Dating

I thought I'd put everything I've found while trying to date the lathe on a single page to make things easier.

There's no serial number so I'm forced to guess. My current best guess is some time between 1939 and 1941. Evidence I have found so far:

Ministry of Supply ID Plate

The plate on the back of the lathe reads:

		Ministry of Supply
		   Property of 
		   HM Government
	      Identification 
	      Number		195227

This ministry existed between 1939 and 1959 so that's a start.

Headstock Bearings and Oilers

The headstock casting is of the "modern" type with side oilers, a sump under the bearing and holes for wicks. However the bearings themselves are plain bronze types, with no expanders, no holes for wicks, and work using top drip oilers. This suggests that it's quite an early model; I understand that the side oilers were commonplace by the mid 1940s.

Various internal parts

A number of shafts and the like in the rebuild book mention wicks or oiling systems which simply aren't there, nor are the spaces for them. Again this leads me to think that this lathe predates some of the later refinements. An example is the oil passages which are supposed to be in the reversing gear handle assembly. This is also mentioned in this Early 10K Rebuild Thread, where mention is made of a 1941 lathe without these passages.

Other Lathes

One of the best guides I've got is pictures and adverts of other lathes. I'm guessing a bit here but again it's a start.

Advert - 1936

     

This is the earliest advert I've found for a lathe with the same general layout and appearance as mine. It's the next generation from the earlier types which didn't have the integral underdriven motor. It's a 16 inch lathe but otherwise looks virtually identical. It has top oilers on the spindle bearings (small "gits cups" in this case, highlighted on the right). The motor plinth looks a little different, particularly the right-hand door which is shown as a small teardrop shaped cover with no louvres.

Advert - 1941

     

A few years later, but still looking very similar. However here we have the headstock bearings shown with side oilers. So that would date my bearings and bearing caps, at least, to earlier than this. My current theory is that they'd started getting new castings, designed for side oilers, but had a stack of old bearings to use up. Either that or someone has repaired a newer lathe with some older bearings later on, though that seems unlikely - more likely to put new bearings in an older casting, I'd have thought. The motor plinth door on this diagram looks the same as mine - a larger, louvred affair.

13" Lathe - 1945

     

Going on another few years, again the same basic appearance (this is a short bed model). However the headstock shape looks a little different to mine, with a cover in front of the bull gear which mine doesn't have. And the bearings (above, right) are the newer type with an expansion wedges (arrowed). So mine is presumably older than this.