Maybe I was a bit too quick to Guesstimate...

In my last post, I said that unknown maker's lathe was probably a Delta/Rockwell/Beaver lathe, from their Homecraft hobbyist tool's line.

Well.... I'm not so sure anymore, here's why

That tool, because of its sheet metal bed, versus the traditional cast iron bed, and sizes, is no doubt a Hobbyist, albeit well built, woodworking machine.

When I did a first quick search, I quickly zoomed in on Delta Homecraft products line, because they did HAD a sheet metal lathe in their line.
But trying to narrow it down better, I discovered an essential feature that the Delta had that mine does not: They welded spacer plate at regular interval, much like today, cast iron beds have such reinforcements casted instead.
In 1941 they replaced the steel bed with a cast iron one.

Delta No 930

Notice the closer gap on top of the steel folded bed.

Photo from Vintage Machinery.org

They also had a peculiar cast foot brackets to support and raise the steel bed up
Turns out, there was accessories cast foot to raise mostly metal working lathes to enable proper metal chips clearances. In woodworking, it is not so critical

So back to basic research to try to narrows it down.
Who else manufactured such Hobbyist power tools line?
One only has to look at giant retailers like Sears, Montgomery -Ward, etc to see a rather complete lines of woodworking power tools of different quality, at various price points.
North American readers are no doubts familiar with Sears's Craftsman tools lines, but they also used various Trade names for their "Entry level" tool lines
Companion
Dunlap

From a Craftsman tool catalog dated 1940

This is a smaller 8X27 (center to center) which good old Sears uses their infamous ad copy writers euphemism calling it a 38 in lathe (that is the length of the bed!!)
It sport very similar foots and although not mentioned, the bed look like it could be steel, which makes sense when reading down further: Shipping weight, 22 pounds! Trust me that is NOT a cast iron bed...
It also has bronze bearings (Bushing) with oil cupŝ, just like ours.

Numerous manufacturers made power tools for them, easily identified by the first 3 digits of the Sears code on the name plate.... when present :-)

Looking at them closer we find a very similar looking woodworking lathe, with the added pizzaz of streamlines on it, a nod to Art Deco from the 30's, marketed under the Dunlap name, and manufactured by a few makers

That very similar one, under the name Dunlap. 

Most likely the same one, but could be a different manufacturers

Mine does not, but these "lines" were introduced in 1941 and were removed in 1949 (?)
Could it be my elusive lathe??

The tailstocks used a different adjuster handle, but mine is probably 50's ish, and it would be easier to cast a round handle, than the earlier spinning lever handle

Looking closer at it, I did found some cast marks on it, but still no name, nor model No, nor Serial Nos

In a circle it reads, with PAT in the middle:

GITS BROS

PAT 

M.F.G CO.

On the oil bushing covers

 .
Well, look at that, turned out they are still in business 
They were founded in 1910.
Lets have a look at what patents they got for these oil cup covers

Hum only patent returned when searching for oil cup...

Gits, Gits bros etc does not return anything under manufacturer.

Dead end for now... Could be a cumbersome search...

I did came across this patent assigned to Gits Brothers, but it is from the 70s so I doubt this is the one, besides it is not for an oil cup...

9JL-15

on the Banjo for the tool holder

9JL-6

Headstock

9JL-7

Tailstock

Here is a nicely restored one, similar to ours

Given that the steel beds appears to be constructed more similarly  than the Delta and al, and it does have the lub ports (indicating it used bronze sleeves versus balls bearings), I am now leaning more toward being a  Companion/Dunlap machine and not a Homecraft.

Fold and welded construction.

Bottom is wide open, no reinforcement plates, no folded steel with holes, etc

This 4 part part video of a Dunlap restoration, part 1 here, shows a bottom with holes... Back to square one??
Here is a short list of Companion/Dunlap made
The ones I have seen pics of often had the 3 digits manufacturers code followed by a dash and the rest of the model Nos on them

Frankly, I am temporarily stumped... Unless anyone else out there has a better guess?? Or more info??
Now trying to find more about these never seen before cast marks 9JL-X
That could be a rabbit hole I am going down into... But it also looks like my best bet to figured this out...

