In article ,
GTO69RA4 wrote:
See Dropbox for "davis_lathe" and "davis_tools" photos.
For those who don't know its URL by heart, check
http://www.metalworking.com and click on the yellow [ Dropbox ] bar.
Image names (until they eventually get moved into a "retired files"
directory are (for those who prefer to use a tool other than a browser
to download the files for closer examination):
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_lathe1.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_lathe2.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_lathe3.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_lathe4.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_lathe5.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_lathe6.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_lathe7.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_lathe8.JPG
and
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_tools1.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_tools2.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_tools3.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_tools4.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_tools5.JPG
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/davis_tools6.JPG
I noted no explanatory ".txt" file accompanying them. It is
good practice to include such a file. Note that rec.crafts.metalworking
is not the only group which uses the dropbox, so don't depend on others
having seen your article to understand what the photos are about.
It's a rather heavy
12x36 machine from around 1910. The headstock as shown must weigh 125 pounds.
Needs a good cleaning and painting. Came with matching jackshaft and motor
mount in redneck style. Not bad for free.
O.K.
I don't know very much about lathe history, but one thing I've never seen is
that big lever on the headstock. It seems to internally swtich the first stage
of feed gearing among three ratios. Like the predecessor of the quickchange
gearbox. This lathe relys mostly on change gears.
Hmm ... my Clausing has three things which switch the ratio of
the threading/feed leadscrew. The first (in order from headstock to
leadscrew) is a sliding gear with a knurled handle sticking out trough a
hole in the cover. The second (or perhaps third) is a paddle lever on a
vertical shaft sticking out of the top of the quick-change box. The
third (or perhaps second) is the toggle lever on the front. It sounds
as though yours have the second only in that lever on the headstock.
It might help to see a close-up photo of the threading chart
(right-hand upright of the headstock) which might give some clues as to
what is what. It is far from legible in this photo, and would probably
need posting with no quality trade-off and no cropping to remain
legible. Don't bother trying to e-mail the photos to me, they would be
too large, and as such, be rejected by one of my anti-virus features.
It's not quite the gloat I though it was, now that I've gone through the boxes.
No collet hardware other than the collets themselves.
At a first glance, the collets threaded on a wire on top of the
set of collets in the board appear to be stock feed collets -- mounted
to the left of the spindle for feeding bar stock through a lever style
collet closer, so you can feed without having to stop the spindle after
parting off. I could be mis-identifying them, however.
Lots of ancient tapping
heads for a drill press or lathe much larger than this one, and a taper-mounted
turret for a similarly larger machine. One plus is a "Clippit" flat belt
clipping/splicing contraption.
That last looks like something good to have (especially if you
have the clips as well), given the drive pulleys.
Any idea what that compound slide is from? Doesn't fit the compound base well
enough to use. Looks very old.
I'll agree that it looks too large for the cross-slide. Can the
tool bits be adjusted to center height with that compound and the large
lantern-style toolpost?
I see something else which looks interesting. The square rod on
the left side of the cross-slide with the rounded end. There isn't
enough resolution after compressing the images to tell, but is it
threaded? Note the swinging hook below it on the carriage. I think
that with a pair of nuts on it, one knurled and the other perhaps for a
wrench, it can be used as a repeatable depth setting for threading. Swing
the hook up, bring the tool in to just touch the workpiece, run the
knurled nut in until it touches the hook, and tighten the other nut
behind it. This will allow you to back the cross-slide up to clear the
workpiece while running the tool back to the right-hand end of the are
being threaded, and then you crank in until the nut touches again, and
feed a bit more using the compound, and cut your next pass. It would
speed up operations doing single-point threading, and looks a lot more
rigid than the typical threading stops which clamp onto the dovetail
behind the cross-slide.
In the tooling photos, we have: one bucket dogs, one bucket changegears of all
types, one bucket tap heads and turret (visable at top),
I see a follower rest (under the green lampshade -- Tools2), but
I don't see a turret (presumably for the tailstock taper) -- unless it
is under the follower rest. Which photo is it in? Tools6 appears to
have a firm-joint caliper under the other tool bits and debris.
