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Scanned Lathe Manual for Hercus (SB clone)

paco

Aluminum
Joined
Apr 11, 2006
Location
Los Angeles
This might already be going around but just in case here is the complete "Textbook of Turning" for the Hercus lathe which from the educational perspective is equivalent to a SB.

http://www.bbssystem.com/manuals/Lathe-Tutorial.pdf

Enjoy
 
Hello from Western Australia.
I've got a couple of 9 inch Hercus lathes. The oldest, a plain bearing model A, has a serial number of 7979 which dates it's manufacture around 1961. The newer lathe, a roller bearing ARL has the serial number 12507. Hercus in South Australia reckon this would have been made in about 1969. If you could let me know the serial number on your lathe I could do some delving.
Regards Bob.
 
Hi Bob,
My Ser# ARL 14058 V
I'm interested in the collet set they use in the spindle of these lathes too, do u have any knowledge of them?
Thanks in advance for your help on the S/N
al
 
Hello Al,

Your lathe sounds like it was made early to mid 1970's. I will try to find out an accurate date when I next speak to Steve Durden at Hercus. Steve is the extremely helpful manager of Hercus Transmission Equipment. They manufacture gears, torque limiters, clutches, etc.

Turns out, Hercus made 15,000 nine inch lathes and 8,000 260(10 1/4") lathes so yours is getting towards the end of the run.
The collets are 3C and Hercus made both a draw in collet attachment and a quick acting collet attachment. The draw in version uses a spindle nose adapter and draw tube with a spoked cast handle that looks identical to South Bend's. The picture I have of the quick acting attachment looks nothing like the American version. I will either scan or photograph a couple of sales brochures and attempt to post them in this forum so you can spot the differences between the original and the clone.

One last thing, look after those spindle bearings. They are class 3 precision Timkens and little did I know when I laboriously removed them from my machine that I was looking at about $600 AUS for a new pair airbagged from Ohio.

Regards Bob.
 
Thanks for the info Bob! It is interesting knowing the history of an older machine. I will certainly take care of my spindle brgs for that kind of $.
I am curious as to the original color of the Hercus 9" lathes, I kinda think mine may have seen a paint job but it's hard to be certain. Here's a few pics of it if anyone is interested.


My Hercus
 
Hello Al,

I spoke to Steve Durden at Hercus this morning and the serial number story gets a bit cloudier. Hercus moved their factory during the nineties and a lot of old paperwork appears to have been chucked out during the relocation. Amongst the paperwork was the register of serial numbers and the date of manufacture of the lathes so it looks like we'll have to settle for guesswork.
When I bought my ARL a few years, along with a number of covetable accessories was a spare parts book. The book was printed in 1968 which could suggest the lathe was made around then. The lathe had only one previous owner.

Your lathe has what is called a P pattern drive unit whereas mine is an H pattern where the countershaft is mounted above the lathe in a similar fashion to a Myford.

The colour looks identical to mine, a dirty light green and yours, like mine, still has the inside of the bed rails painted red. I have a number of accessories for both my lathe and my little Hercus horizontal mill and not one of them is the same shade of green.

Hope this helps,
Regards Bob.
 
I recently obtained a small cardboard carton of Hercus change gears with the Hercus label on the box and the gears wrapped in brown oiled paper. They (those that are painted) are painted the green colour like your lathe Al.

There were a couple of spanners and centres etc in the box too but sadly someone else is reading the "Text Book of Turning" which had also once been in the box.
 
I'm currently restoring a Hercus 9". Regarding the colour, I think the shade actually changed somewhat during the years as I've seen various shades on different components, notwithstanding the fact the paint looked original in each case. Nevertheless I believe it was produced by a company called Crowhurst Paints, now part of Solver(?). The shade is "Hercus Green" which I guess really doesn't help one iota!

A lot of the machines out there are department of education school lathes, and they are a beige. Mine is ex school and I'm not sure if that beige job was actually repainted ex factory on assembly, as it was stripped right down during the repaint, and I doubt anyone else would go to that trouble. My guess would be they painted then machined the castings and had different parts piled up ready to build lathes, if it was a dept of Ed order they'd repaint those parts beige, while other parts not requiring machining were painted beige straight from the get-go. That's just a guess BTW based on what I'm seeing as I'm stripping and rebuilding as every part is going back to bare metal.

If you're looking to match the colour try to find an area where the paint is original and in good condition. Take the piece of and go to a good auto paint supplier and they will be able to match it. What led you to believe it's had a paint job BTW? It looks original from the photos, including the Hercus sticker on the HS. Looks like a good little lathe

Pete
 








 
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