Working in a 1850s shop before crosslides.
Using a Heand held Hook Tool cutting brass of Cast iron Using A HOOK-TOOL,,,,(handheld)
    SKILL REQUIRED IN THREADING
                                     1896  AMERICAN MACHINIST                      
                                            
                                            
     The base or bed of an engine, particularly a steamboat
 engine, was a “timber”; the long unwieldy “pitmans” were (and still are) made from a
 single spar bound with iron; valve and reach-rods,levers, and other minor parts were jobs for
 the carpenter and ship builder rather than for him whom we now call machinist.        
  Running a lathe in those days was not the  “cinch” that it afterward became; there were
 no slide rests and no feeds to “throw in” so that the lucky operator could start things moving
 and then go to sleep on a soap box. Turn- ing was accomplished with the “hook-tool,” two of
 which still occupy positions of safety (for the operator) if not of honor, under  
 the safe in Walter Renton’s office. He calls them his “relics of barbarism.”            
  The picture of one of these tools that was doing valiant service 60 or 70 years ago appears
 on this page in Fig. 1. To use it the lathesman settled the point of the hook into the rough
 surface of the T rest, held the long end  firmly upon his shoulder with one hand while
 with the other hand he tilted the downwardly projecting handle in such a way that the   
 lip of the tool was moved forward in a direction parallel with the axis of the work.  
   
         
          If the piece being turned was. good homogeneous iron,
 little difficulty would be experienced,       With a properly ground lip the tool would  
 almost feed itself forward until the angle  of presentation became too great;
when the  heel or “hook” would have to be moved forward  to get a fresh bite.
The long end of the   
 tool must be held tightly down on the shoulder
 so that the workman could at all times feel
 the pressure, and woe betide the unlucky wight
 who let his attention waver. George Renton  told me a story in which a ma- chinist whom
 he called “Charlie” was the hero and this particular tool the vil- han.
It seems that Charlie was
 turning a piece of iron in a lathe that    
 stood before an open window on the Ferry   
 St. side of the build- ing. Either there   
 was a seam in the iron, or Charlie for an  
 instant forgot his re- sponsibilities, for
 the end of the tool suddenly flew up and fetched
 him a resounding thwack under the ear that nearly
 laid him out cold, after which it sailed   
 merrily ‘out of the window and landed among
 some kids that were playing in the street,
 scaring them into flight. It took some moments
 and much sympathy and ad- vice from his shopmates
 to restore Charlie’s equilibrium but when  
 his head had cleared sufficiently to allow
 him                                        
 -to navigate he went out into the street   
 to retrieve the                            
 Vol. 53, No. 22 1                          
                                            
 tool. As he stooped to pick it up a large  
 lady of Hibes nian extraction appeared suddenly
 from behind nearby tree and commenced to   
 belabor him unmerc fully with a horsehide  
 strap; calling him between b~ a “dirty spaljeen
 that c’uldn’t let the little chil play widout
 t’rowin’ t’ings at ‘um.” It required the corn, bined
 office and shop forces to effect an armistice.
 After a job was roughed out with the hook-tool
 th~                        
              latter was ex.i                            
 changed for a 1 o n g-h an d led square-nosed
 tool which would be pushed along the       
  top of the rest                            
 with the hand, reducing the humps to the   
 diameter of the hollows left by the hook-tool.
 Although this finish- ing tool was not quite
 so erratic in disposition as its predecessor
 it still required a firm hand and a skill born
 of long experience to do a creditable job.
     Threading was done with two tools made especially for
 the purpose. The first was a graver, having
 a single sharp point with which the lathesman
 would “start” the thread by a dexterous twist
 of the wrist, running up a turn or two on  
 the work. Here, too, only the skill of the
 practiced artisan would suffice, for there was
 nothing but the movement of his hand guided
 by his eye to establish the lead.          
                When a partial thread of one or two turns  
 had been cut, the “chaser” was brought into’
 service. This would be a tool having several
 “teeth” of the exact shape and pitch of the
 required thread. The first turn or two cut
 by the graver served to start the forward  
 move- ment of the chaser and it            
 was up to the workman to continue the same
 relative rate of advance as he made pass   
 after pass over the work until the teeth   
 of the chaser had gotten suffi- ciently deep
 into the metal to guide itself. By the time the
 thread had been cut to half its depth the  
 chaser would of course be guided by its own
 accurately pitched teeth, not only in- suring
 the regularity of the threads but correct  
 the slight inaccuracy of the starting threads
 cut by the graver. Capscrews, bolts, studs,
 etc., were not then available as a commer- cial
 product, therefore the                     
                making of these small but                  
 important items was a stock job to be followed
 up when- ever work ran slack, or inclement
 weather kept the workers indoors.          
     Blacksmithing was a fine art and not a few
 parts came, all finished and ready to take
 their place in the machine, from the anvil.
 The good machinist was also blacksmith,    
 carpenter, millwright andY pattern maker; not
 infrequently foundryman as well. The broad
 axe or the sledge; the plane and the bit-brace,
 or the ham-                                
                                            
