Mars bar no, Mars lathe!

[neksmerj]

Today I went with a friend to pick up a lathe he'd purchased from a local dealer. He thought it might have been an early Hercus, but after cleaning the nameplate, it turned out to be a Mars. A Mars!

Had never heard of it, how dumb am I ? Apparently they were made in Brisbane.

It's about the same size as a 9" Hercus, and is similar in some details. I guess it is the equivalent of a model C with a bunch of change gears. What surprised me was just how good a nick it was in, including the sheet metal stand, and the bargain price.

I've gleaned some info from lathes.co.uk.

What do you know about this machine? Any instruction books?

Ken

[malb]

There has been some mention of Mars lathes in this forum in the past, maybe 2 -3 years ago. My memory is those ones were larger than a Hercus though.

[Grahame Collins]

Hi Ken,
Pictures mate! Pictures

Grahame

[neksmerj]

Hi GC & big M,

Point taken, will get some snaps.

Ken

[lightwood]

Today I went with a friend to pick up a lathe he'd purchased from a local dealer. He thought it might have been an early Hercus, but after cleaning the nameplate, it turned out to be a Mars. A Mars!

Had never heard of it, how dumb am I ? Apparently they were made in Brisbane.

It's about the same size as a 9" Hercus, and is similar in some details. I guess it is the equivalent of a model C with a bunch of change gears. What surprised me was just how good a nick it was in, including the sheet metal stand, and the bargain price.

I've gleaned some info from lathes.co.uk.

What do you know about this machine? Any instruction books?

Ken
Ken I sold one on ebay about May 2009, mine had a hard life, the bed was worn some, and I had only the change gears that were on it.
It was a little big for my needs, couldn't do what I wanted, and I'd just inherited a Qualos jr. from my dad, that has everything with it.
I bought the Mars 20+ years ago at an auction I went to just to buy an old Jeep. There was the Lathe, a small screw press and a steel workbench with a huge Dawn vice that were only getting bids from the scrap metal bloke, so I bought it for real cheap money.
Back in 2009 I did some research on the net, and only found the UK site info.
It went for over $650.00.... which was big surprise to me.
Regards,
Peter

[.RC.]

Rumour has it that Mars lathes while well made were unfortunately inflicted with having very soft cast iron beds which meant they wore out quickly.. Of course quickly back when they were being made probably meant only a few years of 3 shifts a day work.... I very much doubt any hobbyist would ever wear a lathe out in short order...

There is a Mars shaper for sale on Grays online at the moment.. it is in Gunnedah.. It is the first Mars shaper I have seen... I have not yet seen a Mars Milling machine but apparently they built them as well....

I imagine Tony at lathes.co.uk would be appreciative of some pictures of the lathe.... They are not very common...

[jatt]

Yeah came across a Mars Jupitor a while back in central Vic. Was pretty clapped out, especially for the price the guy wanted.

[Old Hutcho]

Guys, I know this is a very old thread but I just picked up a Mars lathe (The Great Scot model) in fair condition. Trouble is it is missing some of the gears which drive the feed shaft (if thats the right terminology). Anybody know where I can get some. Are they common to say Hercus or some of the other older models?

regards

Old Hutcho

[bwal74]

Hi Hutcho,

The Mars (Great Scot) are pretty rare, not like a Hercus or Myford. As for finding gears for them you may struggle. You may need to make up what you need. You could always try Mick Moyles in Sydney for gears, he's got thousands of old gears from lots of different lathes etc.
If you don't mind me asking, did you buy yours from a bloke near Manly Vale? I just missed out on one there about two months ago, she was in good condition too.
Also if you don't know already, try lathesuk.com.uk or if thats not the rights address type in Mars or The Great Scott, has some interesting info for you.

Cheers Ben

[Ueee]

Guys, I know this is a very old thread but I just picked up a Mars lathe (The Great Scot model) in fair condition. Trouble is it is missing some of the gears which drive the feed shaft (if thats the right terminology). Anybody know where I can get some. Are they common to say Hercus or some of the other older models?

regards

Old Hutcho

Hi,
I have one too, but mine seems to be super rare, a later metric machine, i have never come across another. Although my machine has metric screws the rest of the machine is imp, so it has imp change gears. The gears are 14dp, i have a few but not a whole set, an some are definitely not original. Some pics would be great, and yes, Page Title (http://www.lathes.co.uk/conrik/) is about the only source of info about.

