Hi Folks:
There has recently come into my posession a Dalton Six Type "B" lathe. The previous owner has recently passed away and I was asked to remove the machine from the widow's garage.
This lathe was made by the Dalton Manufacturing Corp. No date was on the lathe other than the patent date of 1912. The six is apparently for the speed combinations. There is a 3 step cone pulley matching the drive pulley to the spindle and a back gear that can be switched in or out making a total of six speeds. It appears to be about a
7x20" machine. It has about a 3/4" bore through the headstock spindle and a 5C collet (the machine came with a set of collets and a drawbar.)I've seen on some other posts references to Dalton Six Lots B4, B6, etc. This is clearly marked as simply a Dalton Six Type "B" on the plate leading me to believe that this is from the original lot and possibly older than the other common items.
I got the lathe home and set up and started looking at it carefully. I measured the eccentricity at the spindle hub at about 0.007" The sleeve bearings for the headstock spindle allow visible play in both parallel and perpendicular directions to the spindle. The adjustment for the longitudnal direction is at the end of it's run so nothing I saw could be done to compensate for the play.
Physically, the machine appears in good shape. The ways are smooth with no dings. The leadscrew, compound, and tailstock all travel their full range smoothly with no backlash that I could feel. The halfnut engages smoothly. The toolpost looks as though it may also be original.
Chances are that a more experienced machinist (I am VERY new to this) would be able to machine new bearings for the headstock spindle and turn this into a useable tool but this is most likely beyond my capability.
In doing a google search it appears that there is some historic value to this particular class/manufacture of lathe. I have been asked by someone in England to take some good photos of the lathe and it's parts (which I will do) but fear the restoration is beyond me.
I would like to get some additonal information on how hard it would be to get new parts and hopefully make this useful.
Any information/guidance is appreciated.
Thanks,
Kevin