Hendey lathe in Sweden

A couple of years ago I bought a Hendey for 500 USD. The removal of a thick layer of dirt revealed a geared head 18 speed 14x42 lathe with a TRB camlock spindle. Being only an amateur it took me a while with the help of the operators handbook (supplied by Tony Griffiths, UK) to figure out all the clever devices this machine is equipped with. Friction drive for feeds , quick release levers, apron reverse mechanism and quick withdrawing handle were some of the things that were new to me. The ways are worn and there is a bit too much play in the feed screws and half nuts but I have still managed to turn both big and small end conrod bearing bushings to hotbulb engines with acceptable tolerances. It is a joy to operate this fine machine though some of the lower speeds are a bit noisy. Apart from cleaning, I have only changed the oils and opened up clogged oil pipes. The machine now happily pumps oil everywhere and leaks a bit too much from the spindle ends and apron. Frequent wiping-off is needed . If I decide to dismantle the head and apron I will do something about that.
Finally to my question: Does somebody know something about the history of this lathe and how it ended up in Sweden?

The serial no is 29409. The machine is fitted for metric markets with 5 mm lead screw, mm indexed feed screws. The thread index plate shows metric threads and the wording is in french. The electric motor is a Swedish 5 hp ASEA 380V 3 phase , professionally installed.
Hendey lathes are relatively unknown in Sweden were the market was dominated by local manufacturers such as Storebro and Torshaella. British Myfords and German Weilers were also quite common here.
Grateful for all information, and, almost forgot, tks a lot to all of you out there, Clemwyo and others, for posting fantastic videos on the net.

Hendeyswede

Hendeyswede,

Welcome to the forum. If there is any way to help you out with your lathe, the folks here will be able to do it. I'm sure Hendeyman will show up with some details on the origins of your lathe.

I'm glad a Hendey made to Sweden to give back a little for all the Volvos in my yard (currently 8 and counting). Between old machines and old Volvos all of my free time is tied up.

Craig (aka clemwyo)

Nice size and 18 speed to boot. Me and Mr. Clement are working hard to make ours metric and you got one already set up!

C Clement,

Appreciated your comments. Understand Hendeyman is the authority on Hendey history - trust he will have info. 8 Volvos might make up for one Hendey provided they are of the good old rear-wheel drive breed. Kept one -68 121 myself. Worked with them for 50 years - glad to help you out if you need advice.

Kind rgds,
Lars (Hendeyswede)

mmarquette said:

Nice size and 18 speed to boot. Me and Mr. Clement are working hard to make ours metric and you got one already set up!

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mmarquette,

TPI vs metric on Hendey - since I work alot with TPI based machinery, my problem is to find formula to go TPI from metric. OP handbook gives you hints from TPI to M but not the other way around.

Never get it all - do you?

Kind rgds

Hendeyswede

Lars,

My wife drives a newer XC90 but all the rest are properly pushed from behind as cars were meant to be. I am currently working on getting a b230ft into a 1968 122 (Amazon). I may be looking for some advice.

I looked through the manuals that I have and everything I can find is related to going from a TPI lead screw to metric. I'll send Hendeyman an email and see if he'll weigh in with some expert advice.

Craig

HendeySwede:

I received an email from Craig that you were trying to cut English threads on a Metric lathe and that there didn't appear to be much
information on the subject in the various Operator's Manuals. That is because Hendey never published that information. While Hendey did
make metric lathes, the production was small compared to the English (or as Hendey called it Imperial)lathes. If you owned a Metric lathe
and wanted to cut English threads, you contacted your sale rep or field engineer to get the information. Since none of these people are
still alive, I will do by best to fill in.

