Identifying an old metal lathe

[daxliniere]

Hello again.
I got a nice old lathe and I'm trying to identify it. Does anyone recognise this beast? It's VERY solid, that's for sure. Not a super-high-precision lathe, I'd guess, but certainly serviceable for my own projects.

I know about lathes.co.uk, but I wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start. It's probably British, because it weighs a tonne and who shipped hobby lathes internationally back in those days?
It looks like there was a plate on the front at some point, as there are two ~5mm holes probably for mounting screws.

 

[daxliniere]

And any ideas what's the best pin to use to close the belt?

 

[500e]

Have seen SS Welding rod, nails, thin bright steel
As for make someone will be along to suggest a maker

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I used the end of a small Allen key for years. Never failed.

 

[Rays]

I've used one leg of a split pin in an old flat belt machine for years and never had it come out in operation. I would say anything metal that fitted would work.
The attached .pdf shows what it probably looked like originally - slight indents to keep it in place.

I would suggest that lathe is probably more in the precision plain turning lathe category than hobby machine (similar to a Schaublin).
It has really beefy headstock bearings. the quite large front way prism and the massive base looks to be super rigid.
The style of lathe (with links to several examples) is shown on UK Lathes on this link Friedrich - Georg.

Some clues to look for for where it was made are:
Threads of any original fasteners - metric/ imperial?
Any identifying info on any of the chucks ?
Makers plate on the electric motor? (obviously could have been changed but may be original).

 

[gaz1]

this has been bugging me since i remember seeing it when looking up lathes

i believe yours is a lorch lathe

this one

 

[daxliniere]

this has been bugging me since i remember seeing it when looking up lathes

Ahh!! There's a cover over the front of the belt! That makes a lot of sense. Thank you so much, Gaz. This is awesome to see.
I had noticed the two screw points at the front of the pulley section, but I assumed those were for the Lorch name plaque. I have been thinking about the best design for a hinged cover for the pulleys for safety reasons, but also as a shelf to hold tools, etc.

I think mine is slightly different (the base for instance), but this is the closest I've seen and it's also known that Lorch had LOTS of models with a lot of overlap (for no apparent reason).

I wonder what the attachment on the end of the tailstock is for?

 

[daxliniere]

I've used one leg of a split pin in an old flat belt machine for years and never had it come out in operation. I would say anything metal that fitted would work.
The attached .pdf shows what it probably looked like originally - slight indents to keep it in place.

I would suggest that lathe is probably more in the precision plain turning lathe category than hobby machine (similar to a Schaublin).
It has really beefy headstock bearings. the quite large front way prism and the massive base looks to be super rigid.
The style of lathe (with links to several examples) is shown on UK Lathes on this link Friedrich - Georg.

Some clues to look for for where it was made are:
Threads of any original fasteners - metric/ imperial?
Any identifying info on any of the chucks ?
Makers plate on the electric motor? (obviously could have been changed but may be original).

Hi Rays, thanks for the message.
Sorry for the radio silence, I've been putting my time into fixing up this lathe. It's come up really nice! Pics to follow.

 

[Barking Mat]

Rather than starting a new thread about this lathe (I already have 2 ), I thought I would use this to document the restoration process.

Does anyone know how to rename or edit a post? I can't seem to find an edit button anywhere.
Failing that, who are the moderators? I couldn't find a forum members list or FAQ anywhere.

Mods rename threads, try @Wozzaaah for example.

 

[daxliniere]

Mods rename threads, try @Wozzaaah for example.

Thanks Mat. I thought about it and figure that it probably does make more sense to make a new thread for the restoration. It'll be more to the point.

 

[Agroshield]

I wonder what the attachment on the end of the tailstock is for?

The one in gaz1's photo? That is called a lever-action tailstock (as opposed to a screw action one). It is quicker for drilling as you can peck drill in and out faster than rotating a handle. It also gives you a lot more feel with small drills than a handwheel or rotating handle can. Disadvantage is that precise depth control is difficult.

 

[daxliniere]

@Agroshield, ahh, excellent. As I've mentioned before, I'm quite new to the whole manual machining thing.

 

[h-dom]

I had one

It has I believe a proprietary taper in the tail stock and was difficult to get a backplate for a new chuck. Just sold it because I needed screw cutting and a 4 jaw chuck.

Bonus is big bore through the spindle.

They were sold in this country under another name but I am struggling to remember it at the moment. Think it begins with a B

Edit: not a B

Stedall lathes

 

[daxliniere]

Hey @h-dom. Very interesting that yours had 'interrupted' ways for turning larger parts. I doubt I'll ever need that, but it's a pretty clever, low-tech solution to turning larger stock.

My tailstock happily fits several MT2 tools, so I guess I got lucky?

 

[Richiew]

Boley?

 

[h-dom]

Yeah, "interrupted" or butchered.

Perhaps, mine definitely wasn't MT

Plus you got lucky with the chucks and faceplate.

 

[daxliniere]

Yeah, "interrupted" or butchered.

Oh, so that wasn't original? I assumed it must have been one of the plethora different models.

Plus you got lucky with the chucks and faceplate.

Oh yeah, I got super lucky. There's also a full set headstock collets + dead centre and a genuine Jacobs chuck. Very grateful.

 

[daxliniere]

If anyone has any lingering interest in this lathe, I've started a rebuild thread here:

REBUILD: Lorch plain-turning lathe

Hey everyone! Thanks to the kind members of this forum, my new lathe and its collets have been identified, so a new thread for the rebuild is in order. The entire process has been lots of fun, from restoring the original wooden doors to stripping and reassembling the crossslides. First thing's...

www.mig-welding.co.uk