Vintage Lathes
As a direct result of my association with the good folks at Shenandoah Planing Mill, where the architectural and furniture turnings part of my business is now located, I have acquired six lathes from yesteryear that needed a new home and an owner who cared enough to (try to) get them back into working order. Four of them are (or will be) integral parts of my turning business, one is quite the historical oddity (and a museum piece machine that I HOPE to use at least occasionally in the future), and one is an interesting but truly intimidating behemoth that I may never get working (but still don't regret rescuing). In the order in which I acquired them, they are:
1990's Calpe Hydraulic Copy Lathe
(very) early 20th century L.Power & Co Long Bed Lathe
circa 1900 Shawver Twist Machine
mid-1980's Seavey Back Knife Copy Lathe,
1987 BACCI T4MO Copy Lathe, and
General Model 260 Lathe
1990's Calpe Hydraulic Copy Lathe
(very) early 20th century L.Power & Co Long Bed Lathe
circa 1900 Shawver Twist Machine
mid-1980's Seavey Back Knife Copy Lathe,
1987 BACCI T4MO Copy Lathe, and
General Model 260 Lathe
1990's Calpe Hydraulic Copy Lathe
In May, 2020, despite the uncertainty wrought by the early months of the Covid-19 crisis, I expanded my turning practice by investing in an INDUSTRIAL HYDRAULIC COPY LATHE, also known as a "tracer lathe." Pictured below at my Shenandoah Planing Mill location, the copy lathe - a Spanish built Calpe M-1300M likely manufactured in the early 1990's - can reproduce such items (from a 3D model or a pattern) as table and chair legs, balusters, newel posts, baseball bats, and other such spindles, up to approximately 45 inches or so. It came with no manual and had sat unused for a long time, so just getting it running AND LEARNING THE NUANCES OF USING IT PROPERLY has been quite the adventure - one that wouldn't have been successful without the cheerful assistance of SPM owner and old machine guru John Van Vliet, for which I am very grateful. Indeed, this lathe is largely responsible for my partnership with the Mill, and is an exciting development in my turning journey, as it means no more laborious (and expensive) reproductions of items such as table legs, one piece at a time. The dust collection rig features a grizzly 3hp double bag unit behind the wall. Have some spindles you need reproduced? Give me a call...
Here's some video of my Calpe Copy Lathe in action...
Early 20th Century L. Power & Co Lathe
This lathe came to me from the generous (and ingenius) Jay Hurley, of Shepherdstown. It had been laying in pieces on the hard-to-reach upper floor of a jam-packed barn for who knows how long. By its condition it was obvious that it had not been used for a long while, and then under steam power as it featured a counter shaft and leather belt that turned the (wooden!) pulley wheels of the headstock. I don't know the precise year of manufacture, but it was made by the Philadelphia company founded in 1867 by Irish immigrant Laurence Power that by 1879 was called "L.Power & Co," which you can see plainly stamped on the tailstock below. The components appear in the Company's 1928 General Line Catalog (shown), but absent a machine registry it's impossible to date it's manufacture to a specific year (despite sequential numbers on the components.)
Follow my first encounter with and the subsequent restoration of the lathe by clicking on the photos below...
Here she is below, set up temporarily (without the headstock), for the benefit of my "Over The Mountain Studio Tour" guests, at my site in the Shenandoah Planing Mill. Mill owner John Van Vliet crafted the gorgeous white oak and walnut legs. I've acquired a proper motor for when the time comes to put her into working order. I fully intend to offer column and porch post turning services in the future using this machine.
March 2024 update: the work to restore her to use continues. Shown here is the new headstock pulley assembly. I turned the sheaves and their equal but opposite counterparts on the jackshaft (countershaft) assembly to the exact dimensions (mostly) of the originals; they'll be connected to each other and the motor I purchased by flat leather belts. The countershaft assembly is going to be tricky, because whereas I was able to use new bearings for the headstock, I'm committed to pouring new Babbitt bearings for the jackshaft assembly (more on that later). Meantime, the new rail tops on the bed ways are shown (maple), as well as the modern live center in the tailstock, which my friends at Winchester's Virginia Riggers bored out to accept a #3 morse taper, which I then adapted to a #2. As always, click on the photos fdor more detail...
Circa 1900 Shawver Twist Machine
Perhaps the most interesting of my lathes from yesteryear is the Shawver Co. "Twist Machine," a version of which is shown below in an 1898 advertisement. Basically, it's a lathe that cuts wooden spindles to look like twisted rope. It too was discovered in a long neglected out building of a company that had long since moved on, technology-wise. Thankfully, there was a sample piece with it (see picture); with that it was clear what the machine does, as confirmed by historical references to it on the internet. The version I am restoring looks identical to the one pictured, with two exceptions: the handle on mine is in front of the gear mechanism (not on top), and mine came with a modern electric motor. With the cheerful help of Mill owner John Van Vliet and, especially, my super capable brother-in-law Mark Torrey, I am hoping to have this baby running soon.
Click pics below to follow my discovery and resurrection of this very cool machine...
Seavey Back Knife Copy Lathe
I don't know about this one. The "knives" it uses to reproduce spindles are old, complicated, and quite possibly not worth pursuing. We'll see...
under construction...
1987 BACCI T4MO Copy Lathe
I've got some really high hopes for this one. It's far more complicated a machine in my view and will take a lot of time and money to get going, but the payoff will be high, as it can produce asymmetrical or eccentric turnings such as axe handles or cabriole furniture legs. Unlike the Calpe Copy Lathe, the manufacturer, the Italian firm P. Bacci, is still in business and still makes the T4MO model, only way more modern. One benefit of that is that I was able to score a manual (of sorts), and there is plenty of footage on YouTube of working machines.
1990 General Model 260 Lathe
This sturdy and good looking Canadien built lathe caught my eye because of the bed extension, which expands my current turning capacity to just over 8 feet. It features 12" swing over bed and 10 speeds, via a Reeves variable speed drive. All it needed to be put into immediate service (for a welcome change) was a new power cord and some cleaning. The serial number puts the year of manufacture at 1990, so it's technically the baby of my vintage stable. The days of turning longish items like porch posts, or tall bed posts (or just about any other thing greater than 4 feet) in two pieces are finally over!