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Here ya go gents, another chance to top 100 posts with nay saying, cussing and discussing and all the good things that AR posters like to put in a thread. Fal Grunt, keep an eye on this thread and see if it winds up to fit your and my AR opinion. This hunk of old American Iron showed up last week. 110 pounds. As Jeffosso says, it will turn into a "Goat rope".     | ||
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Love it!!! After setup you can blast through making small round parts by the thousands. However it does require a little more background knowledge in machining than the average machinist this CNC word produces. I always wanted to buy a turret for my 1966 Southbend 9" just for this purpose. Unfortunately it found a good home as I needed room for my "new" Milltronics CNC. Shop is a little full and the old manual Hardinge TMUM with Vertical head and spiral milling attachment is the next to be re-homed. Whenever I get a 4th axis installed on my Milltronics. The old manual machines made the world turn for a hundred years. Too bad there's little history included in machining classes today. | |||
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Had one of those included with my Logan I bought last fall. Not sure it actually would fit on my lathe, or was for a size larger. I put it on ebay and used it to recoup a chunk of the cost of the machine; I can't imagine where I would use it effectively, and knew someone else would put it to use. The Logan I got as a "second subsequent owner after the original owner died" deal, not assembled, all his failed projects, scrap, machine parts, etc in boxes filled with trash, dirt, and grease with the gems embedded in the debris. The lathe, a bunch of related and unrelated lathe parts, Part of a Bridgeport mill, a complete Taiwan mill, another Craftsman lathe, and related and unrelated lathe, mill and general machine pieces. I sorted, figured out, and sold off the unrelated parts enough to pay for keeping the Taiwan mill and the Logan for free. Plus some more tooling that I haven't disposed of or decided I need yet. | |||
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My first job out of high school was setting-up and running a W&S #3. From there I went to the Acme-Gridley 'screw' machines. Now, I press buttons on a key board and change inserts. I still do all the 'manual' machine work that comes in to the shop. | |||
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I am sort of looking for a W&S No. 2, but will have to build a shop addition first! | |||
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Pure old school here, 74 years old, was running this little 9x24 South Bend when I was 8. Many years of working in industrial Machine shops since, both hands on and as a Supervisor. All manual machines.  The turret will go on the 13x40 Jet:  Leaving the 13x36 Jet in the foreground for other work:  I have a bit of machining to do on the turret base to establish a proper center. Then I will be tooling it up for making loading dies, similar to these:   400 H&H:  I have a finisher reamer for 500 Jeffery, just ordered a resize. As soon as it gets here (8 to 10 weeks) I will make 3 die sets for the 500 Jeffery. Probably on 1" dia stock, maybe 1-1/4". Then I will tool up for the 404 Jeffery. Had a set of reamers but foolishly sold them 4 years ago. | |||
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I have a W&S for sale. It came out of the Remington Arms plant years ago. Completely rebuilt by black powder gun manufacturer Bill Mowrey. Craftsman | |||
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Good luck! Bunches of those manual production tools have gone to scrap. Still a good selection of engine/tool room lathes and vertical mills around. We've got a 1942 model 36" swing Sydney in the shop. It always gets a 'audience' when I hoist a piece into its' 4 jaw. I think 7RPM is as slow as she'll turn. They back up real fast if I clutch it in @ 200RPM to drill a hole. I'm thinkin' 425 is top , but I've never had it turning that fast. | |||
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As you know most of the good old iron is way eastward. Chicago and east to NYC. Not much out here in the Pacific NW where I am, but sometimes a W&S shows up. Several Hardinge chuckers for sale in the Seattle area, fully tooled, but just a little to small for my use. Saw a nice No 2 W&S for sale a few months ago, but it was in Pennsylvania. $600. Too far for me to drive! | |||
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I will not be looking seriously until I pour concrete and expand the shop. Might be a year or two. | |||
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I like it! With the right case holder in the spindle and a few gizmos on the turret you’d have a great case prep machine. I use my lathe for case trimming and deburring, but I put the tools in the chuck and hold the cases in my hand. I have to work in batches, completing one operation at a time. With the turret you could do all steps on a case before proceeding to the next. As we age and hand strength declines, it’s nice to have a little help. I have a 1950s Cincinnati 12-1/2X18 Tray Top lathe. Built like an anvil. | |||
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Love it. I got years ago ( about 1987 ) a Royal Turret unit that was off a 14" lathe, machined the base to fit my 13 x 36 Jet lathe. The holes in the Turret were 1.5" so had to sleeve them and re-drill and ream to 1.0". Have used it for a lot of parts over the years. Have one part I still make on it, that has a # 5 x 40 thread that is 1.25" long, so have to use a box tool to cut the long section, and a die head to cut the threads, plus the larger headed portion is also knurled. Dang hard to do that on the CNC lathe, as you would have to stop and reset the die head for each screw. Have in storage now, due to lack of shop space a Kitakura turret lathe in 3C spindle size, fully tooled, came out of B-Square years ago. And I have a 10" Logan lathe, with the factory Turret and cross slide ( not over head ), that is set up for one operation only, which it does about a thousand parts every two years. Yes they are old school and its getting harder to find tooling for them each year, BUT they can make parts that would be hard for certain CNC Lathes J Wisner | |||
