Help request - info on antique Karger lathe, ideas for restoration, misc questions -

[tadol]

Hi all - I had the opportunity to buy an antique (1920s?) Karger lathe - it’s possibly a clockmakers or toolroom lathe, and looks extremely similar to Lorch or Rivett style machines. While it is basically operational - at least as a wood lathe - it has a few features I’m trying to understand, and need some advice -

The headstock uses a flatbelt pulley, that is one solid block - I can find no way to detach or loosen it to remove the spindle. The main reason I’m thinking to remove it is the thread on it is 1-1/16” x 8TPI. It may be a metric dia, but it is definitely 8tpi. I don’t have any chucks, just a single faceplate, and I’m thinking turning it down to a more standard 1”x8tpi would make acquiring those much easier - and while we’re on the headstock - the pulley is drilled for indexing, but I cannot figure put how it would work. Maybe this pulley is used on other machines?

I did get a cross-slide with it, which I need to clean and restore. There are no names or identification on it, so I’m not sure it’s original, but it probably is. There is a gear that it appears a worm drive would be attached to to fine adjust the angle on the cross-slide, but the bolt and mount are missing - does anyone have something similar that they could post a few pics of, so I’d have a better idea of what I’d like to try and make?

The drive assembly is workable, but I’m going to try and change it to a VFD set-up - eventually. But for now, I’d like to get everything cleaned up and sorted begore going further. Any thoughts / advice / or knowledge that can be shared would be greatly appreciated!

 

[markba633csi]

The spindle probably comes out towards the tailstock like most lathes. You likely need a puller of some type made of threaded rod and some
washers and nuts plus some pieces of wood to spread the force.
Interesting machine- but no thread cutting ability it seems

 

[BGHansen]

Tony's site has some info on the company. Here's the link:

Karger Lathes

G. Kärger of Kraut-Strasse 52, Berlin 0.27 were makers from the late 1800s of high quality machine tools including millers and a range of precision plain-turning and screwcutting lathes designed for use in the watch, clock and instrument making trades.

www.lathes.co.uk

Bruce

 

[Cyclebuster]

it looks to me like that piece under the compound is just a spacer from some old equipment. Its dissimilar metal and i dont see any mounting points for the worm rack

 

[tadol]

A puller makes some sense - I’ll measure the spindle at each end of the pulley, and see what the difference is. I was imagining a straight shaft, with some kind of lock or set-screw, but I have looked extra carefully and cannot find one - I really don’t want to pull it - the flat belt pulley is probably over 50 lbs in itself - but unless I can find a chuck or two that was made for this spindle, I need to find a way to use what is relatively inexpensively available (or get a whole lot better at cutting internal threads) -

And I spend a lot pf time going through Tony’s site - love the info on old lathes! Unfortunately, there is very little on the Karger, and most pics I’ve found show them with a V-pulley set-up, and not a flat-belt. I also can’t see any pics that show how they might have used the indexing holes, or good info on the nature of the tapers on the head and tail stock. But the head stock casting looks almost identical to the Lorch, and other similar size lathes -

Attd’ is a better pic showing where I think the worm rack may have been mounted - I just haven’t found a pic of what it might have originally looked like -

 

[matthewsx]

I think I’d try to find chucks that fit, or better yet learn how to thread backplates.