Dalton lathe

Rob's Old Dalton Lathe

A mechanical restoration and in regular use.

My Dalton lathe was purchased second hand near Ipswich Suffolk about 30 years ago.

Originally it was a flat belt drive but my father converted it to V belt.

We think it was made in New York USA circa 1920.

There is a bit of free play in all of the controls so there is a bit of an art in using it.

It has a good selection of thread cutting gears.

One of the pictures below shows the gear selection plate.

The plate below is attached to the tail stock and shows patent dates of 1911 and 1914.

Thread cutting

My lathe came with the following thread cutting gears 24t x2, 32, 34, 36, 40, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 60, 66 & 96.

The 50 is probably not original as it does not appear in the gear selection table. So it is likely to have been added at a later date for more thread options.

Also when cutting threads the drive pin is shifted and the back gear lever operated to reduce the chuck speed.

The gear selection plate is marked Thread Stud Comp & Screw

Thread is the number of threads per inch.

Stud is the first gear in the chain.

Comp is used where two intermediate gears are used back to back to create the required gearing, otherwise just one gear is used as an idler.

Screw is the gear on the end of the lead screw.

Note the middle gear is used as an idler so any size of gear that fits can be used.

The Lot number of the Lathe is LOT -4-No 1623 this is stamped on the end of the lathe bed.

Below see link to more information on Dalton Lathes.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/dalton/index.html