Because I don’t have enough to do…

[thattubaguy]

Alright, for the machine enthusiasts, I MAY have bitten off more than I can chew, and certainly have gotten myself way more machine than I could ever need.

Back in August of 2024, an Old machinest down the road from me passed away resulting in a HUGE estate auction; and I mean YUUUUGGGEEE. Greyhound Busses, collector cars from 1900-1950 (you name it, it was probably there in restored condition), and more shop tools than you could possibly have enough drool for.

I spent a few days perusing and convincing myself to not go too crazy; I had future tubist #3 on the way (three weeks later!).

Upon my last lap before auction viewing closed, I found myself in the dark side of a 60x100 barn-turned-machine shop-turned-Auto Restoration shop.

It was there I saw it: a 1940’s Rivett 1020S Lathe. 3900lbs of machine that I would never know what to do with. I have an old South bend C, and my shop lathe is an “newer” Atlas with quick change. This old thing? It was like finding a 14 Window Volkswagen Panel Van with a rotted floor pan and no original trim.

Welp, I ended up wining it, and for $150 + buyers premium of 10% I’ve gotten myself an amazing project. Not only did I get the machine, but I ended up with boxes and boxes of parts, tools, three chucks, and four sets of original owners manuals and schematics for this machine.



Hope you might all humor me as I start rehabbing this old beast this coming fall.

Perhaps there’s a better forum for this, but I know I’m not the only mech-head here.

[York-aholic]

I love the vw bus analogy!

[the elephant]

OUTSTANDING FIND!

(Now you need a matching mill!)

[bloke]

EVEN IF you never get it working, you could pay someone to move it into your living room/great room (as a centerpiece for your new "steampunk" decorator theme.

[thattubaguy]

OUTSTANDING FIND!

(Now you need a matching mill!)

(Don’t tell my wife, but I might already be looking )

[thattubaguy]

https://www.lathes.co.uk/rivett1020s/

For those interested in the details, this is a good read about all the things I’ll probably never do with this machine

[the elephant]

I love that website. I have bought some manuals from him in the past. Great source of info!

[TxTx]

Wow. That is a beast. I think you win the biggest lathe contest.

How hard is it to 440V service at your house? Or is a different motor in the works?

Eric

[thattubaguy]

Wow. That is a beast. I think you win the biggest lathe contest.

How hard is it to 440V service at your house? Or is a different motor in the works?

Eric

Luckily the previous owner converted the motor to 220; And as some extra luck, the prior owner of my home used to rebuild small airplane engines in a workshop on the property (I was stuck with a Stinson 10A voyager that was buried in the hoard of the workshop), so I’ll have my electrician come in and verify everything is still good as well as installing a dedicated sub-panel.

[gocsick]

Luckily the previous owner converted the motor to 220; And as some extra luck, the prior owner of my home used to rebuild small airplane engines in a workshop on the property (I was stuck with a Stinson 10A voyager that was buried in the hoard of the workshop), so I’ll have my electrician come in and verify everything is still good as well as installing a dedicated sub-panel.

Is the motor single phase though???

[bloke]

Would that really be an issue?

I picked up a super-industrial-grade buffer/grinder ($25 - school system auction), and spent a little bit of money on a 3-phase converter box...but the third leg can actually be created by connecting two motors together with a pulley.

[gocsick]

No... Personally I would prefer a 3 phase motor... then control with a VFD.. You have a lot more options for speed control that way.. See the discussion under Wade's lathe post.

[travisd]

Would that really be an issue?

I picked up a super-industrial-grade buffer/grinder ($25 - school system auction), and spent a little bit of money on a 3-phase converter box...but the third leg can actually be created by connecting two motors together with a pulley.

I don't think it even requires two motors - I believe that a rotary converter can be done with a single 3ph motor and some creative wiring. IIRC a cap is used to get it started off of 1ph then once running it outputs 3ph. Not terribly efficient? and requires upsizing the rotory converter motor by some factor over what it's driving, but big 3ph motors aren't that expensive. (I have a nice Toshiba 10HP 3ph sitting around if anyone is interested....)

VFD seems like a better solution overall. If my 10HP scuba air compressor hadn't come with a 1ph motor as well as the 3ph I'd probably have been looking into one.