Plus the fact that there are not a whole lot of 10 foot lathes around!
Massive indeed!!
Is it in fact geared or belt driven?
If you don't get answers here, I know a machine dealer out that way in CT
who would probably know, and might be able to take it off your hands.

But, very few hobbyists would be in the market for a lathe that size, and
unless it is in fact a really good manual lathe, not a lot of machine shops
will want it, either. Mebbe a cupla specialty shops doing real long shafts
or sumpn.
Plus factoring in the freight/rigging....

What was yer dad doin w/ such a humongous lathe??
----------------------------
Mr. P.V.'d
formerly Droll Troll
"Shawn" shawn_75ATcomcastDOTnet wrote in message
...
First let me start by saying, I am not a machinist, but I know a little
about the craft.

My dad has a relatively large lathe he is wanting to sell. This lathe has
very few name or data plates and it is quite old. It is made by New Haven
Mfg. in New Haven CT. The bed is approx. 10 feet long and when measuring
from the center of the chuck to the ways it comes to approx 18" (I think
this is the swing).

I've found references to New Haven Mfg. lathes for woodworking but very
little about metal lathes which this one is. It has some similarities to
this one

http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/advert/ay330a.jpg

The gearbox (if you could call it that) it a manual change from my best
guess. This machine is downright massive and hasn't been used much in
many
years.

Does anyone have any info on New Haven Mfg?

What other info would be helpful in determining the identity of this
machine?

This lathe is located in Southwest Pennsylvania.

Thanks,
Shawn

First let me start by saying, I am not a machinist, but I know a little
about the craft.

My dad has a relatively large lathe he is wanting to sell. This lathe has
very few name or data plates and it is quite old. It is made by New Haven
Mfg. in New Haven CT. The bed is approx. 10 feet long and when measuring
from the center of the chuck to the ways it comes to approx 18" (I think
this is the swing).

I've found references to New Haven Mfg. lathes for woodworking but very
little about metal lathes which this one is. It has some similarities to
this one

http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/advert/ay330a.jpg

The gearbox (if you could call it that) it a manual change from my best
guess. This machine is downright massive and hasn't been used much in many
years.

Does anyone have any info on New Haven Mfg?

What other info would be helpful in determining the identity of this
machine?

This lathe is located in Southwest Pennsylvania.

Thanks,
Shawn

In article ,
"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote:

Plus the fact that there are not a whole lot of 10 foot lathes around!

He said 10 foot bed. I've got a pair of 8 foot beds, which sit under
lathes that top out at about 5 feet between centers, both from the late
1800's at best guess, so I imagine his (which sounds similar) is perhaps
6 or 7 feet between centers. The old lathes have head and tailstocks
that take up a lot of real estate on the bed. So it's not _very_ long.
The swing is pretty good, however - if he's measuring 18" from the
center of the chuck to the ways, it's a 36" swing lathe, and that's
handy if you need it. But as an old change gear lathe, it's not sexy for
a lot of shops - hard to make money with in a production shop.

Plus factoring in the freight/rigging....

One always does need to, and the seller must price accordingly if he
wants it to move before he dies and his heirs do. There's a size beyond
which the price can't simply track the increasing size, due to the
difficulty and expense of moving, and this is (IMHO) beyond that "two
guys and pickup truck" limit.

If I were nearer SW Penn, I might be tempted, but I'm already at my
lathe limit until I sell one off, anyway. The old lathe makers often did
not really specialize in wood or metal lathes - you could get the same
bed, with a metal lathe headstock, cross-slide, etc, or with a simpler
setup for woodturning.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote in message
...
Plus the fact that there are not a whole lot of 10 foot lathes around!
Massive indeed!!
Is it in fact geared or belt driven?

It is belt driven

If you don't get answers here, I know a machine dealer out that way in CT
who would probably know, and might be able to take it off your hands.

But, very few hobbyists would be in the market for a lathe that size, and
unless it is in fact a really good manual lathe, not a lot of machine
shops
will want it, either. Mebbe a cupla specialty shops doing real long
shafts
or sumpn.
Plus factoring in the freight/rigging....

What was yer dad doin w/ such a humongous lathe??

My dad and uncle were partners in a welding shop / excavating business with
my dad being the excavating side of the business. The lathe was used almost
exclusively for driveshaft work.

Shawn

"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote:

Plus the fact that there are not a whole lot of 10 foot lathes around!

He said 10 foot bed. I've got a pair of 8 foot beds, which sit under
lathes that top out at about 5 feet between centers, both from the late
1800's at best guess, so I imagine his (which sounds similar) is perhaps
6 or 7 feet between centers. The old lathes have head and tailstocks
that take up a lot of real estate on the bed. So it's not _very_ long.
The swing is pretty good, however - if he's measuring 18" from the
center of the chuck to the ways, it's a 36" swing lathe, and that's
handy if you need it. But as an old change gear lathe, it's not sexy for
a lot of shops - hard to make money with in a production shop.

This lathe would probably fit 7' between centers.


Plus factoring in the freight/rigging....

One always does need to, and the seller must price accordingly if he
wants it to move before he dies and his heirs do. There's a size beyond
which the price can't simply track the increasing size, due to the
difficulty and expense of moving, and this is (IMHO) beyond that "two
guys and pickup truck" limit.

Well I can say that there is sufficient machinery to load it onto the truck.


If I were nearer SW Penn, I might be tempted, but I'm already at my
lathe limit until I sell one off, anyway. The old lathe makers often did
not really specialize in wood or metal lathes - you could get the same
bed, with a metal lathe headstock, cross-slide, etc, or with a simpler
setup for woodturning.


This one is for sure a metal lathe.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

"Shawn" shawn_75ATcomcastDOTnet wrote in
:

First let me start by saying, I am not a machinist, but I know a
little about the craft.

My dad has a relatively large lathe he is wanting to sell. This lathe
has very few name or data plates and it is quite old. It is made by
New Haven Mfg. in New Haven CT. The bed is approx. 10 feet long and
when measuring from the center of the chuck to the ways it comes to
approx 18" (I think this is the swing).

I've found references to New Haven Mfg. lathes for woodworking but
very little about metal lathes which this one is. It has some
similarities to this one

http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/advert/ay330a.jpg

The gearbox (if you could call it that) it a manual change from my
best guess. This machine is downright massive and hasn't been used
much in many years.

Does anyone have any info on New Haven Mfg?

What other info would be helpful in determining the identity of this
machine?

This lathe is located in Southwest Pennsylvania.


The lathe is probably not worth too much. As others have said it would
have little appeal to a commercial shop and is on the big side for
hobby/home use. Hard to say for sure though. If you want more information
on New Haven Manfacturing you might try the American Precision Museum in
Vermont.
http://www.americanprecision.org/
They have fairly extensive archives, unfortuately their web site is
pretty lame compared to what the museum has to offer. Maybe your dad
would be interested in donating it? My guess would be that the lathe
dates from WWI. New Haven was booming with war time production, building
machine tools and producing all sorts of manufactured good for the war
effort. After the war there was simply too much capacity and many firms
went under. IIRC New Haven has a historical society that may be able to
give you a little more history on the company.

--

Dan