Lathe Identification

[Matt Murphy]

Hello all. I am new here an hope that someone can help me with the identification of a lathe.

I do not have any information what so ever on it. It belonged to my grandfather and I acquired it after he passed away.

I have not made any changes since I received it years ago. I have decided to try and get info on it to try to possibly get parts for it and get it working again. The ultimate thing is to use it. I am not financially able to by a new one so I will have to make due.

Larger pictures can be found here http://www.qsl.net/kc8bew

Thanks for your help.

Matt

[Steve Schlumpf]

Matt - Welcome to the Creek! Lots of great folks here - always willing to help!

Let me be the first here to tell you that I have NO idea what lathe this is! Looks like it would be a great little project but I have to wonder if you can get accessories to fit. Best of luck with it!

[Alex Shanku]

Thats a cool little lathe!!

Should clean up nicely.

Its a Walker Turner Driver-Line lathe....maybe an I30 model from the 1930's.

[David Christopher]

Mat, welcome to SMC.....I think Alex has answered your question ( Im glad cause I didnt know )....hope you get it going...we look forward to seeing some projects in the near future

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome to SMC Matt. Not sure what the lathe is but someone will give you some help. Lots of good people and lots of knowledge.

[Bruce Smith]

Alex is right it's an old Walker Turner. I had one very similiar, I believe mine was 1940's vintage. The headstock and tailstock on mine were a little different (larger castings), but it has exactly the same bed rails as mine it even had an extension which allowed one to turn 6 feet between centers. It originally belonged to my grandfather in New London Conn. then to my father and I ended up with it when he passed away. Guess one could say that all the Smiths got use out of it. My father told he that he thought it was purchased from Montgomery Ward. I wonder are there still Montgomery Ward stores in the U.S.A.? A couple of years ago I gave the lathe to a turner in Topeka Kansas, (Bill Miller) he wanted to turn some long spindles which is really all its was good for as seems to me it only had a 6" swing. Hope you have fun with the old Walker Turner.

[Matt Murphy]

Thanks for your help! I am glad I have a name for it now.

I am wanting to turn small items like pens right now and work up from there. I had a chance to take a pen turning class and learned a lot from it and loved it. Surprisingly it was the 1st time I had used a lathe. I have been doing woodworking as a hobby/job off and on for years.

Does anyone know if it can match up to parts for lathes today. Like a pen mandrel? I know it can't take a tapered mandrel but is there a place to look for alternatives?

Thanks again for your help. I will try to not be a stranger.

[Matt Murphy]

I did some Googling and found the site "Old Woodworking Machines". On it they have some pictures of a Walker-Turner Driver Line lathe I30A. They also have some old catalogs that show it as an L30A. I should say it looks similar. The catalogs show a pulley in the middle of the headstock and mine is on the end. Could have been a later change. There were many different parts to get by the looks of the catalogs over the years. Hard to believe it was only $4.50 new! in 1931 and $4.95 by 1936. It looks to have been discontinued from the catalogs after that.

The whole Driver Line setup reminds me of a Rube Goldberg device.

[curtis rosche]

it was made for those of us who are addicts, just to get a cheap quick fix. until you become a total junkie and get a bug oneway of powermatic or one of them. then you go to rehab

[curtis rosche]

the old wood working machines site is a good site, and if you go to their forums, i am sure that if you would be willing to part with that lathe, some one will be williing to trade you a bigger more stabble, lathe. you wouldnt want to break that one it is a collectors item.

[john taliaferro]

join the local club, they have been the best people,:D big help to , good place to find tools cheap .john t

[Thomas Bennett]

Hi Matt, I just joined the Old woodworking Machines site..http://www.owwm.com/home.aspx I joined it to find out some info on some other vintage woodworking machines. The members, like here, have been a tremendous help. You might have noticed the machinery registry they have, please consider entering your lathe, it's a beauty, with great history.


.quote=Matt Murphy;1079079]I did some Googling and found the site "Old Woodworking Machines". On it they have some pictures of a Walker-Turner Driver Line lathe I30A. They also have some old catalogs that show it as an L30A. I should say it looks similar. The catalogs show a pulley in the middle of the headstock and mine is on the end. Could have been a later change. There were many different parts to get by the looks of the catalogs over the years. Hard to believe it was only $4.50 new! in 1931 and $4.95 by 1936. It looks to have been discontinued from the catalogs after that.

[Ben Gastfriend]

You can buy pen mandrels that fit on your spindle threads; if somebody could tell you what the OWWM site says the spindle size is, if it says, you could look at Craft Supplies USA or Penn State Ind. for thread-on mandrel. Keep in mind though, once you start turning on that lathe, you'll just be buying a bigger and better one in the near future.

[Matt Murphy]

Curtis,
I don't know if I would be up to trading or selling it. If so OWWM would be a place to start.

John,
As far as I know, there isn't a local club in my area (Zanesville, OH). I looked online and the closest would be towards Cleveland or Columbus. My wife would probably shoot me if I did go that route. I already do Amateur Radio and am the ARES EC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_Radio_Emergency_Service) for the county. Add to that the Boy Scouts and an hour commute. Any more time and <knife passing through throat> :)

Thomas,
I may do that.

Ben,
I will look into those sites. I think it is a ¾ inch thread. I will just need to get going with this and hopefully get my wife talked into a bigger and better replacement.

[Ben Gastfriend]

Below is a link to the mandrel I used for my 3/4" x 16tpi lathe that screws on before I got my adjustable MT mandrel. Hope this helps.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKM-AL.html

[Ben Gastfriend]

By the way, I like this one as opposed to some of the other thread- ons on the market because it has a brass lock nut that can be adjusted along the mandrel shaft to aid in turning one-barrel pens without a bagillion bushings.