old lathe destined to be a table..

My brother saw this for sale and said it needed to be posted here.

I have a couple machines for sale that may meet the same fate if nobody steps up, but,
This is not mine and I know nothing about it.
Too bad the tag isn't clear enough to read, but, somebody should save this one!

Ignore the one picture, not of the lathe,that my computer put there.
I can't edit attachments.
If the moderator can, please do.
Thanks

Mike

Antique lathe - tools - by owner - sale

Looks like most of the parts to a Putnam lathe.

That would be the 14" Putnam - almost identical to the Putnam I brought home from Rhode Island (and wrote about on this forum.)

The brass badge indicates it was made before 1876 when Putnam started "casting" their name into the sides of the headstock. The earliest ones indicate a date of 1863 when (I think) the badge was first used in that form.

I see now the Craigslist ad has been removed. Too bad. I might have used the Steady (end) Rest shown in the picture, and possibly parts of the cross-slide if this is the "weighted" lathe version.

Or perhaps the legs are on their way already to a "Live Edge" table - and the price jacked from $100 for the legs to $1000 for the complete table?

The biggest financial downside for the leg stealers is paying for the trip to the scrapper to get rid of excess iron after they are done.

Joe in NH

Just curious what the asking price was before it was taken down? Would have been a nice piece to save.

Hit Miss Engine said:

Just curious what the asking price was before it was taken down? Would have been a nice piece to save.

Click to expand...

You really don't want to know......I think I saw 350.00

There was another of that style putnam available here not long ago. That paticular generation of Putnam lathes are not uncommon still being that Putnam became one of the largest tool builders of that time.

Yeah, it was 350.00
Was supposedly complete, just disassembled.
Damn, I should have posted the whole ad so someone could have asked the guy to pass on their number for the offal if it's intended demise was to be a table.
Sorry....

I know there is a nearby guy ..Troy, Mi.. who always has legs for sale on Craigslist, for big dollars, so there is a chance these legs may show up there and a chance to buy the rest....

Mike

rustyironism said:

My brother saw this for sale and said it needed to be posted here.

I have a couple machines for sale that may meet the same fate if nobody steps up, but,
This is not mine and I know nothing about it.
Too bad the tag isn't clear enough to read, but, somebody should save this one!

Ignore the one picture, not of the lathe,that my computer put there.
I can't edit attachments.
If the moderator can, please do.
ThanksView attachment 268127

Mike

Antique lathe - tools - by owner - sale

Click to expand...

Mike,
You mentioned you have some machines for sale... what might you have that I can’t live without?

Hit Miss Engine said:

Mike,
You mentioned you have some machines for sale... what might you have that I can’t live without?

Click to expand...

Here's a link.

FS. Mattison 177 edge sander, Whiton center lathe, Buss 24 inch jointer

If you have any interest, PM me.
I won't put them on Craigslist, for one, I don't need tire kickers and two, I don't want the Troy leg butcher any where near me.

I may clamp some wood to the top of jointer and use as a workbench, without damaging the original machine, in case it doesn't sell, for a "someday" project.
I have way too many of those already!

I was just in Pennsylvania and could have delivered the centering lathe to you!

Mike

..and there it goes...

"I know there is a nearby guy ..Troy, Mi.. who always has legs for sale on Craigslist, for big dollars, so there is a chance these legs may show up there and a chance to buy the rest....

Mike "


Just like I figured..

##BEAUTIFUL CAST IRON TOP & LEGS FROM @ 1863 LATHE HEAVY STEAMPUN - tools - by owner - sale

I don't see the top parts, so, maybe call this a**hole and see if he can give you the number to the seller who may still have all the "extra" parts...

Mike

rustyironism said:

"I know there is a nearby guy ..Troy, Mi.. who always has legs for sale on Craigslist, for big dollars, so there is a chance these legs may show up there and a chance to buy the rest....

Mike "


Just like I figured..

##BEAUTIFUL CAST IRON TOP & LEGS FROM @ 1863 LATHE HEAVY STEAMPUN - tools - by owner - sale

I don't see the top parts, so, maybe call this a**hole and see if he can give you the number to the seller who may still have all the "extra" parts...

Mike

Click to expand...

Maybe Don needs to get a real job... I have been waiting for this industrial decor thing to fizzle out but it hasn’t happened yet... I’m bitchen but I guess I could be putting My money where my mouth is and try to save all these machines... lord knows I am making a valiant effort as with several on this forum but maybe we are the dinosaurs. In the Future leg mongers may be the only interested party’s attending the next sale or widow sell off to finally make some worth out of this ancient crap that we hung on to for so long. I’m just ranting as I am unhappy to see another machine finally meet its demise...

Is it better to save some of the lathe as a table,or none at all when the scrappies clear some oldtimers yard,so the rellies can cash in on high realestate prices?....Lately the scrappies here come with 20 ton bins and a big excavator,safety fences being the first time you know old Jacks collection is gone for good.

