16" Bradford

[hardhatdiver]

I acquired this Bradford lathe years ago. She's USN marked, dated 1946, and about 10' long. I have a couple of South Bends, but I really like this ol' geared head lathe, and she's great for large projects. Even though labeled as a 16", she'll turn 20" over the bed! As much as I like her, there have always been a few things about her that have bothered me. I bought the lathe with a broken taper attachment that was without the fine adjust (though not all lathes came with it) and a few missing odds 'n ends. I broke the hand wheel on the tailstock years ago as well. As popular as these lathes once were, it seems rather difficult to find parts for them. I recently came across a 14" Bradford to part out and thought I would finally address the issues and maybe even give her a makeover, possibly even in the Steve Lindsay tradition (lindsayengraving). The beds (and numerous other aspects) of the 12" and 14" lathes compared to the 16" are different, but many of the parts are interchangeable, including most of the taper attachment. A few of her missing odds 'n ends were also still on the parts lathe and a replacement tailstock hand wheel to boot. The "new" taper attachment and the other parts need some cleaning, but a little electrolysis and elbow grease should clean them right up. She won't be showroom new, but she definitely deserves some sort of going over. Like everyone else, I have projects lined up out the door, so this will be a long term project with possible long gaps between posts. Let's see how it goes. I'm not sure if I'll scrape the ways (there's a lot of way there), but you never know.

Regards,
Jeremy


The lathe in question.


The broken taper attachment.


Broken handle on the compound.


The "new" taper attachment.

 

[akcycle]

Jeremy, Nice old lathe, I think mine is the same. Don't know the year (looked under the lid) but looks to be the same. How readable is the thread and feed table? Mine is missing completely and need a picture of one to reproduce. Pete

 

[Tamper84]

Very nice lathe I like it!!!!

 

[4GSR]

I've got a taper attachment on my 20" L & S with a similar break on the taper bar like yours. I'm in the process of rebuilding mine, long ways from messing with the taper attachment.