Thread: My 1930's Le Blond Regal Lathe

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I finally got a digital camera to take some photo's of my
1930's Le Blond Regal Lathe.
Kurt

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtvara/?saved=1

neat old lathe.. i had a old Henley lathe with a grear box like yours has. the one i have now you move the flat belt for more or less speed on the pulleys

I've got a nice modern Pratt & Whitney from early 1940s that I was told was probably on a Navy ship!!!!hope it was a ship that did a lot of damage to the enemy, but even if it was just a hohoom boat---they were a part of our patriotic history and I'm damn proud to have it!!!!

What is the transmission on there from, Kurt? Very interesting lathe, and I think I remember seeing it when I visited you that time.

When I worked at the marina they had a big old lathe that came off of a WWII battleship, and when they were cleaning up they offered it to me for free. I seriously considered it, but couldn't figure out how to move it. When they finally found a buyer for it our forklift actually did a reverse wheelie trying to pick it up. We had to use our 20 ton travel lift to put it on the guys trailer. It almost flattened the tires on his trailer when we set it down. I should have taken it for scrap value alone, but it was in good working order and would have been a shame to scrap.

Don

So do you change the speed of the lathe by changing gears? lol

Yes you do, Fun4me.
You know Don The Lathe came out of a big Factory where they had a bunch of these things lined up in rows. They used them for working on boats planes trains and automotive. This is what I was told by the guy I got it from and he had his own automotive refurbushing company for about 20 years. He said this is the way he got it from the Factory when they where selling off old machines. They added the plate on the side that holds the motor and the trany. then they added another plate to the bottom of the feet on the heavy end. I think that was to balance it better since they added so much weight to the one side of the Lathe. I was told by a very old freind that the trany was a old 2 speed, from what I am not sure I will give him a call tomarrow and ask him what it is from. You probably can not tell from the photo's but it also has 3 big belts that go from the trany down to the axle behind the chuck, or what ever it's called that turns the chuck anyway. Maybe it's called the drum I am not sure about that. Oh this is the funny part I forgot about I paid a guy
3 hundred to move it about 50 miles for me. HE! HE! HE! We put a furniture dolly under the light end and a big floor jack under the heavy end and pulled it up on a trailer with a long chain I had brought and my suburban.
This guy actully thought he was gonna pull this thing on his trailer with a cheap come along. That lasted about 2 seconds and it exploded. HE! HE! Then he was scared to go over 30 miles and hour with it.
But for good reason, it buckeled his trailer bent his axles and bent his cheap steel rims. Yep I got my money's worth. HE! HE! HE! I had asked him are you sure this trailer is strong enough???
He said ya no problem I've moved car on this before. They must have been honda's or or something small HE! HE! HE!
Kurt

The reason I asked about the transmission is that it looks like one from some old car. The other reason I passed on taking the free one was because someone on here posted about how a guy he worked with got his tie caught in the lathe at work and it killed him instantly. I didn't want that anywhere around my Sons, we get hurt enough as it is when working in the shop.

Don

I hear ya Don; I have heard and seen the same thing. You can not ware loose clothing around this kind of stuff it will drag you in. The handle that runs along the top of my machine was also added to it. And it was added just in case you were at the other end of the machine and something goes wrong. It shuts off the power switch at the other end of the Lathe. This thing also have some car points in a box where the switch is.
And you can see them sparking when it is on to, weird HUH!!!
Kurt

the trans /gear box was a stander deal on the old lathes like i said i had a henley lathe with one they could been from a car but mine never had any thing on it like a name on the box . for belts or flat belts well yes you can get hung up in a belts but if that did not get you the dog drivers or chuck or part you are turning can fly out or drive screw feed gears can pull you in there not toys they deserve respect just like a gun any one wearing a tie on or any long chain or loose stuff around any mill. drill press or lathe is asken for trouble . when i was in school kids had long hair the teacher told stories about kids getting hair rip out with a smile on there face .you can mash a fingers just getting the chuck off the machine

Nice piece of machinery there. Have you wipped up any parts on it yet? I have been seriously considering a mill and a lathe for next year. My mind is just racing with fabrication ideas.

Wow thats huge !!! I love to see old lathes, must be some kind of fetish

Originally Posted by vara4

I finally got a digital camera to take some photo's of my
1930's Le Blond Regal Lathe.
Kurt

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtvara/?saved=1

Originally Posted by roadster32

Wow thats huge !!! I love to see old lathes, must be some kind of fetish

really would you like to see my caroll jamieson flat belt lathe

Any relation to Jenna

Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

really would you like to see my caroll jamieson flat belt lathe

Originally Posted by roadster32

Any relation to Jenna

well shure she isshe a older girl . noah used it to build the ark i was told

Sure,

Let's see some more pics of old lathes. That sure looks like a truck transmission. I wonder if the lathe was converted from a line shaft driven machine?

Jack.