Bob, standing corrected.....until....

An unknown maker's lathe (?)

A good friend of mine has been searching for a suitable wood lathe, something akin to my Rockwell-Beaver 3400 lathe. A solid, suitable way to get into wood turning without breaking the bank..

Such lathes comes up somewhat regularly on Kijiji but tend to go fast...go figured :-)

In the past few months we have been corresponding for a while trying to find that "good deal" to get him into woodturning. A few suitable candidates pops up once in a while but quickly disappeared. This week, I saw this ad for what look like an older Rockwell Beaver lathe but without the tell tale gap bed, such as mine. Comes without a motor, the tool holder (Banjo) has a broken half , but it looks otherwise complete and is said to run smooth. Given that it was priced very cheaply, Cdn $40, and located minutes from my place, I took a chance and snag it for him.
I figured even if he does not want it, I could set it up for small turning job (such as pen turning, tool handles etc), and keep my other one for bigger jobs.

I told him I got it, but it stayed in my car trunk overnite, waiting for the rain to stop before I smuggled it into the kitchen to take pics and go over its overall conditions before reporting to him, what I found :-)

Why the kitchen? Don't ask :-)

The lathe on my kitchen floor,

 Rudy's teddy bear uses for scale

or was it him dropping it near by, during his own inspection? :-)

It was a bit smaller and lighter than I thought, my first surprise came when I picked it up to move it to my car trunk. You would be amazed at what you can fit inside a Lincoln's trunk :-) My previous one was a Town car, essentially a land yacht,  into which you could probably fit 4 people complete with cement feet in the trunk (no wonder it was a favorite car for some of society criminals people :-)

Anyway, I digress, my first surprise was that the lathe bed is not cast iron, but rather made of a thick steel formed channel, hence the unexpected lightness

It rest on two cast feet platforms

So is the bed not being made of cast iron a deal breaker? No, the steel bed is straight, should not be an issue, but the lathe would benefit being bolted down to add mass and rigidity.

The bed overall length is 45 inches, removing the minimum distance lost at each ends by the headstock and tailstock, we get about 33 in of turning capacity

From headstock casting to end of driving center: Approx 8 inches

Turning capacity over bed: 4-1/2 inches, or 9 in diameter

Tailstock to dead center tip, retracted: Approx 4-1/2 inches

45 minus 12-1/2 in (8 plus 4-1/2) = 32-1/2 in so this lathe can be classified as a 9 X 32 in lathe, its maximum capacities. (32 or 33 depending how measured, but close enough)

Small when thinking furniture legs and etc, but plenty big for small jobs, like I said for pen turning, tool handles, chair legs and spindles and etc
Bowl turning? well there is an outboard turning face  plate which would allow turning bowl bigger than the 9 in capacity over the bed, but I would not attempt large bowls on it, that would tax it slightly... :-)

The Banjo's tool rest is half broken, but still usable. 

Finding a replacement is easy (LV) sure enough they have that size...

Very similar to mine, but the shafts are different.

Mine uses a steel insert shaft, 5/8 dia, his uses a rough cast 3/4 in shaft

Slightly smaller too,

Someone tried to brazed it back earlier but it fail.

Surprise trying to weld or braze cast iron is...

Would not like to had been around when it broke while turning..Brrr.

The head stock has a four steps pulley (speeds)

Since there is no motor attached that came with it, a suitable motor would have to mount a similar 4 steps pulley in a reverse image. He has a suitable motor, and fortunately, such cast aluminum pulleys are easy to find. Another friend of mine bought one at our local Canadian tire store (Hardware/Auto parts store)
for yet another Rockwell / Beaver lathe like mine that we found on Kijiji.

