First post and new acquisition: WWII G.Boley type 2

Lorch4ever · Feb 19, 2021

Hello,
Just registered and this is my first message.
Am not a professional machinist at all, more interested in the history of machine development and old machines themselves. Have a 1940's Atlas 10H, two Lorch type A from the 1920's of which one is being converted to CNC (!) and...my recent acquisition a G.Boley type 2, made a 1000km day trip to Hamburg to get it.
Very special, I think, since it is hardly used, very complete and of WWII manufacture with no attention to the cosmetic side. Marked "Kriegsaufmachung, Güte unverändert".
I thought I would share the pictures here as maybe some of you are interested to see this machine. I am very exited that's for sure.

I am also exited in getting to know this forum and its members...

rivett608 · Feb 19, 2021

Thank you for sharing this and welcome. The condition of that lathe is amazing. Also I never knew the Germans did what we call "War Finish", I have heard jokes they lost the war because they were still scraping the fit of things like belt covers on machines as the allies were dropping bombs on their factories. Now we have proof that was a joke. I wonder how many machines survive with that label?

Great lathe and about as loaded with goodies as you could dream of. Defiantly worth a 1000km trip. Do you know it's history? where has it been all this time?

L Vanice · Feb 19, 2021

Pointed my phone at the lathe label photo on my computer screen and Google Translate says, "War dress goodness unchanged." That is a really neat app.

And the lathe is nice, too. So what size collets does it take? All my Boley lathes are the WW pattern and take B8 or WW 8 mm collets.

Larry

Bbk_Bbk · Feb 19, 2021

Sweet jeepers!!! I’ll take it. [emoji2]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ncjeeper · Feb 19, 2021

Very cool. Thanks for showing it.

Lorch4ever · Feb 21, 2021

Yes, where has it been al this time? Well... in a shed at the same address I bought it from. And has been there dormant for decades and decades. There is a big hole though in its early history, but some interesting facts and possible leads. It will probably bore most of you to tears, but let me tell...
I bought it from a guy who just (DEC 2020) bought a property with a house and couple of sheds with 'content'. This content included the lathe and a lot of clock/watchmakers tools and parts. I bought the lathe and the tools and parts as well.

The lathe was in a wooden crate/box screwed down with a carton message spiked on it with 'uhrmacher' (clock/watchmaker) and a name, X (for privacy reasons not mentioned here). The previous owner of the house was also an X. In the crate (100x45x25cm) was the lathe covered in a blanket and a couple of, interestingly, as-new rubber coated sacks marked "D.A.G. Düneberg ". All the accessories were also there. It looks like the box was dormant for decades and seen very little use before that. A few marks only on the handrest, all else looks unused. A new leather round belt is included and a used one.

D.A.G. (Dynamit-Aktien Gesellschaft) Düneberg was an explosives factory whose entrance was only a few hundred feet from the address. It was known for its terrible WWII circumstances with slave labor etc. It was bombed on April 7th 1945 only a few weeks before the end of hostilities. The factory was destroyed and never restarted. Some ruins still exist today. The rubber coated sacks must have been used for storing/transporting explosives, the fit nicely in the box, so I am convinced the box is also D.A.G's, and maybe the lathe as well.

I have not spoken yet to the previous house owner as surely they must be family of the clockmaker X (X is not a common name). I did look in online archived address-books of Hamburg and found mention of X from 1963 onwards till today, all on the same address and marked 'uhrmacher', but no mention of X before that. In 1938 there lived a dentist on the address. The intermediate period is still to be investigated. But that's all I know now. Intriguing I find, but maybe y'all are yawning at this point :-)

I need to make phonecalls in my bad German (I can read it well, but when trying to speak or write German the words somehow don't come :-|). Some X family members must know more.

I am hesitant to start using the lathe. But have bought a NOS Groschopp motor that looks like it belongs. I will attach it directly and use a frequency converter to control speed (maybe hidden in a vintage looking box with on/off switch and pot). Am still thinking about the overall design of a lathe + motor mount.

Bored?

Lorch4ever · Feb 21, 2021

And here some collet measurements. Strangely enough no round metric numbers. But in line with other Boley type 2 collet measurements I found.

Rob F. · Feb 21, 2021

Lorch4ever said:
And here some collet measurements. Strangely enough no round metric numbers. But in line with other Boley type 2 collet measurements I found.

Thank you for posting, looks like a great find. At least you are able to get some of its history, maybe all with a little more research.
Do the collets measure to be imperial sizes?

