My old lathe a T.Taylor from the turn of LAST century!

[jimi43]

John asked me in the "Off Topic" forum to post some pictures of my semi-restored old baby which I acquired as an unwanted pile from my neighbours cabinet maker's shop.

I believe she is a T.Taylor of Chester Street, Hulme, Manchester - -lathe...for no other reason that it is embossed on the headstock! :wink:

Above we see the restored lathe....believe me - she was a MESS....but as BugBear correctly states....the stability of the lathe is in the mass...and this has MASS in spades!:

and the neglect was widespread....the screw was a nightmare!

anyway...all the headstock components run remarkably well and true with no play....well none for woodturning anyway:

The motor is obviously not original but IS an ancient " Crompton" Club and weighs an absolute TON!

This is the very first lathe I have owned and I was fascinated by using it.

I know I need guards all over the headstock/beltdrive so did not get too close and I did read a few sensible safety tips BEFORE I cranked her up but I was rather pleased with my first two projects......a club for keeping "'er indoors in check and a handle for - you guessed it....a turning chisel!!

I have HUNDREDS of before and after picts of the entire anatomy so ask away if this interests you and I will post or rephotograph whatever bit you need!

As a newbie here I am very happy with my little project...but fully realise I have a LOT to learn....and probably will make a few mistakes...not too lethal along the way!

Cheers

Jimi

 

[CHJ]

Great recovery project Jimi, many years use in that by the look of it.
I am very envious of your lead screw driven saddle, really shouts to my engineering approach to lathe work.

 

[PowerTool]

Great pictures,and nice first turnings
What timber is the chisel handle? Looks lovely.

Andrew

 

[Paul.J]

Great looking project Jimi
Those legs remind me of some of the machines i used to use which were cast and weighed a ton on their own :shock:

 

[DaveL]

Jimi,

Well done on rescuing that great old machine. You cannot beat a good lump of cast iron for making a machine stable. 8)

 

[hog&bodge]

Inspiration to all would be restorers..Thanks for posting the pics.

 

[Bodrighy]

Though I haven't Got Chas's engineering background I have to admit it's a lovely piece of machinery and it looks good now it's been refurbished. Reading the description on www.lathe it seems to be a bit of a rarity as well.

Pete

 

[John. B]

Thank you jimi for the pics,
like Chas I am also very envious of that huge saddle. I have a small engineering lathe and wish very much to have a saddle that big.
It's big enough to handle a vertical slide as well as a cross slide in fact you could put a small milling attachment on it.
What is the speed range and size of the motor? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

John. B

 

[dickm]

Judging by the two holes in the back of the headstock, this was once a back-geared and screwcutting engineering lathe. Wonder where the gearing for all that went to?
There's another challenge for you - rebuild it completely into its original form

 

[Jenx]

Superb ! Lovely to see an old bit of history being given a new lease of life.

Great project, and great result !
8) 8) 8) 8)

 

[jimi43]

Gentlemen

Often you go to forums and are welcomed but the warmth is not there. Since joining UKW (is that the nickname?) - I have been so warmly welcomed you can actually feel it in the post replies.

Thank you! Particularly since you are all obviously grand master craftsmen!

To answer individually....

Chas...yes indeed...that saddle is a BEAUTY....indeed I have been scoping the idea of a milling machine...the action of the lead screw is so very good...no discernable play would you believe after almost a century! I need to do some more work on the locking mechanism to release the drive but other than that she fair glides the saddle along the bed...which is pancake flat!

Here is a picture of what I started with:

The horror of rust and associated problems was replaced by joy when I realised the "rust" was in fact solidified (almost fossilised) mahogany dust!!! The cabinet maker's laziness was the old girls protection...for underneath was beautifully preserved metalwork!!!

BUT! If you have EVER tried to remove fossilised mahogany dust from metal then you know how FUN that can be! One part was so solidified that a whole chunk came off with the screw impressed in it!!!

I was an engineer with Cable and Wireless for 28 years and part of our upbringing was to train in metalwork the very old way for six months...filing brass blocks to exact 1" cubes - you know the stuff...
As a consequence, machine engineering is one of my pet loves now...so that little saddle will do more than hold onto a tool rest...I can assure you!

