identify Hardinge lathe

Just acquired an old Hardinge lathe and cannot identify.
I cannot find any numbers on the castings
Looking for some help finding information and specs for this machine as I want to restore it
some pictures attached
Thanks

I think the technical designation is "TL" for toolroom lathe.

Hardinge Cataract Screwcutting Toolroom Lathe

It is much older than the 1940's TL model. Note the Chicago on the cast door. Hardinge Brothers made lathes in Chicago from 1903 to 1929. In the early 1930's, the Hardinge lathe business moved to Elmira, NY under new ownership.

This is a "Cataract Quick Change Swing Precision Lathe," the name given to it in their catalog. The name is derived from the fact that the lathes were shipped with a set of riser blocks to set the headstock, compound slide, steady rest and tailstock 3 inches higher above the bed for larger diameter work. The lathes were expensive when new, so relatively few were sold and obviously fewer have survived. I don't know if any of the riser blocks have survived.

There is a sort of club for owners. I sent Harold an email, so he will probably be in touch. He will ask for the serial number, but I am not sure where it is stamped. Look around the right hand end of the bed on flat machined surfaces or on the headstock below the spindle nose. You might need to remove the chuck to look.

I have never owned one of the lathes, but I do have some catalogs with pictures and details about them.

Do you have the tailstock and steady rest? The ones designed for this model are very scarce, but 9" steadies and tailstocks for other Hardinge lathes can work.

Larry

You are right that is a Hardinge Cataract quick change lathe. The serial number will be on the right end of the lathe bed between and below the "v's" that the tail stock rides on. I don't have a good picture easily handy to show however the picture attached shows the month and year of manufacture that was stamped on the early lathes. You can see that they were stamped on the end of the tailstock ways and the serial number was split between and just below the bottom of the picture. I personally have Ser# 39 and 86. Would like to hear what number you find on the end of yours. As of now We believe we can count on approx 52serial numbers out of approx 300 that were made. We have a list of owners from Canada, USA, England and one or two on the European Continent.

Harold

If you want to PM me go right ahead.

Thanks Larry
There is a steady rest and tailstock
I am trying to lighten the machine to remove it from its current
home. Thinking I should remove the entire raised bracket
that holds drive pulleys and motor.
Ill look for numbers tomorrow
D

Thanks Harold
Im in the process of moving this machine
Ill look for the numbers tomorrow and get back to you
D

Yes, the lathe is top heavy even without the overhead drive. It is a lot less work to take it apart than to deal with broken castings and bent cranks.

Your picture shows the wood handle is missing from the lever on the overhead. Hardinge used wooden file handles that look a lot like the Lutz brand handles that are still available. The same handle was used on Hardinge lathe turrets. A new handle will help your restoration project. The Lutz handles are not varnished, so old Hardinge handles are usually cruddy looking. I would varnish it to make it resist oil stains.

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I think I recall that at least one owner made a replacement circular collet rack for his QC. I guess that is one of the parts that is often missing.

Larry

That’s a neat lathe. You might clean it really well and oil it up to find you don’t need to restore anything.

Totally agree with just cleaning it - That lathe looks in excellent shape, with just some oil stains.
I could only dream of finding one like that ......

The first one I moved also had and overhead drive system although not factory. I removed the overhead drive and then removed the tailstock and headstock. The headstock is simple to remove as a complete unit. A roughly 90deg turn on the two cam nuts on the rear and then slide it to the right. There are two openings in the lathe body that will then allow you to pull the headstock straight up and off. I then manoeuvred the whole lathe to the back of the P/U rested the drip tray on the tailgate. removed the one leg and slid it on the bed of the truck until second leg. Removed it slid it in the remainder and reversed the process at the other end. Now my lathe needed a major overhaul so I then completely tore it apart however if this is functional then you could be up and running quickly. All the best.

Harold
PS the picture shows the two openings I mentioned that allow removal of headstock. Just to the left of the end of the lathe between the ways.

Harold
Found the serial # after some cleaning
7171 is the number
I acquired this from the widow of small featherlight aircraft fabricator
who passed 4 years ago. He owned it for the last 50 years
using it to make special tooling at his home, not his fab shop.
a couple of issues so far...The tool holder is missing the bottom key plate which slides
and allows tightening in position.I cant find it in his stuff. Fairly simple build.
The lift gate for the speed selection lever (high, medium,low) will not open
Its not tight, but something is preventing it from swinging up to allow changing selection.
someone has tried to force it open and cracked the left side hinge pin sleeve on the main casing
I'm going to try removing the hinge pin to allow the cover to be removed and braze the broken pin bore casting.Is there a lockout function that prevents the gate from opening under certain conditions?
This is all new to me at 70 yrs. spent my productive years building estate homes and infrastructure in a very rural area. I don't know too much about machining metal, but I'm anxious to learn
Thanks for your interest
D

I think Ser. No. 7171 was a number in the general machine number series, not a number indicating the specific ranking within that machine model, like the numbers Harold mentioned.

I only have one specific date and serial number for the Chicago machines. It says Ser. No. 5747 was built late in 1927. I think the last Chicago machine was numbered around 10,000 or 11,000. So, I will guess 7171 was made in 1928.

Larry

I have a QC lathe also. Factory overhead drive.

-D

Thanks for the response There are actually a couple of other lathes close in serial# to yours. We also have a 7173, 7174, and 7175 on the list of known survivors. One in Toronto, Ont and the other two in the USA. As for not being able to open the door. Just to the left of the selector handle there is a "button" that you push down to allow the small door to open. In that attached photo you can see the silver "button" to the left of the knob.
Harold

PS sent you an PM message

Hardinge seems to have made a surprising number of those, at least in machine tool production terms.

There used to be one in the lobby display of machines at the Hardinge factory here in Elmira. At the plant auction, i was surprised when the (then) president wandered over and engaged me in conversation. Though he did not personally know much about the lathe.

I do not know if it is still there since the entire company was bought out a couple years later by the Philadelphia investment group. Hardinge remains in business, and added investment to the local plant over the past year, but not sure if visits would be accepted or not.

smt

I visited the Hardinge Plant in the fall of 2013 specifically to see the lathe and see what they might know. At that time it was still there and they had very little
documentation.

Harold