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The United States Lathe Co

egrimm

Plastic
Joined
May 31, 2017
Location
Iredell County, NC
Hi guys, I've been reading for a while but this is my first post so please bear with me.

My dad passed away last fall at 91. I've been living at his home since December trying to sort out what is here. As far as I can tell he had at least one of everything that's ever been invented (and if it hadn't been invented he made one himself)!

Dad was a watchmaker/jeweller by trade "worked in timepieces for 65 years", but his curiosity and thirst for knowledge had him always learning something new.

He has a machine shop, a woodworking shop, close to 100 hit and miss engines - he always bought ones that didn't run because fixing them was the best part. He built classical guitars and took violin lessons when I was young just because he wanted to. Dad was character!!

It's clear that over the years he picked up things that were rare or unique in some way, and I'm having fun trying to figure out what some of them are!

I could go on but I'll rein myself in...

I'm writing today in the hope that someone might know something about the main metal lathe that he used. I'm a good researcher, but haven't found any mention of the company anywhere. It is a flat-belt lathe and is on a cast iron cabinet base with the name cast into the door:

THE UNITED STATES
LATHE

CINCINNATI, O.
U.S.A.​

There is a logo cast into it as well

U(eagle between)S​

I'm going to try to post some pictures. I apologize in advance - they're not very good because there are windows behind and for the life of me I can't figure out how to turn the lights on in his shop!

Any info or thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
 

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Here is a mention of the company in a 1916 issue of Machinery:

Machinery - Google Books

The illustration is of a single back geared machine, but the text mentions the option of double back geared headstock, which yours appears to be.

Never heard of them before- it may have been a company set up specifically to supply the war effort, and perhaps didn't last that long afterwards.

Andy
 
The makers name was cast into the base and door. My first thought was that it was a company that sprang into being during the first world war.


On the nose, April 13, 1916 :bowdown:

Here are some particulars about the lathe. 20" and weighing in at 4,600 pounds and just under 5' between centers.
Start Date.jpg20 inch lathe 3 step cone.jpg20 inch 5 step cone.jpgDescription 5 step cone.jpg
John
 
But...we weren't "in it" until March 1917 - if I recall correctly:D

I would imagine john , That a lot of industrial equipment would make its way over the pond from an early time in that damned war, I particularly allude to the excellent little narrow guage locomotives churned out by Baldwins for the Western Front,By all accounts these little workhorses were manufactured by Baldwins almost on a system mor reminiscent of a motor car assembly line.
 
You guys are amazing! I had no idea this was that old!

Andy, I couldn’t get the link in your post to work but it put me on the right trail! It sounds like you were linking to something a little different from what John added. If so, I’d love to see it too. The only thing I could find was the Machinery Index for September 1915, to August 1916. Are the actual Machinery issues online somewhere?

John, thanks for posting the particulars and for helping my poor pics. Where did you find your information? Also, it looks like the text on the picture of the Double Back-geared lathe continues from a previous page. Do you happen to have that part?

Joe, I wondered the same thing about the name being on a separate plate. I want to go back and look to see if anything shows on the back of the door.

It’s too bad that this company didn’t last. If Dad used it, it was a quality product. He could turn a wristwatch balance staff less than 5mm long staying within a general tolerance of 0.02mm, with just 0.005mm tolerance on the pivots – He used a little smaller lathe for that!

Thank you all for your help with this. I’m really excited to know more about Dad’s favorite toy.:)
 

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