JohnMessineo
Plastic
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2016
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I am looking at buying an 'Imperial' brand Milling Machine. The unit is older and looks well built. I haven't been able to find any info online about the company though. Anyone seen anything like this?
John:
The name "Imperial" could be nothing more than a "badge" type of name. Imported machine tools were often made by otherwise unknown firms, and were often re-sold under the seller's label or badge. Names that might have some relevance in the country the machine tools were marketed in were chosen by the seller. The seller might be back in the country where the machine tool was made, or might be a seller in the country where the tools were marketed. Examples of this are the "Bridgeport clones"- having names like "Hartford", "Big Joe", or even "Grizzly". A machine tool dealer in Brooklyn, NY sold lathes made in Korea as the US distributor, branding the lathes as "Lansing". Spanish, Belgian, Italian, and countries in the former Soviet Union all produced machine tools that were "rebadged" for export sale. The firms marketing these tools in various countries such as the USA or England never owned a dedicated factory making the machine tools. They'd set up contracts with factories in places like Europe, China or Taiwan to build the machine tools and "badge" them with the seller's name. Years ago, I owned a "Rapid Precision" lathe. Never heard of it before getting it as a used lathe, never heard of it again for about 40 years- then, on this thread, the "rapid precision" lathe resurfaced. A person in some distant state had gotten hold of one, and was asking the same question I had asked some 40 years earlier. Turns out the "Rapid Precision" lathe was (as best as could be determined on this 'board) possibly German built for export to the USA, hence, it had fasteners made to US threads, and the name was "Rapid Precision"- no "made in Germany" tag on it, no manufacturer's name nor address. From what I have learned on Tony Griffith's site "Lathe Archive", the "badging" of machine tools by end-sellers (dealers or similar merchants) was and is quite common. With imported machine tools from places that might not have the best reputation or credibility, re-badging with a name that might lead a buyer to think the machine tool came from the same country it was marketed in was common. Similarly, a completely reputable machine tool builder in one country might have a totally unrecognized name outside that country. Badging in the country where the machine tools were marketed gave the tools a catchy or more believable name.
What little I can find indicates this might be an italian machine, but the exact maker is unknown.
allan
The Imperial is made in Italy. There's one on Craigslist Baltimore now, and one of the photos shows a "Made In Italy" tag on the side.
Here's the label View attachment 263481
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