"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article .com,
jmiguez
says...

I am new to this site. I found it while searching for information on
my lathe. A number of years ago I became the third generation owner of
a Sennca Falls 10" Star (?) lathe. The lathe was build somewhere
around 1900.

I have used it mostly for woodworking and occasionally turning down a
shaft to size. Recently, I became interested in doing more with metal
working and started reading old lathe books, such as the Amateur's
Lathe by L.H Sparey, to learn how to operate the lathe.

My lathe does not have a compound tool rest. How important is this
rest in lathe work? Can one be fitted on to it lathe? Does anyone
know where I might find a compound rest for the Sennca Falls lathe?
How complicated would it be to do light milling on the machine? I
apologize for all the questions. I have no one I can turn to for
answers.

A good place to look would be the practical machinst board. See:

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi

and in particular look at the antique sections, there is currently
a thread running there about seneca falls lathes, and one guy g
even owns one like yours, without a compound rest.

http://www.metalworking.com/DropBox/_2000_retired_files/Seneca2.jpg

You could do milling on a machine like that with something like a
palmgren attachment. Very light milling.

Weren't they patternmaker's lathes? I've only seen one, and I thought that's
what it was.

--
Ed Huntress