There are few things more awesome in our book than old machine tools being saved and restored. We don’t often see videos of people rebuilding stuff like mills or lathes but the fact is that they’re machines that need to be cleaned up, serviced, and maintained to work with the proper level of precision and speed. In this case we’re talking about an old Japanese lathe that is intact but needs some help. Thankfully the dude who made this video was just the man to deliver tat help and he shows us just about every inch of it.
Using the time lapse function on his phone the restorer shows us the disassembly, service, and reassembly of this entire lathe. Not being machinists around here, we had never seen the inner guts of a machine like this and to say that it’s neat is the understatement of the year. While we do not know the specific record keeping and organization system of the restorer we do know that everything was kept separate and in groups as to not get things crossed up. That being said, we have no idea how the guy remembers the order and layout that some of the parts and pieces need to go back together in.
We’re guessing that there are lots of older machines like this one out in the world that could use the effort, the dedication, and the love to make as good as new again, right? Not everyone has the ability or the space to restore and keep a lathe but the idea of preserving this history sure makes us happy. You might not have to chip out your concrete floor by hand like this dude did, either.
Woah.
well done give yourself a pat on the back
all he did was clean and paint it. no checking the ways, spindle, tailstock and table. no bearing or screw replacement. all it was was clean and paint.
i wanted to see him scrap the ways…….