Thread: American Tool Works High Duty Lathe

I've been chatting with Greg on the Yahoo group and he has helped me to identify the lathe my husband purchased last weekend. We knew it was a 14" Metal Lathe. Greg has helped us further identify it as a "High Duty" with an 8 speed headstock which is likely built between 1915 and 1920. We did find the serial #37056 and "Inspected by AHK" on the lathe. My husband did remove the three phase motor that was on it as we do not have three phase available here, and he has replaced it with a 220 electric motor.

My husband has worked on all sorts of equipment over the years, but has never had a lathe and is anxious to get started using this one. We have a lead on some tooling and will be checking it out over the weekend.

The lathe was purchased from a local machine shop that is upgrading to a new computerized set up. This lathe was used by the current owner's father for many years so we do have a resource as he and his father both are willing to try to answer questions. The father has had a stroke so his memory is not good. The son doesn't sound like he has ever utilized all of the features so may not be able to answer many of my husband's questions. We think he got a good deal at $400. It is in very good condition and everything appears to be in working order.

Photos are included...a link to a photobucket album. Any advice/comments are welcome!

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...orges%20Lathe/

I just realized that I posted this under my husband's name...My husband is not computer literate but I joined using his name since he is the one that is going to be looking for info. My name is Betty and George is my husband...I am not George. That's what happens when you post at the end of a long day...so if George says something that does not sound manly, it's me!


Betty

Small world..

But seriously- that is a powerful lathe, its not a little import or south bend/atlas etc- it can put some serious horsepower into a workpiece and if something goes wrong things can really break ie shrapnel, it will take off fingers/hands/arms like chopping up a chicken to go onto a grill. Please do encourage your husband to pick up "How To Run A Lathe"- pdf's online, paper copies can be ordered thru Amazon etc. Safety is a really important consideration- lathes of this vintage work slowly but with monstrous torque so can give an illusion of safety since things aren't spinning fast.

Also, please ask your husband to double-check that he has not doubled the spindle rpm by going from an 1800 (or 1200 or 900) rpm motor to a 3600 rpm- that is way too fast, it can overload the spindle bearings and will make threading or large diam work difficult to manage.

As far as tooling goes, if your husband ends up into the Aloris style quickchange toolholder system (very handy), the "BXA" size is a good match for this lathe. He may end up finding the existing chucks have problems holding work securely- a common problem with chucks long in service- a new chuck mounted to the existing backplates will transform the machine.

Regards,

Greg

Betty,

Awsome find! I have a 14" American in which Greg helped me better identify the circa it was built. In looking at your photos, my lathe is pretty much identical except it has a flat belt drive on the headstock as George's appears to be gear drive. Interestingly my headstock has a 2-speed backgear which always worked very well as you could shift it while running when it was idling.

You did get a great deal.......its in far better shape then mine........good luck!

Randy

You might enjoy this Betty. One of the 8 speeds from 1915 being worked to its limits at the factory. The resulting chips form a boarder around the photo of the 24" High Duty.

ATW :: 1915Adsm.jpg picture by johnoder - Photobucket

Greg,

I did get your email reply from the Yahoo group but this group looks pretty active so I guess I'll post questions and such here. The electric motor he bought is 1-1/2 HP and is 1725 rpm so it should be comparable to what he took off. The older one was labeled 1.5 hp but he felt it was probably actually putting out slightly lower than that. I've been sharing posts from Yahoo and here with him so will pass along your words of warning. He is one of the most safety oriented people I know after running a backhoe for 30 years for a living...he fully understands and respects the power of machinery. I bought a couple of guides to running a lathe that I found on Ebay (two part booklet) prior to getting your suggestion on the South Bend How to Run a Lathe. He is reading those now and said that if those did not provide everything he is looking for, we will certainly order the other.

Once again, we sure appreciate the input regarding your experience and the tooling suggestions! This is all new to us, but he is looking forward to all of the projects he can use this on!

Randy - Do you have photos on here of yours? I've been looking around the forum, but there is sure a lot to read!!!

Johnoder - Thanks for the visuals...very impressive!

Betty,

Unfortunately I do not have photos posted. My lathe is stored in my brother in-law's barn about a 2 hr drive from my home here. Its also in pieces, it was disassembled to move it. I bought this when I was 16, 35 years ago, it was worn out then and has had very little done to it since. Most people tell me to scrap it but I don't have the heart. Hopefully someday I can bring it back to life.

Mine has a taper attachment also. The upper cone pulley was mounted on a structural steel support...it may have been a line shaft machine when first built. I putzed with it when I was younger but there was now way to hold tolerances. The owners put a large catch tray between the lathe and the curved legs. The tray had a bell shaped casting bolted to the underside for a cutting oil system sump. I was always impressed that my lathe had some progressive features despite its old age.

The following link is to a 1920 ATW high duty catalogue from Greg's site.....on pdf page 15 of 40, there is a picture of the headstock of may lathe with the two speed back-gear shift handle just below the flat belt cone pulley. 1920 may be the year of my lathe, the features and pictures described in this catalogue cut are very close to my lathe.

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/...es-1920-si.pdf

Here is a link to the rest of Greg's site, it may have a catalogue overview of George's machine.

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/docs/index.html

Best regards,

Randy

Betty,

Greg was spot on in his comments on the power of these lathes.

