New to me 1946 Pacemaker 16x54”

[Hobby Shop]

Hey guys. I probably should’ve let this one pass but I couldn’t resist. I paid to much for it but what’s done is done and it’s on the shop floor…..so now comes the fun part.

The machine is tricked out pretty good and well tooled. It came with the follower & steady rest, lead screw reverse, boring bar holders, tool post, Hardinge collet nose and collets from 1/8” to 1-3/4” by the sixteenth. It has a taper attachment and the collet stand mounted to the machine. 2 speed motor with the relieving attachment, all the brackets to make it work and 4 change gears for twelve flutes. It’s missing (6) 16p change gears but they should be easy enough to find or make.


I’m going to level it and make some chips in the morning and see how it does. I don’t plan on running it much before removing the apron, carriage and taper attachment. Pictures to follow in the morning

 

[hvnlymachining]

Are you sure you aren't just looking for jealousy? All of the bells and whistles, attachments that supposedly existed but nobody seems to be able to find, and somehow... no pictures with the initial post??

Sounds fishy....

 

[Hobby Shop]

Are you sure you aren't just looking for jealousy? All of the bells and whistles, attachments that supposedly existed but nobody seems to be able to find, and somehow... no pictures with the initial post??

Sounds fishy....

Lol. Absolutely no peacocking here. I was at work and pictures take forever to load now that they don’t need to be resized.

After checking things over there’s a lot more good than bad. Hopefully some of you guys that have been down this road will help me sort out the bad.

The tail stock quill taper is completely trashed but with everything locked down, I cannot get any movement 5” out. I figure I’ll bush and pin it for the fix.

With some quick checks theres about .005” wear on the bed ways and .005” on the carriage bottom. There’s a silent chain and sprockets where the belts once were. It’s a little loud but I think most of the noise can be fixed with an idler wheel. When running, it’s leaking some oil out of the clutch housing. I’m thinking theres a worn bushing or seal in the headstock.

I drained the oil they had in it and flushed the headstock with mineral spirits. I put some universal tractor oil in and its about 50% quieter. DTE medium is going in it when it shows up.

Andy

 

[Hobby Shop]

Adding a few more pictures.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Lol. Absolutely no peacocking here. I was at work and pictures take forever to load now that they don’t need to be resized.

After checking things over there’s a lot more good than bad. Hopefully some of you guys that have been down this road will help me sort out the bad.

The tail stock quill taper is completely trashed but with everything locked down, I cannot get any movement 5” out. I figure I’ll bush and pin it for the fix.

With some quick checks theres about .005” wear on the bed ways and .005” on the carriage bottom. There’s a silent chain and sprockets where the belts once were. It’s a little loud but I think most of the noise can be fixed with an idler wheel. When running, it’s leaking some oil out of the clutch housing. I’m thinking theres a worn bushing or seal in the headstock.

I drained the oil they had in it and flushed the headstock with mineral spirits. I put some universal tractor oil in and its about 50% quieter. DTE medium is going in it when it shows up.

Andy

Is that a “ Triplex “ chain or three separate single chains ? Why I ask is the old “ Richards “ Hor bores had a double duplex chain drive and it was imperative that you set the chains up simultaneously. If you didn’t and fixed one chain and then the other it was possible to get the slack side of one chain fighting the slack side of the other chain. It sounded awful.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Very similarly equipped to my 1946 14 x 54, though I didn't get the relieving attachment itself. Just the drive and some change gears. Nice find!

 

[climb-101]

never seen a chain drive setup on one of these. i would be interested in seeing the relieving attachment working since i have only seen/herd of them in the old catalogs from American. it should be a great machine, mine is a 16x54 I went through most of it and did a thread on the form here.

 

[Cole2534]

16x54 member checking in here....Mine looks like the econo-model compared to yours.

 

[Kingbob]

Is that original paint? I don't know my ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to these old manual lathes but I always did think that these ATW lathes were really pretty. Congrats on the score, money ain't what it used to be I think you are better off with a useful lathe than a stack of stinky green paper anyway.

 

[cyanidekid]

Adding a few more pictures.

is that first pic the relieving attachment? I'd be VERY interested in seeing that work!

 

[Hobby Shop]

Is that a “ Triplex “ chain or three separate single chains ? Why I ask is the old “ Richards “ Hor bores had a double duplex chain drive and it was imperative that you set the chains up simultaneously. If you didn’t and fixed one chain and then the other it was possible to get the slack side of one chain fighting the slack side of the other chain. It sounded awful.

Regards Tyrone.

