[Lathe] BC Ames show and tell.

StepSide 88

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I posted in my info about my first lathe, the W.G Hartman, (don't bother looking it up he only built the one I think') which is a 9" x 36" with a treadmill motor conversion, but this is about my second lathe.
A very nice B.C. Ames.
here's a link to some pic's of it.
https://goo.gl/photos/KACn12KmtGhdPACL7
At the bottom are some of the tools that came with it.
It has a track on the back side I suspect is used to hold jack drives or??? milling something?
I bought it for the tooling. I'll keep it for the precision...
 
My Ames turret lathe has a T slot on the back, the motor (non-original) is mounted there. Mine is No. 32xx followed by an anchor with US above it. I suspect made for the Navy during WWII. I don't have a cross slide as such, just a lever operated slide with a rear mounted cut off tool. It seems to have come with three crowned pulleys, but now is retooled with two different grooves for a V belt. Its a great little lathe, sings at production, but I'm not using it to it's fullest extent. Right now I'm making two dozen little gizmos, that's the longest run I've made.

Awesome amount of tooling you got, too.
 
Thanks Tom, I'd love to see a pic of it. Its messed with my mind trying to figure that out.
The tooling was what I was looking for and what I figured I paid for... the lathe was the bonus.
 
Unsolicited info, but the belt closer and the jackshaft smell of South Bend to me - the lever handle and adjustable pushrod especially. They look nearly identical to the ones on my SB9.

By the way, a buy of that magnitude qualifies you for a "You Suck." :)
 
It has a track on the back side I suspect is used to hold jack drives or???

The groove in the back holds the support for the collet closer, turret tailstock leaver and turret leaver actuators. I have # 1510. It's a very accurate lathe. Don't discount it as a toy. Not having a carriage that travels makes it limited but is good for many things.
More info here http://www.lathes.co uk/ames/index.htm


20170417_072725.jpg
20170417_072743.jpg 20170417_072925.jpg

20170417_072743.jpg
 
Images of my Ames. There's no power feed, it's all manual. The cross feed could be tooled from the front, but isn't at present.

From left end.jpg
Collet closer on left end, beverage can for scale.
From rt end.jpg
Turret and control, note the same 'rail' supporting the whole thing.
Working area.jpg
Here's the heart of it, note the handle by the collet chuck, operates the cross slide/cut off tool. The cross slide is fixed in place, can be moved but hasn't since I got it three years ago.

I hadn't thought about size, it'll swing 8 inches, if it had a tailstock it would allow about 12 inches of turning. The collets only go to 13/16ths.
 
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Thanks for showing the photos guys.
I had no idea of what and how the back track functions. Those are both serious looking machines compared to mine.
It's nice to see 'what could be' .
 
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