There are only two things you need to convert your lathe from Metric threading to English threading, a set of change gears and a
different Index Plate. Over the years, Hendey engineers produced several hundred different Index Plates for all types of applications.
I even found one that would allow your lathe to cut Diametrical Pitches. One of the earliest Index Charts is dated 1915 and is in color.
The Index Plate was redrawn in the 1930's, but not in color as B14-4916, this is your reference number. The Metric to English conversion
set consists of eight change gears as follows: 56, 60, 110, 120, 127, 130, 135 and 150. These will be 14DP and a 20 degree PA (based on
the year of manufacture). If you are interested in getting any drawings for these items, contact me at: [email protected] It will
take a bit of research time to find all of these drawings and I can give you a quote on the cost. Now, for a few bits of information
regarding your lathe.

Hendey lathe #29409, a 14 x 42, 18 Speed, Geared Head Model, was completed on August 18, 1937. It was shipped with a Compound Rest, an
Oil Pan and a Cam Lock Spindle. The consignee, according to the records, was listed as Akt. Servus, Stockholm, Sweden. Normally, it
would have been shipped to Etablisements Horstmann, Paris, France, but there is no indication is the records of the routing. Very
few Patterns, Castings or Repair Parts remain in inventory for this lathe, but all of the original drawings are still in the files, so
parts can be made if required.

As a note of interest, three Cone Head 14 x 30 Hendey lathes were completed nine days after your lathe. They were shipped to Horstmann,
who shipped them to Japan. As I said, I have no idea how the routing system worked.

Hendeyman

Hendeyman:

Most grateful for your clarifying reply. Unqualified guess from me, until you know sorted things out, was that my machine was produced after WW2.Consignee in Sweden, Servus, is an importer still in business so
approached them to see if they can state the end-user. (just to satisfy my curiosity).

Good to know there are ways to set up TPI on metric Hendey. Seems to be an advanced operation though, so will not go into that for the moment but nice to know the possibility exists. Understand Horstmann in Paris acted like general agent in Europe. Could be the answer why my lathe has index plate in french language.

All the best to you, and also thankyou Craig for kind assistance

Lars (Hendeyswede)

Metric Hendey lathe - For those of you who might be interested, here some pictures which kind nephew helped me add to this thread


Best regards,
Lars

Lars,

Thanks for the photos. That is the first Hendey I have seen where the slot for the thread/feed selector goes up to the left. On all the Hendey's I have seen the selector goes up to the right. The quickchange gears must be reversed from the standard set up. I wonder if it was all metric lathes. Hopefully Hendeyman will chime in with some enlightenment for us on this.

Craig

Interesting timing on when this lathe was made. We see lots of WW2 war-time machines over here that made parts here in the states around the war. It's not that often that we see an American machine that went overseas.

We had a Springfield lathe that came back from across the pond from WWII time frame that was all metric. Sold it to a guy I used to work with in 2002. His shop was in Onalaska.

Craig,

When trying to find information on Hendeys I found lots of photos of them but none with same feed selector configuration that mine has. Made me think mine was some kind of special order but probably all metric Hendey lathes were fitted like this. As you mentioned, maybe Hendeyman will find time to clarify.


Lars

M.B. Naegle said:

Interesting timing on when this lathe was made. We see lots of WW2 war-time machines over here that made parts here in the states around the war. It's not that often that we see an American machine that went overseas.

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M.B. Naegle,

Indeed, 1937 was an interesting time. By then Sweden was close to Germany in respect of science and technology.(That was before we discovered the true nature of the little brownshirted man with moustache). Importing an expensive lathe from the US must have had a special reason. Still investigating this.

Even more puzzling is the 3 Hendey coneheads that Hendeyman mentioned were completed Aug. 1937 and shipped to Japan via Paris. Wonder how that could happen since Roosevelt had called for a "quarantine" against Japan by then. This was followed up with full sanctions 1939/40. Maybe selling via agent in Paris was a way to elude sanctions just about to be introduced, Who knows?

Lars

4GSR said:

We had a Springfield lathe that came back from across the pond from WWII time frame that was all metric. Sold it to a guy I used to work with in 2002. His shop was in Onalaska.

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Nice to hear that somebody appreciated the quality of a Springfield lathe and brought it back to the US. Being metric it must be very useful today when US more or less has gone metric.