4 line-shaft machines followed me home from a museum - history and 1st operation in 70 years

[johnoder]

Bunch of "drive" photos

And several more

 

[Dr. Hillbilly]

And several more

Thank you, thank you! My No3 is missing all of the drive train for the indexing head. I might find it for sale, but will probably need to make it.

 

[esbutler]

Thank you John. Great reference info. That drive is for a slightly later machine, correct?

 

[johnoder]

Thank you John. Great reference info. That drive is for a slightly later machine, correct?

Yessir and also larger in size - like the 4 and 5 High Power from say 1935 - in this case using 10 DP gears. Kind of poor "picture" of the assembly (page 336) in the pub I posted in this thread - which is from 1919. See Post #8

 

[johnoder]

Yessir and also larger in size - like the 4 and 5 High Power from say 1935 - in this case using 10 DP gears. Kind of poor "picture" of the assembly (page 336) in the pub I posted in this thread - which is from 1919. See Post #8

What the change gears are all about is LEADS for helical milling. Here is a wall chart showing a huge number of them

 

[johnoder]

What the change gears are all about is LEADS for helical milling. Here is a wall chart showing a huge number of them

Here is Mr. Thomas years ago milling a helical gear

Helical Lead? 30T drive gear K&T

Warning I am a home shop enthusiast and sometimes been known to cut threads on a lathe just to go through the motions when using a die would be acceptable alternative. This question may be long shot but I have been amazed before in what has been accomplished in prior posts with the combined...

www.practicalmachinist.com

 

[Dr. Hillbilly]

First I will try to modify the Sandvik Invomilling process for the old machines. It is elegantly simple and allows a single slotting tool to generate a wide range of gear module.

 

[johnoder]

Here is a 1966 page showing that even fairly modern ones still look quite similar to the oldies

Good info but had to look some. In the little mid thirties Op book, it states the tooth count on the 12 gears provided in the wooden box. These are 24, 24, 28, 32, 40, 44, 48, 56, 64, 72, 86 and 100 teeth

 

[Dr. Hillbilly]

I have the wooden box with the complete set of gears for my Hendey Norton Universal, so perhaps I will just machine adaptors to use use those gears for my Cincinnati as the Hendey came with gears but no head, my LeBlond came with a head but no gears, and the Cincinnati has neither. Note that I built my own head/spindle without gear reduction for turn-mill work (max. rpm on the "head" is equal to spindle rpm)

 

[TedinNorfolk]

Please post more pictures as you get them, including the shop you're building. It's good to see machines getting set-up like this! That Hamilton is a gem.

Yes the Hamilton is a gem-I saw one in Lack,s Yard,Cottenham ,Cambridge 40 years back. And I also had a No 1 1/2 Cincinnati universal which was a little pearl. I have a pre 1919 Cincinnati high-power vertical which I hope to work on. Not seen another of those-all hardened gears inside.

 

[kelly.s]

I know this i

The history as I can recover it:
1. A small museum acquired four line-shaft machines about 70 years ago
2. About 40 years ago the museum closed and the machines went into storage
3. About 20 years ago they were acquired for restoration
4. Two years ago the gentleman who was restoring them passed away and his son started looking for a new home for them, with the condition that the collection had to be kept together and to credit his father who restored them. I seem to be the only one who accepted those conditions, so now they are added to my previous collection.

First I must credit John and Phyllis Cotten of Covington Indiana who restored the machines, and their son Ron Cotten who has been searching for a good home for them.

The machines:
1. a Cincinnati No3 Universal from about 1910
2. a "New" Hamilton 16-Inch cone-head with the "Style A" quick change feed gears and long bed from about 1915
3 and 4, a drill-press and shaper in storage and not yet identified

View attachment 396868View attachment 396869
Those pins behind the spindle are pulled to select the feed. It was a very rare option which was not properly appreciated.

The good news:
1. They have not been under power (or abused) for 70 years, and the museum seems to have selected good examples

The bad news:
1. They have not been under power for approx. 70 years. Do any of you have advice on their resurrection? (I assume lube everything and turn it over by hand for some time)
2. The Cincinnati has lost its dividing head and associated drive gears. Does anyone know where I might find some?
3. The Hamilton has lost its steady-rest and taper turning attachment. Again, does anyone know where any are?
4. Both have lost their countershafts, so I assume I will be turning some cones unless there are survivors out there.

A question:
Where did Cincinnati and Hamilton stamp the serial numbers?

And for those of you who recall my previous posts - the concrete has cured under what will be my new line-shaft work shop, and the timbers are starting to go up (post and beam, locally

 

[kelly.s]

I know it’s an old post but the Hamilton serial number is stamped on top near the tail stock. Mine is serial number 51. I’m pretty sure your machine is older because they quit making that gearbox by 1903.

kelly