One of the things in the box under the board of collets (Tools4)
looks like a custom gear or pulley puller -- for a single size.
Do you find matching holes on one side of the carriage or the
other to match those in the follower rest?
Looking at the apron, with the gear sticking up from it, I would
guess that there is a matching gear on the cross-feed leadscrew,
accessed through a hole under the carriage. At a guess, the
double-ended ball handle (with no crank) selects between cross and
longitudinal feeds, and the round disc to the right of it is the clutch
which couples the leadscrew to the feeds. This is supported by a keyway
in the leadscrew. It means that you won't need to use (and shouldn't
use) the (worn) half-nuts except when threading.
Are there two or three inverted V-ways on the bed? In any case,
the steady rest (to the right of the carriage -- "Lathe3") doesn't look
designed for that bed, as it has *two* female Vs -- unless it is
intended to turn it around so you can mount it with the steady fingers
to the left or the right.
I presume that the bearing sleeves on the big countershaft
(Lathe7) fit to the support frames (Lathe8). I would guess that the
original plan was for the motor to sit between the two I-beam sections,
with its shaft sticking out through the hole to the right (probably to
the left when properly installed on the lahte), and a smaller pulley on
the motor shaft is V-belted to that gigantic pulley on the countershaft.
(it could also accept a larger motor on the "arms" extending behind it
in the photo.) I think that the intention was to mount it to the wall
behind the lathe, with the "arms" pointing down (which would allow the
motor to be between the mounts, with the pulley sticking out to the left
where the big pulley would be.
I think that I see where the screws from the cradles fit into
the bearing sleeves, but the resolution makes that identification
questionable. I would like some closer photos of just the bearing
sleeves to verify this.
I find the smaller pulley to the right (as shown) interesting --
perhaps to drive some accessory power feed. Or perhaps it is a sliding
actuator for a dog clutch to stop and start the lathe while allowing the
motor to continue running. This sort of thing would be needed with the
original line-shaft power, since a single shaft would be powering many
machines in the shop at the same time.
It looks as though you have a pretty good 4-jaw chuck for the
lathe, but it is missing the backplate -- unless it is in one of the
boxes -- perhaps under the stack of faceplates in the bucket.
Hmm ... the lever (Tools3) to the right of the handle bar on the
left-hand tray) *might* belong to the tailstock -- to clamp or release
the bolt down to a plate below the bed to allow the tailstock to easily
be re-positioned.
One object in the tray to the right of it looks like a plain
miling cutter for a specific gear tooth form -- and a certain range of
tooth counts. You would need a mill and an index head to make proper
use of this, of course.
A lot of the stuff would require a bit more of a hands-on
introduction to have a chance to guess the function.
one box large
toolholders, one tray wrenches and toolholders, one tray of small
parts/cutters/bits/etc, one bucket faceplates and a 3-jaw,
Oh -- is there a 3-jaw under the faceplates? Perhaps also a
backplate for the 4-jaw?
one box misc larger
devices, one tray collets, one large 4-jaw with last work still clamped,
But without a backplate -- unless it is under the faceplates.
one
tray bits and cutters. Also has a follow rest and a very rusty steady rest.
So that's it. I've either got a long project head of me or some possible
income. I'll probably sell most of the accessories that don't fit it, since
they're for something far too large for me to own.
Right now -- I don't see anything in that batch of photos on
which I would be likely to bid -- lacking better identification. I'm
not sure what you are calling "tapping heads". More detailed photos,
excavated from all the other clutter which surrounds them, might allow
better identification.
We'll have to see about
modifying the compound slide or getting something that fits.
How much modification would be needed? Does it work?
Comments on the machine?
Lots of them above -- including guesses -- as best as I can do
based on the photos.
Good Luck,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. |
http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---