# Any info on this setup?



## Nathan W (May 27, 2018)

My gut told me to grab this thing last week at a yard sale. I have never owned or used a lathe before now. It was in a cardboard box with a bunch of miscellaneous pulleys. I spent a little time cleaning it up and mounted it beside my Jointer (they will be sharing a motor for the time being). I cannot find any info online that matches what I have. I turned a piece of 1” square cedar into a dowel, so it has that going for it. Pleas help me figure out what I have here, please let me know how to use it. 

Thanks,
Nate


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## Nathan W (May 27, 2018)

I also made my first mushroom!


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## Ray D (May 27, 2018)

Looks like an antique metal lathe but not sure of the brand. No data plate on it?

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Ray D (May 27, 2018)

Definitely missing the tool holder..probably other parts as well. You probably already know this. Very cool find.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Nathan W (May 27, 2018)

The only thing close to an identifier are the partial stickers pictured.


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## DKMD (May 27, 2018)

You’re first peckermill! Congrats!

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 2


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## Nathan W (May 27, 2018)

s this not at least a portion of the tool holder?


Ray D said:


> Definitely missing the tool holder..probably other parts as well. You probably already know this. Very cool find.




 This piece is attached to a threaded rod on the bed. There is a small crank allowing you to adjust towards or away from the head/tail and also towards or away from the work piece.


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## Ray D (May 27, 2018)

That’s where the tool holder would mount.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Ray D (May 27, 2018)

Google antique metal lathes. Something similar should come up.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Ray D (May 27, 2018)



Reactions: Informative 1


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## Ray D (May 27, 2018)

Obviously not the same one but similar. You can see the tool holder in the picture.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Spinartist (May 27, 2018)

http://vintagemachinery.org/

May find info on this site.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Ray D (May 27, 2018)

A better picture of the tool holder.


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## Ray D (May 27, 2018)

http://www.lathes.co.uk/craftsman/page5.html


Another good link

Reactions: Like 1


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## Nathan W (May 27, 2018)

Ray D said:


> Obviously not the same one but similar. You can see the tool holder in the picture.[/QUOTE
> Pretty damn close! They guy I bought it from was about 75-80, he said his grandpa made it. His grandpa was a machinist. Are there any reasons I cannot turn wood on this? I already have, and nobody died!


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## Sprung (May 27, 2018)

I did a little digging and what you have there is a 6x18 metal lathe from Double A Products. It can be seen in their 1937 catalog, found here. A little information on the manufacturer can be found here.

The pulley on yours is mounted in the wrong spot - it should be inbetween the two ends of the headstock.

It appears that many of their machines were made for and sold by Sears. If you want some help digging deeper, the OWWM.org forums might be a good place. Especially if you're trying to locate parts - that might be easier said than done on an old lathe with very little listed about it.

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## Sprung (May 27, 2018)

Also, it can be seen in this ad from 1939.


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## rocky1 (May 27, 2018)

I'm gonna guess a Baby Grand Metal Lathe manufactured by Watson manufacturing of Toledo, Ohio. History on that here... 

http://www.lathes.co.uk/babygrand/ 

Don't see that particular tailstock, but the headstock, and gearing are very similar. And, look a great deal like the one Matt listed above. The Watson chuck would be more in line with this one.


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## Sprung (May 27, 2018)

From the same site Rocky linked, here's some more info on Double A Products and the lathe I think you have (and details on how it progressed in models over time.) The tool holders look largely unchanged over time, so I wonder if the tool holder from a later model would fit. http://www.lathes.co.uk/craftsman/page5.html

And, sorry Rocky, even if I take my glasses off and squint hard enough to blur my vision, I can't see a close enough resemblance between Nathan's lathe and that Baby Grand one you linked to think they were even closely the same!

Reactions: Funny 2


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## rocky1 (May 27, 2018)

It doesn't look like a baby lathe to me. The bed on his is way longer than the baby grand, it is however most definitely the Watson 4 jaw chuck shown bottom of the pictures on my link.


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## rocky1 (May 27, 2018)

Looking at the link to that site that Ray provided up there, is a real eye opener! Brand new hobbyist metal/wood lathe for $4.50! 

Nathan looking these things over, if you anticipate using this thing to turn metal at all, it appears there should be more pulleys reducing speed for that purpose. As a wood lathe you might get by with the 4 speeds, but I have to wonder what your slowest speed is as configured, and how safe you are if you start out with a piece that's out of balance. How big is the pulley on your motor and the pulleys on the lathe?