[matthew_g]

sometimes I regret selling my big MARS lathe, mine was 1200 between
Centers and weighing iin at 1250kg was no baby.
I just couldn't justify having 3 lathes at that time.
There are pics of mine on this forum somewhere.

[pipeclay]

If you cant source gears,there are members here who maybe able to make them.

[Old Hutcho]

Ben

Yes mate that was the lathe. I have measured the bed (with the help of a mate who knows stuff) and its pretty good. Got lotsa backlash on the cross slide but I am going to perhaps try a new acme thread nut to see if that cures it. I can live with it. The belt is knackered so I am looking for a nice leather belt or perhaps something to replace it. Thanks for the interest and replies fellas. Its invaluable stuff to me.

regards to all

Old Hutcho

[Old Hutcho]

Here is another Mars on Sydneys northern beaches. Its definitely a Mars and it looks VERY much like my Great Scot. Then again, most of them look alike

Lathe - old 3 speed belt driven-journal bearing-power long/cross feed-1hp 240V | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Lathe-old-3-speed-belt-driven-journal-bearing-power-long-cross-feed-1hp-240V-/300779442592?pt=AU_Hardware&hash=item4607da11a0)

regards

Old Hutcho

[bwal74]

Shushhh.....

[Old Hutcho]

Ueee.

Am I reading your post correctly, do you have some spare gears? If not its no worries, I'll just keep on hunting. If you do, I will be in Canberra this weekend at the German Car day on Sunday in the city. May be able to catch up for a chat about the Mars anyway.

regards

Old Hutcho

ps: If anybody wants some fotos just send me your e mail address and I will send you some. Its a work in progress but I am very happy with the sweet old thing.:B

[franco]

Re the lathe in Old Hutcho's link in post #14:

QUOTE: "It has only three speeds, selected by manually shifting the belt, and no brake, but the belt will slip if overloaded."

Wonder why the seller says it has only three speeds, when it is equipped with a back gear?

Frank.

[unixbigot]

Old Hutchoo, I have a mars great scot (missing many original parts alas) but with a relatively complete set of gears.

Don't have any spares, but I do have some of the cutters to make more. I've made one for mine so far (a repacement tumbler gear, in nylon).

My lathe: Great Scot Lathe - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22634189@N06/sets/72157626637212378/)

Gear cutter: Gear cutting spindle | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22634189@N06/7746067868/)


Ueee.

Am I reading your post correctly, do you have some spare gears?

[Old Hutcho]

To bwal74.

Did you score the Mars at Avalon for sale on ebay recently mate. Looked in pretty tidy condition. Went for a fair price I thought.


regards

Old Hutcho

[bwal74]

Hi Old Hutcho,

Went for a really good price. Not much over my budget but I didn't really try too hard. Other priorities at the moment.

Cheers Ben

[Old Hutcho]

Spent the afternoon with an old guy in his mid 80's who used to work with my dad many years ago. Very entertaining and enlightening day. Not on ly did I learn heaps about grinding tools and chuck speeds, I scored a heap of his old HSS stock which he doesnt use anymore. I hasten to add, I didnt clean him out, he still had probably 50 or 60 pieces of tool steel still there. His main lathe is a Nuttal he got from Wollongong TAFE many years ago and he also had a smaller lathe he tells me used to be in Garden Island Dockyard in Sydney. Guess what? Its a bloody Mars! The plate is missing from it and the slides are different to mine, but the headstock assembly is identical to mine, as is the tailstock. The beds are different also but the belt drive assembly is identical to mine. Although he has lymphoma, he tells me he is not going anywhere soon so it wont be available for a while :no:. He did tell his wife that I have first refusal, so that nice :B. Its nice to talk to the old masters while they are still living.

regards

Old Hutcho