I am guessing that power to the drive unit was by electric motor, electric supplied by P&W of course.  It's an interesting unit and it will reverse directions in an instant which I suppose was necessary in its intended use.

It has taken a couple years, one lathe would come up for free, it became too much of a project or ill-suited for my needs and I would swap our for the next freebie to come along.  This 18' ATW fit the bill nicely.  It was in many parts on a pallet at the salvage yard across the street.  I put it back together and just sorted out the wiring this week.  I took the first cuts yesterday and now have a learning curve with the lantern style tool holders to sort out how to grind the HSS bits.  This machine takes up a good chunk of my shop floor so I'm elated to finally have it running. 

I would like to comment, but the video does not load for me.

Here's my old WF Barnes and Co. #6. It was originally pedal powered. Someone long before my time made a motor and mount out of their junk pile, someday I intend to make a better motor mount, with better motor and pulleys. But it runs and does better work than I know how to do. I'm missing a critical change gear so haven't been able to run the lead screw yet. Maybe one of these years I'll cut my own gear for it....

That looks like an old but goodie; don't get caught in those open gears.

Hi,

I have the opportunity to bring this lathe home. It was used in a engineering school that is moving and either i pick it up or its going to the trash.

However it my first time moving such a heavy machine, could you help me and tell me how much do you think it weights ?

Its a Vernier TL170X800 from 1976, couldn't find anything about it online

Thanks !

On 3/9/2020 at 5:00 AM, Mel Le Roux said:

either i pick it up or its going to the trash

Why don't I ever run into deals like this?????????

Please take excessive care when moving it.  Many machine tools die from turning over and hitting the ground during a move---probably more than actually wear out!

Does the school have the original manual for it?

On 3/9/2020 at 9:53 AM, Chris C said:

Why don't I ever run into deals like this?????????

It's pure luck. 

I have just bought my first one three months ago. 

A friend heard I was interested in lathes, so when he heard collegues talking about moving out a lab, he asked !

On 3/9/2020 at 11:07 AM, ThomasPowers said:

Please take excessive care when moving it. 

I will !

Nice score on the lathe!  As mentioned, they can be easily damaged while moving since they are so top heavy.  Strap or chain it to a pallet being mindful of the precision surfaces to move it.  Also, check out this site http://www.lathes.co.uk/ for possible information on your machine.  If its not listed there, Tony would like to have pictures of your machine to add to the data base.

It looks like you will need to get some kind of tool post for it and a 3 jaw chuck would be handy too.  Make sure you ask the current owners if there are accessories that go with the machine that are currently attached.  Maybe stored elsewhere in a cabinet or something.

I have a 13 inch craftsman atlas that was given to me by a neighbor over 20 years ago. It is a nice lathe with lots of tooling, but in the new shop I really was ready for bigger. Back in March I got a call out of the blue from a neighbor about a barn find lathe, would I be interested,

he needed the space. So I now have this cool Lodge and Davis 18 inch swing monster. Now to make some new tooling....

Pretty lathe! More pics?

Robert Taylor

This is my 1945 Sheldon lathe 11x36. I had to rebuild the qc train, and now runs fine. I designed a horizontal boring system for drilling bores in some solid cast iron cannon barrels i had laying around the shop.

My lathe is a Swedish Rexvalter VF-118, it's based on the South Bend 9 lathe and in a lot of places feels like a copy. It's a machine made in a metric country but all lead screws are imperial. It can cut a large array of threads. I like the overall size but wish for a lathe that was the same size, but heavier built and larger center height. But oh well lathes are expensive, cannot have everytihng.

Cross slide nut and lead screw needs replacement, as do the half nuts on the longitudinal feed.

I bought the little 10x18 Atlas as a pile of parts.   Remarkably, almost all the parts had managed to stay together through at least 2 previous owners who thought they'd put it together someday and finally gave up on the idea. It had come from a high school that got rid of its useful curriculum, as so many have now done.  I put it all back together over a year of free time. I put a Timken headstock on it, bought a good chuck, rebuilt the apron, rebuilt the fwd/reverse selector, installed new felt, repaired or replaced many broken pieces, and did some painting.  I loathe painting, which is why it ended up three different colors. The motor is an original Atlas cast iron motor from a different project lathe that was simply too far gone to rebuild. 
 

The other machine is a 2013 Grizzly 12"x24" lathe. I bought it from a good old fellah named Leftie whose health had failed shortly after buying it new. He got it set up just in time to have some back trouble that laid him up for a year. He was headed to assisted living, so the adult children wanted it sold I think. 
 

Anyhow it's been a great machine, but moving 1000 pounds of lathe down cellar stairs isn't something I'll do again.  Bringing it back up out of there was actually easier than letting it down. But still...

I've known folks who cut a hole in the dining room floor and built a gantry over it to lower equipment to the basement.  I will not speculate on their marital  status afterwards.

All depends on whose chair it was under.

Dr Evil's conference room shows the difficulties in keeping your  trap doors functioning correctly over long periods of time.

The way I heard it, he had a new floor down before his wife got home from her weekend spa.  He passed the new floor off as an anniversary gift and she was none the wiser.

Here's my South Bend model 615-A. Purchased new at a hardware store in Seattle March 1939. This is a "C" model with manual change gears and no power crossfeed.  I bought this lathe from the son of the original owner about 10 years ago and did a full restoration, which I documented

It came with a bunch of cool memorabilia including original hand written receipt, build tags from the factory, and old tool catalogs. Also came with a ton of tooling including an Albrecht 1/2 keyless chuck, 3 and 4 jaw chucks, wood turning rests, a steady rest, and a milling attachment.  I added the quick change tool post, as the lantern was a pain in the neck.

As it was a homeowner machine it's entire life, there is very little wear and is pleasantly accurate. Most of the original hand scraping is still on the ways.

They don't make them like this anymore.

 

My neighbors grandpa was a blacksmith. He had two lathes, this is the smaller one which actually found it's way to my shop.  Else it's destination would have been the junk yard. Manufacturer was VVB Werkzeugmaschinen und Werkzeuge (WMW) in GDR back in 1968. Maximum size 1,6m (some 5 1/4 ft), swing 355mm (almost 14in). Still needs some love and care, especially the electrical installation. But it works

Apache, curious about your cannon boring set up.  Do you feed the cutter through the headstock perhaps driven like a drill press spindle?  It looks like the barrel is rigidly mounted.  I have a tube that has a heavily rusted bore and I'd like to line but will need to open the bore up a bit and that or similar set up may work for me as well.

On 1/3/2021 at 8:14 PM, mountmyfish said:

Here's my South Bend model 615-A...<<<snippage>>>

mountmyfish, that is a terrible lathe and you will be very sad if you try to use it. Because I am kind and thoughtful, I'll swing by from Monroe and take it off your hands, cheap. That way you won't have to worry about it anymore.

Just joshin ya. That's pretty and I want it. If you come home and it's gone, well, I won't say I stole it, but I will say that there's a good chance I would be in the vicinity of the stealing. <---This is also a joke, but only kinda.

  Ohio, we may very well bump into each other in the dark of night trying to filch that worthless thing....  You may have to help me though, my backs not what it used to be....   You can have the tooling....  

2 hours ago, Nodebt said:

  Ohio, we may very well bump into each other in the dark of night trying to filch that worthless thing....  You may have to help me though, my backs not what it used to be....   You can have the tooling....  

I will fight you for it. And I'm a kicker.