Grandpa's Lathe

[Douglas Quetin]

My grandfather, Hugo Buckner, had a machine shop in Hanford, CA, in the 1920-1930’s. At some point before he lost it in the Depression, he had his machinist make this lathe out of a piece of railroad rail. He used it until his death in 1979. When I was growing up, the lathe was always a big and mysterious machine that I later used quite a bit on various projects.

He had it rigged with a three speed flat belt drive hooked up to an old monstrously heavy 1 horse electric motor attached to the shop wall with 1” bolts, a plywood idler wheel with a screen door spring giving tension. The belt was always slipping and vibrating so constant use of a non-slip spray was necessary. When that thing would run, the whole wall and windows sounded like a freight train coming through. The one “safety feature” was that when things got out-of-hand, the copper wire holding the drive belt together would break and save you from the catch, wandering machine or whatever problem there was. All of his lathe tools were made of files which we know now is a big no-no.

His shop, lathe and house are now spread among a number of grandchildren and years have gone by. While getting ready to move, I ran across the beast and thought you all might enjoy the pictures. Good memories.

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz48/dquetin/053.jpg

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz48/dquetin/050.jpg

[John Keeton]

Great story!! And, the reality is - he probably did some excellent work on that lathe. Kind of ironic given what is available to us today with modern lathes!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

That's cool Douglas! Thanks for showing and telling s about it.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I am constantly amazed at what folks can create when there is a need! Great story! Thanks for sharing!

[Roland Martin]

Interesting story, quite some heft to that I bet. We can be a spoiled bunch!

[Steve Mawson]

Great story. Bet the price was right on the original. Pretty amazing.

[Roger Bullock]

Great story, it never amazes me what some of the old timers used and the treasures they produced.
Several years ago I owned a retail wood shop. One old man would come in every once in a while to talk and show off his turnings and band saw boxes. He too never had a store bought tool, like your grandfather he made them out of old files or whatever else he had laying around but he turned some pretty neat bowls and platters. He even claimed to use thick broken glass as scrapers from time to time.

[John Keeton]

He even claimed to use thick broken glass as scrapers from time to time.Roger, I used broken window glass to smooth out the stock on my first flintlock rifle!

[David E Keller]

That looks like a serious machine. Not sure I'm brave enough to use it, but it has a wonderful story and should definitely find a place for display in your shop. Thanks for sharing.

[Baxter Smith]

Pretty Neat! Wonder how many of the lathes that each of us are using right now will last us for 50 years?:)

[GLENN THOMAS]

Thanks for posting the pics and for the story. Your story reminded me so much of my Grandfather. After he died I got a lot of old tools that he used to have and some of them were home made also. He never threw anything away and despite all the stuff that he kept it was all neatly organized. As we went through his garage not only did we find treasures of old tools but he had a beer can hidden in every nook and cranny he could find. He would often drink it hot and Grandma would get upset with him if he had cold one or a hot one for that matter. Guess what Grandma didn't know didn't hurt Grandma. Thanks again for your post.

GT

[Matt Ranum]

Pretty Neat! Wonder how many of the lathes that each of us are using right now will last us for 50 years?:)


Well its not home made but my Shopsmith is a 1953 model, does that count? :p

Come to think about it, most of my tailed stationary tools are that vintage. :D








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[Jim Underwood]

Neat story Douglas. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Any plans for the thing?

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is really cool and the story is great. Thanks for sharing.

[Gary Chester]

Very nice... you gotta clean it up and find a place for it in your shop.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Nice stuff, there's everything there you need to turn wood, even got a chuck on there.
Bolted to some beams and with a toolrest, then with a VFD and a wide micro-v belt on that, you could turn all you want and it would last another lifetime.
Thanks for showing Douglas :-))

[Douglas Quetin]

Other than what we all face turning, I did not like working with my hands and face so close to the open belt. Grandpa also recommended a long sleeved shirt, left side at least, so that when the belt broke it wouldn't hurt so much as it slapped your arm.

[Rob Cunningham]

Great story Douglas. I love to see old tools and machinery and how the old timers made things work.

[Baxter Smith]

Pretty Neat! Wonder how many of the lathes that each of us are using right now will last us for 50 years?:)


Well its not home made but my Shopsmith is a 1953 model, does that count? :p

Come to think about it, most of my tailed stationary tools are that vintage. :D

.
It definitely does if you have been using yours since 1953!;)

[Rich Stewart]

Do you have any of the things he made with that lathe? I once saw a box made by an African man on a homemade lathe that his son drove by pulling a leather strap back and forth. Cuts could only be made on one stroke of the back and forth strokes. Unbelievable craftsmanship from such a primitive machine.

[Matt Ranum]

It definitely does if you have been using yours since 1953!;)


Dang it, I wasn't even born till '64 :p