old-school:
No problem with the phone call, it is just the curse of the modern cell phone age. I have noticed that since you posted your request for information, there have been several other Forum members with questions. Because of time constraints I may not be able to answer all of the questions in one session, the rest may have to wait until this evening.
As I mentioned to you during our phone conversation, the order number for this lathe is seriously out of sequence and would require extra research to determine the cause, therefore, I will give the history of the machine and then
an explanation of the order number problem. Hendey lathe #36734, a 9 x 18 inch T & G Lathe, was one of two T&G lathes (the other lathe was #36619) odered by the same customer on January 29, 1946. The original owner was
the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, a Navy Contractor, hence the anchor next to the serial number. Keep the original owner's name in mind, it will come up during the order number explanation. The original motor was a
Frame 204, 1-1/2HP, 1800RPM, 440Volts, 60 Cycles, 3 Phase. Spindle speeds were 40RPM - 2000RPM. You mentioned that it did not use the M-G set drive, but used the PIV Drive System, which should not have been used on a
lathe built in 1946. It was scheduled for completion during the third week of July 1946. Now to try to explain the anomalies. One more thing, these were the last 9x18 T&G lathes built or sold by Hendey, and may be NOS lathes.
I suspected a cancellation problem caused the order number to be out of sequence and I was correct, but what a mess. Because of the chaos caused during the war, cancellations were common, but this is more convoluted than
most. Here is the timeline regarding your lathe, starting on January 29, 1946 and working backwards, enjoy the ride.
Order Number 48415 (should have been 48740) - January 29, 1946 - New York Shipbuilding Corporation - 9x18 Toolmakers Lathe - Serial # 36734
Order Number 48415 (changed to 48035 ) - January 30, 1945 - Aircraft Radio Corporation - 9x18 Toolmakers Lathe - Serial # 36522
Order Number 48035 (changed to 47640 ) - July 27, 1944 -National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics - 9x18 Toolmaker Lathe - Serial #36295
Order Number 47640 (changed to 48035,
then changed to 48415) - May 14, 1943 - New York Shipbuilding Corporation - 9x18 Toolmakers Lathe - Serial # none assigned ORDER CANCELLED
The T&G Lathe was inspired by the success of the #1 High Speed Lathe with its operating speeds of up to 5000RPM. During the Depression, Hendey introduced four new machines that quickly boosted business. They were:
The #1 High Speed Lathe, the #3 High Speed Lathe, the 4C Manufacturing Lathe and the 12 inch High Speed Shaper. The possibility of a new type of Hendey Lathe being built was leaked to the Selling Agents in December 1938
or January 1939. Agents were quoting prices for a lathe that had not yet been built. On March 2, 1939, F.J. McCarty, Sales Manager for Hendey, sent a memo to all Selling Agents apologizing for not being able to send them a
drawing of the new lathe because as fast as the Drawing Office produced the design it had to be redrawn because of last minute changes. The suggested sell price at that time was to be $2000 and that was to include the Taper
Attachment and the Drawing-in Attachment. Shortly after the lathe was introduced, these two attachments were sold separately. He went on to remind all agents that the No.6 and No.7 Collets were to be furnished at extra cost.
Completion date for the Sample (the Hendey term for prototype) was to be May 1939 and it was assigned Serial Number 30012. The Spindle Taper was No.5 Morse Taper. By May 1, 1946, the selling price for the 9x24 T&G Lathe
was $4008.
As time has permitted, I have been working on a list of the total number of T&G Lathes that were built of both sizes, 9x18 and 9x24. I started with the last T&G built and worked my way back, at present I am at April 1941. With
238 lathes built during that period, of which 55 were 9x18. The first 24 inch bed model, that I have found any record of, was built during mid-May 1941, Serial Number 31519 and was ordered by the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics. All of the lathes on the list are based on serial numbers and not order numbers for oblivious reasons. The remaining two years of production are most likely the 9x18 size lathe. I will have to research when the change took place from mechanical to the electrical drive system, but I would think sometime around 1942. When figuring total production records of T&G Lathes, don't forget the 82 machines built by Barber Colman, all with some
sort of electronic drive. The induction hardened and ground beds were introduced in 1947. The catalog you quoted is September 1952. The same statement appears on the June 1948 catalog, but not of the September 1946 catalog.
The covers of all three catalogs are the same.
Hendeyman
Hendeyman
