[Lathe] First Lathe: 10" Pratt & Whitney

[Mr.Haines]

Hey Guys!

I've been pretty busy, haven't been able to strap the motor onto my new Walker Turner drill press, which is pretty sad. However, I had a chance to stop by and view a lathe that was up for sale on Craigslist. Of course I fell in love, it seems absolutely perfect for my needs and I am incredibly happy! So, yes, I put a deposit down and it looks like she'll be delivered on Sunday.

She is a 10" Pratt & Whitney, and you can see several photos below. Let me know your opinions, I'm excited to know what you guys think!

 

[Mr.Haines]

I forgot to mention a few things:

The man I'm buying from is a machinist/machine restorer. He has about a dozen lathes in the one room I went in, they were all quite old and very beautiful. The seller said that the lathe was used at the East Hartford, CT Pratt and Whitney campus and when the machinist who used it retired, he brought the lathe home. I'm not sure how the machine ended up with my seller, he said he purchases whole machine shops and large lots, keeps the tools he really likes, and sells or restores and sells the rest. He actually had two of these P&W lathes so I got to see a before and after of his work.

My Main Concerns:
No chuck jaw, only collets.
I'd like a steady rest.
I'd like a turret attachment for the duplicate pieces I'll be making.
I need to build/buy/have built a new workbench in order to use this machine. That is poopious maximus, but I'll have to deal with it. Should I build a steel table, or have a wood one built? I like the idea of steel, but I don't know.

 

[Doubleeboy]

Nice little second op lathe, looks like you found a keeper!!

michael

 

[randyc]

It's a beauty !

Regarding your concerns, none of them should trouble you unduly; you can make the steady and the workbench (there are several threads on shop-made steady rests here).

Assuming that the spindle nose is a standard configuration, finding a chuck should be no problem. Worst case would be making/buying a new backplate and mounting a chuck to it, again not much of an issue.

Unless your parts are very small, the bed on that lathe is a bit short to accommodate a turret - just a personal opinion of course. When I need to perform various repetitive tailstock operations, I just load several drill chucks with the tools to be used and insert them into the tailstock in the sequence required.

Nice score, I'd be proud to own it

 

[brino]

Very Nice, congratulations!

Does it have a motor on it, or do you need to find one?
If that's a single flat-blet pulley in the middle of the headstock, you might consider a variable speed drive to get some control of rpm.

-brino

 

[eeler1]

all the P&W lathes I've seen have been huge, interesting to see a version that size. Nice looking machine.

 

[randyc]

...Unless your parts are very small, the bed on that lathe is a bit short to accommodate a turret - just a personal opinion of course...

I might have to back off of that statement - this might work. Looks like it might extend tailstock length about ten inches:

 

[Mr.Haines]

It comes with a motor and a Reeves drive that the original owner had used.

 

[barnett]

Very Nice !!

 

[Mr.Haines]

Real picture time! The lathe is sitting on the nice old workbench that my great-grandfather built decades ago, waiting for me to build a nice steel table. Until then, I probably won't set the machine up. I don't want to put a hole through any of my workbenches and I don't think I should reinstall the system used by the previous, previous owner. The guy had attached a pulley on a space next to the big aluminum wheel so he could put the motor right on the bench behind the lathe. So, I've got a nice old reeves drive setup that probably won't be used, at least not on this lathe.

Alrighty folks, some detail and size comparison shots! (Get it, shots?)


I love the PW logo on this brass plate, truly gorgeous!

I got a pile of collets with the machine, as well as a faceplate and mounting plate for a chuck.


Here's the Reeves that came with the lathe, as well as a shot of the motor.


And a wider shot of the machine in my messy little shop. With all the work that's been going on, things are crazy in there!