Thread: Hercus Serial Number

Hi All,
My serial Number reads AU 10889 with the letters RGE on the back slideway and a BS on the front slideway.
Can anyone tell me what these letters and numbers correspond too?
My lathe is the craftsman model 9" with the motor and pulley setup underneth the lathe bed in the cabinet.
Regard marc.

Originally Posted by Mark2

Hi All,
My serial Number reads AU 10889 with the letters RGE on the back slideway and a BS on the front slideway.
Can anyone tell me what these letters and numbers correspond too?
My lathe is the craftsman model 9" with the motor and pulley setup underneth the lathe bed in the cabinet.
Regard marc.

Hi Marc, the Craftsman setup is like the second version of the South Bend that Hercus Copied and they ran that system for years and is a good set up as my mate has a 1929 South Bend with that setup and has never had a problem bar replacing the flat belt of his old lathe
all the best derek

Hi Mark,
The A = Model A (there are models A-b & C
The U = Underbench drive
RGE is the Initials of the inspector that sertified the machine.
the BS I don't know but they all seem to have it.

al

Originally Posted by aljunk

Hi Mark,
The A = Model A (there are models A-b & C
The U = Underbench drive
RGE is the Initials of the inspector that sertified the machine.
the BS I don't know but they all seem to have it.

al

Hi Al,
Once again you have been very helpfull.
Thankyou for sharing your knowledge.
It all makes sense to me now.
Regards Marc

Mark, what color is your machine?
al

Originally Posted by aljunk

Mark, what color is your machine?
al

Hi Al,
My lathe is the standard old hercus green, a bit like army green.
I had to repair and repaint the coolant tray as it was damaged during transport from Sydney to Brisbane.
Got my brother the spraypainter to match the color from the bottom of the tray as it had not seen the light of day in 43 years and was close to original.
The tray looks a bit out of place as the rest of the machine is the old orginal dull green.
Regards Marc.

Hi All
The BS stamping may mean to some British standard or other, but is unusual not to quote a number. The British standard for things was thought to be quite a status thing once upon a time.
Ray

In the early catalogue that was posted in this forum some time back, B.S. is used to denote the type of drive unit that bolts directly onto the bench (copy of standard southbend drive). The more common vertical type that bolts straight onto the back of the lathe bed (original hercus design) is called paten h.

I think this explains the very early machines that are labelled B.S. No idea why a craftsman has B.S. on it though.