Old Australian metal lathe

Sjbrady · Apr 18, 2019

I’m buying a bigger metal lathe can help me find and more info on this lathe.
All I know about it are in these pics and the four jaw in the photos is 500mm od.

cranium · Apr 18, 2019

Are these prototypes for the newest series USPS Forever stamps?

Sjbrady · Apr 18, 2019

cranium said:
Are these prototypes for the newest series USPS Forever stamps?

What you mean

kitno455 · Apr 18, 2019

Sjbrady said:
What you mean

Your pictures are so small we cannot see much.

allan

Sjbrady · Apr 18, 2019

I don’t know how to make them bigger

Quade · Apr 18, 2019

I don’t know how to make them bigger

If you let the website host the images, they get compressed down to useless. If you have the images on the 'net like on photobucket or on Amazon S3 you can embed them with image tags

Maybe the site needs a donation drive to allow for larger images...

SAG 180 · Apr 18, 2019

There's some size limit to the photos and I think they allow .jpg file to be the largest, even .jpeg gets downsized smaller. If you resize the images to about 1024 x 768 you should be able to upload them without being resized into tiny images.

SAG 180 · Apr 18, 2019

Sjbrady said:
I’m buying a bigger metal lathe can help me find and more info on this lathe.
All I know about it are in these pics and the four jaw in the photos is 500mm od.

Speaking as someone living in regional Australia, unless that lathe is going for close to free, there will be better lathes of 1960's vintage and later available for not much more money.

john.k · Apr 19, 2019

Yes ,it looks like a scrap proposition.......and looks like a clutch is missing,along with the feed gearcase too..........admittedly ,near a yard ,scrap is near $300 a ton,so that tends to make sellers resistant to reason...........I did blow up the pics,they are very fuzzy as well....and I dont recognize the lathe.....best I got is an early Lang,some of the castings look prewar Lang.

Sjbrady · Apr 19, 2019

I think I worked out how to upload the photos bigger and clearer.
I know it is missing the motor but I don’t know if it is missing a clutch or gear box you are talking about where abouce would they go
I had a look on google images about Lang lathes and couldn’t find a match but they look similarly in some ways

Paolo_MD · Apr 19, 2019

It is missing the piece of bed covering the gap (how much of a problem this is, it depends upon what you're planning to use this lathe for) and it looks like once it was equipped with a taper attachment: make sure that the cross-slide can be moved positively with the crank and is not moving in and out independently from the crank (or, if it does, you can make it stopping doing it-but still move it with the crank-by locking some lever, screw, nut, or bolt).
I don't know about the availability of machines in your area and I don't know if you are interested in a lathe to use right away or in a fairly long restoration project for which you will need access to functioning lathes and mills.
If this were to be my only lathe, the absence of the gap block would be a show stopper, since at least 80-90% of what I machine is less than 1.5-2" in diameter and rather short, requiring the carriage to be very close to the headstock.

Paolo

Sjbrady · Apr 19, 2019

I thought it looked like it had a taper attachment on it in the past.
I know what your thinking about the gap bed part not there but I’m hoping there is a box off part that goes with it that they give me when I pick it up.
I already have a small little south bend I’m looking to get it in working Oder when time promits

michiganbuck · Apr 19, 2019

It has been setting for a reason..be sure nothing inside is broken and it works to do what you need..

Often scrap value minus the cost of hauling so near to nothing for the owner to scrap.

Give a dollar and haul away it for free some times buys a machine.

That lathe is so tippy.

Agree a very nice old girl it it can work.

Ask "did you run it and did everything work" Parts will not be easy to find.

It needs a week of clean-up before you can try to fire it up.

Sjbrady · Apr 19, 2019

I’m buying it unseen just those photos I know it is missing the motor but what could be the worst thing that could be wrong with it I know it’s hard to tell from the photos but what can your imagination come up with.

M.B. Naegle · Apr 19, 2019

Best case: shop was changing the motor out and never finished the job, or they took it off to transport and parts were lost between locations. Some machine tools fall into the trap of projects that change hands more than they actually get worked on, so no one really knows what's going on.

Worst case: Machine has slop in spindle, gears, shafts, and broken gear teeth, loose parts were scrapped years ago and the machine remains because it's too heavy to move. It's like the poor guys who freeze to death hiking up Mt. Everest. They died a while ago but anyone close enough to take care of them is now fighting the same thing that killed the other guy.

Projects like that take time and space. I have less of both than I think, but I'm a stubborn romantic.

paul39 · Apr 19, 2019

Sjbrady said:
I’m buying it unseen just those photos I know it is missing the motor but what could be the worst thing that could be wrong with it I know it’s hard to tell from the photos but what can your imagination come up with.

If you have already bought it, make the best of what arrives. What could be wrong: badly worn so it will not be accurate. Bad bearings, broken gears, that will cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars and many hours/weeks/months of repair time.

One can hope that it was just too slow or no longer needed and will respond to cleaning and lubrication.

Paul

john.k · Apr 19, 2019

The missing bed gap piece is a killer ,IMHO...............honestly ,I scrap better machines that this ......all these old lathes have non hardened beds.....wear is always bad under the chuck,so bad you cant do an accurate bearing bore for a ball bearing,or get a straight cut ..........I also see Chinese lathes about the same size ,30 yr old ,with hardened beds ,sell for around $1000..........which is just on scrap price....(all prices quoted A$=70c US)

Sjbrady · Apr 19, 2019

The guy I’m buying it off naught it as it is in the photos a few years ago and ended up buying a smaller working lathe and it sat in the shed so he doesn’t know much history about it dose any one have any ideas on what breed it is

john.k · Apr 19, 2019

originally,the setup of the levers on top of the head,I thought ,early Macson.....but its set up differently,and Im pretty sure Macson always cast their name into the parts........and anyhoo,Mc Phersons would have been the selling agents..............Ive never seen the dealer name before......so it might be an Euro import ...possibly german.............its unusual for a big lathe not to have a makers name cast in..............Check the Trove archive for old adverts from the dealer....

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