1937 VDF lathe

Mitchell_N · Sep 29, 2015

To pursue my hobby in machining I recently bought a VDF lathe as a bargain of the century. The lathe was in extremely good condition, it only needs a repaint and new oil/grease. During the process of degreasing the machine for new paint I came across a marking on the bed 'MADE IN GERMANY E2K 615 R S 1937". I don't know much about this area but 1937 indicates to me when it was made. I know that 1937 was during the depression in Germany so i am confused why the machine is in Australia, why the machine has a perfect fit Australian made motor and a Australian made electrical system perfectly fitted for the machine.

From what I have seen on the internet information on this machine is hard to come by. So if I could have any history on the machine it would be much appreciated.

kitno455 · Sep 29, 2015

Any chance of pictures?

Mitchell_N · Sep 29, 2015

Mitchell_N · Sep 29, 2015

They are the best photos i have.

sable · Sep 29, 2015

Very nice modern looking lathe for 1937 ,I don't think it was unusual for machines to be fitted with locally made electrics ,could even be that the lathe was supplied to the company who made said electrics ,is everything the same make?

Mitchell_N · Sep 30, 2015

sable said:
Very nice modern looking lathe for 1937 ,I don't think it was unusual for machines to be fitted with locally made electrics ,could even be that the lathe was supplied to the company who made said electrics ,is everything the same make?

Every thing on the lathe is the same, just the electric motor which was made by a company in Melbourne and the electrical system was made by General electric Australia. The reason i wonder about the motor is that the style of casing is identical to the machine. I will look further into the motor company now.

kitno455 · Sep 30, 2015

That lathe was not made in 1937. It is mid 50's or later.

allan

Paolo_MD · Sep 30, 2015

kitno455 said:
That lathe was not made in 1937. It is mid 50's or later.

allan

Allan,
On what do you base your assertion?
If it was made after WWII, it wouldn't have "Made in Germany" (unless made after the Reunification).

Paolo

johnoder · Sep 30, 2015

Here is a '36 L&S for comparison

Mitchell_N · Sep 30, 2015

kitno455 said:
That lathe was not made in 1937. It is mid 50's or later.

allan

So did they reuse a prewar bed?

Mitchell_N · Sep 30, 2015

Paolo_MD said:
Allan,
On what do you base your assertion?
If it was made after WWII, it wouldn't have "Made in Germany" (unless made after the Reunification).

Paolo

Good point. My only problem is all the plates on the machine are marked with an "E" for English so i would expect the bed would be marked "Hergestellt in Deutschland".

Limy Sami · Sep 30, 2015

E for english ??? .......is it an imperial or metric lathe - especially the leadscrew ???

Are you sure 1937 isn't the serial number ??

kitno455 · Sep 30, 2015

Mitchell_N said:
So did they reuse a prewar bed?

I find it unlikely that the maker would take the time to stamp all 4 digits of the year on the lathe bed.

allan

Jim Christie · Sep 30, 2015

In Canada there was a connection between VDF and McDougall that you can read about here
Page Title
I would also guess the your lathe is 1950 or newer perhaps as late as the 1970 s .
If you look at some of the VDF machines that look similar to yours in this image search and check out the links you may find some indication of the age
https://www.google.ca/search?q=vdf+...QoTCKC3j6etn8gCFQYWPgodxZ4JUQ&dpr=1.5#imgrc=_

Here is a guess I might suggest .
The 1937 stamped in the bed may also indicate the bed length or distance between centers of close to 2 meters or perhaps 1937 Millimeters or almost 80 inches if that seems reasonable for your machine .
Some lathes of a given size could be ordered in various bed lengths or center distances of say 36 – 40” so their number might be say 900 to 1,000 or maybe something like 2900 or 3000 for a 3 Meter or 10 Ft. long machine.
Maybe you could find out something from what appear to be the current version of the company here.
https://www.ffg-werke.com/en/company-profile/history.html

The style of your lathe reminds me a little of some Stanko lathes from the 1970 s to say the 1990 s that I have seen in shops near me .

https://www.google.ca/search?q=vdf+...ERBAI&dpr=1.5#tbm=isch&q=Stanko+Lathe&imgrc=_

This one was posted on PM
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/stanko-1k62-lathe-219691/

Regards,
Jim

P.S. some ages of VDF machines are discussed in post #15 of this thread.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...eidenbeck-harbeck-vdf-e3-spindle-nose-130676/

Tom A · Oct 1, 2015

I would also agree with the lathe being later than 1937 -
Just based on the style of the control handles, with phenolic knobs,
it looks later.
I have a Clausing Colchester from the late '60's with handles like that.
The handles on John O's L&S example are all cast.

Benta · Oct 1, 2015

VDF stands for "Vereinigte Drehbank-Fabriken" engl. United Lathe Factories and was founded in 1927.
It is a union of Heidenreich & Harbeck, Boehringer and Wohlenberg.
The machines are marked VDF Boehringer, VDF Heidenreich & Harbeck or just plain VDF.
VDF was sold to Gildemeister in 1972 and production was closed in 1976.

VDF is well known for producing sturdy, high quality mid- and large-sized lathes.

I know this doesn't date your lathe, but at least you know the time window :-)

Benta.

sable · Oct 1, 2015

Benta said:
VDF stands for "Vereinigte Drehbank-Fabriken" engl. United Lathe Factories and was founded in 1927.
It is a union of Heidenreich & Harbeck, Boehringer and Wohlenberg.
The machines are marked VDF Boehringer, VDF Heidenreich & Harbeck or just plain VDF.
VDF was sold to Gildemeister in 1972 and production was closed in 1976.

VDF is well known for producing sturdy, high quality mid- olarge-sized lathes.

I know this doesn't date your lathe, but at least you know the time window :-)

Benta.

There is a VDF Wohlenberg near to me that I thought was newer than 76,I thought early to mid 80's but I could be wrong ,it use to have a GE1050 control with full screen on it IIRC perhaps it had a newer control on it than the original.

Paolo_MD · Oct 1, 2015

I don't know what to say. Definitely, it was made before the end of WWII. Otherwise, you wouldn't have "Made in Germany" (and, by the way, the font are period correct too).
You have to keep in mind that, around that period (i.e. when it was already emerging from the recession) from the technology point of view, Germany was, if not the most advanced country in the world, it was among the top three. The VW Beetle was born in 1938.
True, this lathe "looks" relatively modern, but I'd rather say that there has been not too much progress in the design of controls from the late '30s till the late '50s.
Several American-made lathes from the late '30s and early '40s start looking similar to this VDF (e.g. LeBlond Regal, American Pacemaker, etc.). It is also well possible that that lathe has been retrofitted with more modern controls (mostly electric) during its life.

Paolo

romie24 · Oct 1, 2015

Mitchell_N
I just came from a guys shop that has one of these lathes and he said he had to change some bearing that were not getting any oil, well he found out that the plate below the head stock with the feed speed changes on the plate is removable to add oil. He showed me and it was full of oil wicks and they didn't know that plate was removable, just lift off. You may already know this and hope you don't have the same problems as he did. He is really happy with that lathe. His is all written in German. Anyway hope this helps. Mike

Benta · Oct 1, 2015

sable said:
There is a VDF Wohlenberg near to me that I thought was newer than 76,I thought early to mid 80's but I could be wrong ,it use to have a GE1050 control with full screen on it IIRC perhaps it had a newer control on it than the original.

It is quite possible that this lathe has been retrofitted with a newer control. The VDF lathes are highly regarded in Germany (and central Europe) for professional shops, and are still being lively traded, mostly through dealers.

Benta.

1937 VDF lathe

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