Hit Miss Engine said:

Maybe Don needs to get a real job... I have been waiting for this industrial decor thing to fizzle out but it hasn’t happened yet... I’m bitchen but I guess I could be putting My money where my mouth is and try to save all these machines... lord knows I am making a valiant effort as with several on this forum but maybe we are the dinosaurs. In the Future leg mongers may be the only interested party’s attending the next sale or widow sell off to finally make some worth out of this ancient crap that we hung on to for so long. I’m just ranting as I am unhappy to see another machine finally meet its demise...

Click to expand...

I know it's distasteful but maybe see about contacting current owner about buying the whole lathe before he throws out anything. At this point he's only asking 400.00 which wouldn't be to bad. Just something to consider.

john.k said:

Is it better to save some of the lathe as a table,or none at all when the scrappies clear some oldtimers yard,so the rellies can cash in on high realestate prices?....Lately the scrappies here come with 20 ton bins and a big excavator,safety fences being the first time you know old Jacks collection is gone for good.

Click to expand...

Steel and iron scrap are under a $100/ton here, almost seems to be not worth the effort.

Btw... my Putnam bed is not as ornate as this bed... was this done real early ? Does anyone know what years specifically? This guy must have talked the seller down on price because he’s only asking $400 for the legs and bed... $50 profit from the original purchase price? I doubt it .. factor in gas etc that doesn’t seem worth it... I would have gladly given $400 for this lathe.

The paneled bed was a "later" convention of Putnam Machine Co. Probably concurrent with the "New Shop" which was constructed in 1866 IIRC. Putnam Machine Co. - History | VintageMachinery.org

Earlier Putnams have what I call a "moulded bed." Which was a design convention of many of the lathe builders pre-Civil War, and perhaps into the 1870s for some.

Moulded bed below. Generally the moulded beds have attached the relative "spindly" legs without the hole in the stretcher. I have assumed that the "New Shop" saw a general design revision where the older design elements were upgraded.



There are a few Putnams around with what I call a "concave" bed. I think these were done "transitionally" alongside the paneled bed and into the 1870s.

Concave below. Vintage Machinery | CoolWeldStudios



There is some question with this particular lathe. It may have been a "rework" of Putnam parts on another bed and done by New York Steam Engine Co. (Successors to Thayer & Houghton) The Putnam name plate is nice, nickel plated and apparently original.

Joe in NH

We must all hope for a change in attitude

The sooner there is a place in Hell for all these damned steampunk creeps the better! About one year ago I was trying to purchase a most beautiful Budenburg test gauge, really ornate dial, If I had offered the guy a free ticket to heaven I would not have succeeded, He was determined he was going to convert it into a bedside lamp come what may I shudder to think how many other nice things are lost for the future generations to understand what was entailed in the development of technology & civilisation.

Sadly I feel in 99% of effort in the last forty odd years , Where technology was considered, The past museum keepers were sadly found wanting, Oh silly me I forgot in my neck of the woods the keeper of the largest technological museum , seemed to think technological items and the folks who made them were dirty & common YUK!

The gentleman who now has the legs admitted to me he has done like 500 of these. Still because of my interest and need (and certainly additional profit), he has allowed he will send me pictures of what is left over and I will have first pick of the Putnam parts remaining.

Some of these parts I can use. Perhaps there is some hope for this one yet?

It is FREE ENTERPRISE. Which is a force of nature like low bidder contract, dogs peeing on another's spot, or our ultimate demise.

Not to defend - it is a matter of deciding what is greater value - money in your pocket or celebrating what we used to be as producers and innovators. Different values for different people.

This seller may be trying to cover some of both.

How many Holzappel lathe were broken up as so much firewood "in the day?"

As I have said before more compactly in a similar context.

"Imagine in 1890 working in a wood shop heated by wood, surrounded with hand woodworking planes made from beech and other hardwoods, many of these planes worn, or dull, or no longer used so much because of the change in molding styles as the 19th century progressed - and machine tools had largely taken over the work anyway.

And imagine a cold day, a wood stove in your shop needful of wood, and in your hand an immediate low effort solution to your discomfort being handed to you by your father, grandfather, or someone totally unrelated.

It takes a large consciousness to realize that the plane body in your hand survived just fine for a hundred years before it met you this day, and will survive a few more if you just go out to the woodpile one more time."

Many choose not to.

Joe in NH

That panel bed design Putnam used seemed to be around from the 1850s all the way up throughout the 1870s to who knows what year that design patterns were phased out. Many of the early planers have the panel bed design. This one lost it's legs and parts but that lathe bed would make a good candidate for a box bed steam engine build. There will be plenty more to save in the future but there is not enough collectors of old iron and limited space and money thrown into the mix.