Engine lathe

[Aaron]

Would someone please explain what an engine lathe is used for.

Thanks

[theperfessor]

To turn, bore, drill, face, thread, etc. all sorts of parts by rotating the part in a chuck or some other work holding device. It is a general purpose type of lathe as compared to a turret lathe, which holds multiple tools that can be rotated into position to make various cuts.

[nanuk]

I have always wondered about the name.

[Bret4207]

Also very useful for getting rid or large amounts of money quickly and maintaining a very steady drain on the checkbook from there on in. Very popular for turning steel rod into steel spaghetti, proving the carbide isn't all it's cracked up to be and producing slightly to grossly undersized turned objects.

As for the name itself, "engine" lathe, I'm unsure. That's an older term. Use your google-fu, I'm sure someone out there has an answer.

[arjacobson]

also can create interesting sounds...some not so pleasant-examples---- crunch bang-whirl/BANG-tink tink tink-zip zipzipzip-zing zing zing zing- grrrrrrrrrrr-thud thud thud-etcetc-LOL

[akajun]

IIRC the term Engine Lathe denotes that it is a metal turning lathe with a gearbox capable of accurate threading, but not accurate enough to be called a toolroom lathe. In other words, not a change gear lathe.

Toolroom lathe denotes that the bed is no longer than a certian ratio of its swing, which is why 12x24 is a popular toolroom lathe size.

This is what I remember an old machinist told me.

[Aaron]

There is one on a govt auction at Ft Carson. Does not sound like something I should spend money on.

Thanks

[scrapcan]

Aaron,
If you can look it over you might do well with the military surplus lathe. You might find out that it has the tooling with it also.

Do you have a link to the auction listing?

As the bed ration ont he toolroom. That is not right. The tool room lathe is built to tighter standards or was able to meet tighter standards when built. But just because an old lathe can be identified (usually by serial number) as a tool room version does not mean it still is.

EDIT: I meant to put more, but jsut got around to it. Bohica2xo said alot of what I was thinking when I finally found the auction listing. Lots of usable iron there.

[bohica2xo]

You should absolutely walk away from a lightly used Colchester like that one.

Practically useless for us. It has a 13 inch swing, and only 30 inches between centers. Crappy little 1.375 hole through the headstock, nothing worthwhile will fit in it.

Make sure you keep walking past that Republic Mill right next to it too, not much gun work you could do on something like that either...


Seriously, the only thing I see wrong with that unit is some jerk pulled the master jaws out of a Pratt Burnerd chuck. You may be able to buy replacements, that chuck was about 1200 bucks new.

B.

[leftiye]

Isn't an engine lathe what they line bore crankshaft juornals in straight eights with? :bigsmyl2:

Engine lathe is everything except toolroom lathes, and specialty lathes?

[ElDorado]

+1 on the perfessor's fine explanation. When I did my apprenticeship, I was taught that there were two kinds of lathes - engine and turret. All of the "toolroom", "toolmaker's", and "precision" lathes might have definitions within their manufacturer's specifications, but they are still engine lathes.

[geargnasher]

I stripped a worn-out Cummins ISB 8.3L to the bare block once so a customer could buy it to make a lathe of some sort. Always wondered what the heck it would do.

Gear

[ricksplace]

It was common around the 1930s for lathes to use an overhead shaft as a power shaft driving all the lathes in the shop via large flat belts.

An engine lathe denotes a lathe with its own power source or engine (electric motor).

[Bret4207]

There is one on a govt auction at Ft Carson. Does not sound like something I should spend money on.

Thanks

Aaron, now that I understand your question, I wouldn't dismiss that lathe. "Someone" writing the ad used the term. That means nothing. A Colchester is a good machine.

[Aaron]

I will try to look at it Mon before the auction closes. Always wanted to learn to use one. Was not necessarily in my immediate plans....but if the price is right, might be worth pulling out a visa card. Heck I bought ammo for guns I don't have, kinda the same thing.

[3006guns]

Anyone here a member on the Practical Machinist forum? The term "engine lathe" has been given a thorough examination there. Like me, many were taught that the term was derived from a lineshaft powered shop, driven 'by an engine'. Only problem is you need a lathe to build the engine so why would they name it that when the first metal cutting lathes were water/animal/human powered. Doesn't make sense.

Some of our brothers across the pond in England hit on the most likely explanation though. Back in the early 1700's just about any new mechanical device that was 'self acting' was described as an engine. For example, the machine that repeatedly and accurately scribes lines on rulers or clock parts was a "dividing engine". Since a lathe has several self acting functions, it was a "lathe engine"......a term turned around by the natural order of human explanations.

If you look back at the nature of language at that time, it makes perfect sense.

[Buckshot]

..............My cousin's husband owns his own business. He does field and shop repair of industrial and construction machinery. He even got me involved once renovating a part for a large forklift with a Waukesha Diesel, but that's another story.

He was wanting a lathe so he could do some of his own machineing stuff instead of taking to 'his' guy. We had a few conversatons about his getting one over time, and naturally I had my thoughts and suggestions. So during Thanksgiving one year I mentioned lathes and he said he'd gotten one awhile back but it was still on the equipment trailer. Naturally I asked who'd made it and he couldn't remember so I started naming off lathes. No go, he was at sea.

A week or so later he asked if I'd be interested in helping him getting it going. I said sure, and I'd like to see it. A couple days later I got ahold of him, and while he wasn't at home I could go on up and take a look at it. My GOD! He'd bought this monstrus old Gisholt turret lathe, HA! The thing must have weighed 4 tons if it was an ounce.

On the side of the headstock was a rivited on metal tag saying it was the property of U.S. Naval Ordnance, and on the right end of the bed was another tage that said, "War Finish", meaning Gisholt didn't fool with the normal nice polish work on the ponderous cast iron parts. The headstock was about the size of one of those 4 cu ft apartment refrigerators, and it must have had 4 gearshift levers sticking out of it. It had a 4' slidding bed, which is a bed on a bed, but it will slide back to open a gap you could swing a manhole cover through[smilie=l:

The motor (HAD to be at least 30 HP) had 4-5 belts hooking it to the spindle which had about a 5" hole through it. The capstan turret (octagonal) used 2" toolholder inserts, was about 2' across and had a crank and rack to run it up and down the bed plus the 4 spoked wheel to run the table of the turret forward and back. Naturally it was painted a very familiar haze gray :p Alongside the lathe were 5 gallon plastic buckets (mostly with the sides split) of tooling doo-dads. Under a tarp on a pallet up by the trailer's tongue were 4 big chucks, you'd have to have a freaking crane to lift (plus one was on the spindle to boot).

While you wouldn't be able to cut threads with it, well not single pointing but possibly with a die in the turret, it did have a gearbox but that was for power feeding the turret back and forth on the bed. I assume the headstock was under pressure lubrication because hoses ran to, and from an insert type filter mounted on the back of the headstock.

He never did call to have me come help him so I don't even know what he did with it, but he'd for sure have had to call a crane company to come out and get it off his trailer. I really would have liked to help him get it running again. Or would have liked to have had the TIME to have helped :-)

..............Buckshot