Unknown lathe on Ebay

[EugeneParticipant @eugene]

Pondering the chain drive, the question is "Why?" The possible answer is "Because it was there".

Given that the whole thing looks like a foreigner or a home build by a very skilled man, I'd hazard a guess at someone with access to lots of buckshee sprockets and chain. So a toolroom guy from Raleigh in Notts, or given the suggestion of a Birmingham connection from Tony's site, Phillips or Dawes in Brum.

My late father was a fireman in the Blitz, and worked shifts at Phillips when he was off duty; gee I hope this thing doesn't go for a song, I'll feel I've deserted The Old Man.

I'm going to put a snipe bid in and then not look until the auction ends…. SWMBO will skin me alive!

Eug

[egaParticipant @ega]

Ajohnw:

Fair comment by you. If the 1797 Maudslay was the invention of the screwcutting lathe then, by definition, it was ahead of its time generally.

Michael Gilligan:

Thanks for the Maudslay link; I see that there is a wealth of related material on the site concerned. Interesting in the light of Michael Walters' comment about the form of slides that Maudslay's early lathes had prismatic beds. So far as I know, these were made the hard way ie by hand with hammer, chisel, file and scraper.

Edited By ega on 12/03/2016 14:40:02

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by Ajohnw on 12/03/2016 11:12:16:

I'm not so sure he always does have the right data Rod. One thing on lathes in general is that slide rests appeared more recently than hand turning rests. That I suspect might make it more recent than 1820 for this sort of lathe.

The gunfight in the ok corral was in 1881. Who knows what went on generally with company registration in this period and before it.

The American machine tool industry was based on the eastern side of the US – somewhat different from the lawless situation in Arizona.

The Barnes lathe seems to me to be absolutely typical of mass produced lathes from the latter part of the 19th century and very little in common with lathes from 1820. The Oz lathe even has a name plate identifying the model number, 4 1/2, as illustrated on Tony's site. What is there about the Oz lathe that would identify it to 1820 apart from the seller's description? (which are notoriously unreliable).

Rod

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

I think the planer came about roughly the same time as cast iron lathes ega. Same as a shaper except the table usually moves. The only time I have seen a replacement cross slide for a lathe being made at work it was on a shaper. Piece of rope along the ram to lift the clapper box on the return stroke. However the joker who had the first try was reading a paper while doing it – bang on a huge Butler. Shapers haven't been used much for a long time but well known for producing accurate flat surfaces. Planers are much the same and all of this vaunted scraping in my opinion is purely cosmetic unless it's used to repair a slide and has been for a very long time.

Some how as metal has been around for rather a long times I doubt if anyone can really claim to have invented the metal lathe really. Not a person that we are aware of anyway.

People claim all sorts. I'm reminded of someone that claimed to have invented involute gear teeth not all that long ago when they have been around in Europe for a very very long time.

John

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[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Holtzapffel were making lathes before the end of eighteenth century… they made ones in the mid-nineteenth that were far more complex than the machines most of us mere mortals have.

Neil

[egaParticipant @ega]

Roderick Jenkins:

I wouldn't know about Gumtree's reputation for accuracy but many of the descriptions on eBay are absurd and often accompanied by a "disclaimer" to the effect that the vendor knows nothing about the item they are selling.

Roe (the book I mentioned above) says that W F & John Barnes were established in Rockford, Illinois in 1872 but did not begin making lathes until some years after so 1820 certainly seems to be wrong.

Edited By ega on 12/03/2016 15:27:18

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

The disclaimer is very popular on ebay in Germany ega. Much more so but it doesn't get round Ebay's terms and conditions associated with used. Or the remote selling laws. Ebay give a good description of what used means and will back people up if things don't measure up. Personally I wish they would go back to removing listings that say cash only as once some one has parted with cash they are likely to find it difficult to do anything about it.

There are plenty of sharks about in many areas including model engineering. Many people in that area know little about the items they are buying and those that do may find it difficult to test a machine exactly as they would like to if they visit to try it out. I've looked at lots and it's surprising how often that happens. I usually walk away or figure out what it would cost to fix what ever it is that is likely to be in need of replacement.

John

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[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

ega [and any other Maudsley fans],

Slightly off the present topic, but; you might like this

MichaelG.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Michael Gilligan:

Many thanks for this fascinating link which I have skimmed and bookmarked for later perusal. The little I know about Maudslay makes me think that, in his own way, he was a genius – how tragic that his life was untimely ended!

[Author]

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