This Old Lathe

This Old Lathe

a project unexpected, but most welcome...

Enclosed in this box is a lathe that has made it's way from the fair state of Virginia, courtesy of one Kirk D.

Kirk has been good enough to take me under his wing since I started the original Lathe project well over a year ago.

As I readily admit and still contend, I'm a weekend warrior, and only know for a fact that I really know very little... Kirk has been a valuable resource, without whom I would never have taken the original as far as I did.

He did a masterful job of crating the beast, with cedar shims between metal on metal surfaces bolted together and plenty of 2x2 cross members.

Between us we looked at a few ways to get the Lathe across the border as cheaply as possible.

A few tips for anybody that has to ship an article like this... UPS seems to have the most competitive rate (provided you use a true UPS outlet & NOT an agent that is looking for 50 to 100% markup)...

Also declare the goods as "Used, with No Commercial Value, worth approx $20" as to insurance, I would guess it will raise eye-brows @ customs if you insure it for $200 after saying it's worth $20...

Kirk was good enough to set me up with lots of tooling that I needed...

The most significant is the 3 Jaw Chuck, as I simply hated using the perpetually off-centered 2 jaw chuck on the original.

There are also numerous driving dogs, cutting bits and even a boring bar.

The lathe was stripped right down and scrubbed with a degreasing agent to remove years of grease, grit and rust. After toweling the whole lathe dry and masking off all sliding surfaces and stuffing threaded holes with tissue it was painted with 3 coats of an Exterior Enamel type paint... Normally I like "Armour Coat" as it cures to a very durable gloss surface. I decided to try WalMarts "Rust-Proof" house brand which was close to 1/3 cheaper than the Armour Coat. The colour is a bit darker than I wanted but seemed to be identical otherwise.

Obviously the parts above are from the lathe, and are also scrubbed, masked and painted.

I made good use of the plywood from the crate, doubled-up to provide a much flatter surface for the Lathe to be bolted down on.

After going over every inch of this machine, the only identification I could find were the words "Utility Lathe" that I accented with some silver paint. If you know what type or model this baby is PLEASE drop me a line, as I would like to find additional change gears and what ever else I can for it. There are a couple of questions I also have about the type of taper for the tail stock etc...

All slide surfaces have been lightly sanded to remove any rust, and every friction point has been greased or oiled... All that's left to find or make is a 3 step Flat pulley to mate to the spindle from the counter shaft, and a backplate for the Chuck as well as a driving plate...

In closing, again I'm most grateful for this most excellent donation to "theworkshop.ca"... to help keep a balance in the universe I've just given away my original melting furnace and the lathe that was it's spawn to a most deserving friend, and so it goes.

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