Been too long since my last find...

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Firefyter-emt

Firefyter-emt

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Joined
Mar 30, 2006
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Putnam, Connecticut, USA.
... so I give you "Martha" my new lathe. She's a 500lb beauty that hails from the 19th century. She boasts a respectable 9' x 26" capacity and does so with such nice lines. Martha was born to FE Reed during the height of the machinery boom in Worcester, Mass. Her childhood was spent spinning in a line-shaft mill in Orange, Mass. In her later years she retired to Shrewsbury, Mass to live out her live with a depression era craftsman. On a cold rainy day in November she was saved and now resides in a quaint area on Northeast Connecticut. Here she shall undergo a restoration and be brought out of retirement and back to a productive life.


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PS, yes... there is a lot of stuff that came with it! I can't wait to restore this one!

Oh yea, you all know me... she was free! (though, the poor old Jeep was not happy to have all of that lathe stuffed into the back!
 
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Martha sure has a great pair of legs :biggrin:

Can't wait to see your restoration Lee, be sure to give us progress reports along the way.
 
Now you'll really be able to punch out the pen mills! One of these days you wil be arrested for all the tool stealing you do. Oh and everybody on Lee's waiting list you better not be holding you breath Lee has a NEW TOY to play with!
 
This would be a good time to decide to take VIDEOS of the restoration
as well as photos.
You could always ditch the vids later on if you don't like them... but
it might make some great tutorials on a LOT of project parts.. cleaning,
aligning, blasting etc..
 
Well I dunno Phil, you see the problem is that this lathe does not have a compound cross slide to cut the angled bevel that I place on the drill chuck end. So unless I set this up with a replacement compound in order to do such, I still have to make them on the little lathe.

This will not get a restoration for a while, next summer at the earliest. I have others in que, although this one will be put all back together so I can use it.

Not sure about the videos... then I need someone to take the video.
PS... Did you guys see this one? I added a new one of me turning that bevel I was talking about with my small lathe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD3YOEoGvNg

There is a chance I end up with three working lathes in my little shop.
 
Lee, So sad you are not closer to Reno. I would do the video for you. I am a natural with a video camera. The first video i ever did for someone was a Wedding. Talk about pressure. But I nailed it. not only that but I have the equipment to dub in separate audio. This means you can add your voice to the tape later when you realize your voice got muffled or there was to much other noise. I also have top quality microphones that actually let you sound like you.
 
Thanks, one of these days I have to remember to try to make the video in the daytime! Honestly though, most of the work restoring it is kind of boring... Who really wants to see half an hour of me with my arms in my sandblasting cabinet? Although, this one will need my "tent" method in the middle of the shop. I have a 4' metal folding dog run that I put up in the shop and then cover with a blue tarp. Then I crawl inside to sandblast the bigger stuff.

PS... I am really debating on painting Martha gloss black. From my research, that was the color of the day for the 1890's
 
That is the finer art of Video, how to make 4 hours of mind numbingly boring stuff look like fun. ever set through a full blown catholic wedding? Now making anything happen for 2 hours of service is a challenge. Catch shots of the flower girl making her dress swish, Grandma dabbing her eyes, the twins starting to get into a wrestling match, and a good close up of the grooms knees trying to buckle. and do it all without being seen or noticed. two and a half hours of events, 15 hours of recorded tape, all edited into 1 and a half hours of final film. editing took 1 hour per minute of finished tape. (90 hours)
one of the really great things I did. The DJ at the reception messed up big time and played the wrong song for the Bride and Grooms first dance. When I made the video I was able to dub in the correct song. you cannot tell at all. the real sound fades out the dubbed in music fades in I left just enough sound to still here the crowed and the music was timed to keep the movements of the bride and groom in sync. I was there the first time the bride actually saw the video. She burst into tears when she realized they where dancing to the correct song.
 
Firefyter-emt said:
Wow, Daniel... I am impressed. Ok, you have me... you can fly out and shoot the restoration. Although, it may take a year or more to finish it! LOL
Click to expand...

Lee,
you beat me to it, I was going to suggest the Daniel take some time off and fly out while you work on it.. I'm sure he could sleep on the couch for a few days - weeks - months - whatever .. your wife wouldn't mind - would she??

Maybe shades of "Dupree and me"
 
I don't sleep much, eat little more than scraps. But I also am the sole means of support for 4 other souls. that last bit my cause some problems. I'm sure I would go unnoticed except when I was using your shop. but all the additional company that comes with me would turn the entire household upside down.
 
Very nice find Lee! I hope you get it fixed up faster than the rebuild I have been workin on or should I say staring at in my shop. I expect picture of the process as you are working on it! Good Luck!

P.S. That sure is a fancy lathe dog in your video!:wink:
 
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Nice one! The absence of a compound slide doesn't seem like too much of a problem to me though. I rarely use mine, and usually just end up etch-a-sketching tapers in. I've gotten pretty good at it.
 
You bet Joe, and the work as good as they look!

Kurt, the sad thing is that I use the compound on every pen mill to cut the bevel that follows up from the drill chuck end of the mill. I may look into having a custom T-Track style cross-feed made if the screw design allows for it to be done, or maybe I can find another compound unit and build an adapter block. Either way the work will need to be sublet out because I do not have a Bridgeport to do the milling.... yet.

PS, Joe... that was a Southbend you picked up, right?
 
Ah, I see! I suppose if I was doing a lot of the same thing in batches, I'd actually use my compound too. :) I sort of did the same thing recently on my wood lathe when I had to drill and turn about 25 of the same shape and size pipe bowl.
 
Yea... and you know, I may have an answer, but it will take some custom work. I am going to look for a Atlas compound and make the base to fit that compond. My thinking here is simple... I remembered that I have a mint milling attachment that fits one of them! Because they are very close in size, I can easily adapt the compound and with luck it will all fit in very well and look pretty original!
 
Some guys............Well, I picked up a Clausing/Atlas today. Doesn't need much but a little cleaning. Will post a pic. Didn't get it for free, but it was very reasonable!
 
Very nice lathe Paul... There was one local for $850 I was lusting after on Craigslist.

From what I have learned these FE Reed lathes were one of the better built lathes in the 1800's and the first half of the 1900's so I am glad it found a good home. I really do feel sorry for some of these tools that see a sad fate after such history and with so much more to give.
 
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