Old Blacksmith Lathe Saved

Brain Coral

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Last weekend, I ended up traveling 3 1/2 hours north of me to purchase and retrieve an early lathe for a fellow in the U.S.

Here's a few pics of the lathe....

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Everything is bolted down to the wooden bed, including the ways, which are in 3' sections.

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A few miles down the road, I stopped to check on the straps and took this photo in front of a beautiful, old Catholic church...

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Home, safe and sound...

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More to come... :)

Brian
 
The bed of the lathe is very well built, with double pegged mortise and tenon joints throughout.

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The lathe is 9 1/2' long while assembled on the wooden bed, but, the bed is rotten in places and the owner will make a new bed for it on his end. That way, I can dismantle the lathe and condense it down to a pallet sized crate for shipping.

First, I had to get the lathe off of the trailer and into the shop. Working alone, it took a couple of hours of careful work...

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Now the dismantling...

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Blacksmith made bolts and clamp for the tailstock...

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Here's the pile of parts...

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I will also remove the wheels, pulleys and bearing blocks from the shafts for shipping. The back gear engagement and disengagement is quite a simple affair...

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That's it for now...

Brian :)
 
Any idea of the vintage? I would guess mid nineteenth century or earlier.
 
That is a historic find, Brian! What would be a fair estimate of it's age?
 
1840's seems to be the general consensus. I think that it is very significant, historically. There are no makers marks on it whatsoever, as far as I could see, but I can't poke too deep, as it doesn't belong to me. The chuck is an early Westcott's chuck with some early patent dates that are difficult to read, but the chuck doesn't necessarily date the lathe. There is a center in the spindle that looks the same as the center in the tailstock.

It was the very first lathe on the Acadian peninsula, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was made in Quebec or France.

Brian :)
 
This is oh so cool!!
Better not give out your address as Boundary Creek might become a destination vacation.

Daryl
MN
 
Have all of you within reach checked out the America Precision Museum in
Vermont ? One of their interesting early lathes has a Verrrry long bed.
Any idea of the vintage? I would guess mid nineteenth century or earlier.
This would probably have been made using imported cast iron fitments and ( surprise) granite bed pieces . Seems to have been constructed at the very beginning
Of the Textile Machine age--- end of the eighteenth century. Note- need for long
line shafts. ......... BLJHB.
 
Been to the Museum several times now. Even got to go upstairs to the Library and Storage Level. Awesome place. Saw the very first Bridgeport ever made. The miniature showcases are over the top. I posted pictures of the place somewhere on this Forum.

"Billy G"
 
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