On my 14", when I was around 18 years old and very very stupid, I took too heavy of a cut, the headstock bearings where loose and I had my compound rest extended too far.....within a second, the tool caught and broke the compound rest off....boy was I angry at myself. Fortunately I was doing some summer work with a very experienced machinist in his shop. He brazed my compound back together, remachined it and it worked very well. He was an old master, as I recall, he preheated the castings, brazed them and may have left them cool down in sand overnight.....this prevented the castings from cracking....he knew what the heck he was doing! He taught me some good practices. Lesson learned, make sure everything is tight and don't get aggressive!

Loose machines = high anxiety!

Thanks again.

Randy

I've been reading a lot on Greg's site and downloaded several of the files there. Between the info there and the serial number, I believe we have decided it may have been built around 1915. The guide for erecting and operating dated 1919 shows a lathe like ours and the information plates mounted on the one in the pictures are identical to what is on ours.

It's funny how his projects seem to educate me on things I never cared about before! He just knows I love a challenge that I can research online. The Internet never ceases to amaze us as a source of information!

It really is amazing the technology that was available 100 years ago. I realize to many, our machine is something of a dinosaur and primitive, but it impresses me that this type of machine was available so long ago.

You got a great deal on an amazing machine. The American Tool Works built fantastic machines. My favorite being the American Pacemaker from WWII.

I guess I should share how we came upon this deal. We were actually on our way to Michigan to buy a 9" Atlas lathe that had been advertised on Craig's List for $750. On the way, we stopped by the machine shop that had something that my husband had dropped off a few months ago to have some work done. He stopped in to see if the project had been started yet and just asked if the guy had any lathes for sale. Ten minutes later, it was ours. We were in the right place at the right time apparently. Now, my son is drooling over the photos as he has moved to Indianapolis and is now about 2 hours from home. He keeps telling me I have no idea just what all George can do with this machine. I think he is now dreaming it will someday be his!

Originally Posted by GeorgeD

I guess I should share how we came upon this deal. We were actually on our way to Michigan to buy a 9" Atlas lathe that had been advertised on Craig's List for $750. On the way, we stopped by the machine shop that had something that my husband had dropped off a few months ago to have some work done. He stopped in to see if the project had been started yet and just asked if the guy had any lathes for sale. Ten minutes later, it was ours. We were in the right place at the right time apparently. Now, my son is drooling over the photos as he has moved to Indianapolis and is now about 2 hours from home. He keeps telling me I have no idea just what all George can do with this machine. I think he is now dreaming it will someday be his!

OMG! This should be in Websters as THE definition of extreme serendipity! And not that either of you are "dumb" but talk about dumb luck!!

Enjoy, Bob

When the guy said $400, my husband couldn't get his wallet out of his pocket fast enough! He had what he had expected to spend on the other lathe so had a bit more than that on him.

Originally Posted by GeorgeD

When the guy said $400, my husband couldn't get his wallet out of his pocket fast enough! He had what he had expected to spend on the other lathe so had a bit more than that on him.

As the 'tolerant' owner of a smaller @las since GCA '68 was passed, I have to tell you that what happened falls into a situation sometimes called 'twice lucky'.

1) You got a good lathe.

2) You did NOT get the @las.

;-)

Bill

I got an email back from Bourn and Koch this morning. Their records indicate this machine was built in 1914. The said they do have a parts manual for it that includes all the sub assemblies, part order numbers, installation and operation instructions. Is it worth the money to order this manual?

Its interesting reading as it covers many of the model's variations- all line drawings, no dimensions or internal engineering documentation. There are some useful notes in the margins of a number of pages, I found those most useful. Not much as far as installation/operation, the "erecting" guide books are better. It won't tell you anything as far as basics go, or any model-specific operating hints. OTOH if you're totally drinking the kool-aid as far as ATW or High Duty lathes then I'd say yes it is..

Regards,

Greg

I'm not sure I'm thirsty enough (in Kool-aid terms) to pay $150 for a manual that isn't going to really tell me anything. It is pretty darn cool to know that things is 98 years old though...Wow! I just still cannot believe it is that old and in this good of condition. I am impressed.

Yes, any manual on this machine will be priceless and increase its value if ever sold. Secondly, please consider replacing your husbands single phase motor with the 3 phase that came with it and driving it with an inverter. A 3phase motor is much smoother in operation resulting in better surface finishes. Also, the inverter will be variable frequency giving a variable speed capability enhancing the 8 speed capability of the machine.

Well, I doubt that we will be selling this in my husband's lifetime. He really is looking for a manual that will explain how to operate some of the features he has not figured out and the previous owner could not explain. Unfortunately, the man's father who used to use this has had a stroke and can't remember or express many things so is not a good source of info. He is figuring out some of the stuff through the erecting guide that Greg told me about so that's helped.

We have the 3 phase motor but it was cheaper to buy the motor he put on it than to by the inverter so that was why he chose to go that route. At some point, he may decide to switch back to 3 phase once he gets familiar with what the machine is capable of doing and uses it more. For now, it is a hobby...we'll see how long that lasts. His hobbies all seem to go crazy and get out of hand!

His little orchard hobby expanded to 23 acres and became a business that consumed our lives for many years. We retired from that due to this spring's freezing temps wiping us out. We'll see what kind of trouble this lathe gets us into!