The head stock, with the center spur drive removed (locking nut slackened)

has two covered oiling ports. It does not sport a hollow shaft enabling Morse taper accessories, but rather a simple threaded shaft...just like mine, but easily work around it by mounting a scroll chuck with the proper adapter. 

His drive spur center is a bit smaller than mine 

Top, mine used a 1-1/8 in wrench

Bottom, his uses a 1 in wrench

And of course the thread is different, roughly 3/4 X 10 TPI

Looking up adapters and common lathe spindle sizing, I found out that there is such a thread size, 3/4 X 10 used on Rockwell Homecraft series tools.
Judging by its construction and size, even if I could not found any markings whatsoever on it, it would appears to be indeed a Rockwell Homecraft (hobbyist) tool.

DELTA (Rockwell) Homecraft tools were designed and built expressly for the
home workshop uses. Introduced in 1949, they were still durable and well made but at a lower cost, not being designed as production tools. I am pretty sure this is what we have here, produced either under Delta, Rockwell or the Beaver brand name in Canada. The guy I bought it from had a full compliment of Rockwell Beaver tools in his shop, including a lathe like mine.
.
The tailstock has a Morse taper No 1 (?) dead center, could easily be upgraded to a live center.

I think this is a Morse taper No 1 but I could be wrong...(?)

OK, that's it I taking my bear with me, I'm done inspecting over here

Yes, I know where your socks are 

and I believe you know where the treats are don't you? Fair trade :-)

So, did I found him his last lathe? Probably not, but he gets to enter wood turning for a very small price point.

If I was keeping it, I would probably paint it, upgrade to a live center and hopefully find a suitable adapter for a proper scroll chuck.
Maybe treat it to an upgrade Link belt...  So much easier to change the belt than removing the drive shaft etc..

Hope you get to enjoy it Paul

Bob, looking for his socks...Rudy...

Setting up the lathe for pen turning

A while back, I started turning small stuff, like a bunch of pens at the wood shop, and really enjoyed it. I even turned a special set of pens for me and my Commanding Officer at the time, LCol Thauberger, to officially sign my release papers. Yes, he got to keep the pen he used :-) BTW he is taking over as the Wing commander this July 23rd. Welcome back sir.

We are using the Taig micro lathe from LV.

See how I am hunched forward?

Holy cow where did my hair went to?? :-)

A sample of my Christmas gifts output that year :-)

Except... The lathe position is too low for me and it kill my back every time.
So when I had a chance to picked up a solid lathe for a good price, I got it.

It is a Rockwell Beaver. Made in Canada, 36 in Gap bed model 3400

It came with new bearings and paint job and a custom wooden stand.
Not a bad job, very solid and it has provision to ease belt re-positioning for changing speeds.

The motor is hung on a big hinge.

You pull down on this lever which has a big rounded bit at the end.

It push up the motor assembly, slacking the belts.

An attached bungee cord provides tension and the spring action 

to return the arm up.

There is a rare earth magnet which hold the handle up.

Very ingenious system, could not have done better. Will keep it.

This lathe design has been around for a while. Originally under the Beaver name since 1938, but with a slight design difference.

Some of these older ones, used the ''about to become standard'' Morse taper system. Others, and later Rockwell, did not had a pierced headstock and did not support the Morse system, severely limiting its applications. But I suppose it was cheaper to manufactured :-(

This old guy has an hollow shaft Headstock spindle (3) that accept a Morse taper Headstock spindle adapter (4) into which you thread the Headstock spur drive center (9). No 23 is a Headstock spindle draw bar, to ram the morse taper free if needed.

Same illustration, recycled in later years.

