Waite & Saville lathe

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  • bob ward
    Senior Member
    • Jun 2007
    • 783

    Waite & Saville lathe

    Spotted this Waite & Saville lathe at Lithgow NSW recently. Its hard to tell what is going on in the photos because of all the clutter. Its not a long lathe it can turn maybe 3 foot long, but it is extremely solid, owner estimates 2 tons.





    To the right of the nameplate, the brass plate says it is a War Dept lathe, and "This Machine is the Proprty of HM Government"

  • .RC.
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2004
    • 2201

    #2
    Interesting that it has no lead screw, only a feed screw....There is a Macson lathe also a war department machine that a chap on the Gold Coast is trying to give away that has a similar setup of no lead screw...
    Precision takes time.

    Comment

    • Richard Wilson
      Senior Member
      • Jan 2009
      • 225

      #3
      Haven't heard of Waite & Saville before as a UK machine tool builder. It doesn't seem to have a tailstock either. It was possibly built as a shell making lathe, they were quite a bit simpler than a general purpose engine lathe.

      Richard

      Comment

      • Mcgyver
        Senior Member
        • Mar 2005
        • 13402

        #4
        Originally posted by Ringer
        Interesting that it has no lead screw, only a feed screw....There is a Macson lathe also a war department machine that a chap on the Gold Coast is trying to give away that has a similar setup of no lead screw...
        I've seen other lathes like that, production lathes i believe the called them, there was a guy around here trying to sell a monarch 10ee like that

        while it looks solid, for a home shop lathe i wouldn't touch it with out the gearbox/leadscrew, no threading capability
        located in Toronto Ontario

        Comment

        • tattoomike68

          #5
          Lots of big turret lathes dont have lead screws but can be set up to thread with a set of change gears and a worm drive system. being it was worm drive if set up right you could never miss the thread so there was also no threading dial.

          Comment

          • wbleeker
            Senior Member
            • Nov 2001
            • 453

            #6
            Being out near Lithgow it might have come from the Lithgow Small Arms factory? My Norton 18X6 Surface Grinder is a 1942 model and it has a Commonwealth of Australia plate on it. In the machine shop at Ais Port Kembla where I did my apprenticeship there were a couple of AIS lathes that were built there and they were used for boring cannon barrels.
            Will

            Comment

            • tattoomike68

              #7
              Originally posted by wbleeker
              Being out near Lithgow it might have come from the Lithgow Small Arms factory? My Norton 18X6 Surface Grinder is a 1942 model and it has a Commonwealth of Australia plate on it. In the machine shop at Ais Port Kembla where I did my apprenticeship there were a couple of AIS lathes that were built there and they were used for boring cannon barrels.
              Will
              Yea I used old warner swazey turret lathes that made 90 MM shell casings to drill big holes.

              the funny part is the lathe controls are very low and built for a woman. rosie the machinist come to mind.

              Comment

              • bob ward
                Senior Member
                • Jun 2007
                • 783

                #8
                Originally posted by wbleeker
                Being out near Lithgow it might have come from the Lithgow Small Arms factory? My Norton 18X6 Surface Grinder is a 1942 model and it has a Commonwealth of Australia plate on it. In the machine shop at Ais Port Kembla where I did my apprenticeship there were a couple of AIS lathes that were built there and they were used for boring cannon barrels.
                Will
                The owners tell me that for many years it was in an old style automotive repair shop in Sydney's Western suburbs, before that they don't know its history. They paid nominal amounts for it and a fair bit of huffing and puffing to get it to Lithgow maybe 10 years ago.

                Being interested in things automotive themselves, but not knowing much about lathes, they bought it on the basis that it was cheap and 'it might come in handy in the future', but its ended up just sitting there, and will probably be offered for sale soon.

                Comment

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