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I think I know what this is but still not sure.

B

Brent Stahl

Joined
Apr 2, 2022
Messages
14
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Location
Minster, OH
Hey folks! I bought a lathe yesterday at an auction. I couldn't find anything indicating a make or a model number. I did however look through the internet at a lot of lathes that lead me to believe this is a Delta/Rockwell 1460. Basically my question is did I make a good purchase? I gave $300 for the whole thing. It runs, came with 2 faceplates a crap ton of chisels and some turning blanks. I'll add more pictures as requested. Thanks everyone!


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Looks similar to an old Atlas lathe, which was my first. It only had a 1/2 hp motor, which I upgraded to a 1 hp motor. It appears to only have 3 speeds, which is unusual, unless the small end of the headstock spindle is actually a pulley rather than just the spindle. With the cabinet, $300 isn't a bad deal. Not sure how good the deal is though.

robo hippy
 
No clue on the actual value of it, but looks like it might be serviceable once given some serious TLC! Since you are guessing at the brand, I am making the assumption there is no nameplate anywhere on it. Looks like there might have been one on the headstock where those two small holes are. The color does make me think Delta Rockwell, but paint is easy to apply :) I know that my vintage Delta Rockwell drill press has the model cast into the head of the drill press. You might look for something like that and see if that gets you anywhere in identifying it.

You have some quality time ahead of you rehabilitating that lathe, but looks like a decent purchase to me. I probably would have tried to talk the seller down, but that is just me - I would have gone in willing to pay a $300 asking price, but probably started negotiating lower. Sometimes that crazy low number works, sometimes it doesn't.

That motor has 'made in Taiwan' on it, doubt it is original
 
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Tim Starliper said:
No clue on the actual value of it, but looks like it might be serviceable once given some serious TLC! Since you are guessing at the brand, I am making the assumption there is no nameplate anywhere on it. Looks like there might have been one on the headstock where those two small holes are. The color does make me think Delta Rockwell, but paint is easy to apply :) I know that my vintage Delta Rockwell drill press has the model cast into the head of the drill press. You might look for something like that and see if that gets you anywhere in identifying it.

You have some quality time ahead of you rehabilitating that lathe, but looks like a decent purchase to me. I probably would have tried to talk the seller down, but that is just me - I would have gone in willing to pay a $300 asking price, but probably started negotiating lower. Sometimes that crazy low number works, sometimes it doesn't.

That motor has 'made in Taiwan' on it, doubt it is original
Click to expand...


Thanks for replying. The biggest common similarities I noticed were those two holes on the head stock, the color, and the style of the tailstock that made me think Delta. The motor really confuses me. I'm not sure why it's mounted the way it is. Is it purely for tension? Also the end of the electrical plug says Craftsman. I think the Nameplate on it says Bullet
 
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robo hippy said:
Looks similar to an old Atlas lathe, which was my first. It only had a 1/2 hp motor, which I upgraded to a 1 hp motor. It appears to only have 3 speeds, which is unusual, unless the small end of the headstock spindle is actually a pulley rather than just the spindle. With the cabinet, $300 isn't a bad deal. Not sure how good the deal is though.

robo hippy
Click to expand...
Thanks for replying. The end of the plug on the motor said craftsman so it would make sense if it is an Atlas.
 
I would say the motor was replaced at some point in time, possibly. As for the mounting I think you are probably correct that it is for tension. My table saw motor is mounted on the back of the saw, lower than the pulled on the arbor, on a hinge mount that has the weight of the motor providing tension to the belt. There is a spring mechanism similar to what is see in your pictures as well.
 
One nice thing about those old lathes is they're really easy to maintain and restore. I'd suggest replacing the headstock bearings, and changing the belt out for a link belt. Then sharpen your turning chisels and make some shavings!
 
Bob Sheppard said:
One nice thing about those old lathes is they're really easy to maintain and restore. I'd suggest replacing the headstock bearings, and changing the belt out for a link belt. Then sharpen your turning chisels and make some shavings!
Click to expand...
Thanks for replying. My plan is to do a full restoration. I'm still having trouble identifying it though. I want to have as much reference as I can and possibly an operator's manual.
 
Tim Starliper said:
I would say the motor was replaced at some point in time, possibly. As for the mounting I think you are probably correct that it is for tension. My table saw motor is mounted on the back of the saw, lower than the pulled on the arbor, on a hinge mount that has the weight of the motor providing tension to the belt. There is a spring mechanism similar to what is see in your pictures as well.
Click to expand...
I looked over the lathe and the only thing I could find was a stamp on the tail end of the bed that said "By Jack 1292"
 
FWIW I son’t think that’s a Delta. I have a circa 1950 Delta and the tailstock and banjo are completely different.
 

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Stan Messick said:
FWIW I son’t think that’s a Delta. I have a circa 1950 Delta and the tailstock and banjo are completely different.
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Thanks for replying. It's possible it could be something other than a Delta. The lathes I found that mine is the closest to is the Delta 46-200. There's still minute differences in the headstock cover and the fact mine has a home built base. The tailstock on mine is extraordinarily close to those 46 series Deltas though.
 