Mine does not have the hollow headstock, see (3) and (34)

It also used a bastard thread diameter and TPI combination on the headstock thread portion, 7/8-14 TPI. It is an orphan. So if only using the drive spur, you are limited to turn furniture pieces like legs, up to 36 in. Some models thru the years had a 16 inches bed extension, allowing to turn up to 48 inches.
Because of its gap bed you can turn wider pieces in the gap, and you can turn outboard to very large pieces. Not a bad lathe, heavy cast iron but too bad it does not support the Morse taper system. I have a few spares faceplates for bowl turning. They all thread in (7/8-14 TPI), except one is reverse threaded for putting on outboard turning. I also bought dedicated open ended wrenches of the sizes it required, 3/4 in, 1 in and 1-1/8 in, and a long time ago I found the Veritas center marking jig at a yard sale.  Finally have a use for it :-)

Thankfully, the above limitations can be addressed with a 4 way multi chuck. Something sometimes referred to as a scroll chuck, like a Oneway Talon, etc.

Providing, I can get an adapter to interface the chuck to the lathe spindle.
Sure enough, turns out that most models of 4 way chuck used adapters and have one that fit my lathe.

Found this model on Kijiji for a good price, 

just had to buy a new adapter for it.

Next I found that once mounted, I could easily grip my Pen turning mandrel sporting an adjustable Morse taper on its rod.  Fit great on my lathe, I can now turn pens in my own shop and take care of that back problem, bonus :-)

OK, only remaining problem to solve is that the tool rest

 is too wide to close in toward the mandrel...

But not so fast, what else do I need?

I need a center vise for my drill press. Not an absolute, could get by without it, but this make your job so much easier...

Model sold by LV shown. The beauty of such a vise is that once centered on the DP quill, it always centered your blanks perfectly no matter their sizes, up to the stated capacity of course. I have a bunch of special drill bits for various pen kits

Another way of doing it is by using a drill chuck on your lathe and just advance the stopped bit into the spinning object. That method also results in centered drilling. 

Once you inserted the brass tube covered in instant glue, hopefully your fingers are not stuck to it...

See the missing piece of rubber on one of my glove's fingers :-)

I got a special tapered rod, a tool made to insert these various diameter brass cylinders into the wooden part with less chances of sticking your fingers and it is easier to seat them correctly.  Inexpensive, but worth it

Once the tubes are glued, they have to be trimmed exactly square to each end same distance as the brass tube.  If longer or shorter, pen kit components won't fit correctly. Again, there are a couple different way to do it, but I prefer using these tools, called pen mandrels.

You basically drill out square because of the long internal shaft, which is cleaning out any glue squeezed out that may have been introduced. 

You go until you start to see shiny brass, stop! 

They have various shaft diameter for various pen kits

Need a set of these to match my pen kits.

Of course, one need some chisels to turn anything, none came with my lathe.

I bought a full size 3/4 in roughing out gauge and a set of 3 pen turning gouges.

Once turned, the components need to be pressed fit assembled. Again, not necessary but a good pen press is a real time saver and avoid costly mistakes. don't ask!

This is the one from LV that's we got for the woodshop. I do not like it!

The screw lock mechanism is not capable to hold tight, so you end up over torquing the nut and bend the sheet metal lever...

This makes it probably the ONLY tool that I don't like in the whole LV catalog!!

This one, I got from my son Matt for a past Christmas. 

Now that's a press! Easy to adjust, very solid and fast.

That's a keeper!

And that's it. It is all you really need to turn pens. Oh and I used my bandsaw to rough cut my pen blanks to size before drilling them.

Once I got a corner of my garage set up to turn, I will experiment with the correct height for me to turn safely without pain. 

One last thing I picked up in prevision, is an easy way to maintain my turning tools. Got myself a Oneway Wolverine grinder jig, with the Vari-grind attachment. Will need to dedicate one of my two grinders to it in the garage.

Thanks again Kijiji :-)

So if you are looking for a good solid lathe to turn but have reservation about the lack of Morse taper etc, fear not. With the addition of a 4 way chuck, this lathe can now do it all, but for a lot less money. These lathes comes up often on the used market. Expect to pay around CDN $200 for such a lathe by itself, more depending on model and accessories with it.  Low prices reflect perceived limitations, which has you have seen, are easily overcome.

A very good deal indeed to get into turning.

Bob, getting antsy to turn again...