I bought a new old mini lathe. Does anybody recognize the model?

[Feynman]

Hi all,
as per title, I bought this very nice little bench lathe. It was not used at all, looks and feel very nice. I measured the spindle runout and it's a 1 micron or less.

Bought it in Switzerland, it uses W20 Schaublin type collets. Does anybody recognize the maker of this lathe?

Thanks

 

[francist]

It looks very nice, and even from here it looks very precise! I wonder, could it be a Lorch? I see the "LA" on the headstock as well as tailstock which was one of the Lorch models. I haven't been able to find a photo of a Lorch just like yours but you may have better luck. I did run into a similar post from 2018 on a watchmaker forum that had an identical lathe (also from Switzerland, I believe) but they didn't know the maker either. There is some information on Lorch here at the lathes.uk site...

Lorch LA & LAN Lathes

-frank

 

[Feynman]

It looks very nice, and even from here it looks very precise! I wonder, could it be a Lorch? I see the "LA" on the headstock as well as tailstock which was one of the Lorch models. I haven't been able to find a photo of a Lorch just like yours but you may have better luck. I did run into a similar post from 2018 on a watchmaker forum that had an identical lathe (also from Switzerland, I believe) but they didn't know the maker either. There is some information on Lorch here at the lathes.uk site...

Lorch LA & LAN Lathes

-frank

Thanks for the feedback. I have seen the post you are referring to and yes it's exactly the same model. This is weird, the casting are very nice and does not look at all a home made or small series machine....

I'm new to machining so I have few questions for the more seasoned people:
- the spindle is very precise as I said but the chuck not so much (about 100 microns of offset). how can you compensate for the offset in that kinf of chuck (3 jaw self centering?
- The bed to spindle axis is 65 mm, do you think I can mount a 100 mm chuck?
- What should I use for lubrication of the ways and of the rotating parts? Previous owner used a kind of white grease.
- How the hell do you clean the lathe )) . The chips go everywhere and I'm afraid that if I use a brush I would scratch the ways....
- can you suggest any resources (books) beside this forum where all the basic noob questions are answered?

Thanks,

 

[DavidR8]

Thanks for the feedback. I have seen the post you are referring to and yes it's exactly the same model. This is weird, the casting are very nice and does not look at all a home made or small series machine....

I'm new to machining so I have few questions for the more seasoned people:
- the spindle is very precise as I said but the chuck not so much (about 100 microns of offset). how can you compensate for the offset in that kinf of chuck (3 jaw self centering?
- The bed to spindle axis is 65 mm, do you think I can mount a 100 mm chuck?
- What should I use for lubrication of the ways and of the rotating parts? Previous owner used a kind of white grease.
- How the hell do you clean the lathe )) . The chips go everywhere and I'm afraid that if I use a brush I would scratch the ways....
- can you suggest any resources (books) beside this forum where all the basic noob questions are answered?

Thanks,

Beautiful lathe!
To your questions:
- A small amount of runout in a 3-jaw chuck is not really an issue because you turn the stock an it ends up concentric to the lathe centre line.
- With 65mm bed to spindle distance (130mm diameter) I'd be a bit concerned about chuck to carriage interference with a 100mm chuck.
- Way oil should be used to lubricate the ways as it will not hold chip the way grease will.
- I brush chips off the lathe ways with a cheap 2" wide paintbrush, commonly called a 'chip brush'.
When I was a beginner (I still am to be honest) I learned a huge amount from Blondihacks. Check out her Youtube channel.

Others with for more experience will likely chime in and offer more/better advice!

 

[Joe in Oz]

Found this on another forum. Looks identical...

Anyone recognise this lathe type? 65mm centre to bed?

It takes W20 20mm Schaublin collets, and has no makers name on it. LA346 seems to be a part number, other castings have sequential numbers. It is extremely heavy for it's size and is very well made. Bronze nuts on the slides, roller bearings on all rotating parts inc tail stock.

www.watchrepairtalk.com

 

[Feynman]

Found this on another forum. Looks identical...

Anyone recognise this lathe type? 65mm centre to bed?

It takes W20 20mm Schaublin collets, and has no makers name on it. LA346 seems to be a part number, other castings have sequential numbers. It is extremely heavy for it's size and is very well made. Bronze nuts on the slides, roller bearings on all rotating parts inc tail stock.

www.watchrepairtalk.com

I found the exact same post. I'm happy to say that mine is in even better conditions.

Again this is weird, it's definetely a well made product, the castings do not look like something made for a few items but it seems that this model has been somehow forgotten. Even the previous owner had no idea about the manufacturer!! Weird!!

I think I will try asking on some German or Swiss machining forum, maybe I will get lucky.
I'll let this forum know if I get an answer as to who the maker of this little lathe.

 

[cjtoombs]

Thanks for the feedback. I have seen the post you are referring to and yes it's exactly the same model. This is weird, the casting are very nice and does not look at all a home made or small series machine....

I'm new to machining so I have few questions for the more seasoned people:
- the spindle is very precise as I said but the chuck not so much (about 100 microns of offset). how can you compensate for the offset in that kinf of chuck (3 jaw self centering?
- The bed to spindle axis is 65 mm, do you think I can mount a 100 mm chuck?
- What should I use for lubrication of the ways and of the rotating parts? Previous owner used a kind of white grease.
- How the hell do you clean the lathe )) . The chips go everywhere and I'm afraid that if I use a brush I would scratch the ways....
- can you suggest any resources (books) beside this forum where all the basic noob questions are answered?

Thanks,

The previous answers given were pretty good, but I would add that a 4 jaw independent chuck can be used if you need to chuck something up and maintain concentricity with an already machined surface. You will also need a dial indicator so that you know how to adjust the chuck. Set-true chucks are made in larger sizes, so that a self centering chuck can be precisely centered. A good quality chuck with this feature will be very repeatable if the same size stock is used (low quality chucks, not so much). I built an adjustable back plate for a 5C collet chuck, to account for the low quality collets I had at the time. A collet chuck is also an option, but the 4 jaw is pretty much a must have, as you can hold irregular work and offset things if you need to.