I have renovated what I think is a 9A but a couple of mysteries have arisen. The bed serial number has the letters NCR which I believe is for a standard gearbox. My lathe has a quick change gearbox and the plate says it has a 31/2 foot bed. My bed is only 36” and there are only 2 screws holding the QCG in place in the bed instead of the usual 3. I am in Australia and do not know the history of the machine at all but am wondering if putting upgraded equipment on a bed was a norm for 1952. The name W.B. Rapp Philidelphia is on the drive train cover and maybe they did the change? Would love to hear your opinions.
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Southbend mystery
- Thread starter Mal T
- Start date
- Replies 6
- Views 1,925
SLK001
Stainless
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2015
- Location
- Coral Springs, FL USA
Does your lathe have power crossfeed? If not, you may have a frankenlathe - a lathe cobbled together from parts of others. The "NCR" stands for 9", standard change gears, and regular spindle hole, so it looks like someone, in the lathe's 60+ years of life, decided to swap parts from one to another. It wasn't factory done, just a previous owner who obtained the needed parts from another lathe.
kitno455
Titanium
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2010
- Location
- Virginia, USA
Not too mysterious, you've got a franken-lathe. Somewhere during its life, it got upgraded. Very unlikely that a dealer did it, or that it was done anytime near the bed's manufacturing date.
allan
allan
RF
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2007
- Location
- Philly, Pa.
http://www.wswells.com/data/catalog/1935_Cat_No.58R/1935_Cat_No.58R.pdf
Here is a catalog from 1935 about W.B. Rapp. Both lathes we had in shop were from them in the 1950s
RF
Here is a catalog from 1935 about W.B. Rapp. Both lathes we had in shop were from them in the 1950s
RF
SLK001
Stainless
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2015
- Location
- Coral Springs, FL USA
It's possible, but you would need more information than is available. The number on the QCGB is just a UNIT NUMBER, which is basically a version number. With the version number info (date, change made, etc), you could get an idea as to its age. I wouldn't worry about any of the changes - just lathe away.
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