My neighbour....had fabricated a right-angled block of wood as a tool rest and this works remarkably well....

Having the confidence of a huge saddle lying on a rock solid bed to rest the cutting tool against makes a novice like me confident that I will not kill myself just yet....the crappy bit of pine stock I gave her her maiden voyage on proved beautiful underneath...

Andrew....thank you so much for your kind words on the pictures and my modest turning examples....I fully intend to pick the collective brains here in the future to turn my turning abilities into something to be a bit more proud of in the future! My cutting tool collection is expanding rapidly with many bootfair acquisitions of fine Sheffield steels....each will have a "Hendricks" handle made for them courtesy of my lathe.

To answer your specific question...that handle was cut from a HUGE block of flame mahogany...a present from my friend again...I think it came from Hondurus! He did point out to me - to my shame - that the flame may indeed be the downfall in the handle....as I could have a fracture under stress but I tend to disagree as this flame is so very wild it goes around and about and there are no actual straight grain lines in it...

This is how the handle started out....

I cut an octagon on my bandsaw to allow a smoother and less frightening first cut..and chose from a selection of Victorian turning handles off the 'Net...and obtained the original specification drawings to work to...

Checking spec with a vernier....

Turning until the finish is almost holographic....you know what I mean?

....until the actual closely matches the original from around the same time as the lathe or even earlier....

I know she is a metal working lathe...but nobody has told her that yet...so she has been reborn into a multi-tasking role which I think she will enjoy!

Paul - thank you mate!

Indeed! The legs weigh a ton! My son and I had to manhandle each of them into place and then lift the bed on and align them with their mounting holes....frankly I should have used a hoist but not sure the roof of my workshop could have handled it. They were a rather boring battleship grey...being from the turn of the Century...but I wanted to brighten them up a bit...little boys are not allowed up chimneys anymore so why leave them dull!

I know the first rule of restoration is originality...well TOUGH! I like clean bright colours and so in another hundred years when I am pushing up daisies someone else can beadblast them back to bare metal and paint them the original colour!

Davel. - Hi...sorry for only using your nic...not got your real name yet....yes indeed this is stable....so stable it is almost easier moving the workshop than the lathe. I have to dismantle each bit to move her again and that AIN'T gonna happen!

Hog&bodge....nice nickname! Thank you my friend...I hope it does...when I get old(er) and rickety I want my grandson to use that lathe and appreciate a time when things weren't made in China!!

Pete...HI! Thanks she shines now! That "lathe dot com" site is so cool....I think I might send them some pictures of my Taylor....once I find a name for her! Any suggestions?

Finally for now...John...glad you enjoyed the post and thanks for suggesting it. Sharing is part of the fun! Motor is HUGE old Brook Motor "The CUB"...this should give you an idea of HOW huge!

An early "before" shot....

Plate says the following:

HORSE POWER = .33
SPEED = 1420 rpm
RATING = CONT
PHASE = 1
VOLTS = 240

Brook Motors Ltd. Empress Works. Huddersfield

Can Chas perhaps give me the gearing velocities if I give the pulley diameters?

Once again gentlemen....thank you for the terrific welcome...I look forward to posting again here....perhaps my router thicknesser jig?

Cheers!

Jimi

 

[jimi43]

Dick M - sorry mate...it took me so long to write a personal reply that your and Jenx posts came in during the composition!!

Dick....hi mate.... I just LOVE people like you! Tweeking my challenge ego JUST enough to make me want to! I think if I can get donations for the gears that I will need to replace the missing bits then I will certainly assemble them...maybe a request on http://www.lathe.com will get a result...what'ya think?!

Unfortunately the leadscrew cogs (loads of them...) were "put in a box under my shed mate" (quote from my neighbour) and when I went digging (literally) for them...the detritus from decades of spiders and leaves and stuff had ACTUALLY turned to SOIL around them!!

