Old Metal Lathe

[Phill Tibbetts]

So the belts don't power the turret speed?

Guess I don't know what you call a turret. This is not a turret lathe. The belt powers the spindle which in turn powers the gear train and lead-screw. If the belt slips the spindle and everything it drives slows relative to how much it slips. I am a retired machinist and that is the best I can explain it. The head end does look to me like there is provision to change some of the gears to change feed rate and possibly cut treads.

 

[used red MN]

Guess I don't know what you call a turret. This is not a turret lathe. The belt powers the spindle which in turn powers the gear train and lead-screw. If the belt slips the spindle and everything it drives slows relative to how much it slips. I am a retired machinist and that is the best I can explain it. The head end does look to me like there is provision to change some of the gears to change feed rate and possibly cut treads.

And look at the photo with the brass plate. It is giving gear settings to cut threads from 4 per inch to 20. If the belt slips it just takes longer to finish the thread cut, they remain accurate because the spindle and lead screw are geared to one another.

 

[Ray,IN]

Guess I don't know what you call a turret. This is not a turret lathe. The belt powers the spindle which in turn powers the gear train and lead-screw. If the belt slips the spindle and everything it drives slows relative to how much it slips. I am a retired machinist and that is the best I can explain it. The head end does look to me like there is provision to change some of the gears to change feed rate and possibly cut treads.

That lathe was before my time, so was assuming(yes I know) and meant to say chuck. Shoot, in high school shop our lathes were newer than that in the late 1950's. I used newer Cincinnati lathes from time I attended Westinghouse tool & die school until I retired from the tool room in 1990.
After going back and magnifying the pictures, IMO it would require more money and work to clean off all the rust, polish the ways and get it working properly again than it's worth for actual use; even assuming the bearings are not rust pitted from non-use.

 

[gmcdeadhead]

unless someone is looking for parts for another exact lathe like that , its probably only worth scrap price , anyone looking to get into machining would start out with a better shape lathe with more tooling for around $400-$1000

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Ray, it occurred to me that you might have been referring the cone pullys on the left end of the machine.

Those don't have anything to do with threading ; there is a second shaft going through the apron, which I would guess to be a 4-speed cross-feed, since there doesn't appear to be a shifter for selecting carriage/cross- feed to be driven by the lead screw. All i see there is a clutch, manual traverse, and a possible half-nut shifter.

 

[4wdtom]

Good Day All,
We have had an old Metal Lathe in our shop for as long as I can remember. My Grandfather picked it up from somewhere and it's been stored in the corner collecting dust ever since. Now after 40 some years we have decided it no longer belongs on the farm. I have some pictures attached, it's in great shape and literally just moved it outdoors under cover this morning. It is a "The Rahn-Carpenter Co." Cincinnati O. U.S.A. We have a bunch of tools, bits, chucks, and accessories that have sat with it. It's been retro fitted with a Delco Dayton Ohio electric motor. We are looking to sell it, but we really don't have an idea of what it is worth, or where to post it. I figured here was a good spot, at least to get a conversation going. So please hit me up, i'd love to have a discussion on this relic of the past.

In order to cut the threads listed on the brass plate it will need a stack of gears listed on that plate. Unless those gears are with it the new owner will have to find or make the missing gears.

 

[Ultradog MN]

If you are wanting to sell it, weigh it.
That'll give you a base price.
Nationally scrap cast iron is going for ~$150 a ton.
Dont forget to deduct your cost of hauling.
The city I live in has a dumpster and will take it for free. They sell it and the proceeds go to the HS teams. I bring all my scrap there. It's a good cause.

 

[Phill Tibbetts]

Ray, it occurred to me that you might have been referring the cone pullys on the left end of the machine.

Those don't have anything to do with threading ; there is a second shaft going through the apron, which I would guess to be a 4-speed cross-feed, since there doesn't appear to be a shifter for selecting carriage/cross- feed to be driven by the lead screw. All i see there is a clutch, manual traverse, and a possible half-nut shifter.

If you look closer I now see there are some gears stacked on the head end. I believe they are used in the gear train to cut threads. Different combinations for different pitch threads.

 

[Ray,IN]

Phill, I faintly recall reading about lathes like this in shop class, now that my mind is on this old lathe. IMO ultradog is right, scrap price is a starting point.
Years ago i tried to sell belly-mount cultivators for a MF 165 and the matching 3-pt hitch cultivators; no-one was interested. I sold them to a salvage yard just to get them out of the way.