 
2. See it, feel it, Live it.
Working in a 1850 shop.
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First created 2005, updated May-20-2022





 THIS LATHE I BOUGHT THIS OCTOBER WAS PROBABLY BUILT IN THE 1840'S.
THE WOOD BED WITH CAST IRON STRIPS LAID ON TOP AND THE CAIN DRIVE ,THE WEIGHTED SADDLE WITH AJUSTIBLE HEIGHT AND A WOOD SPOKED HANDWHEEL FOR SADLE TRAVEL ARE ALL INDICATORS OF THIS PEROID.
A METAL GEAR BACKGEAR INDICATES 1840S OR LATER.
IT IS POSSIBLE SOMEONE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE COULD HAVE BUILD THIS FROM OLD PATTERS AS LATE AS 1870. IT CAME OUT OF A OLD FACTORY IN LANSING WHERE THE POWER WAS PROVIDED BY A LONG BELT THAT RAN OFF THE CENTER LINESHAFT OR MAIN TRUNK LINE POWERED SEVERAL MACHINES. IT CURRENTLY HAS A HOMEMADE CONVERSION TO RUN OFF A ELECTRIC MOTOR MAIN SHAFT. IT IS 9' LONG AND TAKES 6' LONG MATERIAL. IT STANDS 6' TALL AND HAS 12 SPEEDS. THERE IS A CHAIN DOWN THE INSIDE, THE TOOL HOLDER IS ON THE CARRAGE, I HAVE A HOME MADE TOOL REST ON IT NOW. THE BED IS MADE OF LARGE WOOD TIMBERS WHIT HEAVY METAL C CHANNELS ATTACHED ON TOP .I HAVE THE LOWER DRIVE THAT FEED THE CARAGE . THERE IS A CHAIN RUNNING THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE LATHE. THERE WAS A WHEEL ON THE FRONT OF THE LATHE THAT YOU WOULD TURN TO MOVE THE CARRAGE. THAT WAS A WOOD SPOKED STEEL WHEEL THAT WAS BROKEN BUT I STILL HAVE ALL THE PIECES AND PLAN TO REASSEMBLE IT.

Below description and cuts of a 1830s Lathe very simular to mine above from the book "Change gear devices" pub. 1903

This lathe was probably built about 1830 Used as late as 1875.
and was the property of an 0ld Scotch mechanic named Rea, who had a shop about four I miles from Plattsburgh, N. Y. The bed was composed of two oak timbers about 5 x 12 inches, bolted to wooden legs, as shown. On the inside of each timber a rabbit was cut, in which were fastened flat bars of wrought iron, set with the edges up, about 5 ~ x 3 inches, the upper edges being chipped and filed to answer for VS. The head stock was cast with pockets of square form for the boxes, which were fitted by filing, and also had threaded studs of wrought iron cast in the head for holding down the caps over the boxes. The boxes were cast of some sort of composition resembling babbitt metal. The spindle was of wrought iron and carried a wooden cone of three steps built upon a cast iron flange keyed to the spindle.
The tail stock was very light and had on the rear end Pin gears and lantern pinions. of its Spindle a (lownwarllv projecting part, slotted to receive the tail screw, which was provided with a crank forged upon it. Both head stock and tail stock were held in place 1iv a single b olt each, passing down through wooden binders (not shown in the cut) The carriage was fitted to the same Vs as the head and tail stocks and had no more pretense to an apron than a bracket carrying a cast—tooth pinion meshing in a cast— tooth rack screwed to the front of the bed. The carriage was held down by a cast—iron weight as in all the old style of “weighted carriage” lathes.
A power feed was provided for by the use of a chain passing over two grooved wheels in which were pins for engaging the links of an ordinary “log chain.” This was operate(l by a worm wheel with cast and chip)ed out teeth C and a worm of only two or three turns of the thread. This was driven by grooved cone pulleys carrying a half inch S round hand—made leather belt. To stop an(l start this feed the end near the cone pulley was journahled in a pivoted box, an(l the other end stll)porte(l in a vertically sliding box o1)crate(l b~ a wooden lever which was conveniently hooked under a spike driven into the front of the bed.
This feed mechanism was said to have seen as a coml)aratively recent addition to the lathe. When the writer saw this lathe along in the hegtn— ning of the civil war it had an arrangement of change gears with cast teeth somewhat like the more simple lathes of today so far as its action was concerned hut hanging on the wall in the shop and carefully treasured as relics of bygone (days were the old pin gears and “lantern pilliOnS” shown in the engravings. It was noticeable that one of these ‘‘lantern pinions’’ (the lowest one in the engraving) was much longer than the other. This was probably to accommodate different sizes of “pin gears” on the lead screw so as to cut varying pitches of threads. This lathe was in practical use in 1875,

.. its old time Scotch owner quaintly remarked,,, it was able for many a guid turn yet,,,.

Below description and cuts of a 1830s Lathe very similar to mine above from the book. Change gear devices, published in 1903