Golborne Vintage Radio

Hi,

I was happily going about my business converting the garage into my workshop when Big Al stepped in sending me an email with an eBay link showing a Lorch metal turning lathe in Huddersfield for sale; many thanks Alan for throwing a spanner into my plans just knowing I would take the bait?

I contacted the seller named Steve requesting a convenient time to Steve for me to visit and inspect this lathe; please note Gary; yes this time I was going to inspect before buying after being caught out so badly whilst buying a Myford MF36 in Wales unseen which turned out to be scrap once on my bench.

This morning accompanied by my own personal black cloud I visited Steve in his workshop the other side of Huddersfield; well it couldn't be this side of Huddersfield could it? Steve was in his office on the phone when I arrived but I spotted the lathe crammed in amongst other machinery and upon first sight I thought no way am I buying this lathe; it looked very rough and must have been stored for years unused?

Steve then greeted me and set about clearing access to the lathe; now I could closely inspect it; I had taken along my rigger gloves and was donned in my tramps kit after all I didn't want to look wealthy? I grasped the chuck and tried my best to detect any play in the head-stock bearings but couldn't; next I tried the tail-stock and again all was well; the carriage ran along the bed with just the right amount of resistance. Steve connected the motor and checking all was free to revolve switched on; the lathe burst immediately into life but with a metal to metal rubbing noise which I could only roughly trace to around the head-stock area? Steve produced an oil can and lubricated the head-stock bearings but without any change to the noise. The two flat belts were flapping around a bit on their respective pulleys and I thought perhaps the noise could be something very simple like a pulley rubbing.

By now I was warming to this Lorch lathe with its quaint drive system of flat belts with fast and loose pulleys this in effect being a clutch. The tail-stock was the usual lever locking cam operation which pleased me no end because I'll never own another lathe with spanner locking. The power feeds worked OK and after my initial doubts I thought apart from the grubby dirty state of this lathe it holds a lot of promise but being a tight Yorkshireman cost had to be considered.

I explained to Steve that I had sold two very rare Myford's on eBay fetching only £227 the pair and a week after mine sold another guy had a similar lathe go on eBay for little over £100; this was my opening round and of course every word was true. I further explained I was concerned about the rubbing noise around the head-stock and also importantly what it would cost me to get the lathe home?

I asked Steve what he thought this lathe to be worth but he countered this very skillfully saying he hadn't a clue but that lathes are so unpredictable being sold through eBay. Steve added that he could deliver free of charge if I made a fair offer? I had taken along a wad of cash having already decided on the highest price I was willing to pay judging by the details advertised; I offered the full price I was willing to pay and after a bit of thought we shook hands on the deal.

The lathe is supplied with lots of change gears and other bits of kit in two large wooden boxes; Steve suggested I bring the loose items home with me in the car so whilst my cloud did it's best to drown the both of us we loaded the boxes into the Aygo. Steve accepted half full payment up front as a deposit and I'll pay the balance when the lathe is delivered tomorrow afternoon. I must say I bought this lathe for a very fair price indeed mutually acceptable to both Steve and I.

Lorch lathes are very desirable indeed and ones in good condition fetch very high prices if ever they come up for sale. David has a splendid watchmakers Lorch and all Lorch lathes are precision lathes.

What brilliant timing for a change and even my cloud couldn't upset me although it tried its best. I was unsure whether to sell my soda blaster but now it will prove highly useful because I have the facility of soda blasting this entire lathe. Soda blasting is absolutely perfect for doing this because soda is not abrasive and I can blast in the knowledge that no harm whatsoever will be caused to this lathe; if the soda gets into bearings or moving parts it is harmless; this is going to be a lovely lathe to spend time playing about on.

After spending considerable money on the Myford's I decided against throwing more money at them and it proved a sound decision in cutting my losses even though I did lose around £1,000 on the both of them; I had come to the conclusion that whatever I spent on these two lathes or however many hours the lathes would ultimately still be worth little. Lorch lathes though are well worth restoring and this particular lathe is in good basic condition; whatever the noise turns out to be I'm sure I can fix it; it's on single phase which I'll be looking at; I could very easily convert to variable speed through a VFD because I have a suitable top quality Brook Motor inverter rated to hand but the fast and loose pulleys take me back fifty years to my apprenticeship days so I'll see how the lathe performs before making any decisions.

I need to complete the Wilmac bandsaw restoration before moving onto this Lorch but what a delightful project to look forward to and this time I have the soda blaster to take a lot of the dirty work out of it.

With both David and me now being owners of Lorch lathes I wonder who will be third on this forum to own one of these lathes?

This lathe is much bigger than David's having its own stand but as yet I'm unable to add any pictures; here are Lorch lathe details for those interested;

http://www.lathes.co.uk/lorchschmidt/

I'm feeling much happier after being in the doldrums these last few months; I'm now up to strength on lathes this being number four so already 2014 is starting off very well indeed.

Many thanks Big Al for tipping me off about this lathe now please behave yourself because I've now got four lathes and don't think I could squeeze another into the garage; you can have a good look at it on your next visit but I'll be checking your Free-Lander before you leave?

Hopefully I'll be able to expand on this story in the near future.

Kind regards, Col.

Looks like a little belter, Col.

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- Joe

I'm actually in a state of advanced envy. I'm sure it will give you hours of inocent pleasure.
I'll have to come and inspect it shortly.

Alan

If it's the same age as the lathes shown in the linked page, it should be very rewarding to restore. I would be tempted to tackle something like that, even knowing that I would rarely use it since I already have the 1950s Logan. I spent a long time disassembling and cleaning that one.

Hi,

Many thanks Joe for adding the picture at least everyone can now see the lathe in all its glory and as bought.

