Atw Lathe - Question About Transmission / Gearbox

I had what appears to be the same lathe, but shop converted and not in such nice shape. Mine had a really noisy 4 speed shop built transmission. I might have a pic somewhere. I ran out of room when I added other machines and gave it to a friend, who ended up sitting it outside. Ruined a perfectly good 4 jaw. Mine was a 20" swing by about 40" between centers. I did pull the 10hp 3ph motor off it. When I saw it sitting outside over at his shop, he kept telling me he had someone wanting to buy it and would split it with me. That never happened. One day when I went by there and he wasn't there, I decided he was going to scrap it, so I took the glass oilers off the headstock. Didn't figure it would make the scrappers any difference. That's all I have left of it. Kind of sad, really.

I'd be a little cautious of running it very fast. Mine was mfg circa 1913 I was able to determine, and of course that was long before anyone needed carbide speeds. However, whoever converted mine set it up to run about 1200 rpm at the top end and the bearings, even though they were not at all tight, still got hotter than I was comfortable with. I tried different lubes, but nothing really suited the higher spindle speeds.

I take that back, it had a Trav-a-dial on it....I took it off before I gave it away.

Use it hard as you want otherwise....it's a tough machine. I cut lots of threads and made lots of big blue chips with mine.....and made money. It was my first business machine. Well, next to a Unimat I toyed with back in 79 lol.
 
The High Duty American lathes were a good example of a well designed lathe with the capability to use high speed steel to its full potential, especially the gear head version, and yes, 1,200 RPM was way too fast for a machine that size. I ran my 14" up to its maximum rated speed of 390 rpm , and it was plenty fast for most work and used carbide tools as necessary. Also, I built a coolant pan and system that allowed it to be fairly productive.
It was eventually replaced with a 19" Regal Leblond from 1943; it should not have been surprising that it had much less chatter doing similar jobs than the American. I still have the Leblond; it is my go to machine for nearly all work. Recently I acquired a small lathe, a Monarch 12 X 36" cone drive quick change on floor legs with its original countershaft for lineshaft drive. Surprisingly, for its age, it has nearly no evidence of any wear. I am now in the process of making steady and follow rests and large and small faceplates from patterns that I made and sent to the foundry a few weeks ago.
 
A beautiful piece of history. It would be a pity to change anything. I agree with others that while it can most likely handle heavy work it was not built for carbide use and would be much better staying with HSS.

During my apprenticeship, early 1960's I used quite a few older machines, mostly built before WW2, including a Macson lathe with plain bearings, it had a top speed of 390 RPM. It was quite accurate once I got used to it.

We also had a 1903 Acme Gridley cam operated lathe on the production line. This machine was a monster, and it never stopped.

I don't recall any of our machines using automotive gearboxes, but some of my mates worked in shops that did, including one that had a planer running an old Ford model T gearbox.
 
A beautiful piece of history. It would be a pity to change anything. I agree with others that while it can most likely handle heavy work it was not built for carbide use and would be much better staying with HSS.

During my apprenticeship, early 1960's I used quite a few older machines, mostly built before WW2, including a Macson lathe with plain bearings, it had a top speed of 390 RPM. It was quite accurate once I got used to it.

We also had a 1903 Acme Gridley cam operated lathe on the production line. This machine was a monster, and it never stopped.

I don't recall any of our machines using automotive gearboxes, but some of my mates worked in shops that did, including one that had a planer running an old Ford model T gearbox.
The Lima Drive conversion used a transmission that was direct connected to the motor; I was told that its transmission was based on a Model A Ford trans, except with four speeds and no reverse. I have one 3 hp. 3 phase that is unused; anyone out there interested?
 
The Lima Drive conversion used a transmission that was direct connected to the motor; I was told that its transmission was based on a Model A Ford trans, except with four speeds and no reverse. I have one 3 hp. 3 phase that is unused; anyone out there interested?

Not sure how they would have made an A model into a 4 speed and no reverse. the Ford "A" was a standard H pattern 3 speed with reverse, the reverse was opposite 1st gear. I guess anything is possible but not sure how it would have worked.
 
The Lima Drive conversion used a transmission that was direct connected to the motor; I was told that its transmission was based on a Model A Ford trans, except with four speeds and no reverse. I have one 3 hp. 3 phase that is unused; anyone out there interested?

I've just done a bit of research and yes it does appear that the Lima drive was based on the Ford A model gearbox. and the reverse idler was removed and somehow they got 4 speeds out of it. couldn't find any info on the how. but there you go.
 
That was what I was told many years ago, do not know if true.

Well yes, it does appear to be true, I'm still trying to figure out how they did it. I understand that the reverse idler gear was removed, so to make the reverse sliding gear mate with its corresponding gear on the lower shaft, either or both of the gears would need to be larger in dia. If it was the sliding gear that was made larger then it would create an extra gear even lower than the standard first gear. maybe some one on here knows how it was done and why.
 
LE,

I agree with others that the gearbox was most likely made for lathe use. However, the fact that the gears would all come out of one or both ends instead of out the side has nothing to do with that conclusion. The 3-speed Jeep gearbox used in the military vehicles up through the M38A1 and the ones in the CJ-1 through CJ-6 are that way. And the Land Rover 4 and 5-speed boxes made between 1949 and about 1998 were all that way.
 
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