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which "bench lathes" had inverted v-ways?

Chris M

Cast Iron
Joined
Oct 3, 2005
Location
New Jersey
I would imagine everyone on this list knows what I mean by "bench lathe", namely the split bed ultra precision type (watchmaker lathes on steroids).

Off the top of my head Sloan & Chace, though you might not know it except by looking at this page (instead of the main page, drawings leave something to be desired):

http://www.lathes.co.uk/sloan&chace/page6.html

I've seen a few others in my travels, even saw a teeny tiny watchmaker's lathe that did (and I don't mean something like a Unimat 3 (don't laugh - and I have seen at least one watch guy who made use of one, besides other more *orthodox* stuff), but a real WW lathe.
 
If you mean a bed with a top and sloping sides that are shaped like a hexagonal prism with a T-slot down the center, then nearly every brand was made that way. A very few, like Moseley of Elgin, IL, used the center slot to guide the headstock and tailstock.

Let me see how many I can name, including swings from 5.5 inches to 9 inches. I am skipping the companies that made only watch lathes (about 4 inch swing).:

Hardinge Brothers (Cataract brand) of Chaicago, IL and Elmira, NY from 1903 to after 1950.
Cataract Tool & Optical Co., Buffalo, NY.
F. W. Derbyshire, Waltham, MA.
Elgin Tool Works, both the Elgin and Chicago companies.
John Stark (Stark Tool Co.), Waltham, MA.
E. Rivett (Fanueil Watch Tool Co., Rivett Lathe Mfg. Co., Rivett Lathe & Grinder Mfg. Co.) of Boston, MA.
B. C. Ames Co., Waltham, MA.
American Watch Tool Co., Waltham, MA.
Ballou Mfg. Co., Hartford, CT.
Waterhouse Electric and Mfg. Co., Hartford, CT.
Ballou & Whitcomb, Waltham, MA.
Fenn-Sadler Machine Co., Hartford, CT.
Hjorth Lathe & Tool Co., Boston, MA.
S. A. Potter, New York, NY.
Sawyer Watch Tool Co., Fitchburg, MA.
Waltham Watch Tool Co., Waltham, MA.
Hopkins Watch Tool Co., Waltham, MA.
Van Norman Machine Tool Co., Waltham, MA.
Wade Tool Co., Waltham, MA.
Schaublin, Switzerland.
Mikron, Switzerland.
Leinen, Germany.
G. Boley, Germany.
Wolf Jahn, Germany.
Pultra, England.
Afterthoughts...
Pratt & Whitney, Hartford, CT.
Gilman Engineering Works, Janesville, WI.
Habegger, Switzerland.

Larry
 
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Nope, He seems to mean V-ways...... real V-ways. Take another look at that Sloan & Chase picture.
 
Yep, the S&C has prismatic V-ways, very much like a seneca falls or logan machine,
although only one set of course.

Larry forgot the seven inch pratt and whitney bench lathe, with the kind of
ways he was thinking of.

Jim
 
Then S&C is about it for a plain bench lathe with that bed shape.

The ones I listed are the "watchmaker lathes on steroids," that look like oversize WW lathes. Yep, I missed P&W.

Larry
 
I know of at least 2 other (I think). But can't name them presently. I may be able to determine he maker's of both or just one (depending on identification marking - they all don't have them you know ;).
Actually one of them may have been a later S & C unit, though not particularly sure. It may just be that I assumed that when I saw it.
 
Let me see how many I can name, including swings from 5.5 inches to 9 inches. I am skipping the companies that made only watch lathes (about 4 inch swing).:

Hardinge Brothers...<BIG SNIP>

Rivett also used the center beveled slot to align head and tail (on every model IINM). So did Marshall/Peerless, but that's a ~3.5" WW lathe.
Ok, from that list, who made anything smaller then the all too typical 7" variety? But bigger then a WW.
 
Rivett also used the center beveled slot to align head and tail (on every model IINM). So did Marshall/Peerless, but that's a ~3.5" WW lathe.
Ok, from that list, who made anything smaller then the all too typical 7" variety? But bigger then a WW.

Bigger than 4" and smaller than 7" would include:
F. W. Derbyshire Elect, 750, and A models
Schaublin 70
Pultra 17/70
G. Boley 2
Gilman Engineering Works, Janesville, WI.
An unsigned 10 mm lathe I have with a 4.7" swing. It is similar to Derbyshire Elect and Gilman lathes in some respects.
And probably others, but I don't recall any.

The Marshall Peerless watch lathe (4" swing) was a copy of the Moseley, not the WW (Webster-Whitcomb, made by Am. Watch Tool Co. and Derbyshire). Marshall owned the Moseley name after WW2 and used it on their better lathes, with the almost identical Peerless selling for less and using collets similar to the WW. Marshall also made a Marshall lathe with ball bearing headstock and a WW-shape bed, but narrower than the WW. It used the Peerless collets.

Larry
 
I think a habegger is about the same size as a schuablin 70.
Also, maybe Levin made a machine in that intermediate size
range as well?

Jim
 
I think a habegger is about the same size as a schuablin 70.
Also, maybe Levin made a machine in that intermediate size
range as well?

Jim

Yes, I forgot Habegger, Switzerland.

All Levin manual lathes have 100 mm swing. The radius (contact lens) machine and the CNC lathes may have larger swing, based on looking at the pictures, but the catalogs do not say.

Larry
 
Dixi made a "102" type lathe with raised inverted v's, as well as a WW size lathe with the same profile.

Habegger 102's were dead nuts knockoffs of Schaublin, same bed profile and can swap heads and tails between brands, but their 70 used the 102 style bed as opposed to the Schaublin 70 which located the head/tail against a flat along the front of the bed.
 








 
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