Thread: 1975 Hercus Lathe Model ARH s/n 15548V

G'Day from America!
it seems that i have found a lost machine from the land of OZ!
i was very impressed when i first saw the lathe, it was being offered for sale at a very reasonable price of $600 USD.
the lathe is absolutely pristine save for some dried cosmoline mixed with dust.
it was stored in a machine shop for almost 40 years without much use.
the machine shop had a lot of what i would call large machinery, (lathes 20 ft long 24" swing, horizontal boring machines, radial drill presses w/6 ft diamater table, etc.). this little 9" lathe seemed a little out of place in this environment of giants.
i believe it was only used a couple of times a long time ago, there are only a few scratches and all things are right with it.

i have named her Sheila, by recommendation of one of your own countrymen. i found it fitting.
i cannot praise the construction and precision of the lathe enough. it was very finely produced.

she came with a steady rest, a follower rest, drill chuck, 3 and 4 jaw chucks.
she is an imperial lathe, but i'd love to get my hands on a metric version!

i have a couple pictures to post!
Hercus ARH 2.jpg
Hercus ARH 1.jpg

she runs very smoothly and quietly. i have some clean up work to do.
i look forward to learning more about this Sheila!

thanks for reading

mike

Hi Mike, nice find !! The right price too !! I believe that the "H" in ARH means that you have a hardened bed, so even nicer !!

Congratulations, Mike - looks like a great score.

You probably know that the Hercus is a close copy of your own South Bend lathe.
Good news, because most parts are interchangeable - with a few exceptions.
Tools4cheap LLC Online Machine Shop Tooling Store is a good resource.
Boxford is another, British derivative brand.
I use accessories for all 3 brands on my Hercus.

Jordan

Originally Posted by nadroj

Congratulations, Mike - looks like a great score.

You probably know that the Hercus is a close copy of your own South Bend lathe.
Good news, because most parts are interchangeable - with a few exceptions.
Tools4cheap LLC Online Machine Shop Tooling Store is a good resource.
Boxford is another, British derivative brand.
I use accessories for all 3 brands on my Hercus.

Jordan

G"Day Jordan,
i did know that it was a clone before i purchased it, but i didn't know about parts interchangeability.
thank you very much for the link to tools4cheap, i'll have to check them out.
i had seen the Hercus on:
lathes
i read up on the Hercus and swooped in quickly upon sight!
she really is a beautiful machine
thank you for your input it is greatly appreciated!
mike

Hi Mike,
Welcome to the forum. There are a few options with regard to metric machines. Do you want to just cut metric theads or be able to work in metric graduations. There are quite a few owners registered from the US and Canada. Even sent parts for one to Serbia the other day. The little Hercus certainly gets around. Hercus even supplied some 10" 260 versions to South Bend which were rebadged as South Bend Model GS26-075.
Due to the "Commonwealth conection" quite a few ended up in Canada and have migrated south over time.
Mal

Originally Posted by allterrain50

Hi Mike,
Welcome to the forum. There are a few options with regard to metric machines. Do you want to just cut metric theads or be able to work in metric graduations. There are quite a few owners registered from the US and Canada. Even sent parts for one to Serbia the other day. The little Hercus certainly gets around. Hercus even supplied some 10" 260 versions to South Bend which were rebadged as South Bend Model GS26-075.
Due to the "Commonwealth conection" quite a few ended up in Canada and have migrated south over time.
Mal

Thanks Mal,
i work on machinery that is made in Europe mostly. i would like to use metric graduations, i cut metric threads on my imperial machine but have to change out gearsets to do it and only recently learned about a trick to thread metric on an imperial lathe on you tube, you may find the video interesting:

Metric Threading with an Inch Lead Screw - YouTube


thanks again
mike

I just love the 1975 Hercus 9" lathe i have.
it is just a joy to work with.
She's very precise and the sound of her working is reminiscent of an angel's song.

i used her to bore a cast iron pulley from 3/4" out to 7/8" for a three phase motor/VFD conversion i'm performing on my Shenwai 1236 lathe.
pictures for the interested!
thank you for reading.

Happy New Year from California!!

VFD 7.jpg
VFD 8.jpg
VFD 9.jpg
VFD 10.JPG drilling the bore
VFD 11.jpg i used a boring bar (low mid center) to bore the pulley ID to .8400"VFD 12.jpg an old but good tailstock chuck held straight cut reamerVFD 13.jpg
VFD 15.jpglive action shot of the powered reaming operation
VFD 16.jpgfinished bore .8750"

Cheers,
mike

Hi UD
I'm pretty much a newbee too. I have a 9" 'A' but someone had the gearbox away in the dim, distant past. Still it does all I need and more.

Regards

Hello Hercus71,
i'm liking the lathe more and more as i'm using her!
everything is just nice and smooth, the accuracy or manufacture is remarkable.
i'm very impressed with the surface finish of the finished products i have produced.

thanks for reading and commenting
Cheers!
mike

Hello Ulma Doctor,
You will find a great service / maintenance post for our machines on lathes.co.uk (I think). I used it when I worked on mine.
I got my lathe to help with my car projects. I feel it is more accurate than I will be for several years to come!!

G'day
i need to do some boring on the hercus this morning on a 5/8"(15.875mm) shaft to accept a set of retrofitted bushings.
the problem is that my Hercus did not pass a 5/8" shaft through the headstock taper,
so i bored the taper under power with a tailstock drill chuck and then a reamer to 41/64"(16.271mm)
the spindle now allows a 5/8" shaft to easily pass with about .40mm to spare for clearance!
the spindle was easily cut with HSS tooling.
i used a small tube quickly and crudely attached to the shop vac to retrieve the chips from the operation

thanks for taking the time to read!
all the best to you from the US!

Hi Mike,
Seems odd, the spindle should have 25/32" through hole. Maybe someone adapted it some time in the past.
Mal

Was it the 1st of April
I probably would have used a fixed steady to bore for bearings that small plus my reamers aren't that long.

Phil

Originally Posted by allterrain50

Hi Mike,
Seems odd, the spindle should have 25/32" through hole. Maybe someone adapted it some time in the past.
Mal

Hello Mal,
i was puzzled by the small bore in the spindle.
i didn't measure it but if i had to guess, about 39/64"(15.40mm) or maybe even 19/32"(15.08mm)???

i can't say that the lathe has never been modified,
but i am the second owner and if the story i was given was the truth the lathe has fewer than 100 hours on it.
given the general great condition of the lil beast, i'll concur with the story told unless there proves to be future discoveries.
thank you for the information!
all the best
mike

G'day,
i made an arbor spacer today to adapt a 6" grinding wheel to my pedestal grinder!
the arbor spacer id 1.0" od x .625" id x .855" wide
have a look if you're interested!
Delrin Arbor Spacer 1.jpgDelrin Arbor Spacer 2.jpgDelrin Arbor Spacer 3.jpgDelrin Arbor Spacer 4.jpg