# Lathe Trade



## Oldmechthings (Feb 22, 2008)

One day when I was visiting with my friend George in Brigham City he offered me a box of cast iron stuff because he knew I was a collector of such things. He said he had already discarded most of it, but I could have what was left over. When I got home and sorted it out I determined that it was the clutch pulleys for an old overhead line shaft lathe, his lathe in fact. He had moved the motor down onto the bench with the lathe. What he had discarded were all the hanger bearings, etc. The next time I seen him, I told him that I really appreciated the pulleys, but what I really wanted now, was his lathe. He had already upgraded to a new 13 x 40 Grizzly lathe, so working out a trade was not too difficult. A little more than an equal amount of iron in the form of an old drill grinder and a drill press did the job.







The lathe, by the way was built by Champion Blower and Forge. It looks very much like a South Bend, so that was probably the predecessor of that line. Don't know the date of manufacture, but would suspect it to be 75 to 100 years old. I welded up a stand and painted it flat black to look like the old cast iron stands. For its age it is still in pretty good shape, but of course I only use it for display purposes.






Then looking at pictures in old catalogs I made patterns and cast replica hanger bearings and supported them from a framework near the ceiling. It is nothing like a full length line shaft in a factory, but at least it gives visitors an idea of how things were powered. I have it powered with a 1908, 3/4 hp repulsion-induction motor barely visible in the picture. It is huge, probably as big as a present day 10 hp motor. It has that wonderful old whiney sound, that only old people know about.
      Birk


----------



## ChooChooMike (Feb 22, 2008)

Thanks for a blast from the past. There's not many of the line-shaft machine shop around anymore - real or replica. I've seen a few real ones - Railtown 1897 State Historic Park Railroad museum near Sacramento,

http://www.csrmf.org/railtown/default.asp

old mining-related stuff and a few replicas - Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham, MA, 

http://www.crmi.org/

Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum near San Diego, CA 

http://www.agsem.com/

and others I can't remember.

There's probably more around, be cool to see/use the machines like they did in the old(er) days !

Mike


----------



## Brass_Machine (Feb 22, 2008)

At the fairgrounds near us there is an antique machine and engine club. They have a bunch of the over head line machines. I drool every year we go to the fair when they do their displays. Next year I will get some pictures of it.

Eric


----------



## Oldmechthings (Feb 22, 2008)

When I was a young man, still living at home, one of my first paying jobs was working at a steam powered sugar factory. In fact that is where I earned the money to buy my wife's engagement ring. It had two big Corless engines on the ground floor with over 20 foot diameter flywheels and huge rope drives that went up to the second floor, and from there, line shafts, pulleys, and belts all over the place. My first experience in seeing it was probably when I was kindergarten age. My mother brought lunch to my dad who was working there. She handed me the lunch pail, and sent me in "alone" with it. (No OSHA those days) I had to go up to the send floor on an open stairway right over one of those big engines thumping away. You could look right down between the steps and watch the engine. For such a little boy I cannot tell you how scary it was, with the smell of steam, and oil, and the processing operation making sugar, but at the same time what a thrill. I assure you it was an adventure of a lifetime. As I grew older it became more a more common thing. They also had a maintenance machine shop that was line shaft operated by one smaller engine, so yes, I have been exposed to the real thing.
     Birk


----------



## Kactiguy (Feb 22, 2008)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sSXPC2AL_o[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6PUDaN3Rg4[/ame]


----------



## rake60 (Feb 22, 2008)

Now that's a treasure!
I love the old machines.

I had an old Garvin No.1 Screw Machine here for awhile.
The patent date on it was 1889, and the company failed in 1925.
I'd have to assume it was made sometime between those dates.

For lack of space, I sold it to a collector a couple years back.
I still regret that move...

Rick


----------

