Tell Me About My Antique Watchmakers Lathe

[steve323]

That is a very nice looking lathe. It is hard to tell prices from places like Ebay. Many watchmakers lathes are "buy it now" priced at over $1000. Not many of them have cross slides.

Steve

 

[Jake S]

Steel wool and light oil has always worked great for me cleaning up old tools and still leaving patina. It gets the loose stuff off and burnishes oil into the surface helping prevent future rust. Don't put it in Evapo-rust or take sandpaper to it, it'll remove the staining and patina and could hurt its value.

Cool thanks. Ya that's what I was thinking for the steel parts but wasn't sure it was a good idea. What size mesh would you use? Maybe just some Brasso on a cloth for the faceplate and cross slide? I'll post better pics after I get her all spiffed up. The lighting in my dad's shop sucks, but at least it's temporary. The wife and I are currently looking to buy some property.

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[Andre]

Cool thanks. Ya that's what I was thinking for the steel parts but wasn't sure it was a good idea. What size mesh would you use? Maybe just some Brasso on a cloth for the faceplate and cross slide? I'll post better pics after I get her all spiffed up. The lighting in my dad's shop sucks, but at least it's temporary. The wife and I are currently looking to buy some property.

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I like #0000.

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[Jake S]

Hi Jake,

I spent over an hour just browsing thru all the links to "watchmakers" lathes. Lot's of fun.



You are correct I was talking about the steel plates, not the 2x4 (although I bet that's newer too....)
Nothing certain, it just looks to me that it's an "aftermarket addition"

• it doesn't look as old as the headstock and tailstock,
• it is made differently; it looks bolted together rather than cast and machined like the headstock/tailstock,
• it has different handles, and
  
• it doesn't resemble any other lathe bases on lathes.co.uk.

Ha! I see it now that you've pointed it out. It's quite obvious actually... like my noobness.

I cannot see enough detail in your original photo. Is it possible there is a manufacturers mark here:
View attachment 126789

-brino

Sadly that dark spot is just pitting . At least that's the worst of it.



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[Jake S]

That is a very nice looking lathe. It is hard to tell prices from places like Ebay. Many watchmakers lathes are "buy it now" priced at over $1000. Not many of them have cross slides.

Steve

Thank you! I like it too. You're right about looking to eBay for pricing. I've been watching those lathes for a while now too. No one seems to be biting. If you refine your search to "sold listings" you'll see some lathes sold for less than $100. Granted those don't have cross slides either. It's hard to tell the difference between a lathe that sold for $30 and one that sold for $300. Could it really just be timing? I've tried a few other auction sites but most require a paid account in order to view the listing prices. But I'm really not in a hurry to get rid of it. More curious than desperate. It'd just be nice to know what I have in case that changes

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[steve323]

fyi in case you haven't seen it, there is another thread on this site at http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...ion-of-american-made-watchmakers-lathes.21028 from a guy with quite a collection of watchmaker lathes.

Steve

 

[Jake S]

Steve323

Boy you don't say! I consider myself lucky, but he's got me beat. Thanks for the link. I asked if he'd take a look at mine.

This is great! I can't believe I lurked for so long. I wish I had joined the forum years ago. Thank you all for your input!

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[Jcl]

4/11/16

Jake, you have an interesting lathe because it is a combination of several nearly contemporary parts all of which can probably be made to work together. The fundamental and original lathe was what is called, in English, a “turns.” The headstock and the tailstock mounted on the rectangular bar were the original lathe. Mounted between them was a t rest. A turns is used with two rods or runners that serve as centers to support work. One end of each runner would be pointed (male) and the other hollow (female). A small pulley was fitted to the actual work, fitted between centers, and the work was revolved with a bow with the horse-hair thread of the bow wrapped around the pulley. Actual cutting, filing, or polishing, etc. was done using a T rest in most cases. This description much oversimplifies the procedure.

At some point someone fitted the face plate to the bar on the turns, using the left center as a support for the spindle or arbor of the faceplate on your lathe. It would not have had an aluminum step pulley originally, but may have had a cast iron pulley to be used with a hand rotated wheel mounted behind the lathe using a cord to turn the pulley. That set up was called a “throw”. Without more detail, the face plate assembly came from a lathe where that was one of numerous attachments that could be fitted to a rectangular bar. That kind of face plate was used by watchmakers to locate and bore openings in watch plates and bridges for bearings or jewels, or more, when repairing or making watches.

The slide rest is an entirely different animal. I am not sure how it is fastened to the rectangular bed of the lathe. It was made for some kind of brass lathe from the 19th century, but I don’t know what kind. I have a similar one, but no lathe to fit it.

I have a Swiss mandrel lathe with the hand crank and gear drive you have heard about. Really, the only thing your lathe has in common with a real Swiss mandrel is the face plate. Your lathe fitting, and a real Swiss mandrel were both used for the same purpose. They were simply set up and powered in different ways.

If there is enough interest I will post pictures of a Swiss mandrel lathe, a throw, and a modern watch repairer’s face plate. After more than five hundred years, all of the ancient procedures I have described, using a turns, a faceplate, and even a throw are still in use today in various watchmaking procedures. Jcl

 

[steve323]

Thanks for the detailed and very informative post Jcl.

Steve

 

[brino]

If there is enough interest I will post pictures of a Swiss mandrel lathe, a throw, and a modern watch repairer’s face plate.

Yes Please!
-brino