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Pre-20s Axelson 18x120 followed me home.

jimsnell

Plastic
Joined
Aug 5, 2018
No motor, but the original countershaft is there. 2 speed back gear. Single speed tailstock. It looks like a restoration was started at some point. Serial #395. The oldest I was able to find was #461 in 1920.

If anyone has any wisdom to share, I'd appreciate it.

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EDIT; Added photos.
 

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Sturdy typical plain bearing threaded spindle nose machine of the era. Appears to have been RAISED

VM's oldest pub is 1941 - nearly twenty-five years later

Lube - none "inside" (like a gear head head stock) and all total loss. Probably has dozens of squirt can holes - you need to address them all, frequently. Cone pulley should have two oil ports in steps - not to be neglected, often set screw closed

Rust on ways pushes right off with such as a dull way scraper

There will be no apron oil pump, so you get to manually oil ways and slides

Apron feed clutches are the cast iron cone style - tightening the knob makes the feed take off

Drip oilers are missing from both spindle bearings - got to have those back

Back gears gone - you are dead in the water as to slower speeds (there it is, good to see it)
 
Yeah, back gear is there. Just... About 4 feet from where it belongs. You're absolutely right about the oil holes. There are a lot of them.

When I mount up a motor, what are the spindle speeds supposed to end up at?
 
Yeah, back gear is there. Just... About 4 feet from where it belongs. You're absolutely right about the oil holes. There are a lot of them.

When I mount up a motor, what are the spindle speeds supposed to end up at?

400 would be a typical top speed. Seems not to actually be a 18 with the riser blocks - competitor L&S ran their 16" at 12.5 to 354 top end. An actual 18 would be slower

Note L&S also used 2 speed counter shaft so there would be 18 speeds instead of just 9
 

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Thoughts on removing the blocks?

This one has an almost identical 2 speed counter shaft as the L&S ad you just linked above.
 
When I mount up a motor, what are the spindle speeds supposed to end up at?

Same vintage as my 20" Flather. Too bad you don't have an overarm for the countershaft. Mine goes a little slow but that is where it ended up with a 3 HP 1725 rpm motor and a 5 to 1 gear reducer. It was just way too fast without the gear reducer. I only machine bigger things in it anyway. Have two smaller lathes for the little stuff. The 5 rpm speed is very slow but it worked well with some 20" pipe I recently cut.

Depends what you are going to use it for. I rarely use other than the first cone on the slower speeds.

Looks like everything is there and should make a very nice machine once restored.
 

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What would you have to do to the end gears to lower the headstock?


Remove the extra idler gear - could possibly require replacing the two smallish idlers with one a little larger

And it may work out that you can just swing the lower one down some to accommodate the head stock coming down
 

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"Axelson followed me home" Thanks for posting , I have a 16" #537 from 1923. In the past 10 years I've owned it only seen 3 other Axelson coneheads.
Axelsons first lathes were built in 1910 for their own use in manufacturing oilfield equipment.
Well received they started production for sale in the teens , gearheads in the 30s .
You might find the size cast into the inside of the leg crossarm. Yours is likely a 16" as it would actually swing 18" stock. My speeds range from 22 - 515 good for rough work but really the lathe is clumsy to operate . But hey it's what vintage machinery is all about !!IMG_2853.jpg
It took a lot of cleaning and oiling but now I can spin the chuck with one finger with the feeds engaged . Can you read the brass tag for thread dial instructions ? Mine is bad.
I would leave the riser blocks in place untill you see how things work out with the rest of the restoration. And a photo from 1926 . Congrats onyour find and good luck on the restoration. -dave- 1926 Axelson photo.jpg
 
"Axelson followed me home" Thanks for posting , I have a 16" #537 from 1923. In the past 10 years I've owned it only seen 3 other Axelson coneheads.
Axelsons first lathes were built in 1910 for their own use in manufacturing oilfield equipment.
Well received they started production for sale in the teens , gearheads in the 30s .
You might find the size cast into the inside of the leg crossarm. Yours is likely a 16" as it would actually swing 18" stock. My speeds range from 22 - 515 good for rough work but really the lathe is clumsy to operate . But hey it's what vintage machinery is all about !!View attachment 274196
It took a lot of cleaning and oiling but now I can spin the chuck with one finger with the feeds engaged . Can you read the brass tag for thread dial instructions ? Mine is bad.
I would leave the riser blocks in place untill you see how things work out with the rest of the restoration. And a photo from 1926 . Congrats onyour find and good luck on the restoration. -dave- View attachment 274204

Dave, can you tell me how the cross feed engages? There's something in the knob that is frozen, and I can't figure how it's supposed to come apart.
 
Same as the long feed , clockwise to engage. Mine were stuck , I was able to spray the clutches from the back of the apron and free them. Still mine engage easy , release hard. -dave-
 








 
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