Yes it’s a Triplex chain, all linked together as one. It’s louder than my last Pacemaker but sounds like a tank compared to my P&W model C.

is that first pic the relieving attachment? I'd be VERY interested in seeing that work!

Yes, that’s the relieving attachment. It’s going to take me a bit to sort through everything and find a spot for it but I’ll definitely make a video of it working. In the brochure it talked about some fine gears to dial everything in. The gears are on the driveshaft end. I’ll post up some pictures of what they were talking about.

Is that original paint? I don't know my ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to these old manual lathes but I always did think that these ATW lathes were really pretty. Congrats on the score, money ain't what it used to be I think you are better off with a useful lathe than a stack of stinky green paper anyway.

Thanks. Theres some battleship grey underneath the white. It’s getting stripped and painted if I decide to take it all apart.

 

[Hobby Shop]

Andy, Cole, Climb, tailstock, turbo diesel and all other guys that posted in the threads I’m missing.
Thanks for posting what you guys have done. I’ve been reading everything I can.

Andy

 

[tailstock4]

Congratulations on your find. Back in the day it was probably some shop’s crown jewel. Looking forward to seeing more on the relieving attachment also. You may not have a headstock clutch housing leak. A lot of times when they are being moved if the tailstock end of the machine is lifted very much higher than the head stock end, they’ll lose oil and drip for days. Once level everything should drain back.

I may have some questions for you when you get more settled with the machine. I might appreciate some measurements or pictures of the follow rest as I’ve been contemplating building one as the originals seem pretty rare.

As far as the money thing goes, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. If you wait for the perfect machine for the perfect price in the perfect place, you’ll end up waiting far too long.

 

[FJsapper]

That’s a bad ass machine! I watched it hungrily during the auction, best pacemaker I’ve seen come up in the two years I’ve been looking.

 

[cyanidekid]

thanks HS, looking forward to it. cheers!

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Congratulations on your find. Back in the day it was probably some shop’s crown jewel. Looking forward to seeing more on the relieving attachment also. You may not have a headstock clutch housing leak. A lot of times when they are being moved if the tailstock end of the machine is lifted very much higher than the head stock end, they’ll lose oil and drip for days. Once level everything should drain back.

I may have some questions for you when you get more settled with the machine. I might appreciate some measurements or pictures of the follow rest as I’ve been contemplating building one as the originals seem pretty rare.

As far as the money thing goes, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. If you wait for the perfect machine for the perfect price in the perfect place, you’ll end up waiting far too long.

In the 50 years I worked in the industry I saw a travelling steady ( follow rest in the US ) only used a handful of times on centre lathes. Fixed steady - in use all the time.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[hvnlymachining]

I've been looking for one of those follower rests for over five years, no luck. I have a " had to have it this afternoon" model I built myself but it's just not as rigid or stylish as the original.

I've have to use my DIY model about once a year for some long thin bolt that a customer has worn out. Also would be handy when I need to turn down a 6' long shaft over it's entirety.

Ooooh well, I guess I will have to keep looking.....

 

[johnoder]

Greg has the Bulletins if you need them, and he scanned my Bulletin 20 on parts

http://pounceatron.dreamhosters.com/docs/index.html

 

[johnoder]

I've been looking for one of those follower rests for over five years, no luck. I have a " had to have it this afternoon" model I built myself but it's just not as rigid or stylish as the original.

I've have to use my DIY model about once a year for some long thin bolt that a customer has worn out. Also would be handy when I need to turn down a 6' long shaft over it's entirety.

Ooooh well, I guess I will have to keep looking.....

My DIY amazed me the one time it got used

Follow Rest Rig

On the 24" 1917 L&S - made possible by carriage saddle tee slots Worked great Zero chatter / vibration Had the 4" channel with holes in the ends and the 353 cylinder liners and added the rest Blocks just left over Phenolic - milled a scallop in the important one. You may be able to see that...

www.practicalmachinist.com

 

[tailstock4]

My DIY amazed me the one time it got used

Follow Rest Rig

On the 24" 1917 L&S - made possible by carriage saddle tee slots Worked great Zero chatter / vibration Had the 4" channel with holes in the ends and the 353 cylinder liners and added the rest Blocks just left over Phenolic - milled a scallop in the important one. You may be able to see that...

www.practicalmachinist.com

John, thanks for the link. That is both resourceful and clever. I can imagine somewhere in the distant past that a set up like that one being the first follow-rest. Did you ever use the tee slots again? I don’t recall seeing that before. Do you know of any other machines that had this feature?