You are most welcome to visit Bron and me anytime Big Al and of course don't forget to collect Joe en-route; we can still run to a brew and a biscuit. Yes I'll certainly have fun playing with this Lorch and it's well worth restoring.

Thanks Alan D, I've not yet had time to do any research on this Lorch but it it will afford me many happy hours of tinkering assuming I can get into the garage to restore the Wilmac bandsaw first? Any chance of a write up and pictures of your Logan which I would find most interesting?

I always say you can't have too many lathes. I think I view lathes as the girls view handbags and shoes? Our local postmaster has an old lathe for sale and I've been resisting the temptation to buy it for many months but when Big Al tipped me off about this Lorch well it was all too much? I just know I'm going to be a kid with a new toy tomorrow.

Here's a reminder regarding David's beautiful Lorch lathe;

http://www.golbornevintageradio.co.uk/fo...p?tid=1111

Kind regards, Col.

That looks a fair bit more pro than my small column drill and an assortment of files (Yes! this is my lathe). Bet it will be a beauty when its all done and dusted.

How about making some sort of booth before the soda blasting Colin?

Have fun

Gary

"Can't have too many" hmm, I know a chap who has a 10-foot-long lathe in his cellar, circa 1900. He had to remove the floor in the room above to lower it down.

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Hi All, here's my ML7, Nothing special, It,s an old one, 1956 I think, Myford spotters will have spotted the older type tailstock. Note the ABB inverter and Italian motor. Huge improvement on the single phase type. The wee box under the lathe controls speed, and reverse. I only use reverse for removing chucks so its limited to very low speed, programmed in the ABB. Been discussed here before but the ABB is easy to remote, the programming is a bit daunting but the book is very complete. So I,ve got a very untidy workshop/Garage, radio work is done in an upstairs room and that's just as untidy!

Peter

(19-01-2014, 04:27 PM)Eddystonepete Wrote: [ -> ]I only use reverse for removing chucks so its limited to very low speed, programmed in the ABB.

Does you credit. I can never understand the enthusiasm for Reverse with Screw-on Chucks. Having a few pounds of Steel and Cast Iron bouncing off the Bed and round the floor is not my idea of fun.

What make is the Drill? Fobco?

Alan

Hi,

The 10' lathe in the guys cellar Alan D will settle the foundations nicely. I used to have a big Colchester Triumph and an 8' long Dominion in my garage and these two lathes were lovely toys but just too big especially with the other machines which I was forever trying to work around.

Thanks for adding the pictures of your Myford Peter; it looks well used. Your drill press looks robust? I totally agree with you regarding using a VFD (inverter) because these units have now come way down in price and allow 3 phase machines to be run from single phase; my Huanyang VFD was a real pain to set up unaided by a poor instruction booklet and no online back-up. It took ages to sort this VFD out but now it does a wonderful job of powering my Graduate lathe.

I've been working flat out over the last couple of days installing my Lorch lathe into the garage. I spent a lot of time yesterday clearing a bench; this bench had my Clarke lathe on it together with lots of steel bar stock; the Clarke was easy to move but the bar stock took quite a while.

I had made a bogie to wheel the lathe into the garage which worked perfectly but this threw up a big problem of how to get the lathe off the bogie without damaging the lathe or crushing myself because I was working on my own and lowering a lathe 6" from a wheeled bogie has to be tried to be believed when only a trolley jack and levers are available. I was taught how to move heavy machinery as an apprentice but it was slow going; one mistake could have had the lathe falling over?

With the lathe on the garage floor it was then easy to slide into the gap using a wooden lever but it sure warmed me up. What a perfect fit with half an inch to spare; I've now got my two big lathes down one wall. The garage is now untidy but the hard work is over.

When this Lorch lathe was delivered as arranged yesterday afternoon I couldn't believe the rain stopped just long enough for the journey to our bungalow and the off-loading so the lathe remained dry throughout; this morning it was very dismal when I went into the garage just after 8:30 but it turned out into a beautiful summers day so no moaning at all for a change; more of this weather please. Bron told me she thought the lathe looked like a load of rusty junk as the truck pulled up?

As soon as the truck disappeared I was keen to see what the metal to metal rubbing noise was so I switched on and then gave the lathe a good drink of lubricating oil to all its moving parts because it was thirsty after years of storage; the noise was there to start with but the oil appears to have cured it; there is still some noise but this time appears to be coming from the counter-shaft area in the base of the lathe which isn't worrying me in the least; if it needs a new shaft and bearings I can sort this out without trouble quite cheaply. I can't detect any play in the moving parts which is brilliant news in fact for what I paid for it including delivery I'm over the moon with it. I like to paint my restored machinery Cream White RAL9001 but because this lathe has a total loss oil lubrication system I've been looking for a suitable colour in which to finish it; the cream white would prove a nightmare to keep clean. I've been browsing YouTube and like the look of the colour of the Lorch in the following video but I'm colour blind; I thought the colour to be green but it could also be many other colours to me including brown or buff? I asked Bron to check and yes its green and also Tony kindly confirmed it to be green. What luck; 22 change gears are supplied with the lathe plus the ones already installed and there appears to be only one tooth missing out of the lot.

This afternoon I've emailed Paragon Paints sending them the YouTube link asking them to please supply a colour code for this green so that I can order the paint when I'm ready?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Y1bvyFG3hWM

I'm very much looking forward to restoring this Lorch lathe but first jobs first; I need to finish restoring the Wilmac bandsaw. I felt tired after all the exercise in the garage making space and installing this lathe so this afternoon I washed the car and have been on light duties; next week I'll get stuck into the bandsaw.

I would love a blasting booth Gary but unfortunately will be doing the blasting on our driveway but this time I'll be using soda as a blasting medium which is totally safe to use on machined surfaces and even around bearings as it isn't at all abrasive.

Kind regards, Col.

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