Jeweler Lathes Identification

[IHateMayonnaise]

I generally hate these threads, but I couldn't resist...

I'm out of town and bought the following lot sight-unseen. I will hopefully pick it up someone next week. I caught the ad on Craigslist 10 minutes after it was posted and locked it down immediately. It's being sold by a gentleman whose father passed about 4 years ago, and his other half indicated that it's time to unload. Very much a "finding a good home" situation. I've always wanted a smaller lathe, and I'm sure I'll cherish these specimens until my last days, unless I find them a good home to a deserving party down the road. I'm not posting this to wag my ding-dong around, I just genuinely don't know what I bought. I've had a few lathes and so I'm not entirely ignorant (jury still out?), but the myriad flavors of jewelers lathes is bewildering.

Anywho, I'm hoping that a more learned person can tell me what I have by looking at it. I love the history of old machines, and would like to tear into anything I can find to learn more about these lathes. My cursory search indicates that at least one is an American Watchmaker, and some gears for screw cutting perhaps. Anyone have any insights as to what is here?

Cheers,
IHateMayonnaise

 

[JST]

Very nice!

The first closely resembles a Boley, but there were so many types made that you have to find the label. Boley often have the info on the tailstock end of the bed.

You actually have 3 "lathes" there..... I spotted what appears to be a set of "turns" in the box. That is an ancient predecessor to the jeweler's lathe.

 

[MrStretch]

There is also parts of a screw head polisher and an uprighting tool.

 

[L Vanice]

The pictures are not good enough to identify the makers of the three lathes. Two are American WW style, but could be German copies. They probably have names on them. The one in the box is a German type, not WW. I see a few parts for a Clement combined tailstock, but not the tailstock. The aluminum body 4-jaw chuck is like one that was marked HR that I bought new in 1964, but the rest of the items are pre-1940 and some much earlier. Condition is not great.

Larry

 

[rivett608]

Order this book, it will tell almost everything you need to know about this type of lathe and how to set them up and use them.

The Watchmakers' Lathe: Goodrich, Ward: 9780930163341: Amazon.com: Books

The Watchmakers' Lathe [Goodrich, Ward] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Watchmakers' Lathe

www.amazon.com

 

[L Vanice]

Order this book, it will tell almost everything you need to know about this type of lathe and how to set them up and use them.

The Watchmakers' Lathe: Goodrich, Ward: 9780930163341: Amazon.com: Books

The Watchmakers' Lathe [Goodrich, Ward] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Watchmakers' Lathe

www.amazon.com

The Goodrich book was written in 1903 and updated a little bit (author not credited) in 1952. It has a lot of old time info and little about more modern lathes. I have two copies of the 1952 edition, printed in 1972 and 1974.

Much more information about newer watch lathes is in DeCarle's The Watchmakers' Lathe and How to Use It (first edition, 1952). The date suggests the incentive to revise the Goodrich book. DeCarle revised his book in 1971, 1980 and 1985, so there is a lot of info on relatively modern lathes. The fourth edition (1985) was titled The Watchmaker's Lathe and Model Engineer's Lathe A User's Manual and includes Myford, South Bend and other lathes favored for model making.

The Watchmaker's and Model Engineer's Lathe: A User's Manual by Carle, Donald de: Very Good Hardback (1987) | WorldofBooks

ISBN: 9780709021865 - 4th Edition - Hardback - Robert Hale & Company - 1987 - Condition: Very Good - The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. - The Watchmaker's and Model Engineer's Lathe: A...

www.abebooks.com

Perkins' The Modern Watchmakers Lathe and How to Use It (2003) is excellent, especially if you want to do watch repair.

Amazon.com

I am very partial to the Levins' book because I am partial to their lathes. They published several revised editions.

practical benchwork for horologists - Google Search

If buying only one of the above, I favor the DeCarle fourth edition. By the way, shop carefully for out of print/used books. Some sellers think nothing of asking hundreds, while others are more reasonable.

Larry

 

[Screwmachine]

The one in the box with the smaller width bed is a Boley & Leinen Reform model.

I see the screwhead polisher frame, and the 3 laps, and the spindle; don't see the little sub-collets that go in the spindle.

 

[L Vanice]

I forgot to mention that the first (1903) edition of Goodrich is available free online.

The Watchmakers' Lathe: Its Use and Abuse. A Study of the Lathe in Its Various Forms, Past and Present, Its Construction and Proper Uses. For the Student and Apprentice by Ward L. Goodrich - Books on Google Play

The Watchmakers' Lathe: Its Use and Abuse. A Study of the Lathe in Its Various Forms, Past and Present, Its Construction and Proper Uses. For the Student and Apprentice - Ebook written by Ward L. Goodrich. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. Download for...

play.google.com

I read this book long ago, but still remember his description of how well made a certain American lathe was. He probably toured American Watch Tool, who made the original WW lathe and I suspect he was describing a demonstration he saw there. In my experience, AWT WW tailstocks can be swapped from lathe to lathe and still fit properly. Their lathes only had the serial number on the headstock. Other makers numbered the headstock, bed and tailstock. Here is the quote from pages 127 and 128.

"The tail stock usually found in the repairer's outfit is the push - spindle ; it is shown in elevation in Fig. 16, and in longitudinal section in Fig. 21. As will be readily seen from Fig. 21, it consists of a casting shaped to fit the ways of the bed , provided with a T - bolt and eccentric for clamping and bored to receive a tube which should be accurately fitted to the spindle within it, and exactly in line with the center of the lathe spindle . Great pains is taken to preserve the truth of this alignment in the manufacture, as it is vital . In one of the factories this point is tested by locking four of these tail stocks , end to end , on a lathe bed and pushing a tail stock spindle clear through the four ; alternate tail stocks are then turned end for end and the test repeated . This is done before nickel plating ; after nickeling it cannot be done with the first four tail stocks that may be picked up , although it may be done with two and sometimes with three , if they are selected . Only a skilled mechanic will
understand the severity of the test with four tail stocks and an accurately fitted spindle . Turning alternate tail stocks , end - for - end doubles any error there may be in the alignment of the bore."

