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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    2

    Default Hercus 1941 Lathe number B294 looking for information.

    Hi guys

    I recently have purchased a Hercus lathe from what i can tell she is a 1941.
    I has had its motor assembly modified but i can seem to find any images on what it should look like.

    My intention is to rebuild this back to as close as possible to original. So i would like to find someone that has pictures of the labels so i can get them printed and any pics of the motor mounting assembly. Even better if i could get my hands on an original part to buy or at least get a casting made from.

    If anyone has any history of these old girls it would be much appreciated too.

    IMG_0868.jpgIMG_0870.jpgIMG_0865.jpgIMG_0867.jpg

    Thanks All Elliott

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    64
    Posts
    221

    Default

    I'm am only an amateur Hercus 'expert', I own two, a 1943 model C and a 1964 model AR. Your machine does not look like a Hercus, but the labels say Hercus, so I will leave it up to the real experts in the group to explain that! Have you checked out Mal's site Australian Metalworking Hobbyist
    He is a member of this group and has been a great help to me when I was restoring mine.
    Good luck and please keep the photos coming as you restore this (very early) classic.
    Cheers, Tony

    Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    2

    Default

    Hi Tony

    I know what you mean, i have looked at hundreds of pics (feels like it) but i have not been able to find any with a bed like mine, none of them have a cut away, i noticed that someone mentioned that the model that were grey version were sent to schools.

    I havn't seen Mal's web site but thanks for the heads up i will take a look.

    Cheers
    Elliott

    Quote Originally Posted by Silversprings View Post
    I'm am only an amateur Hercus 'expert', I own two, a 1943 model C and a 1964 model AR. Your machine does not look like a Hercus, but the labels say Hercus, so I will leave it up to the real experts in the group to explain that! Have you checked out Mal's site Australian Metalworking Hobbyist
    He is a member of this group and has been a great help to me when I was restoring mine.
    Good luck and please keep the photos coming as you restore this (very early) classic.
    Cheers, Tony

    Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    64
    Posts
    221

    Default

    Elliott, thanks for your PM. I don't think I have put any photos of my 9 inch model C on this forum. Serial number VB911, which puts it around 1943 vintage. Battleship grey! I suspect the previous owner repainted it, and I think it looks a shade lighter than the original Hercus colour. I understand from others on the forum that Hercus used (mostly) grey, blue, or green - and in all cases, they used different shades over the years, so it is pretty hard to identify a specific colour shade you can say is 'Hercus green' etc. I found this out with my model AR (circa 1968) which was green, and got a number of variations in paint codes from people who matched their green when they did their restos. Not a big deal, but interesting.
    As you can see, both my model C and AR look quite different to your model (ignoring the non-Hercus drive modifications to my model C).
    I would be very interested in finding out the history of your Hercus model. Again, I'm no expert, but I suspect you have something a bit rare there. (on the other hand, there are a lot like mine floating around)
    Cheers, Tony
    Hercus C 1943 a.jpg
    Hercus C 1943 b.jpg
    Nearly finished.jpg

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Griffith NSW
    Posts
    435

    Default

    Granted, Ive not seen every Hercus machine ever made, but the only thing on that machine that tells me it is a hercus, is the hercus sticker.

    Just about every component of the machine looks nothing like what hercus made in that period, or how they made machines work. Like the bolt on bush on the compound slide, the method of alignment for the head, the castings for the leadscrew brackets, the arrangement of the rack gear...

    Have a look here, page six. Its the only gap bed hercus lathe i can find a picture of in approximately that size and vintage, its not like yours. Note the bed has the gap, but the headstock appears to be resting on the same ground surfaces as the rest of the bed, which is pretty typical of all hercus headstocks.

    I consider it this way, during 1941, the 9in was already in production and was a very faithful copy of the southbend 9in machine (nothing like what youve got). That was wartime and making two lathes of very similar size, yet completely different design, even down to detail components, doesnt make sense. That history of hercus document says that during that time, they concentrated on making one machine of each type and size of what was required for the wartime effort. Why would they make a machine so similar to what theyre already making, make so few numbers that its this rare and all during wartime?

    I dont think your lathe is a hercus.

    What it is...i dunno!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    64
    Posts
    221

    Default

    Scottyd, similar to my thoughts, particularity about the logic of having such a different design and castings at a time when raw material supplies were tight and production urgent for the war effort.
    Good pick up on page 6 of the Hercus history book. It is difficult to tell from the photo, but that lathe does have some similarities to Elliott's lathe. If nothing else it suggests that Hercus had lathes that were not direct copies of Southbend (9" series A, B and C) in 1939.
    Elliott does your machine have V ways or are are they flat (like the Myfords)? Not 100% clear from your photos. I ask, as your serial number starts with a B, and I gather the VB in slightly later serial numbers designates that bed to be of a V type.
    Also, what is the centre height of your machine? The photo talks about that 1939 model being 5".
    Cheers, Tony

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Greenmount, W.A.
    Age
    70
    Posts
    272

    Default

    Fred Hercus started making lathes after he arrived in Australia after World War 1. He made bar-bed lathes. These were copies or parallel developed lathes made by "the twins." They had no name on them. I have one, and believe it was made by Hercus, but nothing on the lathe I have indicates who made it, but it is a "dead ringer" for the Southbend bar-bed lathe. Look on Tony Griffith's website (Lathes.UK) for more information. On Tony's site you will find a reference and photographs of the "Bargear" lathe. Sold by Mc Phersons - distant relatives of mine. Hercus also made clones of Portass lathes. This is what ElliotW has. I am sure there was a thread running on this forum, or perhaps on the "Woodwork" forum before the two split about a "Portass" made by Hercus. Just can't remember the details (nothing to do with age) The owner was having the same problem as ElliotW has.
    Hope this helps,
    Alan.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    64
    Posts
    221

    Default

    Great information, thanks. That seems to fill in the gaps and answer the original question.

    Portass Model S lathe

    Looks like a good solid machine.

    Cheers, Tony

    Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

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