yet another lathe ID ?

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

I've just been given this venerable beast, 6 x 12 aprox, maybe a Portass X ?
Any thoughts?

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Weigh it in, as they say although scrap prices are not good at the moment.

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

I just can't do it Kwil, the round bits go round, the screwy bits screw. It's a nice simple solid thing.
I may pass it on to my bro-in-law who's now housebound, he desperately needs a project or he'll go mad. He can spend weeks de-rusting and polishing

[Paul NarramoreParticipant @paulnarramore61033]

An obvious question John. Does the lathe have any I/D plates or cast-in names which would help with the identification? For some reason it reminds me of an elderly Myford I also have. It's in a similar condition and I must did it out and see if I can get it going.

(Later) Go to the Lathes website and have a look at the Portass Junior and the Gamages lathes as they are similar to yours.

Edited By Paul Narramore on 14/10/2015 19:45:25

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Check out Zyto on the lathes website.

Mike

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

That is absolutely identical to my Portass "S", even to the (non-original) colour. You have a few bits missing but otherwise I had to have a double take. Mine actually says Portass on the front but that's the only difference I can see.

I've seen a few very similar ones on here but this is the closest ever.

Murray

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

You may be right Murray
No makers marks of any sort, not even holes where a plate may have been.
I'm gradually working my way through the lathes.co.uk pages.
Various parts missing, back gears, banjo and dog clutch. They tell me they only threw the motor and layshaft away last week , grrr.
It will go to a good home.
"We never put a good lathe down"
If you would like to sponsor a homeless lathe and receive regular updates on its progress……….

Edited By john carruthers on 15/10/2015 07:27:00

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

On these machines the name was cast into the front face. If you had one you wouldn't be able to miss it.

I got mine when I was 14 and wouldn't have been able to afford anything better. Cost me £14 and gave me years of passable service. In the ME way, I managed all sorts of unfeasible jobs on it. The most outrageous was probably a full sized baseball bat made from a fence post, with the rear centre positioned about 2 feet away from the lathe and the tool cantilevered way out.

Hope you can find a grateful recipient. If you can't figure out what the missing parts look like I may be able to help you. Can't give you any photos, though, as I'm on the other side of the world from it right now.

Murray

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

Thanks for the offer, might need it eventually. The bro-in-law is getting busy with the wire wool and parafin.
Part cleaned, it looks like it's never been used, just neglected.

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

Give a man a fish…. etc
But give him a rusty lathe and you won't see him for days

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by john carruthers on 15/10/2015 07:04:41:

I'm gradually working my way through the lathes.co.uk pages.

Have you got to R yet? Have a look at the RandA page. Possibly badge engineered for Gamages.

HTH

Rod

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi John, Rod could be on the right track. Although the badge RandA didn't seem to be used on production models, I have one where the RandA badge is cast into the bed, however the headstock is a separate casting and is made of bronze or maybe gunmetal. I have no idea if this is how it was made like this at the factory or if someone who had it originally broke the original headstock and had a new one made and fitted it to the bed after cutting the original one off, but it was shimmed up with a W.D. & H.O. Wills Woodbine cigarette packet and a short piece of thin copper.

Bond's O' Euston Road did the same model and called it the "Bond's Maximus" which was apparently a slightly modified Portass Model S **LINK**

I have more photos of this RandA I have, so if you would like to see them let me know.

Regards Nick.

P. S. I don't know what year the advert for the Bond's lathe is from, but in the same catalogue castings for a few of LBSC locos where available including "Olympiade" which was described in Model Engineer from July to December 1938.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 17/10/2015 10:24:41

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

Thank you gents, so many similar lathes around. Seems they supplied many firms who badged or reworked them.
It's down to the details of the casting and fittings.
I foresee a similar quandary for people in the future trying to identify an Asian 7x lathe.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Catalogue pictures were usually retouched, and adding 'cast in' logos was not unknown. Photoshopping isn't new…

Neil

> I foresee a similar quandary for people in the future trying to identify an Asian 7x lathe.

It's hard enough in the present

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

Getting there, he's cut some Vs in the 3 step pulley, mmmm.

Edited By john carruthers on 21/10/2015 07:43:31

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by john carruthers on 21/10/2015 07:42:19:

… he's cut some Vs in the 3 step pulley, mmmm.

.

No offence intended, John, but; in my opinion that was a bad move.

Still; at least he is rescuing it from oblivion.

MichaelG.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

If I was going to modify a lathe with flat pulleys, I'd go for poly V belts, and possibly 2 or 3 extra sizes, each pulley could easily take 2 sizes.

Ian S C

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

A man after my own heart! I put 3 vees into mine too, although I machined them on the machine itself using a temporary drive pulley (a pushchair wheel). I'm not sentimental and vees are self-tightening so seemed appealed from an engineering POV. Mind you, 5 flats and a poly V sounds like a good idea. One advantage of the vee pulley is that you can use the segmented belts and avoid dismantling the spindle.

I made a lever-operated 2-speed countershaft clutch for mine based around a large Tufnol pulley and pressed steel friction disk.

Apart from the oversized chuck and the missing cast-in name on the front, this is eerily reminiscent of my own.

Be careful not to overtighten the headstock bearings. There is another recent thread on here about that in which I describe the fix on my machine….

Murray

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Ian S C on 21/10/2015 11:24:54:

If I was going to modify a lathe with flat pulleys, I'd go for poly V belts

.

Me too, Ian … Although, on a small machine like this, in the first instance, I would have probably only bothered grooving the drive pulleys on the countershaft [or motor]; because experience has shown that the traction of Poly V belt ribs on a 'flat belt' pulley is surprisingly good. … If it doesn't work, the pulleys can be grooved later.

MichaelG.

 

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 21/10/2015 12:41:20

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

Poly V belts would certainly be a more elegant solution, but the deed is done.
I think he was swayed by having a tea chest full of old V pulleys.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Just found some photos of my Portass S being restored. As I said, it's eerily similar to the OP's photo. If you look closely at the top of the first photo you can see a pushchair wheel (sans tyre) and pulley which I used as a temporary countershaft. I later use the smaller pulley mounted directly on the spindle to allow me to machine Vs into the flat pulley.

The faceplate slotting (using hand held drill and files) is almost completed in the bottom picture. I ended up mounting it on wooden blocks, raising it about 4" above the steel chip tray. I left the tailstock bolts fairly loose to avoid twisting the bed. Probably not really necessary but seemed like a good idea at the time. Next I made a sensitive drilling machine from steel sections (hacksaws, drills, taps and the lathe) and later a rack feed head for it using a Morris Minor steering rack.

Nowadays I prefer to buy the tools and make stuff with them but I was brassic then, being 14 at the time, so had to make and mend my own tools. The lathe cost me £14 – this would be the mid 70s…..

Murray

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

Thank you for the pictures Murray, they will give him something to aim for and make a good reference.
After a thorough clean and inspection it looks like it has never been used, or if it has then for very few hours. The headstock bearing brasses still have the 'cross hatching' inside and there are obvious scraper marks showing on the bed. All the arises are clean not a dink on it.
Could be as late as the '50's?

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

I have an advert from 1914 that appears to show this model. I believe the price was 1 pound 15 shillings(??). I didn't think they sold it as late as the 50s but I'm not an expert on that.

Sounds as if yours is a fine example and hardly used. If you were to look at mine in the flesh you'd see that it had had a fair bit of use. Still worked adequately for my purposes…

Murray

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