Anyone know what this is?

[Winterfalke]

My grandfather rescued this lathe from the dumpster at work, many years ago. I believe it was the New Departure factory in Sandusky, Oh. It has no nameplates or engraving (that I can see), although there are what may be 2 rivet holes in the end of the bed. The collets all seem to be hand made, although most of them are stamped "R5110". The drill chuck is definitely hand made, as I discovered when I tried to disassemble it for cleaning. I have had no luck finding a tool post other than the hand rest my father used for wood turning. He did manage to provide me with a box of turning bits, which I also can't identify. They are all engraved "dreadnaught" or "superdread" and seem to be harder than HSS, but not cobalt or carbide.

[Ark1]

I think this light duty lathe is or was used for turning commutators on DC motors. The holes where the belt drive goes are for indexing or locking the chuck to cut the mica on the commutator. The hand wheel at the chuck end allows for hand turning the armature once chucked.

The tool post was rather simple as it locked down to the ways and the tool slid in guide that had an over centre lever. Since armatures were very small the amount of tool travel was less than 2". A small grinder with a cutter would also be mounted in the tool post and moved with the hand lever to under cut the Mica.

Ark1.

[Winterfalke]

Well, it's a start. This seems to be very similar to a Stark precision bench lathe from the late 1800's, but I'm really guessing its actual age. The red hand wheel is actually tightens the collet, it is attached to a tube that runs through the headstock. The threads are almost wiped, so it barely works. That, and the missing tool post are my biggest concerns, I have not been able to find anything that will even come close to fitting. At this point, 2 inches of travel would be enough to get me going so I can start making replacement parts.

[Fixittt]

looks to be a wood turning lathe to me. My suggestion.... do more research on it. Find out what it is before doing ANYTHING to or with it. You may have a piece of history there that could be worth something.

[Winterfalke]

Lol actually my father had been using it for wood turning for almost 10 years after it was rescued. He modified one of the dead centers with a toothed ring to bite the workpiece. The factory it came from, though, was one of the countries only sources of precision bearings for decades. I doubt they did much woodworking there. And all the collets and the cutters that came with it are all metal turning tools.

[lasernerd]

It's a watchmaker's lathe. The collets are distinctive.

Bergeon Model 50 Lathe Accessories

Nearly useless for general metalworking unfortunately. Not impossible I guess, but you'd be better off with a machine made for the work you're trying to do...

[Winterfalke]

Hmm, I think it's way too big to be a watchmakers lathe, that ball-peen hammer in the pics is 44oz.

[Ark1]

The tool holder I was talking about is there with the lever and short stroke.

The lathe you have is way to big for a watch makers lathe.

Ark1