Larry

 

[IHateMayonnaise]

Lathe #1. Tried to take a picture of the maker at the end of the bed but couldn't make it come out (it says "G Boley" then "2681" then "Germany". I haven't tried to plug in the motor, or moved anything other than the spindle because it needs oil.

 

[IHateMayonnaise]

Lathe #2. Maker is Waltham Watch Tool Co from Springfield Mass. Haven't tried to turn on the motor. The tailstock that was on here originally didn't fit right (too loose), appears to match the Lathe #1.

 

[IHateMayonnaise]

Lathe #3. This lathe is smaller, and the collet draw bar doesn't fit the collets from the other lathe (too loose), even though everything else is smaller. Note the reverse pulley and the indexing apparatus.

 

[IHateMayonnaise]

Accessories. These are pretty obvious for the most part, or I think I find find out in the literature. The 4 jaw says "HG" on the front of it.

 

[IHateMayonnaise]

Odd things Part 1: Now for the fun part: The things that I don't know what they are or what they go to! Some are pretty obvious (the vertical attachment, for instance), but the specifics I cannot discern at the moment. The box of tooling had a lid at some point, and I cannot make out much of the lettering on it, and all the tools are stuck in there.

 

[IHateMayonnaise]

Odd things Part 2

 

[IHateMayonnaise]

Odd things Part 3: The gear gizmo looks like the gear change which feeds a QCGB or something on a similarly small lathe, but not any from the lot. The larger gear looks like a worm drive to me. Not sure what the wood thing is... but you never know!

 

[IHateMayonnaise]

The one in the box with the smaller width bed is a Boley & Leinen Reform model.

I see the screwhead polisher frame, and the 3 laps, and the spindle; don't see the little sub-collets that go in the spindle.

100% correct on the Boley & Leinen Reform. Can you identify the other parts you mention from the photos?

Very nice!

The first closely resembles a Boley, but there were so many types made that you have to find the label. Boley often have the info on the tailstock end of the bed.

You actually have 3 "lathes" there..... I spotted what appears to be a set of "turns" in the box. That is an ancient predecessor to the jeweler's lathe.

Having a hard time finding much in the way of a good reference for "turns," can you ID them from any of my photos?

Order this book, it will tell almost everything you need to know about this type of lathe and how to set them up and use them.

The Watchmakers' Lathe: Goodrich, Ward: 9780930163341: Amazon.com: Books

The Watchmakers' Lathe [Goodrich, Ward] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Watchmakers' Lathe

www.amazon.com

Ordered.

The Goodrich book was written in 1903 and updated a little bit (author not credited) in 1952. It has a lot of old time info and little about more modern lathes. I have two copies of the 1952 edition, printed in 1972 and 1974.

Much more information about newer watch lathes is in DeCarle's The Watchmakers' Lathe and How to Use It (first edition, 1952). The date suggests the incentive to revise the Goodrich book. DeCarle revised his book in 1971, 1980 and 1985, so there is a lot of info on relatively modern lathes. The fourth edition (1985) was titled The Watchmaker's Lathe and Model Engineer's Lathe A User's Manual and includes Myford, South Bend and other lathes favored for model making.

The Watchmaker's and Model Engineer's Lathe: A User's Manual by Carle, Donald de: Very Good Hardback (1987) | WorldofBooks

ISBN: 9780709021865 - 4th Edition - Hardback - Robert Hale & Company - 1987 - Condition: Very Good - The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. - The Watchmaker's and Model Engineer's Lathe: A...

www.abebooks.com

Perkins' The Modern Watchmakers Lathe and How to Use It (2003) is excellent, especially if you want to do watch repair.

Amazon.com

I am very partial to the Levins' book because I am partial to their lathes. They published several revised editions.

practical benchwork for horologists - Google Search

If buying only one of the above, I favor the DeCarle fourth edition. By the way, shop carefully for out of print/used books. Some sellers think nothing of asking hundreds, while others are more reasonable.

Larry

Great information, thank you!

 

[L Vanice]

The rectangular wood block holds the Clement combined tailstock accessories and you have several of them among your pictures, but no Clement tailstock. This is a cut from an original Clement mailer showing the identities of the accessories. There was a lid when new, but the hinges were weak and the lid could be discarded.









The turns that was mentioned is actually a Jacot pivot polisher tool, a different thing.

Larry

 

[JST]

Ah, not visible to me in the original pic. Sharp eyes to you!

 

[L Vanice]

Odd things Part 3: The gear gizmo looks like the gear change which feeds a QCGB or something on a similarly small lathe, but not any from the lot. The larger gear looks like a worm drive to me. Not sure what the wood thing is... but you never know!

That is part of a screwcutting attachment for a watch lathe, but not for any of your three lathes. It is not one I have seen before. The two attaching screw holes in the bracket might line up with the tapped holes in the end of Levin lathe beds. The tumbler gears are not a usual feature on these attachments, but Leinen attachments did have them. Still, I think it is a unique item made by a watchmaker for his own lathe. The bracket attaches to the left end of the lathe bed and the drive shaft attaches to the left end of the transverse feed screw on a slide rest.

The picture shows a Levin WW lathe with the screwcutting attachment I built for it in 1984. The Levin book has plans for making this attachment that gave me a start on the design.

Larry