# Warner Swasey Turret Lathe 1928 What was the original color?



## Cadillac STS (Nov 9, 2014)

Got the question in the title.  It is now blue but I want to refurb and paint original color.


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## 4GSR (Nov 11, 2014)

More than likely for that time period of 1920's, black.  Another color that was starting to show on machines was a light-medium gray.


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## Cadillac STS (Nov 12, 2014)

Here is how it is now.  From all the pictures I have looked at I think it is a medium grey.  Maybe black, I'll have to scrape down some to check that.  I was hoping someone would have an official paint code or name.


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## 4GSR (Nov 13, 2014)

I see this all the time on this forum and others, too.

Why does it matter to paint it the original color it was from the factory?

Most of the old paint colors used way back then are not that great, much less pleasing, as newer colors used today.

Paint it what ever color you want.  Make it pleasing to your eyes.

Rustolum makes a color that I started using on my machines that is called "smoke gray".  It's kind of a color that is very similar to the old "machine tool gray"  And it looks very nice!


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## core-oil (Nov 13, 2014)

4gsr,

  I believe over in Practical Machinist, they have a Warner & Swasey section, You might want to check, What model is your machine? as it looks a small machine as these machines go,  A factory I used to visit in Glasgow Scotland had a line of Warners, these machines may have been lease lend dating from 1939-45 war period, They were a dark grey colour

  Look after your machine they are good & impressive items of machinery


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## sawlog (Nov 13, 2014)

Question did you mount the quick change tool holder in place of the 4 way tool post that was stock? The one that I ran in the the late 70's was green.


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## Cadillac STS (Nov 13, 2014)

sawlog said:


> Question did you mount the quick change tool holder in place of the 4 way tool post that was stock? The one that I ran in the the late 70's was green.



Yes i mounted the quick change tool post, milled the base for right height.  Makes it much easier to use than shimming and measuring too height


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## Cadillac STS (Nov 13, 2014)

core-oil said:


> 4gsr,
> 
> I believe over in Practical Machinist, they have a Warner & Swasey section, You might want to check, What model is your machine? as it looks a small machine as these machines go,  A factory I used to visit in Glasgow Scotland had a line of Warners, these machines may have been lease lend dating from 1939-45 war period, They were a dark grey colour
> 
> Look after your machine they are good & impressive items of machinery



I did post in the Warner Swasey Alumni section on Practical Machinist.  That section is very slow, no answer on the color question there. 


This is a WS number 4 Serial dates it to 1928


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## Cadillac STS (Nov 13, 2014)

4gsr said:


> I see this all the time on this forum and others, too.
> 
> Why does it matter to paint it the original color it was from the factory?
> 
> ...



Thanks for the post. I agree original is not as important than what I think looks good. Good suggestion on the color.   Ill probably go with a medium grey. 


I know it is a lower value machine but it all works as it should and I like it.  I think the old heavy metal is great.  Very stout machine, i can take deep cuts and it always takes it no problem.  I like the fact that shops with row after row of these helped win WWII.


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## bsharp (Dec 9, 2014)

That is a nice lathe! I ran one similar years ago and I loved that thing. I can still smell the way oil smoking coming off the parting tool!


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## Cadillac STS (Dec 10, 2014)

bsharp said:


> That is a nice lathe! I ran one similar years ago and I loved that thing. I can still smell the way oil smoking coming off the parting tool!




I really like it too.  It is powerful and does what i need it to do.  I got it because I saw a classified ad for "Metal lathe"  and thought it was going to be a bench top lathe.  Got there and this thing was massive compared to what I thought it would be.  Price was right and I bought it and loads of tooling, full collet set and the collet chuck.  I have been leaving much of the tooling in the coolant pan to be able to keep them oiled up and not let them rust.


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## Bill C. (Dec 10, 2014)

Cadillac STS said:


> Got the question in the title.  It is now blue but I want to refurb and paint original color.



We used to call it "Battleship Gray" paint color, a light gray color.  Depending on the shop I seen machines painted different colors.  Mostly gray but green, blue and I think yellow.  I just did a Google Image search, most S&W are light gray.  There was one painted gray with red trim.

Around here we have Porter Paint stores but any industrial paint store should have paint chips.  Custom colors can be blended too.  Find a gray that looks good in your shop.

Nice looking turret lathe.  Looks like its been working hard for you. I worked in one shop that had two turret lathes. I think the the biggest one was a S&W.


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## bsharp (Dec 10, 2014)

Cadillac STS said:


> I really like it too.  It is powerful and does what i need it to do.  I got it because I saw a classified ad for "Metal lathe"  and thought it was going to be a bench top lathe.  Got there and this thing was massive compared to what I thought it would be.  Price was right and I bought it and loads of tooling, full collet set and the collet chuck.  I have been leaving much of the tooling in the coolant pan to be able to keep them oiled up and not let them rust.



I worked in a shop that had two of them a little bigger than yours and then another really big one. The big one was about the same color as yours and the two smaller ones were a really dark gray almost black if I remember right. I cut probably a million caster wheel bushings and small threaded shafts on them. Not long before I left that job they sent all that work to a cnc shop. You found a gem when you found yours! Wish I could find one like that!


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## w9jbc (Dec 12, 2014)

[
we still have a number 4 or 5 here in the plant and it has always been green since it came in here 

 ]


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## Reeltor (Dec 12, 2014)

I don't remember where I saw the photo, it was from the 1920's-30's showing a row of lathes ready for shipping.  They would paint the lathe to the customer's order.  I suspect that they had some stock colors to pick from.  The photo was B/W and was captioned that the lathes were black with gold trim and ivory, I don't remember the accent color.  I think "battleship gray" as a common machine color, came about during WWII with the "war finish rules"
I don't think you can go wrong with a dark gray or a mist green, black would be nice but would show dirt.

Can you take a cover or plate off to see an original color?  My mill is the same blue and I am NOT a fan of the color.

Hummmm, when I first went to this thread, I could not see the photo of the OP's lathe and the first several posts were missing.  Sorry to repeat what others already suggested


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## Cadillac STS (Dec 13, 2014)

Reeltor said:


> I don't remember where I saw the photo, it was from the 1920's-30's showing a row of lathes ready for shipping.  They would paint the lathe to the customer's order.  I suspect that they had some stock colors to pick from.  The photo was B/W and was captioned that the lathes were black with gold trim and ivory, I don't remember the accent color.  I think "battleship gray" as a common machine color, came about during WWII with the "war finish rules"
> I don't think you can go wrong with a dark gray or a mist green, black would be nice but would show dirt.
> 
> Can you take a cover or plate off to see an original color?  My mill is the same blue and I am NOT a fan of the color.
> ...




Good idea of taking a panel off to check old paint or at least look close to see the paint history right on it.  From the picture it might have been black with the paint flaking off the front pan.  I'll get a close up look.


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## Jerry Benjamin (Mar 18, 2016)

I realize this post is over a year old but I thought I would add my two cents and perhaps confirm a color. In the sixties and seventies I worked in a factory that had 34 of the WS turret lathes  running production threy were from various years and every one of them was a light gray color from the factory.


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## Cadillac STS (Mar 20, 2016)

Thanks for the reply.  Mine is blue but repainted.  From what I can tell blue was a popular color to repaint larger machines.


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## 4GSR (Mar 20, 2016)

The later SC25's 32's 36's were painted a sort of bluish looking color.

I'm experimenting with new Rustoleum color they came out with. Gloss Ocean Mist, almost the same color my grandpa's 1957 Chevy was painted.


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