins in an interactive corner for kids




The belt driving the saw, coming from end of shaft driving all the other machines in the building, from a steam engine, originally a water wheel. Did they use both I wonder, fire up the steam engine when they needed more power?
















They do guided tour and demos every hour on the half hour but you might need to book a place to make sure. It's on the website. 
I'll have a closer look next time, we were in a hurry. Certainly worth a visit


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## Jacob (14 Aug 2019)

see above


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## Trevanion (14 Aug 2019)

I've actually seen a couple of W.A.Fell Windermere Machinery catalogues on eBay recently, I wouldn't be surprised if those machines are in the catalogues along with some more obscure ones.


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## toolsntat (14 Aug 2019)

Looks like a visit is on the cards. 8) 

Cheers Andy


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## Keith 66 (15 Aug 2019)

We went to stott park bobbin mill about 15 years ago, we went there early in the year on a wet rainy day with only us there. The old boy showing us round had worked there as an apprentice & most of his life & had come out of retirement to demonstrate the bobbin mill museum. A real gent.
It was a fascinating insight into what it must have been like & he operated the machines at a fair old speed. Must have been a few fingers lost in that forest of belts & unguarded machinery. Thoroughly recomended.


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