Sadly they are SO corroded that I fear they will never clatter in the light of day again! However they are soaking in very expensive petrol mixed with releasing fluid at the moment in the middle of my lawn in a bucket in the pathetic hope that some resurrection may occur come Spring!! I will photograph the results tomorrow....and post them...let's see what we can do!

Jenx...cheers mate! I modestly welcome the encouragement and totally agree with you. I can't see something rotting! Once - long ago in a rather drunken night out in a bar on an American base (no details sorry) I bought an MG Midget from a nice American chap who was going to "drive that British piece of XXXX off a pier" he was so annoyed with it. Cost me $500 and then £5,000 plus more to restore it to original condition. I really have to stop rescuing old dogs....I nearly met with a divorce over that one! "It only needed a radiator" - yeh RIGHT!!!



Cheers

Jimi

 

[CHJ]

Can Chas perhaps give me the gearing velocities if I give the pulley diameters?

For a rough guide take the mean diameter of the pulley groove

Work out the circumference.

Divide one circumference into the other for the ratio.

6" pulley connected to a 3" pulley

approx. 28.3 / 7.1 = ratio 3.99

1420 X 3.99 = 5666rpm

1420 / 3.99 = 356 rpm.

 

[jimi43]

Cheers Chas!

Ok I am off out to measure the various diameters...give me a mo and then I will stick them in Excel and come back with a definitive answer to stock rotational speeds!

Ta for that!

Jim

 

[jimi43]

Ok Chas...I think this is the answer but check my maths would you:

Key:

MPD = motor pulley diameter
HPD = headstock pulley diameter
MPC = motor pulley circumference
HPC = headstock pulley circumference
P ratio = pulley ratio
Mrpm = motor revolutions per minute
Drpm = drive revolutions per minute

Not being a wood turner I would like to know how "good" this is for turning and which ratio would you suggest for various circumstances?

Cheers guys

Jimi

 

[CHJ]

Speeds are OK for spindle work.

For bowl work 568 is OK for small bowls from balanced stock but a bit high for anything out of balance, also .33 HP will be a bit limiting on torque and easily stalled on bowls. Will just take a bit longer to move a lot of waste wood, not a bad thing for someone new to wood turning as it improves tool control and sharpening skills to get the most out of it.

It would be a good exercise to make yourself an intermediate spindle (located in the backgear frame) to add a couple of reducing pulleys to lower the spindle speeds by half.

 

[jimi43]

Speeds are OK for spindle work.

For bowl work 568 is OK for small bowls from balanced stock but a bit high for anything out of balance, also .33 HP will be a bit limiting on torque and easily stalled on bowls. Will just take a bit longer to move a lot of waste wood, not a bad thing for someone new to wood turning as it improves tool control and sharpening skills to get the most out of it.

It would be a good exercise to make yourself an intermediate spindle (located in the backgear frame) to add a couple of reducing pulleys to lower the spindle speeds by half.

Hi Chas

Thanks mate! I don't think I am really into bowls so this won't be an issue. Most of my work will be maybe making more tool handles for my chisel collection...making anything round for guitars...perhaps some ebony string pins for my acoustic coming this summer....tuning pegs...that sort of thing.

The other thing I use it a LOT for is on high speed for super high quality cleaning and polishing of round things. I have a chuck for it as well but need to get or make a faceplate if I want to polish or do things with flat objects... I also need to drill perfect holes centrally...ideal for that but I need a drill chuck for that for the tailstock...so another thing to find.

I like the idea of a rear spindle drive reduction. That would be a project I think I will find myself doing.

Cheers for all the feedback...it helps my confidence immensely!

Jim

 

[Richard Findley]

Hi Jim,

I'm a bit late on this one . Thanks for your post. Very enjoyable read . Welcome to the forum.

I wish you much fun on your "new" toy. I'm not sure about the colours but as you said, it's your lathe and you like it so that's all that matters :wink: !!

Cheers,

Richard

 

[mikec]

Hi Jimi,

Just picked up on this thread. That is a great restoration, so good to see such a well built machine rescued from oblivion. May you have many happy hours of turning on it

Regards,

Mike C