Rexman Lathes

Not sure if this qualifies for antique or not, but I was recently given an old metal working lathe by a friend of a friend. Although partly dismantled & unused for many years I was assured it was in working order. Knowing absolutely nothing about metal working lathes, I set about restoring it &, after a few adventures, have now returned it to working order. Here's a handful of before & after pictures. Now all I have to do is learn how to use it & start making some stuff. Google tells me that this lathe, a Rexman, was built in Richmond Vic by a company owned by Rex Osman, probably sometime between the late 1930's & early 1950's, but that's all I can find. If anyone is able to provide any more information about Rexman lathes, I would love to hear from you.

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macjayeff

Welcome to the forum.
Nice restoration. I hope you have two lathes,
That one is just far too nice to get dirty:D:D

You may have been here Rexman lathe

Look out for a PM with links to Terms of Use and Asking questions. I send them to all new members

Grahame

I recall helping a friend transport one of those Rexman lathes around 1989 . A elderly retired toolmaker had given the lathe to my friend and we loaded it into my Holden HR ute for the trip from Chelsea to Hallam. My friend kept the Rexman for a few months and then he sold it for $1200 !

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Originally Posted by morrisman

I recall helping a friend transport one of those Rexman lathes around 1989 . A elderly retired toolmaker had given the lathe to my friend and we loaded it into my Holden HR ute for the trip from Chelsea to Hallam. My friend kept the Rexman for a few months and then he sold it for $1200 !

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I hope he gave the money to the elderly retired toolmaker. Or offered to.

I bought a hydraulic drill on ebay after a person told me he was "helping" out a new widow clean out the shed of her deceased husband. He saw this new drill and got it for nothing. He knew it retailed for over $1200 new, but took advantage of the widow not knowing anything.

I had one given to me a number of years ago along with a hand shaper, but it had a broken rear spindle gear that drives the tumble reverse, it was because a deep keyway was put in a zamak (weak zinc alloy) gear and it must have split apart under heavy load. I ended up remaking the gear and giving the lathe to a friend as it was too small for my general work.

Sounds like a profitable venture. I might have to consider the same course of action.

Another one comes out of the woodwork - I helped a friend pick one up last weekend.

It looks to be slightly earlier than the restored one shown here as it has flat belt pulleys and the compound mounted with a single bolt.
It doesn't look to have been abused much and seems relatively intact. It came with quite a number of change gears but no threading plate on the gear cover as shown on the one restored by the OP.
This has a layer of dirt and sawdust impregnated oil that have kept it rust-free in all the important areas so should come up a treat with a really good clean.

Ray

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