Unknown Lathe. Any Idea's ???

[Timsk]

Hi I've just joined this forum hoping to improve my skills in turning after being given an old Lathe to play with while I recover from a pretty serious Brain Operation.
The Lathe has no name on it but it must be from the 50's or 60's at least pre 77 as the motor has the old wiring system colours. The motor is a large Hoover motor made in Cambuslang Scotland but that is the only plate with writing on it anywhere. It has a 12 " swing (UK) i.e. 6 " centre to bed and about 3 ' max length to tailstock. It came with no tools nor chuck or faceplate. I have done a little turning on it but now wish to proceed to making a few bowls and end caps for things. I also fancied a tailstock chuck so I could drill holes from that side. Because I have no idea what the lathe is I have had trouble finding the right faceplate and chuck plus I definitely do not want to be spending a lot of money on a jaw lathe chuck without knowing it will fit. I did bite the bullet more in hope than expectation and made a best guess after measuring the width of the screw fitting on the headstock & got a 4" cheap record faceplate of 1" screw diameter 8tpi thread but this screws on to the first few threads then sticks. I obviously didn't want to force it any further so I assume its the wrong size. I also paid a few quid for a 2 MT tailstock chuck but it was too big so this has taught me the bore is either 1 MT or 0 MT.
Anyway I have pictures of the lathe & wonder if anyone could identify it or give me some clues as to how to make sure I buy the correct additions so I can try new things with the Lathe. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help

 

[jammie*dodger]

As you are too new your pictures have been caught by the spam filter. Here you go;

No idea what lathe it is though. Sorry, Rob.[/img]

 

[Timsk]

Thanks for posting. As you can see it has a grinding wheel at the end and a hammerited dust cover over the motor and turning wheels. What you cannot see from the pictures is it has a rubber belt drive with 3 pullys to change speed. I've just been running it a one speed as I have no idea how it adjusts to change runner from one to another. I can't see any adjustment mechanism on it.

 

[John. B]

Welcome to the forum Timsk,
Could do with more pics for guess work on the make, but belt changing,
check to see if the motor hinges up , (may have a lock nut) if it does
it's a matter of loosening the locknut pulling the motor up moving the belt onto another pullywheel, lower the motor, tighten the locknut.

NB. The belt should run parallel to the wheels on both shafts.

John. B

 

[cornucopia]

hello and welcome

 

[Bodrighy]

Might be worth sending some pictures to Tony Griffiths here He's got a huge archive of different lathes and may be able to help.

Pete

 

[CHJ]

Welcome to the forum Timsk, don't have a clue on lathe origins but if it spins wood then it will get you going long enough to decide how far down the addictive slope of turning you want to go, if your lucky, most of us just fall over the edge and keep on slipping. :lol:

The grinding wheel outboard is a bit of a no go really, it looks to be an unsuitable grit type for your turning tools and more importantly does not appear to have any form of tool support which would make it almost impossible to grind tools correctly, the lack of guarding could lead to personal injury.

On the subject of Morse Tapers see this diagramfor dimensions.

 

[cornucopia]

I forgot to say - if you get the axminister catalouge theres a chart in there which tells you how to measure the thread on your lathe so you can order the right chuck etc

 

[CHJ]

Or if you don't have a copy or can't wait then there is an earlier copy HERE with a couple of standards they don't cover now.

 

[Timsk]

Thanks for the replies everyone please keep them coming if you have anything to add. I understand about the grinding stone, wasn't sure if it would affect the balance by removing it tho. I've started to add a few safety features anyway to the lathe like a quick push stop button in line to the power lead and placed in the old fuse box position on the left. Makes for easier and safer switching on and off while I'm an amateur and need to check everything every five seconds....

 

[cornucopia]

Traditinally if the outboard wasnt or couldint be used you would turn a wooden wheel to help thread faceplates and chucks etc on and of, you dont see them very often now its normally a metal one instead which are somtimes too small :roll:

 

[Paul.J]

HelloTimsk and welcome

 

[Timsk]

could you explain more about the wooden wheel, for curiosities sake. Have you seen any pictures on the internet which show this so I can get a clearer idea of what you mean. In the book I'm using for reference mostly " The Woodturners Bible by Percy Blandford" it does mention something about this but I can't remember if there was much info. thanks

 

[Doug B]

Hi Timsk & welcome.

I can`t help you with identifying your lathe, but wondered if you knew about the Erewash valley woodturning club http://www.evwa.org.uk/

It`s a monthly held club just south of Moorgreen going towards Kimberley, i & a few other forum folk are members of this club & would welcome you into the ranks. It`s a friendly club & a very good way to learn, as i have found out myself.

If you want any info feel free to PM me, i can`t be that far from you.

 

[cornucopia]

could you explain more about the wooden wheel, for curiosities sake. Have you seen any pictures on the internet which show this so I can get a clearer idea of what you mean. In the book I'm using for reference mostly " The Woodturners Bible by Percy Blandford" it does mention something about this but I can't remember if there was much info. thanks

I cant find any pictures of wooden ones (maybe one of the members on here might have one) but heres a link to a metal one

 

[user 5053]

I would say it is from the early 20th century, probably built in a local engineering company for pattern making. It would be interesting to see the bearing, shaft and pulley arrangement. Lots of lathes were made by small back street metal fabricators before they were mass produced and don't have any names on them. I still have an old antique lathe that had a 3 phase motor fitted later in its life that I started my woodworking career on some 35 years ago. Very interesting and hope you are able to trace the origins of your old lathe. Great solid bit of kit that runs rings around the toys on the market today.

 

[dickm]

From the look of it, I suspect that lathe was not factory,or even engineering shop, made. The support for the tailstock looks like some strong but rough welding from steel tube. Ditto the fabricated cover over the drive. Possibly made by a woodworker who knew what he wanted and had some metalworking kit and skill. So the headstock thread could be anything - might even be an "as found" shaft that already had a thread on the end!
But as others say, if it's solid and will spin wood, you can learn a lot with it before starting down the slippery slope of kit-buying.

 

[Timsk]

Here's a few more pic's which may show it in a little more detail without the cover on. The STOP button is my addition !
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

With thanks to everyone for your input. It's looking more and more likely I'm going to have to get my imperial ruler out isn't it !

 

[DaveL]

I have edited your post to give clickable links to your pictures, I could not find a way of directly linking to them, needed to show them in line.

It does indeed look like it could be a home brew lathe, nothing wrong with that, just makes buy bits for it interesting. :shock: (I still have a grinder that I built along these lines and its now over 30 years old.)

 

[Tony Spear]

I too believe it is probably home made.

Back in the 50's (and possibly into the 60's) PICADOR (mentioned elsewhere in the forum as a manufacturer of pulleys) used to sell those trunnion mounted bearings, together with shafts and pulleys to fit so that people could make their own lathes and other machines.