Thread: Hercus in the Canadian north

Hello all. I recently became the proud father of a 9 inch hercus lathe the serial number is AR11862V his new siblings are a Myford ml7R (from the 50s I think) and a much newer and cleaner ml7r which I got last fall along with a little rusnok mill (cutest little thing). The old myford will probably have to go though as its getting a little cramped in the shop. The hercus is in nice shape except the back gear was so stiff you could barely move it. After some effort I got it apart and expected to see galling on the shaft but it was in pristene shape I thing it was just seased up from dryed up grease. I just joined your group and wanted to say Hi.

Good to see you trading up from a myford

Welcome...

There must a real story concerning how a hercus got to Canada from South Australia (when southbend is just south of the border)....
Have fun

hi 12, and welcome to the little hercus sub forum can you shed any light on how it got there?? And the v on the end of the serial number is odd too
so what wonderfull colour is the old girl original or like a few a bucket of paint dropped on it ? As the holder of the register i am the curious one who got us up and running and like to know all you can about the lathe
excuse the capitals but a metalworker should not take on a saw bench cause it hurts

anyway 12 giveus us a rundown on how you found it and if the former owner has any history

as this is a really great find so far away yet so close to south bend lucky you as the parts interchange all the carraiges, compounds, headstocks the lot as i have half southbend parts on my lathe

so let us know the history if you can and colour and condition and what extras you got with the old girl as she is a long way from home

all the best derek bitza500

It is amazing into what part of the world things get to....

on a website I have seen a Macson lathe in Canada and I know of one Nuttall lathe in the US which was shipped over by an expat as he left here..

Who knows what else is around...

Hi Derek
I believe a number of these lathes came to Canada, most probably went into schools. Although I had read about hercus lathes on the lathes.uk website I had never come across one until I bought this one, a quick search on Google Canada found three others that were for sale in British Columbia. I think that so many came up for sale at the same time is a bit of a fluke but it does indicate there are still some around.

As far as southbends theres not much in this part of Canada, I live in Edmonton Alberta and when these lathes were in widespread use our economy was agricultural not industrial so as a result there aren't many around these parts, I do keep my eyes on the classifieds and go look at just about everything that comes up but bargains are few.

Because of the oil boom here we now have tons of machine shops with massive lathes in them so the home machinists should have access to some nice stuff in about 50 years when the oil runs out, they are going to have to figure out how to run them off a horse and treadmill though.

My machine dates from 68 if I read the codes right, same vintage as me. It has original paint (needs a good cleaning) gearbox thread dial and taper attachment, from the crudely built stand I can tell it used to have a steady rest as well as there is an outline where it used to hang, the outside jaws for the three jaw chuck are missing as well, the four jaw is complete. Both chucks were made in Sweden.

The one thing I need to resolve is the 80 tooth idler gear has had some teeth damage someone welded new metal in there but then used an angle grinder to form the teeth, this did not work well. I am also missing the stud the gear goes on I may make it or I might break down and get them off eBay.

This is my first time in a online group so if I am not following the correct procedures let me know. Oh and My guess is the v at the end of the serial number means it has a v belt not a flat one.
Darrell

Hi darrell, I would not bother with the gear as eBay America is full of south bend parts as guys just make a living from wrecking the lathes I have bought a heap of south bend parts and i would just jump on eBay and write in south bend 9" lathe and off you go and shipping will be fairly cheap and as i have so many parts that all I have bought is identical except south bend stamped every part with the serial number
would like to see a photo if possible ???

But it still has me beat why Hercus lathes went to Canada when south bend is a lot closer have you any history off the seller or did you buy it direct from a school ???

Keep in touch as I am fascinated and as there is more astounds me

All the best Derek

Hi Derek
Sorry for the slow reply (2 girls makes for a busy Dad) I have gotten the stud and 80 tooth Idler gear off eBay and am starting to clean up the lathe. I don’t want to do a big tear down as I know it will take me years to get it back together again, and besides it not in too bad a shape. Haven’t gotten a chance to take any decent photos yet but found the one from the sale listing on my computer.
Darrell

I love the low belt mount, I must see if I can get one.

Hi Darrell, from your picture a good blow out with the compressor and a bit of oil and I reckon you got a bargain
Here is a web site for the US Army that MOB found it shows the whole lathe and has the whats, whys, and the hows and will be very worthwhile having as it is for a South bend but 99.9% is the same as the Hercus
http://www.metalworking.com/DropBox/...barmylathe.pdf
Hopefully this may be of use to you as it goes to every nook and canny of the lathe dismantle,repair, service and so on so keep cleaning and see if you can find any other Hercus Owners as if the Schools are selling them off there may be a few around

And if you strike a problem just email the Forum as there are some very inventive and amazing Gentleman who will gladly advise you on your problem as this is why I asked the Big Fella upstairs for a seperate Subforum for Hercus Owners and from 2 to now 27 Owners we have the Brains trust in gear who know all about the Hercus

all the best Derekbitza500