My first Oliver

blackcreek · Post by **blackcreek** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:01 pm

I found this pattern makers lathe on craigslist in Kansas. A very accommodating seller made the transaction and shipping relatively easy with an excellent crating job to boot. The lathe bed and moving carriage is model 19 from the late 20's the the head and tailstock is a model 51-K. I have to imagine that the machine was built during the transition from model 19 to 51 and used parts from each.

The head is variable speed from 600 to 3600 rpm.

It seems that all the parts and paint are original including the face plates and larger chuck. The moving carriage accommodates both the tool rest and cutter attachment. Both the bed and cutter attachment are indexed for easy repeatability.

Everything works beautiful with no slop in any of the moving parts. The motor emits a wonderful quite whirring sound.

So the only problem is the paint. I imagine the black is the factory primer.

Now being one of limited patience and desire to do the dirty work of paint removal and repainting. What is the best way to address a paint job in this condition. Of course, I could just live with it which is probably the near term solution. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

Toolslinger · Post by **Toolslinger** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:49 pm

It it isn't rusty, and is just flaking, I tend to just knock off the flakes, and get to making dust/chips/etc... If there's rust, it all depends...

I'm more prone to do paint on a machine I don't use much as the users don't have enough down time....

crzypete · Post by **crzypete** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:35 pm

Hey Tom,

Nice to hear from you!

Congrats on the first Oliver, it looks like a mini version of my 16x60 Oliver patternmakers lathe, except, Oh that head stock- very cool looking straight out of a science fiction movie,

The dark paint could be the original Paint, Olivers started a dark Black, and moved to a deep blue/gray before ending up at the classic teal.

I am not the best person to advise you on saving time with paint, although I could give you much information on wasting time.....

It will all boil down to what makes you happy......

Pete

blackcreek · Post by **blackcreek** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:47 am

Perhaps the black is the original color. If that is the case, how best to remove the flacking paint without disturbing the original paint? Wire brush?

Fortunately there is no rust on the machine what so ever.

One a slightly different topic. I would like to buy a 12" tool rest for it. Any ideas for a good source beyond ebay etc.

Tom

nektai · Post by **nektai** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:46 am

Tom,

In my very limited experience with old Olivers I would say that the black is more of an underbody filler/primer.

I would try to nick the flakes off with a putty knife and then make a decision how crazy you want to go

crzypete · Post by **crzypete** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:49 pm

Tom, this is definitely a task whose success is going to depend on how well the two layers are adhered. Finding the correct solution will definitely be one of trial and error, hopefully more trials than errors.

some thoughts, try a plastic paint scraper, try a regular paint scraper, try a chisel (one of you good ones, ha ha).

Try Hot water, perhaps mixed with some detergent- this might be better if it soaked.

Try lacquer thinner- if the top coat is solvent based and the under coat resistant, you could actually cover the lathe in plastic and fume it.

ABove all, make sure you report back on the details, I want to learn from all of your errors!

Pete

blackcreek · Post by **blackcreek** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 12:33 pm

Pete,

Thanks for the ideas... My window of opportunity for such experiments has closed a bit, but when I get a chance to spend sometime on it I will let you know what seems to be the method. A few minutes with a wire brush did reveal that the black paint/primer easily comes off in some spots while a scraper had no effect on it in others.

More importantly I did some turning with it and it works quite will well however I did experience a slight loss of power on occasion. I will have to investigate at some point if it becomes problematic.