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Thanks Jim, neat that a few folks are around that appreciate a small turret lathe. I have been rounding up tooling. Mainly floating reamer holders, I like the Ziegler, not the cheap type made for "gunsmiths". Had a nice Ziegler for years, I use it when chambering barrels. Got 4 inbound from Ebay with 1" shanks, easy setup on the turret that accepts 1" dia. tool holders. Crowded shop? Yea I know that situation. If I was loaded with $$$ I would build another shop and purchase a couple of the smaller W&S Turret lathes. Making reloading dies is well suited to the use of a Turret Lathe. Any tips for a Steel Supplier in Western Washington that will sell 12L14 in small lots? Round bar, 1", 1-1/8", and 1-1/4". | |||
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I think the turret had been on a shelf for 50 or so years. The tool holder blanks would not come out of the turret, so I gave then a few hours of soaking time with Kroil. A lathe dog for some twisting motion and they came out. Most of the tool holders were blanks, never used. With the tool holders removed:   Just another lucky find on Ebay. | |||
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I don't know about "making thousands of parts", like Gunmakers suggested. I'd be bore after the first 25, maybe sooner! In the "old" shop, that's what screw machines were for, thousands of parts. | |||
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I could probably make 20 a month. Gotta have time to go fishing! | |||
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I noticed the fishing rods in one shop picture. I have several surf rods and big Penn reels hanging in my shop for my semi annual trip to the coast. That's when I'm not busy catching big blue cats in Texas lakes. Correction on the turret lathe. It is a Bardons and Oliver. Craftsman | |||
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Old Salty here, fished many coastal areas. Now on the Straits of Juan de Fuca (Washington State) a good Salmon and Halibut area. I am also a rod builder, have tons of rods, blanks, parts, threads (a Gudebrod collection going back to the 1970's) Batson/Rainshadow is 10 miles from me, I have many composite blanks from the Outlet store that Mic Batson runs. Surf casting? Ever seen the big Alvey reels from Australia? I have several, along with two of the specialized Alvey rods. 14 feet, to reach past the third bar where the big Channel Bass hang out:   A 10 foot ceiling is handy:  | |||
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That's a nice looking turret, I used to have one for my 9" South Bend. W&S's are dime a dozen around me, but typically they are WELL used. I bid on a tiny one at an auction last spring, I bid it up to $1000, but the idiot, errr gentleman who bought it, thought it would make a good hobby lathe. He was in for a surprise when he got it home. Garr Tool (Also Small Tools) up until recently still rebuilt W&S machines on a regular basis, mostly for the US Government. Last I was up there they had a MASSIVE #5 on the floor being rebuilt. If you get antsy enough, and want a W&S let me know, we can find one for you. Nathaniel Myers Myers Arms LLC nathaniel@myersarms.com www.myersarms.com Follow us on Instagram and YouTube I buy Mauser actions, parts, micrometers, tools, calipers, etc. Specifically looking for pre-WWII Mauser tools. | |||
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In a year or two I will be looking for a real turret lathe, like a small W&S. Things like this are a hard find in the Pacific NW, this area has always been a ghost land for machine tools. Lots of Bridgeports and small hobby lathes but the specialized items just are not here. Different story east of the Mississippi, where American manufacturing has been centered for centuries. Chicago, Michigan, Ohio, you know the drill. I am easing onto the turret lathe work, like you I do not want to be swamped. Certain specialized markets in the gun world exist, I just have to produce a quality product in limited amounts. After all I am supposed to be retired, but I cannot keep my hands off the machinery! The gentlemen that out bid you is certainly in for a surprise. Hobby lathes and turret lathes are two very different animals! There is a N0. 3 about 20 miles from me, a logger friend has it. Mainly not used, he is not a machinist and certainly does not understand the tooling required. Last time I visited he was trying to turn brake drums off one of his Kenworth logging trucks. I just walked away. I worked in a shop in the 1970's that had a lot of little automatic screw machines left over from World War II. None in use, no one there had a clue on how to set them up, there were boxes and boxes of tooling. Would have been ideal for our small gun work. I am sure they went to scrap many, many years ago. | |||
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that might actually be my catch phrase, as I say it quite a bit .. and think it more often opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club Information on Ammoguide about the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR. 476AR, http://www.weaponsmith.com | |||
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Forester still uses a little B&S single spindle automatic (screw machine) to make trigger guard and lock screws. I never was around the single spindle machines, spent a bunch of time working the 4 and 6 spindle machines ( mostly 6 spindle from 9/16 to 1 5/8 capacity). That's where the real learning about tooling began. No button to reduce speed/feed by 10% at a push. They're either clutched in or they aren't. Either your tooling is right and you're making good parts, or your tooling isn't right and you're not! | |||
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You are light years ahead of me. Surf rods to the second sand bar. Big bait for shark 400 yds out we use a kayak and big Penns. We camp right on the beach. My apologies for hijacking the thread. Craftsman | |||
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