Thread: Macson lathe - can anyone identify it?

Hi Alan,
Have you tried lathes.co.uk. I know they have info on the Macson lathe. I would include the link but I am on my phone and have no idea how to do that from here.

Phil

Hi Alan,
I may have worked out how.
Try this
http://www.lathes.co.uk/purcell/

Phil

Thanks for the prompt reply Phil. Macson lathes were made by McPherson's Limited so I don't think they had anything to do with Purcell.

Cheers

My Bro in law has a big old belt driven MacPhersons lathe

The early ones have oilers on the spindle. That one looks like it has roller bearings.

The early MacPhersons lathes were marked as Macpherson, and only later on became Macson brand (as I understand it).

If it's marked Macson then that would probably put it in the 1950;s or later.

Cheers

Rob

Originally Posted by Alan Liefting

Thanks for the prompt reply Phil. Macson lathes were made by McPherson's Limited so I don't think they had anything to do with Purcell.

Cheers

Bugga. Sorry about that Alan. I'm out camping and the brain is clearly in neutral.

Phil

This one has solid bearings. Here is another photo:
P1030959.jpg

I had a look in my 1949 MacPhersons catalogue

Their 1949 range of MACSON brand ,was all geared head lathes , no belt driven models that I can see . They were agents for Hercus 9 lathes at the time as the Hercus is in the book . That lathe you have might be a 1946-48 model or earlier , maybe even late 1930's or WW2 era .

They also sold a MACSON shaper and many other machines , the book is over 1" thick .

Mike

Hi would date that around the 1930-40's My late father and I tendered for a similar lathe 41/2hollow spindle was line shaft driven from School of Mines bendigo sold for 106 dollars We tendered 101dollars.that was about 1967 .At that time was huge pressure being applied from the O F B ordnance factory Bendigo as they were getting heat from the apprentices there having to work on dinosaurs.they were working on the state of the art precision tool room lathes putting out hi tolerance work.The majority of fitter turner apprentices were Vic Railways and Ordnance factory.Facility was used by hobby classes as well as diploma students.
In relation to Purcell they made New Visby models and I bought one at auction with some of my hard earned apprentice salary of 21 dollars per week.160 dollars, was well used but still did accurate work and was semi refurbished by us.Still got it and now ready for a restoration and further use.
A days work on one of those Macsons is hard toil.We had a John Lang with 5'' hollow spindle too same size as the macson.To bring the tailstock up to the chuck end one had to chain the t stock to the saddle and wind the whole lot together. we got smart and put a cortina gearbox off the power feed shaft to drive the saddle up and down the bed we fitted a clutch to the 10 hp motor to stop blowing fuses and a spindle brake. that lathe would cut a thou .001'' never seen such an old accurate machine was ex Vic Railways.C heers John.

Originally Posted by morrisman

Their 1949 range of MACSON brand ,was all geared head lathes , no belt driven models that I can see . They were agents for Hercus 9 lathes at the time as the Hercus is in the book . That lathe you have might be a 1946-48 model or earlier , maybe even late 1930's or WW2 era .

Mike

Would MacPhersons have made their own castings (with Macson on it) based on a Hercus model? Maybe some sort of licensing deal?
Cheers

Alan

Originally Posted by Alan Liefting

Would MacPhersons have made their own castings (with Macson on it) based on a Hercus model? Maybe some sort of licensing deal?
Cheers

Alan

Yes Alan Macson did badge engineer some of their machine tools lots of jobbing foundries around in those days as well as machine shops.From what i was told they were assembled by them Mc Phersons but lot farmed out.
They were one of the major machine tool suppliers in their day.
Imagine being taken to their showroom as a boy from the bush by a toolaholic father with limited funds but always left with a good quality tool of some sort to start me off in the same addiction,affliction persuasion my late old man had.He too as a boy haunted those places when in ''the big smoke'' told by my grandfather ''you are going to make that boy tool mad like you''. But good tools will last a life time as some of mine have lasted over 50 yrs.John.

Originally Posted by Alan Liefting

This one has solid bearings. Here is another photo:
P1030959.jpg

Ok that is a better photo.

Those oilers don't look right for such a big lathe. The MacPherson my bro in law has is fitted with fairly large brass pot type drip oilers similar type to a Myford.

Seeing as it is a plain bearing spindle I would say yes, it would be pre 50's.

I've only seen big MacPherson and Macson lathes. I've never seen a Hercus type/size lathe from them. But that dose not mean to say they never made small stuff.

Cheers

Rob

Originally Posted by nearnexus

Ok that is a better photo.

Those oilers don't look right for such a big lathe. The MacPherson my bro in law has is fitted with fairly large brass pot type drip oilers similar type to a Myford.

Seeing as it is a plain bearing spindle I would say yes, it would be pre 50's.

I've only seen big MacPherson and Macson lathes. I've never seen a Hercus type/size lathe from them. But that dose not mean to say they never made small stuff.

Cheers

Rob

They did make a tiddler, Hercus sized lathe - https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/mc...tml#post772067

Bob.

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

They did make a tiddler, Hercus sized lathe - https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/mc...tml#post772067

Bob.

Interesting.

I went through some of my old Australasian Engineers Society Handbooks to see if I could find a McPherson advert, I have seen them, but they must be elsewhere in my stuff.

But what struck me was just how many of the engineering companies, manufacturers and retailers, (in South Australia) from the 1950's have closed down and disappeared.

It's shocking really. Big and small they've all but disappeared. Only a few like Southcotts are still around.

Rob

Originally Posted by Alan Liefting

Would MacPhersons have made their own castings (with Macson on it) based on a Hercus model? Maybe some sort of licensing deal?
Cheers

Alan

The 1949 catalogue has pics of their factories..it was a very big company with factories all over the place

The casting plant was in Tottenham , Melbourne .

AJAX pump factory was in Tottenham as well

The bolt factory was in Richmond, melbourne and in NSW at ALEXANDRIA

The main machine tool plant was in Kensington,Melbourne where the lathes were made as well as milling machines and many other machine tools

They were agents for many hardware items and tools like Black & Decker electric tools , Kelso wheel barrows and myriad tools , even nylex hose , the list goes on and on