Lorch4ever · Feb 21, 2021

No,they are decimal! Dimensions seem to be the same as these:
Verkauft: Boley 2 BE Spannzangen Satz - Niels machines

Lorch4ever · Feb 21, 2021

I seem to have been labelled as 'Plastic', what the ...? :-)

fusker · Feb 21, 2021

Plastic is the title for all newcomers. You can advance to Titanium, I think.
Nothing to do with the quality of your posts!
I think I can say you're very welcome.
Looking forward to news of your search. Best regards, fusker

moonlight machine · Feb 21, 2021

Lorch4ever said:
I seem to have been labelled as 'Plastic', what the ...? :-)

Once you get over 10,000 posts they call you a Diamond..... Great find and with everything that gets lost as well!

michiganbuck · Feb 21, 2021

Lorch4ever,
Very nice looking lathe. and welcome to PM.
What is the device at the headstock backside? perhaps an index locator?

Oh, could the indexes be still where you found the lathe?

AJ H · Feb 22, 2021

Lorch4ever said:
Yes, where has it been al this time? Well... in a shed at the same address I bought it from. And has been there dormant for decades and decades. There is a big hole though in its early history, but some interesting facts and possible leads. It will probably bore most of you to tears, but let me tell...
I bought it from a guy who just (DEC 2020) bought a property with a house and couple of sheds with 'content'. This content included the lathe and a lot of clock/watchmakers tools and parts. I bought the lathe and the tools and parts as well.

The lathe was in a wooden crate/box screwed down with a carton message spiked on it with 'uhrmacher' (clock/watchmaker) and a name, X (for privacy reasons not mentioned here). The previous owner of the house was also an X. In the crate (100x45x25cm) was the lathe covered in a blanket and a couple of, interestingly, as-new rubber coated sacks marked "D.A.G. Düneberg ". All the accessories were also there. It looks like the box was dormant for decades and seen very little use before that. A few marks only on the handrest, all else looks unused. A new leather round belt is included and a used one.

D.A.G. (Dynamit-Aktien Gesellschaft) Düneberg was an explosives factory whose entrance was only a few hundred feet from the address. It was known for its terrible WWII circumstances with slave labor etc. It was bombed on April 7th 1945 only a few weeks before the end of hostilities. The factory was destroyed and never restarted. Some ruins still exist today. The rubber coated sacks must have been used for storing/transporting explosives, the fit nicely in the box, so I am convinced the box is also D.A.G's, and maybe the lathe as well.

I have not spoken yet to the previous house owner as surely they must be family of the clockmaker X (X is not a common name). I did look in online archived address-books of Hamburg and found mention of X from 1963 onwards till today, all on the same address and marked 'uhrmacher', but no mention of X before that. In 1938 there lived a dentist on the address. The intermediate period is still to be investigated. But that's all I know now. Intriguing I find, but maybe y'all are yawning at this point :-)

I need to make phonecalls in my bad German (I can read it well, but when trying to speak or write German the words somehow don't come :-|). Some X family members must know more.

I am hesitant to start using the lathe. But have bought a NOS Groschopp motor that looks like it belongs. I will attach it directly and use a frequency converter to control speed (maybe hidden in a vintage looking box with on/off switch and pot). Am still thinking about the overall design of a lathe + motor mount.

Bored?

I don't know about the rest of the world but anything WWII history is a popular topic in the US, at any given time there is at least a half dozen "Hunting Hitler" type shows on cable television. I find the story of the provenance of the lathe interesting. Thanks for sharing.

rivett608 · Feb 22, 2021

Not bored at all. I love to chase down the history of objects (tools) and have been fairly successful hunting history from things in my collection. Among the many things in my collection I have a Derbyshire instrument lathe with all accessories that came off a navy ship from the 1950s. It was never used and is still in cosmoline (rust preventive).

Please keep posting, they are great and not boring at all.

Thanks.

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First post and new acquisition: WWII G.Boley type 2

Lorch4ever

Plastic

rivett608

Diamond

L Vanice

Diamond

Bbk_Bbk

Aluminum

ncjeeper

Cast Iron

Lorch4ever

Plastic

Lorch4ever

Plastic

Rob F.

Diamond

Lorch4ever

Plastic

Lorch4ever

Plastic

fusker

Cast Iron

moonlight machine

Diamond

michiganbuck

Diamond

AJ H

Hot Rolled

rivett608

Diamond

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