We have been helping the son of one of our members dispose of his equipment and he had a lathe almost exactly like this one. Difference I see is motor and had 4 speed pulley. The book was with it and indicated the lowest speed to be 900. It was a Delta 46-204P. Delta may have made yours for Sears or someone changed plug and motor. I think it had a handwheel on headstock.
 
You probably have a serviceable lathe. In the 80s a buddy and I built our shop inventories by buying excess school shop equipment in closed bid county auctions every 6 months. Since they were phasing out school shops some good machines were in the lots. We would fix up and sell some pieces and keep others. Tried to sell enough to make the machines we kept free. We got Lathes with various nameplates that looked really similar. J-line, atlas, delta, Rockwell.

A couple of things I noticed with yours:

The banjo has either had a major repair or it may be a homemade replacement. The banjo usually would have been a cast iron piece with no welds.

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The two holes probably held the maker's plate.
Not lucky enough to find it in one of the drawers. :)

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There appears to be quite a tilt in the motor Mount. The pulley looks to be at an angle to the belt from the tilt in the motor Mount. Probably runs OK with a little added noise. If you can square the motor Mount hinge it would run a bit smoother and quieter.

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Thanks everyone for your input. I've been unable to find any stamping on it and some of the spots on the casting look strong yet unfinished which gives me reason to believe this lathe (at least the bed) was cast by someone learning the trade and took various parts to build a franken lathe to fit their specific needs. I've decided I'm going to learn this machine piece by piece and give it a full restoration. I see a lot of love put into this guy so I'm going to give it the same love and call it a Delta since my favorite vintage tools are Deltas. It's extraordinarily sturdy and runs smooth......massive upgrade from my last lathe that's for sure.
 
If you're going to spend that time and effort on it then I suggest you replace the motor with a 1.0-1.5 HP motor and "controller" that have electronic variable speed and are reversible.

Also, finding accessories for this lathe may or may not be a challenge. What size is the spindle? Hopefully 1"x 8tpi or 1 1/4" x 8tpi. Are the headstock and tailstock Morse Taper 2? Banjo tool post diameter?
 
Here's my $0.02, for what it's worth. There are a couple of ways in which this could be considered a good value.
1 - If $300 is absolutely all you are able/willing to spend.
2 - If you love restoring old machinery as a hobby (rather than to have a great lathe)
Truth is, this is not a "good" lathe by today's standards. At its best, the performance will be limiting, by today's expectations of what a wood lathe can do. That era of lathe was designed primarily for spindle work. Yes, you can do faceplate work, but it is not going to perform like a modern lathe. The chisels that came with it are most likely carbon steel, and while they are serviceable, they won't hold an edge anywhere close to a modern HSS turning tool. Before you bought it, I would have recommended that you save up some more money and buy something newer, with electronic variable speed at least. Don't get me wrong, I love old machinery. Most of the machines in my shop are vintage, several from the 1940s, or earlier. The wood lathe is the only machine in the shop where I would far rather have one made in the past 10 or 15 years. The technology of wood lathes has advanced incredibly in the past 20 years. There are still advances coming.
Since you've already bought it, I know you'll have fun turning on it!
 
Mark Jundanian said:
If you're going to spend that time and effort on it then I suggest you replace the motor with a 1.0-1.5 HP motor and "controller" that have electronic variable speed and are reversible.

Also, finding accessories for this lathe may or may not be a challenge. What size is the spindle? Hopefully 1"x 8tpi or 1 1/4" x 8tpi. Are the headstock and tailstock Morse Taper 2? Banjo tool post diameter?
Click to expand...
Eventually I'll want to put a new motor on it. For now though it runs well and money is tight. The spindle is 1 1/4x8 and yes the tailstock is Morse. Haven't looked too much into the Banjo yet. I'll probably keep that as is. The welds on it are pretty good.
 
CindyDrozda said:
Here's my $0.02, for what it's worth. There are a couple of ways in which this could be considered a good value.
1 - If $300 is absolutely all you are able/willing to spend.
2 - If you love restoring old machinery as a hobby (rather than to have a great lathe)
Truth is, this is not a "good" lathe by today's standards. At its best, the performance will be limiting, by today's expectations of what a wood lathe can do. That era of lathe was designed primarily for spindle work. Yes, you can do faceplate work, but it is not going to perform like a modern lathe. The chisels that came with it are most likely carbon steel, and while they are serviceable, they won't hold an edge anywhere close to a modern HSS turning tool. Before you bought it, I would have recommended that you save up some more money and buy something newer, with electronic variable speed at least. Don't get me wrong, I love old machinery. Most of the machines in my shop are vintage, several from the 1940s, or earlier. The wood lathe is the only machine in the shop where I would far rather have one made in the past 10 or 15 years. The technology of wood lathes has advanced incredibly in the past 20 years. There are still advances coming.
Since you've already bought it, I know you'll have fun turning on it!
Click to expand...
I took a look at the price of newer lathes when I started looking especially for the size I wanted and it was a fat nope.
 
