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Early lathe - unknown maker - back gears under headstock

esbutler

Aluminum
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Sloansville, NY

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more pictures
 

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still more
 

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and finally (for now)...
 

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The plates on the head stock end are obvious later additions to the lathe. The direction shifter looks like a portion of an early automobile brake lever.

I am thinking the connection between the change gears and the lead screw was initially completed with gears but that the last stage was later replaced by the chain - ?

I need to lift the carriage and see what I can learn there. The hinged nut for the lead screw appears to be bronze.

The risers under the headstock and tailstock and the supports under the swing arm that carries the back gears look rather unfinished. Was it a later adaptation, a prototype, just early and sufficient...?

Age?

Comments welcomed.
 
It is pretty odd the way the headstock is adjustable front to back but it looks original. The bed and legs are similar to the 1850's Lancaster PA lathe that I picked up for our museum recently. It could be from a builder that needed a lathe for themselves and they were not in the business of selling lathes.
 
Here's a link to a thread about an early lathe I have with the back gears under the headstock.
I'm glad photobucket gave us our pictures back.

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/...istory/unmarked-interesting-old-lathe-157529/

Thank you Maynah.
I had not found your thread yet. I did see the Baxter Whitney reference in Cope's book that you pointed out in your thread. You also mentioned the short-coming of having to reach up under the headstock to engage or disengage the back gears on yours. Yours has the added strength of a more enclosed headstock whereas this one was wide open and easy to put the cam lever on the outside. Certainly uncommon to have the back gears on the bottom.
 
Good too see another pair saved. My early wood bed chain lathe also has the back gears down low. A majority of the machinery left to be found today is a the vwry few that survived. Many of these machinea were built in the machine shops of the mills to build machinery the mills but even early many were selling machine tools and castings etc. Even Wilkinson was selling some machine tools. Even early many of these one off lathes were not just one off. Many were turned out as the same model by some firms as evidence supports. The vast amount of machinery that ws built pre 1850 is forever gone. Much of it we will never know about. The one I brought back from Maine below.
_20170309_153347_zpssfuh3jjp.jpg
 








 
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