My Lathe - Old Iron

[Paul Atkins]

Thanks Matt. My 'big lathe' is an American Sawmill Manufacturing lathe made in the 20's I'm guessing and has bronze bushings also. Smooth. It has been added to so I can turn 9' long. The company before I had it put on a carriage with linear bearings and a compound. Doesn't weigh as much as that one of yours though. I use it almost every day.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I don't know what the original spindle thread was, but the previous owner had it remachined to 1.5" x 8 TPI. The outboard end of the shaft is 2.125"x 7 TPI. Oddball for sure.

Cool stuff Paul. It's good to hear that there may be columns in my future yet. I actually use my NOVA lathe more than the big one, mainly cuz of the speed limitations of the Rollstone, and the fact that I've been doing a lot of smaller spindle work. BUT.....once I get the drive system upgraded I will probably be back on the big 'un most of the time. Pretty much all my bowls are made on the Rollstone.

Actually, I may go and rough out some bowls right now.....

Hutch

[Matt Ranum]

That definitely is cool old iron, thing is massive!

[Steve Vaughan]

Thanks for those pics! I love the old stuff and this one reminds me of an old, similar lathe my uncle, Mr. Mac, used. He made solid mahogany furniture most all his life, and when he died back in the 90's at 95 years old, he was still 2 years behind in orders. Long as I knew him, he was that far behind. He used his lathe, about an 8' bed, to turn bedposts, table columns and legs. Those old tools are just cool to touch and look at, and use when you can! Thanks again!

[James Boster]

Very nice lathe Matt. Gotta love the old arn. I have a homemade lathe that I have used for years but always wanted something bigger even though the homemade one will do 18"x48" and 96" long with a 4' extension. Here is a pic of it without the extension:


Just not quite heavy enough for large stuff though. So after several years of searching I came home with this:

It's an Oliver #66. 5500#, 7 1/2 hp. The bed opens up to allow 48" diameter inboard turning and 8' between centers. With the bed closed it still has a 30" diameter capacity. It is small compared to Olivers #26 but plenty big enough for me. I am currently getting it set up and wired. Picture is from sellers location when I picked it up. That's a 6000# rated forklift we used to load it for scale.

Ian, any good machinist should be able to make you an adapter, however it is time consuming so they can get pricey. I had some made for my Oliver but it was by a friend who owed me some favors. Mine are 1 7/8" x 6 threads inside and 1 1/4" x 8 outside. Wished I had him to do a couple with 1 1/2" on the outside. I had several made and have a few to sell if they will work on someones lathe. He was using a CNC lathe so it was not so hard to make multiples after machine was programmed:

[charlie knighton]

thanks for sharing, cool

[Matt Hutchinson]

Hey James,

That is one cool Oliver lathe! Actually, I wish I had a little more money laying around, cuz just a week or two ago an Oliver #26 was up for auction on eBay. A mere $9500 would have gotten it (it had a buy it now option), and it had recently been refurbished and painted. I wanted it so badly.....it's my dream lathe. 15 feet between centers with a 26" swing (or something like that), or 80" between centers at a 60" swing over the gap. Just an incredible machine!!

Hutch

[Paul Atkins]

Some pen turner probably got it ----

[Matt Hutchinson]

Lol! That's hilarious......