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Model C 16x54 Pratt & Whitney

Hobby Shop

Stainless
Joined
Mar 20, 2014
Location
Michigan
Hey guys,
I saved this from becoming Chinese rotors today. I went to pick up an indexer Friday from an auction about 3 miles up the road. The owner said there wasn’t any bids on this lathe and wanted it gone today. The price was a little above scrap so home it came. The taper attachment is off but I’m hoping it’s all there. It came with a 3 & 4 jaw chuck, face plate, 2 steadys and couple other things.

I ran it through some gears, it’s quiet, stops fast and besides being filthy, it seems to be in decent shape for its age.

I’d appreciate it If anyone could put a date on it or tell me if there’s anything specific to keep
an out for.

Thanks,
Andy
 

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About 1954. Extra nice machines - all having lead screw reverse on apron

I'll see if the manual scans are too big to email to you - not bad at about 5 1/2 Mb each, so I sent two emails

Keep an eye on? Spindle bearings that are unobtanium today:D

Thanks for the speedy reply John.
I’m still working on heat for the new shop but I took a towel to it before freezing for a minute (22* and 11”s of snow on the ground) and it seems like a really clean machine. Hopefully, sometime in the next few weeks I’ll get everything online.
 
My Dad had one of those. It never gave us a lick of trouble. I do recall the spindle hole was small and RPMs were a bit slow. But it could take a heck of a cut and was accurate. Rich
 
My Dad had one of those. It never gave us a lick of trouble. I do recall the spindle hole was small and RPMs were a bit slow. But it could take a heck of a cut and was accurate. Rich

Hopefully, I’ll have the same luck Rich:D. This Model C has a 2” spindle hole and 14-1000 RPM’s. It’s more than fast enough for anything I’ll be cutting.
My Pacemaker has a top speed of 1500rpms and the only time I run it above 1000 is with my
Hardinge Sjogren 2J or 5c collet closer.
 
Its taken a while but I cleaned, leveled, oiled and started making chips with the old Model C. The layout of the carriage handles and speed control levers are nicer on the Pacemaker but this P&W is one sweet lathe.

I’m getting about .0008” taper per foot. I’m not sure what the factory specs should be but I’m not messing with it. The lead screw reverse is one hell of an option. I don’t know if I’ll ever buy another lathe without one. Here’s a picture under the hood.
 

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Loved my 1950 12" X 30 for over 20 years, even though somewhat lame with the poor front spindle bearing. Not ever being in a hurry, I just stayed far away from the 1000 top end.

Yours looks real good in the oiling department:)

You may know P&W made a line their own gear grinders to finish those gears just right - starting with the first of the Model Bs in 1922
 
Loved my 1950 12" X 30 for over 20 years, even though somewhat lame with the poor front spindle bearing. Not ever being in a hurry, I just stayed far away from the 1000 top end.

Yours looks real good in the oiling department:)

You may know P&W made a line their own gear grinders to finish those gears just right - starting with the first of the Model Bs in 1922


John,
I’m not surprised but I didn’t know P&W made their own gear grinders. As I was looking over the gearbox..... I noticed ALL the gears were labeled in sets. They also marked and balanced the spindle, middle and the rear gears by drilling holes in the perimeter.
 
John,
I’m not surprised but I didn’t know P&W made their own gear grinders. As I was looking over the gearbox..... I noticed ALL the gears were labeled in sets. They also marked and balanced the spindle, middle and the rear gears by drilling holes in the perimeter.

Here's 150 of them on the assembly floor in the West Hartford plant
 

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Hey guys,
I saved this from becoming Chinese rotors today. I went to pick up an indexer Friday from an auction about 3 miles up the road. The owner said there wasn’t any bids on this lathe and wanted it gone today. The price was a little above scrap so home it came. The taper attachment is off but I’m hoping it’s all there. It came with a 3 & 4 jaw chuck, face plate, 2 steadys and couple other things.

I ran it through some gears, it’s quiet, stops fast and besides being filthy, it seems to be in decent shape for its age.

I’d appreciate it If anyone could put a date on it or tell me if there’s anything specific to keep
an out for.

Thanks,
Andy

Hey Hobby Shop is there any way you can take a pic of the electrics on the left side of the machine where you hooked it up? My electrician is having trouble figuring out how to hook mine up.
 
Hey Hobby Shop is there any way you can take a pic of the electrics on the left side of the machine where you hooked it up? My electrician is having trouble figuring out how to hook mine up.

Will do. PM me your email and I’ll snap a picture of the electrical blue print that came with the machine.

Andy
 
Hey Andy how do I pm you?

Click on Hobby Shop and send Private Message or respond to the one I sent you. I doubt they will but maybe these pictures will show up good enough to read.

The pictures are clear as can be on my phone but always show up terrible on this site.
 

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