Pittler Literature
There is not a great deal of vintage Pittler literature easily available in English unfortunately. The book "100 years Pittler 1889-1989 A piece of machine tool history " is of considerable interest although the majority of the book deals with the latter years. It is however a fascinating read and details von Pittlers early years of experimenting and inventing all sorts of wildly diverse machines and objects.
Published in both English and German versions there is a chronicle covering 1854 - 1989. The earlier date is the birth of Julius Wilhelm von Pittler. The photo's include machines, the factories and workshops, staff at their benches etc. Herr von Pittler was seemingly a good employer and paid his workers above the going rate, he also gave them proper rest breaks of one hour lunch and a 15 minute break mid morning & afternoon, he also arranged works outings and gave all his employees a Christmas bonus. I also have two more books covering the early years, both in in German text but they have some interesting photo's:- 75 years of Pittler and the other one:- Pittler 1889-1933 and no doubt books of the more modern times also exist.
The English and German language versions of the book "100 years Pittler 1889-1989 " together with their sleeves
A demonstration of the Pittler B2 lathe in 1976, from the book "100 years Pittler 1889-1989 "
The caption for the photo on the left reads:- 80 years after it's construction this turning machine was shown at the 1976 Birmingham machine tool exhibition in full working order
But all is not lost! During the war years 1940 & 1941 a series of 14 articles appeared in the MODEL ENGINEER magazine. Written by Mr George Gentry they are very detailed and some cover three or four pages. I have copied these as PDF's. Please enquire
A rare early Pittler catalogues from von Pittlers first factory "Invention" and dated 1894. It's 60 pages contain images of some unusual variations of B and C machines not featured in English catalogues . (German text but I now have it fully translated)
A woodcut engraving from an early German catalogue showing the first model B produced by von Pittler in 1889. It shows 16 year old apprentice Franz van Himbergen using it on a wooden stand. The superbly engraved copy of the original photograph was necessary because they had not yet got the technology to cheaply print photographs for their catalogues. Franz went on to engrave the images for many of the catalogues for sewing machines and lathes.
The front cover of the Pittler catalogue for 1899 which also shows a short lived branch in Loveday street Birmingham
A booklet priced at one shilling and giving details of the various machining techniques and accessories for the Pittler lathe. This 2nd edition was edited by George Adams and also has examples of work undertaken using either the B2 or C3 There are no illustrations unfortunately but nevertheless it is very informative. (dated 1905)
Above: is the front cover of a Pittler catalogue dated 1901, this somewhat contradicts the accepted date of 1905 for when George Adams took ownership of "THE PITTLER COMPANY" as it clearly states he is the proprietor and therefore the owner. The oddity here is that von Pittler had not yet left the German Pittler company as that occurred in 1902 so we have to wonder why von Pittler would allow his shop manager to call himself the owner of the business?
This 8 inch booklet is Probably one of the last Pittler catalogues issued by George Adams. The previous name "THE PITTLER COMPANY" is no longer evident.
The more modern use of photographs have now replaced some of the woodcut engravings as used in the earlier catalogues.
An early 20th century catalogue from when George Adams "proprietor" was the sole owner of the business. The Birmingham branch is no longer listed and had also gone from Kelly's trade directory in 1903.
All the various catalogues only show the 18" version of the C3 , the 24" has the same leg span but the tray casting overhangs the left side to accommodate the headstock. 28" 30"and 32" models have a wider stand and a quick carriage return handle on the headstock.