[Lathe] Old F. E. Reed 14 inch metal lathe

[pmat]

Can't resist turn of the century lathes. Yesterday, I picked up a beautiful old lathe. Like my Vernon, this one also hails from Worcester Mass. It is stamped on the bed pat'd Sept 4, 1888 serial number 2766. It has several interesting features: it has no compound, the cross slide pivots to raise or lower the tool bit, it has no dials. It came with a 11 inch 4 jaw as well as a 13 inch 4 jaw chuck as well as a massive steady rest. It had a tapered center in the spindle marked 63/64 national. Not sure but it looks similar to a Mt 3. It has no thread cutting gears but has a belt driven screw that provides both lateral and cross slide movement.

I'll post more as I discover more "features". It is set up and in pretty good working condition.

 

[pmat]

Not finding anything like a 63/64 taper, I'm wondering if the center in my spindle was made from a 63/64 Mt drill???

 

[francist]

Brilliant!

-frank

 

[rs43506]

Very neat! I have a 16" FE Reed Lathe that I am learning on.

I had some trouble figuring out the tail stock on mine. It turns out Reed had their own tapers and I had to make a sleeve to accept a MT3

 

[LucknowKen]

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/f-e-reed-14-working-lathe.43146/
Still have mine. Great for the projects to long for my South Bend 9.
LK

 

[pmat]

A couple of updates and lessons learned: If you buy an old lathe and it has 110 v plug it does not necessarily mean it is set up for 110 volts. The first time i used the old fe reed 14 for more than a minute the motor overheated. I checked the diagram on the 1 hp craftsman motor and discovered it was wired for 220 volts. Works much better now.

I am using it as a wood lathe, for producing handles for my clam hoe business. It makes a fantastic production wood lathe!

Will post some pics of the lathe in action soon.

 

[pmat]

Pics

 

[benmychree]

View attachment 225199 View attachment 225200 View attachment 225201

Can't resist turn of the century lathes. Yesterday, I picked up a beautiful old lathe. Like my Vernon, this one also hails from Worcester Mass. It is stamped on the bed pat'd Sept 4, 1888 serial number 2766. It has several interesting features: it has no compound, the cross slide pivots to raise or lower the tool bit, it has no dials. It came with a 11 inch 4 jaw as well as a 13 inch 4 jaw chuck as well as a massive steady rest. It had a tapered center in the spindle marked 63/64 national. Not sure but it looks similar to a Mt 3. It has no thread cutting gears but has a belt driven screw that provides both lateral and cross slide movement.

I'll post more as I discover more "features". It is set up and in pretty good working condition.

It has no thread cutting gears because it has no lead screw; it was not intended to cut threads; also note, no compound rest with the rise and fall cross slide; this lathe was intended to only do turning and boring work. Note, no gear guards! From the days of wooden ships and iron men ------ !

 

[pmat]

I love the old machines because they are simple and very rugged. I've found a good use for my FE Reed 14, but too many of these machines continue to head to the scrap yard! I'm running out of room for my rescue mission...

"Wooden ships and iron men" perhaps that's why there are so many of these old machines around here. Bath, Maine known as the " City of Ships " has been building ships for a long long time......

 

[sreohr]

I am new to the hobby machinist and I am not a machinist. I have an old FE Reed Lathe that I do not use. I have only turned it on a few times to tinker with it and show my kids how it works. I am looking to sell the lathe and all the extra parts it has (4 jaw chuck, mandril / arbor, steady rest, phase plate, and more that I don't know the names of). The lathe has ~3 foot workable area. It is a 3 phase, but I have a 3 phase adapter that I will sell with it. I have attached a few pictures.

Can anyone advise on a reasonable asking price?