Pratt & Whitney bench lathe?
fda...@attglobal.net
Can anyone assist my research into an American-made Pratt & Whitney
bench lathe? (sorry, I don't own one). According to several
illustrations found in old technical books, this lathe is probably
about 8 or 9
inch swing x 18 inches between centers; no power feed or thread
cutting. The headstock contains a three-step pulley for flat leather
belt, probably driven from an overhead lineshaft. I would guess
these lathes were made around 1900. From the accompanying old texts,
I conclude that these P&W lathes were used for precision toolroom
work,
including diemaking for small mechanisms. One illustration shows an
accessory setup for internal grinding - the grinder also driven from
a lineshaft. It looks something like an oversize W&W jewelers lathe.
If it would help,
I can digitize one of these photos and attach it to email. Thanks
for any response. David Anderson
Rex the Wrench
Fdmorrison
>Can anyone assist my research into an American-made Pratt & Whitney
>bench lathe?
What you describe is a bench lathe as was made by many different mfgs around
1890--to? It was configured, probably, with a great deal of input from the
watch industry, and specifically the American Watch Tool Co., of Waltham,
Massachusetts, and Ambrose Webster (one of the WW's).
These were adapted to run collets. Some of them had front spindle bearings
with a short 45 deg angle, then a longer 3 deg body. You can pick up much info
from Lindsay's repro's of early "Machinery" articles. Since many persons still
use these lathes, you probably can find some folks in your area that still do.
P&W probably made many of these, as you surmise, but they are not shown in the
P&W catalog of 1889, which shows small hand (i.e., woodworking),
pattern-makers, and engine lathes. All of these shown in this particular cat.
have a four-step headstock pulley.
Frank Morrison
P&W don't show one of these
mull...@advinc.com
<fda...@attglobal.net> wrote:
>
> Can anyone assist my research into an American-made Pratt & Whitney
> bench lathe?
If it is the lathe I'm thinking of, then I might be able to
answer some specific questions about it, as I happen to own one.
It looks very much like:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/pw/img2.gif
Although the cross-slide is not by P&W, but rather B.C. Ames
instead. Not a bad slide, really.
The lathe takes 3C collets right in the spindle, and has very
high quality spindle bearings - the front ones are cone-shaped
and as such are adjustable for wear.
I bought the machine basically as scrap, and restored it for
use in a small apartment I was living in at the time. The
tailstock was quite worn on the bottom, so I re-made the ram
with an offset center, and scraped the bottom of the tailstock
to fit it back to the bed.
As I said, feel free to ask any specific questions here as I'm
sure this is of general interest to all rcm folks.
Jim
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Tom Martin
centres. I have a catalog that illustrates it & 30 pages of
accessories for it. How can I assist?
Tom
fda...@attglobal.net wrote:
>
> Can anyone assist my research into an American-made Pratt & Whitney
fda...@attglobal.net
reference to http://www.lathes.co.ul/pw/img2.gif. An excellent photo
that shows the letters "Pratt & Whitney" boldly cast into the front of
the bed. It is indeed the lathe for which I am seeking information.
In response to your very agreeable offer, I will gladly pay for
copying and mailing expenses if you are willing to take all that
trouble. It looks like a beautiful precision tool from the turn of
the century. I would love to own one if there are any available out
there. Thanks again, David Anderson.
"Tom Martin" <tma...@xtra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:3A18ACEE...@xtra.co.nz...