What's new
What's new

Jones & Lamson turret lathe - need info!

Matt@RFR

Titanium
Joined
May 26, 2004
Location
Paradise, Ca
Ok guys, I may or may not have fell into quite a find. I had a guy call me and he said he's got two lathes he wants to get rid of. Free. Both are made by Jones & Lamson, one is a "No.5", the other is a "No.5-4 1/2". Both are turret lathes. The No. 5 has this info on it:

Serial # 222671
Model: RAM
Made in 1969
Navy ID # 001364

The No.5-4 1/2 had this info:

Serial # 201294
"Property of Kallista, Inc 00091"

Any info?

These really are not the best lathe for what I make (1/2" to 8" diameters normally, aluminum and mild steel), but I'm desperately trying to ditch my worthless Atlas lathe.

Both lathes have been in the weather for about a year (atleast) and have significant rust on the ways and elsewhere, but just by looks, nothing seems too severe. Niether have any tooling, but the 5-4 1/2 has what looks like a collet closer on it.

I can take pictures if that would help. I need to give this guy an answer within a week or so, and I know absolutely nothing about these lathes! If you guys think they are worth investigation, then I'll also need suggestions for good riggers and good machine rebuilders in my area. (I don't have the time, knowledge or tools to rebuild something like this)
 
Those are both WORKHORSES... STRONG workhorses...
Sorta like Clydesdales of lathes...
You want that metal removed... No problem boss..

BUT
No tooling is a HUGE negative
Outside for that long may or may not be a huge negative
You will need riggers... they are HEAVY
No time, and no knowledge??? fugadaboutit
 
So - do you want to be a turret lathe guy? You probably know they are set up to make a bunch of parts all alike?

The 4 1/2 means it has that size hole thru the spindle.

I liked these J&Ls best - but that was over forty years ago :D

That gear shift is a sweetie. Pull it out, shift it, push it back in and she is in another speed. Probably means it has some classy hydraulics in there that have to be working just right


John
 
AHHHH, my first lathe was a J&L #3. Made parts from .75 - 6" (it would make much bigger). Rapid traverse on the saddle. Mechanical stops. It's a workhorse. Sorry to here about the ways though.
 
Ok, thanks guys. I'll pass on these. Anybody want them? I can hook you up with the current owner...he's got to get them off his property, but rigging and delivery would probably be more than you'd get for scraping them. I'd hate to see them scrapped anyway...they seem viable with a little TLC.
 
I too learned on a J&L #5. Just about the same time that John did. I think I started at an earlier age :D

No tooling - No collets - no chuck - sitting outside - $$$$$.

Those are probably A-11 or A-15 spindle nose. A used chuck is going to run $2K. If it doesn't have the master collet, a J&L used goes for about $1K, the nose is worth another $1K, and the pads are about $200/set.

If anything is wrong with it, J&L parts are real expensive. Just a manual will set you back about $400.

If I owned some J&L's that size, I might want them for spare parts. To rebuild, no way. If you really want a turret lathe, go with either a Gisholt or a Warner & Swasey. I went to the Gahr site to see what they had in stock.
http://www.gahrmachine.com/info.asp?item=W2647
Not bad for $2,450!

You want something bigger? Here's a 2A for $10K with power chuck and tooling
http://www.gahrmachine.com/info.asp?item=W2628

IMO free is not so good this time.
JR
 
I still have a J&L #5 in my shop, use 1" and 1 1/4 inch tooling on it. Start it up, hear that roar, and all my little 13 and 14" engine lathes shake and quake in fear of "Bertha" coming to life.

I do one offs on it from 1" to whatever fits. The boring head attachments for the turrett are the best.

Never tried to switch the headstock gears while moving, if I heard that suggestion right.......

In the turrett I keep a 1" drill chuck, 0-1/2" chuck, a boring head attachment, live center, and two holes empty for whatever I may need. The tool block has a turning tool (DNMG), a 35 deg diamond, and a Manchestsr cut off tool.

3" bore.

