- Joined
- Oct 15, 2016
- Messages
- 109
This is the story of Millicent the metal lathe, and how I came to be her current caretaker. My name is James, and for well over a decade I've been an avid collector of Porter Cable products,;specifically the tools, stationary and portable, that the company made from 1906 to 1960 when they became part of Rockwell. In their heyday, P.C. was a very forward thinking company, introducing concepts like the first handheld belt sander and the original helical geared circular saw. However, the company really got started in the world of tools with metal working machinery, especially lathes, and I've been on the hunt for one for years.
Unfortunately the line of lathes didn't make it past the 1930's and were relatively specialized; their main product, the carbo-lathe, is a second operation machine with no provision for threading. All is not lost though, as Porter Cable had one conventional engine lathe in their lineup, and now I have one.
Porter Cable bought the Mulliner Enlund company of Syracuse, New York in the spring of 1919. Mulliner had two basic machines, a 12" and a 14" available in different bed lengths., which Porter Cable produced for about another ten years before shifting focus to abrasive finishing machines. I use a metal lathe primarily to make parts for tool restorations, and had quickly outgrown a rather ratty old South Bend 9" and upgraded to an excellent Sheldon 10" when I posted a want to buy ad on OWWM for a Mulliner Enlund; to my surprise, I quickly received a response from another member, a gifted machinist in his own right, who incredulously asked if I really had my heart set on such a specific lathe and told me he had one in storage that he had outgrown in his work. He gave me a deal that a scrap dealer would have jumped on and the lathe was mine after finding a buyer for the Sheldon ( which wasn't hard. It really was a peach of a lathe). The only problem was the lathe was in Indiana, but a few fellow members were gracious enough to help break down the lathe, load up all the parts and bring it to Ohio, no mean feat as the move required two full size trucks!
The lathe in question turned out to be the largest the company built, with a 14" swing and a 6' bed. The Mulliner was (in its day) quite modern, with longitudinal and cross feed as well as a quick change gearbox that has 37 feed speeds, not bad for a machine a few years newer than the RMS Titanic .
The lathe has weathered the past hundred years quite well, with the most serious issue being a stripped gear that was fixed with a call to Martin gear and a bit of machining. Otherwise the lathe needed a good bath and some strategic welding/brazing. Power is provided from an early General Electric three phase, three hp motor via a modified South Bend overhead drive from a 15" metal lathe installed some time during the 1930's so as to free the old girl from needing a lineshaft. the addition of the new drive has bumped up the weight to approximately 2,600 lbs, not in American Pacemaker class but not exactly flimsy. There wasn't much in the way of tooling that came with the lathe, but with the help of another HM member I will be expanding her repitoire. Accuracy with the period D E Whiton three jaw chuck is more than adequate for the type of work I do, and everything operates as it should.
I have a basement shop. as fellow sufferers can attest, it tends to limit what machines you can have. The Mulliner went down the stairs with the exception of the ways, which had to be taken in through the window with the help of an engine hoist and a lot of cribbing. As for how to get it back out, well, I plan on being dead by then, because this elegant old lady and I are going to be together for a long,long time.
-James Huston
Unfortunately the line of lathes didn't make it past the 1930's and were relatively specialized; their main product, the carbo-lathe, is a second operation machine with no provision for threading. All is not lost though, as Porter Cable had one conventional engine lathe in their lineup, and now I have one.
Porter Cable bought the Mulliner Enlund company of Syracuse, New York in the spring of 1919. Mulliner had two basic machines, a 12" and a 14" available in different bed lengths., which Porter Cable produced for about another ten years before shifting focus to abrasive finishing machines. I use a metal lathe primarily to make parts for tool restorations, and had quickly outgrown a rather ratty old South Bend 9" and upgraded to an excellent Sheldon 10" when I posted a want to buy ad on OWWM for a Mulliner Enlund; to my surprise, I quickly received a response from another member, a gifted machinist in his own right, who incredulously asked if I really had my heart set on such a specific lathe and told me he had one in storage that he had outgrown in his work. He gave me a deal that a scrap dealer would have jumped on and the lathe was mine after finding a buyer for the Sheldon ( which wasn't hard. It really was a peach of a lathe). The only problem was the lathe was in Indiana, but a few fellow members were gracious enough to help break down the lathe, load up all the parts and bring it to Ohio, no mean feat as the move required two full size trucks!
The lathe in question turned out to be the largest the company built, with a 14" swing and a 6' bed. The Mulliner was (in its day) quite modern, with longitudinal and cross feed as well as a quick change gearbox that has 37 feed speeds, not bad for a machine a few years newer than the RMS Titanic .
The lathe has weathered the past hundred years quite well, with the most serious issue being a stripped gear that was fixed with a call to Martin gear and a bit of machining. Otherwise the lathe needed a good bath and some strategic welding/brazing. Power is provided from an early General Electric three phase, three hp motor via a modified South Bend overhead drive from a 15" metal lathe installed some time during the 1930's so as to free the old girl from needing a lineshaft. the addition of the new drive has bumped up the weight to approximately 2,600 lbs, not in American Pacemaker class but not exactly flimsy. There wasn't much in the way of tooling that came with the lathe, but with the help of another HM member I will be expanding her repitoire. Accuracy with the period D E Whiton three jaw chuck is more than adequate for the type of work I do, and everything operates as it should.
I have a basement shop. as fellow sufferers can attest, it tends to limit what machines you can have. The Mulliner went down the stairs with the exception of the ways, which had to be taken in through the window with the help of an engine hoist and a lot of cribbing. As for how to get it back out, well, I plan on being dead by then, because this elegant old lady and I are going to be together for a long,long time.
-James Huston
