Mitchell of Keighley lathe

[Buldog]

I have got a new to me lathe it is a Mitchell of keighley But I can not find any information or another lathe like mine in fact finding very little information on the Mitchell Company at all

 

[Mark Rand]

There's a small mention on Tony's site:-

Woodhouse & Mitchell

 

[john.k]

I have seen three Mitchells in 50 years..........I also hope you have the gap piece for yours.

 

[Buldog]

Yes I have read this thank you sadly mine is like none of them lathes i’m very surprised that there is very little information on the company is unusual to not have any information really on such wonderful piece of machinery

 

[Buldog]

Yes I have got the Gap bed as well It came with loads of bits for it they all look genuine to the machine two chucks to faceplates several different stays

 

[Buldog]

This is how it looks after 48 hours of work all the faults of been found and repaired everything Now has been unseized and moves very well very very little slop looks like I only have to get one screw thread made up very happy with that it is most ready for it new paint

 

[john.k]

The "lathesuk" entry has no relevance to Mitchells of Keighley.......if you want a manual,try one of the manual sales sites .,like "million manuals" or even "budget machines " who has some older manuals for very reasonable prices.....However ,dont expect to get any more than a parts list and installation diagram.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I thought they got taken over by the ” Elliot Group “. I could be wrong. I’ve seen a few of them knocking around. I’ve never actually worked on one.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[john.k]

There a number of Mitchell lathes on google images of the same style as yours....it may have been their only design made in different sizes.....They certainly all have the same quite unusual bed shears.

 

[alphonso]

"bed shears"????? Not that familiar with Oz language.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

"bed shears"????? Not that familiar with Oz language.

It’s used all the time in the UK. “ Front Shear”, “ Rear Shear “ etc. Just another word for slide ways.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[Peter S]

"bed shears"????? Not that familiar with Oz language.

How about a "loose head shoot"?



For those interested in Mitchell lathes - this is a drawing for a Mitchell of Keighley lathe, but the drawing (and presumably the lathe) was made by Graham & Normanton...

 

[Peter S]

Buldog,

There are a lot of surviving Mitchell of Keighley lathes here in NZ. When older lathes are advertised locally, I keep the photos. I just checked and found photos of 37 separate Mitchells seen for sale in the last few years.

Most are fairly large lathes, long beds with gap. My guess is they were not expensive. Maybe a good-sized spindle bore for the time.

I used a large Mitchell once or twice when I was an apprentice. I seem to recall the cross slide graduations indicated radius, not diameter .

Also, a sign had been screwed to the headstock warning the user not run it at the highest spindle speed for too long. I am sure there was a bad story to go with that sign. Plain bearings I think, but I have a brochure stating Gamet bearings were used on some models.


I had a browse through my photos and found 4 others with (I think) similar features to yours.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

How about a "loose head shoot"?

View attachment 339585

For those interested in Mitchell lathes - this is a drawing for a Mitchell of Keighley lathe, but the drawing is done by Graham & Normanton...

“ Tailstock Barrel “ to me. Of course Yorkshire is another world.

Regards Tyrone

 

[john.k]

The town is pronounced Keech-ley,and is consistently voted one of the five worst s**t holes in Britain.

 

[boslab]

But once it was a hive of industry, it’s now Yorkshire’s version of Detroit
We’ll never get used to the way the world changes, well I won’t, I’m sure, machinery, cars everything, I watched a renovation of a corvette on a channel, the adverts came on, another bland formless electric golf buggy they called a car, it was an insult to call it design.
I’ve used a few Mitchell lathes in the 70s, a lot were installed in college settings as a precursor to industrial machines like DSG etc, very robust machines, hard to break.
Mark

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

But once it was a hive of industry, it’s now Yorkshire’s version of Detroit
We’ll never get used to the way the world changes, well I won’t, I’m sure, machinery, cars everything, I watched a renovation of a corvette on a channel, the adverts came on, another bland formless electric golf buggy they called a car, it was an insult to call it design.
I’ve used a few Mitchell lathes in the 70s, a lot were installed in college settings as a precursor to industrial machines like DSG etc, very robust machines, hard to break.
Mark

I’ve seen them in maintenance shops also. Cheap and cheerful lathe.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

The town is pronounced Keech-ley,and is consistently voted one of the five worst s**t holes in Britain.

It might be in Australia but 15 miles away in Lancashire it’s Keethly as in Keith Richards.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[Buldog]

Thank you they all look just like mine did they got any idea on the age of the lathes?

 

[Peter S]

Thank you they all look just like mine did they got any idea on the age of the lathes?

Sorry Buldog, no idea of age.

FYI, one of the lathes came with this steady and follow rest: