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I was looking for a small metal lathe to make parts with, and found this on Craigslist, and I am super curious if anybody here might know what it was for!
MY urge is to lay it on its side and use it to lap my stones flat! =P
Copy reads "made in 1917 72" diameter with an 87" bed " and calls it a 'Pattern Lathe"
My best guess is it was for truing wheels for locomotives. Any old machinist here have any ideas?
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interesting! we have some old machinists around here (Geezer) he might show up and give some info. i'd be interested to know too.
Send Benz a PM, here;
http://straightrazorpalace.com/members/benz.html
Looks like something to resurface flywheels. Looks plenty heavy!
Roy--A clue here is "Pattern Lathe" which leads me to believe it was used in the foundry trade for making casting patterns. I see no use for the thing for the shaving hobby but it might make a good rotary welding table.Quote:
Originally Posted by cudarunner
Well, yea, not good for anything razor related but still got my attention!Quote:
Originally Posted by Benz
Here is a view of the tool post. Sometimes its a clue to its use...
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Do you have any views of the backside? A good place to search for information on this particular machine is practicalmachinist.com
It looks like a large faceplate lathe. The faceplate has all manners of hole patterns for bolting portions of a circle like parts to it. Such parts might be used as bolt on counterweights for large engines, steam engine flywheels and the like. Each different size of part would have it's own hole pattern for bolts and depending on the size of the flywheel it was meant for, it would have to be bolted to the exact same diameter as the flywheel for machining.
As both feed axis are hand powered, no fancy turning would have been possible, unlike most engine lathes today that have powered/geared feeds that can accurately turn threads and such.
This type of lathe would not be used today as CNC mills could handle such work with ease. In mass production, CNC lathe/mill combos can turn a flywheel with counterweights in one piece without breaking a sweat, similar to how they do engine crank shafts.
I'm going to guess that the hole patterns in the face plate is what gives the lathe it's name.
As Benz said, it is a pattern lathe, but maybe more information is needed for those non machinist or non metal casters.
A pattern lathe is used to make the wooden pattern of a metal part that is to be sand casted. The wooden pattern is made and banged into the sand to make the impression for the metal part. Once the impression is made with the wooden pattern, the wooden pattern is removed, the sand form sides are joined, and liquid metal is poured into the hollow space in the sand made by banging the wooden pattern into it.
Greatly simplified, but that is basically how the casting technique works and why a pattern lathe is used.
Interesting..... I looked at the cutter and it looked to me like a high speed steel cutter ground for cutting metal and not wood, but I could be wrong. Strangely enough, I've been wrong before.:gaah:
Second, the maximum hight of a ring pattern turned on that faceplate might be 6" - 8". I'm struggling to imagine what would be cast like that, except for perhaps collars for sewer lids and safe doors or some such? The raised centre portion of the face place precludes something solid and full thickness in the centre.
Then again, many patterns for sand casting are made modular and pieced together before making the mold. I've only been in one foundry some 40 years ago in Norway, the molds were so large they used pits in the ground to make them.
It's a unique lathe for sure, and since my posting, I've tried to find references to my initial thoughts, but I have had zero luck.
The odd thing is, that as far as I know, wood patterns were turned with hand held chisels and scrapers using a tool rest. Even the Metal Spinner guys mostly use wood scrapers and a tool rest on a lathe for shaping the wood patterns they spin metal on. The face plate on this lathe is quite thick for turning wood patterns... but it may be a "one off" lathe unless it has manufacturers stamp and model number?
I never worked in the casting industry and while my memory is going "soft", I don't recall seeing such a lathe at the foundry I visited. I do remember they considered any steel plate less than 6" thick to be sheet metal, and 6" thick plates were cold rolled into pipes by one man using a crane and vertical rollers and later the seam was welded in one pass with a motorized crawling arc welder. Castings of cylinders for large ships were allowed to "season" in the outdoor yard for 10 years before being turned to size.
Regards
Kaptain "I may be loosing it" Zero
I agree that the tooling looks like its designed for cutting steel. I was once offered a job at the LIRR in the machine shop, because they were looking for people to replace the retirees, and nobody young had any clue how to run the machine for truing the wheels for the cars. At least thats what i was told. And thats what I thought of when I saw this big puppy. That maybe it was for working big wheels.
Im still unsure about it, and will continue to research, for no other reason than my curiosity demands it.
MY 2 cents.... It is for making large gear casting patterns. A pizza shop I used to go to had 10 or so patterns hanging on the wall. With all those holes they could layout the teeth, spokes, and circles and then spin the circumference to precision specs. Hows that for a guess :<0)
I did some more poking around on the net and see that this lathe has been discussed several times on another forum, notibly the practicalmachinist who would likely have some keen gents with knowlege about big iron machinery.
Skimming through the posts it appears they think it might be a one off item. Purpose built rather than for general use. Anyone interested might want to check out this thread: Cast Iron Pattern Lathe - Boston CL
I don't think we'll ever know what it really was meant to do.... which is a real pity.
Whether it is for wood patterns or direct metal lathing, we may never know.
One thing to think about though is the dimensions of the stock it can work on. What is metal, 72 feet in diameter, less than 12 inches thick, and has a center hole of at least 8 inches? Answer that question and you will know what it is used for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by criswilson10
72'? :p
I know you meant 72".... I'm just having a touch of fun at your expense!