Just moving the bugger from one shop to another was a thrill. When I moved it in 1993, a rigger came in asnd almost hit the floor. Took three men to get out, and it cleared a door by about 1/8", double door entry for a school building. I am sure we bent the frame of that door to get iot out admittedly, for that door never worked right again. When the truck (kind of a car hauler thing, but for bigger stuff), leaned down to get it and haul it on, all of the sudden the front wheels of the truck lifted about 18 inches off the ground - scared the ...well you get it....right out of all of us, for we know if the truck could have gone further, it would have.

Moved it to the shop, put it in a place and it will never move again. Years from now, some historian will come across the runis of the building and still find that monster....still oiled and clean. Either that, or when they tear down the building to build a new one, it will be the only remnent- that and the concrete pad.

Yes, thay are a bugger to move.....

Not used all that much as i do not have master jaws, would love to find some eventually, and i have not made soft jaws in five years now. However, with what I have it works well.

Not the kind of animal you just keep in a garage for fun and games unless they are big ones.
 
Going from an Atlas to a J&L #5 ?

Holy cow man, you are going to need an oxygen tank to help you breathe.

A J&L5 can pull a chip that outweights an atlas!

-d (went from an atlas to W&S #3s)
 
J&L made a manual shift head that is partially pre-selectable. While the spindle is turning, you pull the shifter out and move to the next speed, just don't try pushing it back in to engage the gears. Actually, I think this is kind of risky due to the way the mechanism is set-up internally, although I've done it a couple of times. I've quit doing that, because one of these days I'm going to forget, and push in when I shouldn't. I keep remembering when one of my former employees tried it.
One thing about J&L, only their tooling works when it comes to the flange mounts; nobody else has a bolt pattern that works.
Tooling is next to impossible to find, fortunately I'm pretty well set-up.
Harry
 
When I was 25-30 yrs old, I ran a #3 J&L.
It had rapid on the crosslide, threading (with a leader/follower), and it was the very best machine in the shop. They let me into the toolroom from time to time, and I eventually made the leader/followers.

Then they bought a MS SL5.
I outran the MS on the Jones & Lamson for awhile, until they let me learn to program and run the Mori.
Those were the good ole days.
Sam
 
J & l in our shop still kicks ass

When I was 25-30 yrs old, I ran a #3 J&L.
It had rapid on the crosslide, threading (with a leader/follower), and it was the very best machine in the shop. They let me into the toolroom from time to time, and I eventually made the leader/followers.

Then they bought a MS SL5.
I outran the MS on the Jones & Lamson for awhile, until they let me learn to program and run the Mori.
Those were the good ole days.
Sam

We have two of them working sixteen hours every day. Cutting pipe not the most interesting machining but I have made hundreds in bets with the young cnc guys who can cut five or ten ends faster, can't do it all day but for fifteen minutes I can make that lathe work like the machine tool of god.
 
We just rebuilt a J&L 10A lathe... new spindle bearings, and all that. We use it to remove sprues and such from inconel impellar castings... heavy interrupted cuts that have to bust through slage from a air-arc burn off process. It's a beast, but nothing else has lasted. We've about destroyed a J&L 9A lathe doing smaller parts, but it took 40 years of this abuse, so after we rebuild it, I'd say it should be able to take another 40 after a rebuild!
 
I have two J&L's, a #4 with a 3"hole and an 8A with a 5" hole, the 4 is a ram type and the 8A is a saddle type. Real work horse. Have had them close too forty years, made thousands of parts with them. The ways a hardened so there is no scraping. They are strictly a manual gear head lathe with manual clutchs forward and reverse. No Hyd. They need to be leveled properly with a predcison level. A couple of thousands twist in the bed will make it cut a taper. My old 8A will still cut 12" length with less than .001 taper both with the carriage and the saddle. If I can be of any help let me know. I am new to this sight and have not figured out it all works so forgive me if I did not do this right.
 
We are still running a couple J&L CNC lathes from the mid 80's.
You just can't kill those beasts. Everything is made 10x bigger or heavier than it needed to be.
12" chucks and 80Hp spindle drives bury CNMG 643's

I guess they were making heavy Cadillacs when the rest of the world wanted cheaper Toyotas.
 








 
Back
Top