Restoration...?? The motor situation appears to be something poorly cobbled together. There really is nothing to restore there, it looks to be a disaster. Is it single speed or is there a counter shaft? If there's no counter shaft to change speeds then you might be faced with completely re-engineering the spindle drive which may not be a trivial task. And you could be looking easily at another $300+ to do it right.

If it was mine I would put it on Craigslist and try to recover some of the $300.
 
That may be a Walker Turner lathe which I believe was bought out by Delta who then sold them with the identical headstock and tailstock, but with a 4 step pully system.
 
Doug Rasmussen said:
Restoration...?? The motor situation appears to be something poorly cobbled together. There really is nothing to restore there, it looks to be a disaster. Is it single speed or is there a counter shaft? If there's no counter shaft to change speeds then you might be faced with completely re-engineering the spindle drive which may not be a trivial task. And you could be looking easily at another $300+ to do it right.

If it was mine I would put it on Craigslist and try to recover some of the $300.
Click to expand...
As I mentioned before it runs smoothly and the bed, headstock, tailstock and banjo are sturdy. It is single speed. The motor will be addressed in due time. I learned before bidding started that whoever owned it used it up until they passed away. I have already tested it. I wasn't searching for value or name brand. I was searching for something strong and big to replace a sub par Craftsman tube lathe. If there is an extra 300+ that goes into the restoration then I'll still be in the same ballpark for most lathes being sold in my area. I'll have the added benefit of learning more about the machine and potentially finding some kind of identification once I tear it apart.
 
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Okay, cool, go for it.

While you're reworking the motor mount assembly it'd be nice to find a 3 step motor pulley to match the spindle pulley to give you 3 speeds.

Be careful of the spindle bearings, unless there's a bearing problem don't remove the spindle. Without proper tools, puller, press, etc bearings or shields can be damaged in removing or installing (don't use a hammer on a bearing). Some older manufacturers were notorious for using proprietary bearings that are no longer available. Walker-Turner did that and Delta too.. Modern bearing can always be used to replace unavailable bearings, but it requires a metal lathe to make spacers and/or bushing to adapt.

If you have to change the v-belt just cut the existing one off and replace with a link type belt so you don't have to remove the spindle. Link belts are smoother running anyway.
 
Doug Rasmussen said:
Okay, cool, go for it.

While you're reworking the motor mount assembly it'd be nice to find a 3 step motor pulley to match the spindle pulley to give you 3 speeds.

Be careful of the spindle bearings, unless there's a bearing problem don't remove the spindle. Without proper tools, puller, press, etc bearings or shields can be damaged in removing or installing (don't use a hammer on a bearing). Some older manufacturers were notorious for using proprietary bearings that are no longer available. Walker-Turner did that and Delta too.. Modern bearing can always be used to replace unavailable bearings, but it requires a metal lathe to make spacers and/or bushing to adapt.

If you have to change the v-belt just cut the existing one off and replace with a link type belt so you don't have to remove the spindle. Link belts are smoother running anyway.
Click to expand...
Noted, thanks for the tip man!
 
hockenbery said:
You probably have a serviceable lathe.
In the 80s a buddy and I built our shop inventories by buying excess school shop equipment in closed bid county auctions every 6 months. Since they were phasing out school shops some good machine were in the lots.
We would fix up and sell some pieces and keep others. Tried to sell enough to make the machines we kept free.

We got Lathes with various name plates that looked real similar. J-line, atlas, delta, Rockwell.

A couple things I noticed with yours .

The banjo has either had a major repair or it may be a homemade replacement.View attachment 44000
The banjo usually would have been a cast iron piece with no welds.

The two holes probably held the maker plate View attachment 44001.
Not lucky enough to find it in one of the drawers. :)

There appears to be quite a tilt in the motor Mount. View attachment 44002
The pulley looks to be at an angle to the belt from the tilt in the motor Mount.
Probably runs ok with A little added noise.
If you can square the motor Mount hinge it would run a bit smoother and quieter.
Click to expand...
Your mention of school shop equipment made me think of the lathe in the woodshop in our middle school. An old Delta, looks like it has a reeves drive. Also looks like it has a 3 phase motor. Thus far I have been unsuccessful in exhuming it. Covered in dust and cobwebs, sitting against the wall. Not even anywhere to plug it in. It was moved from the old middle school to the new one about 15 years ago. I tried to buy it then. Some day.....
 

Brent Stahl said:
Found out what this is!!! In Ada Ohio was a gentleman by the name of Harold Barker. The auction was in Wapakoneta Ohio which is only a stones throw from Ada This is one of 700 lathes he built. I got reference material from a gentleman on OWWM. Spot on even down To the banjo.
Click to expand...

That explains why the engineering on the wooden cabinet does not match the apparent quality of the lathe itself. Back in the day a good many lathes were sold without stand and motor. Shown is an ad for the 1460 Delta which was a very common lathe.

delta ad.JPG
 
Brent Stahl said:
The spindle is 1 1/4x8
Click to expand...

I would double-check that measurement before buying a chuck or faceplate. My calibrated eyeball is telling me it is 1 X 8. For any lathe of that vintage and size, the spindle threads would very likely be 1" diameter and 8 TPI or smaller.
 
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