Pratt & Whitney 8" lathe (was Warner & Swasey old 8" purchase)

CloseENuff · Jul 22, 2021

I have an opportunity to purchase an old Warner & Swasey 8" the working length was described as 30" but the overall length appears to be 7 feet. I will be looking for positive identification and a manual.
I've done a lot of manual machining in my background making parts for WWII aircraft restoration but also did some Hoss cnc mill, programming and editing on the machine itself, and a very large single spindle hydrotell mill, over 20 ft long. I appreciate any advice and guidance to find tooling. I have access to a very nice mill and I'm going to place the lathe there. The machinist who is currently storing the lathe described the spindle bearings as near silent so I'm hoping a pull bar and dial indicator test will prove it true.
Cheers
Charles

Cole2534 · Jul 22, 2021

Turret lathe or engine lathe?

michiganbuck · Jul 22, 2021

Those small Swaseys were a work of art.. I know a fellow who has one that looks brand new.

DocsMachine · Jul 22, 2021

Cole2534 said:
Turret lathe or engine lathe?

-It's my understanding that Warner & Swasey never made an engine lathe.

Doc.

Ray Behner · Jul 22, 2021

DocsMachine said:
-It's my understanding that Warner & Swasey never made an engine lathe.

Doc.

Me too, but would like to know.

michiganbuck · Jul 22, 2021

I don't think they did, but now a days with stepping motors one could make a near-like engine lathe of one.

Warner & Swasey Co. - History | VintageMachinery.org

Bherzog · Jul 22, 2021

Is it a WSC-8. If so, I may have some info.

Bruce

EmGo · Jul 22, 2021

DocsMachine said:
-It's my understanding that Warner & Swasey never made an engine lathe.

But they made lots of turret lathes.

DocsMachine · Jul 23, 2021

EmanuelGoldstein said:
But they made lots of turret lathes.

-They made millions of turret lathes. But as far as anyone knows, not one engine lathe.

Doc.

EmGo · Jul 23, 2021

DocsMachine said:
-They made millions[/] of turret lathes. But as far as anyone knows, not one engine lathe.

Ja, but from the lovely description it sounds more like a turret lathe.

Swasey did build some nice conventional-looking NC lathes though. You could add a travelling operator station and run them like an electronic engine lathe

Froneck · Jul 23, 2021

I seen an almost engine lathe by W&S, was a typical ram type turret lathe but did have lead screw and quick change thread gear box. Plus a taper attachment. Owner wanted more than I was willing to spend.

CloseENuff · Jul 23, 2021

MY BAD!!!
PRATT & WHITNEY but I guess Pratt is still a good one.

So back to the same questions for ID and operation manual.
I'll try to get a pic I can post. My current cell phone not up to it.

I spent most of my lathe time on a Monarch I think had a 10 or 12" swing and long bed. Chucks were a real back load to change. Finally started chucking a bar through them so I could two arm curl to move them, with a plywood guard on the bed, of course

I apologize for the miss ID it was in a text but I finally looked at pic.
Charles

CloseENuff · Jul 23, 2021

Restarting as Pratt thread now have up-loadable pic

johnoder · Jul 23, 2021

One of several how-to threads on posting photos

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/...res-south-bend-forum-372508/?highlight=photos

If a turret lathe AND a PW, you can blow off anything like a manual simply because PW stopped making "turret lathes" in the nineteen-twenties - here is 1911 catalog with some in there

Precision tools : Pratt & Whitney Company : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

have fun

DDoug · Jul 23, 2021

CloseENuff said:
MY BAD!!!
PRATT & WHITNEY but I guess Pratt is still a good one.

So back to the same questions for ID and operation manual.
I'll try to get a pic I can post. My current cell phone not up to it.

I spent most of my lathe time on a Monarch I think had a 10 or 12" swing and long bed. Chucks were a real back load to change. Finally started chucking a bar through them so I could two arm curl to move them, with a plywood guard on the bed, of course

I apologize for the miss ID it was in a text but I finally looked at pic.
Charles

Wow !

Need some glasses, and the peanut gallery needs to sit on their keyboards for a wee bit longer eh ?

EmGo · Jul 23, 2021

digger doug said:
... the peanut gallery needs to sit on their keyboards for a wee bit longer eh ?

If we waited for every Warner Swasey to morph into a Pratt Whitney, it'd be a long time between posts around here !

CloseENuff · Jul 24, 2021

JOHNODER, thank you very much for anticipating difficulty in posting pic.

It's definitely an engine lathe. But the discussion caused me to remember a friend in the same area who is crowded with machining centers and might "loan" his turret lathe to me so may have two machines on trailer. Possible benefit to me from comments.

And with getting photos instead of pdf copy I can now see what I am convinced is a taper attachment on the back.

So her goes upload pics.

Thanks for looking
IS there any way to change title so this could go on but corrected to PRATT??
Cheers
Charles

johnoder · Jul 24, 2021

Its all on that tag - 13" Model B - meaning the one that first came out in the early twenties and was upgraded to the 12 for the war effort

This has plain spindle bearings and a threaded spindle nose and will be a sweetie pie if you don't pretend it is modern and can go fast as the dickens

Nice pub of mine for your enjoyment / education

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com...ttwhitney-circular402-model-b-lathes-1936.pdf

have fun

Here is the early version dated 1922

Vintage Machinery has the very much later (1945) 12" manual

Pratt & Whitney 8" lathe (was Warner & Swasey old 8" purchase)

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