Old Sebastian Lathe ...

FOMOGO

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Got a call from the man who sold me my 1890's Cincinnati mill, who said he had an old lathe that he wanted a $100 for. It was just a few days before we were leaving for the winter and I had a pretty huge to do list, but being the sucker I am for vintage stuff my son and I made the 45 mile trip to take a look. Very nice guy and has a very cool collection of cars, trucks, motorcycles (just acquired a very nice survivor Indian Chief), and my boy really enjoyed the shop tour. Took a quick look at the machine and figured for $100 I couldn't really get hurt, and loaded her up. Got home and parked the truck in the shop with the lathe still in the back where it will reside until we get back home end of April. I'm thinking it is probably early 1900's, and will require a lot of TLC if it is ever to be a functioning machine. Came with a 1hp Dayton motor in good condition which will come in handy for another project. The ways really don't look bad, but there are some missing, and damaged pieces including the gap section of the bed. If nothing else the legs will make a nice table and I can probably part some of it out or adapt to another use, but hopefully some day I will acquire enough skills to make the parts necessary to bring it back to life. Would appreciate any help narrowing down the date of manufacture. Found some info on line, but not the exact unit. Sebastian May & Co is the only name on it. Cheers, Mike

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So...is that V belt setup to run on the flat belt pulleys?

I would think that was funnier if mine didnt come setup to run a V belt on the bare countershaft

Also interesting to see a motor in that area, better know where your fingers are right?


All in all she looks somewhat basic but with the gap bed it may become handy for the odd big diameter job. And I bet its actually pretty compact for its size class.

Oh, is the lead screw slotted for power feed? Its hard to tell in the pictures what all goes to the apron.

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Looks like that was the idea. Didn't have time to do anything with it, or check it out in any detail. I have two other functioning lathes, one that can take up to 22" in the gap and is about 100 yrs newer, so this one is pretty far down the list. Picked it up more out of historical interest than any immediate need. Did you notice the similarities to your machine? Mike
 
It does have similar lines, obviously from the same era though I would bet yours is older.

The more I look the more I see thats different though, yours has 4 angled ways while mine only has 3, two on the back side and one on the front. It also looks like you have no compound, it may have been an option this machine never got due to cost or its intended role or it may have gone missing at some point.

Are those pullies in the legs of the machine?

One thing we have in common is the spin on chuck, like mine I doubt yours has any taper. If you get it off and find you have a 10tpi spindle we can lament our misfortune together.

It may be a bit advanced for me now but I am considering the practicality of turning out a new spindle with modern thread/taper.

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I see what you mean about the pulley's on the legs. Didn't really look closely enough to see them first time around. I'm guessing probably not, but one more mystery that will have to wait until spring. Mike
 
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