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## Nathan W (May 27, 2018)

Sprung said:


> I did a little digging and what you have there is a 6x18 metal lathe from Double A Products. It can be seen in their 1937 catalog, found here. A little information on the manufacturer can be found here.
> 
> The pulley on yours is mounted in the wrong spot - it should be inbetween the two ends of the headstock.
> 
> It appears that many of their machines were made for and sold by Sears. If you want some help digging deeper, the OWWM.org forums might be a good place. Especially if you're trying to locate parts - that might be easier said than done on an old lathe with very little listed about it.



Thank you! I really thought I had exhausted all of the internets resources.

I put the pulley in the wrong place. That explains why I had to remove the pulley from the threaded tool “rod” to prevent interference.

The working area is exactly 18” with head and tail fully extended. I think I can work close to 6” diameter.

I have no intentions of working with metal. Should I pass this along to someone who will or is there potential for quality wood pieces to be mad


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## Nathan W (May 27, 2018)

rocky1 said:


> Looking at the link to that site that Ray provided up there, is a real eye opener! Brand new hobbyist metal/wood lathe for $4.50!
> 
> Nathan looking these things over, if you anticipate using this thing to turn metal at all, it appears there should be more pulleys reducing speed for that purpose. As a wood lathe you might get by with the 4 speeds, but I have to wonder what your slowest speed is as configured, and how safe you are if you start out with a piece that's out of balance. How big is the pulley on your motor and the pulleys on the lathe?



I have no desire to work metal. Not on my free time. I would like to use this in an attempt to produce some wooden chess pieces. 

I have almost no monetary investment in this machine. Nor do I have investment resources to purchase a wood lathe. 

I really appreciate the concern. I used the existing remains of the tool rest to test this thing out(a little sketchy at best). Any ideas on what to use as a tool rest for wood? Should I even use this machine to turn wood. 

Thanks again,
Nate


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## rocky1 (May 27, 2018)

It's possible Nate however, with Parts missing on your tool holder... it's going to require finding parts or fabricating parts to use as one would a metal lathe, or you'd have to find a tool rest to use it as one would use a wood lathe. Using a metal lathe for wood work, one can turn pieces with amazing accuracy. Know a call maker that uses one, and his calls are top shelf, every time. 

Next issue would be, most data suggests these old lathes were all MT1 taper and most new wood lathes are MT2, so any tooling should you buy to fit this, would be obsolete and need to be replaced if you were to upgrade to a new wood lathe in time. Finding wood working stuff in MT1 taper can be an issue at times too. There is however a MT1 to MT2 adapter available for not a lot of money. 

Chuck on this one is pretty iffy for most wood work, but for turning chess pieces from dowels, you could probably get by with it. 

Mostly a matter of what you can find/improvise to make a tool holder/rest whole again.


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## Sprung (May 27, 2018)

Nate, you could certainly make it work to turn wood and set it up to do such. But, honestly, I think you would be much happier with a wood lathe.

Also, Rocky mentioned tooling. It will be difficult if you want to tool this one up with woodturning tooling. It appears that this lathe isn't even MT1, but rather MT0.

I do see that there are some missing parts in the tool holder and it also appears that the bed of the lathe is broken and missing pieces in at least two spots, which is also concerning.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Nathan W (May 28, 2018)

!!!!This just in!!!! Nearly obsolete vintage metal lathe up for trade. Offers accepted will be of the wood turning type. Just kidding, I think I will tinker with it for a while. If there is anyone interested in a I would consider trading towards woodworking tools.


rocky1 said:


> It's possible Nate however, with Parts missing on your tool holder... it's going to require finding parts or fabricating parts to use as one would a metal lathe, or you'd have to find a tool rest to use it as one would use a wood lathe. Using a metal lathe for wood work, one can turn pieces with amazing accuracy. Know a call maker that uses one, and his calls are top shelf, every time.
> 
> Next issue would be, most data suggests these old lathes were all MT1 taper and most new wood lathes are MT2, so any tooling should you buy to fit this, would be obsolete and need to be replaced if you were to upgrade to a new wood lathe in time. Finding wood working stuff in MT1 taper can be an issue at times too. There is however a MT1 to MT2 adapter available for not a lot of money.
> 
> ...





Sprung said:


> Nate, you could certainly make it work to turn wood and set it up to do such. But, honestly, I think you would be much happier with a wood lathe.
> 
> Also, Rocky mentioned tooling. It will be difficult if you want to tool this one up with woodturning tooling. It appears that this lathe isn't even MT1, but rather MT0.
> 
> I do see that there are some missing parts in the tool holder and it also appears that the bed of the lathe is broken and missing pieces in at least two spots, which is also concerning.


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## rocky1 (May 28, 2018)

Sounds like a plan. Wish I could tell you I found you a cheap one on Craiglist in your area, but folks out there are insane when it comes to wood lathes. Found a couple Craftsman lathes up in KC $100 - $150 but that's it. Those I could buy down here for half that.

Reactions: Like 1


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