Photo Index - Meyer Tool Co. - Flat-belt engine lathe

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Meyer Tool Co.
Unknown

True Manufacturer:
Meyer Tool Co., Unknown

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Metal Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Lathe, Metal
Machine Size:	11x60
Submitted By:	Jeff Joslin

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Flat-belt engine lathe
Date of Manufacturer:	1916
Serial Number:
Last Updated	6/4/2020 10:14:39 AM

Comments:

Photos courtesy of the owner, Joe Lisowski. who was given the lathe about 1980 by the estate of an elderly neighbor who had been a tool and die maker in the 1930s.

Nameplate gives the lathe size as "11x5", which I interpret as 11-inch swing and 5-foot bed. Given the four-step flat-belt pulley in the headstock and the fairly long tailstock, the between-centers capacity is probably about 18 inches.

By 1916 standards this production lathe is of simple and relatively light design: flat-belt-driven, no quick-change gear box, and flat shears (ways). The patterns to produce the castings were unrefined in shape, producing angular-looking bed, apron and cross-slide. My best guess is that this lathe was intended for producing small brass shell parts. Chances are good that thousands of these lathes were manufactured during the war, and most were scrapped either right after World War I or in the scrap-metal drives at the start of World War II. This particular lathe is a rare survivor that helps document one of the most important eras in the evolution of lathe design.

Photo 1:

Comments:
Source:

Direct Link
IMG Code

Photo 2:

Comments:
Source:

Direct Link
IMG Code