J Pickles’ letter to the Society of Ornamental Turners c.195
Posted: 22 Apr 2012, 08:30
J Pickles’ letter to the Society of Ornamental Turners c.1956?
Dear Mr. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
To write of the difficulties in making my equipment I don’t know where to start as it goes back such a long way. I am 71 years of age, and took the English Mechanic from the age of 9, and the Model Engineer from No. 4.
I served my time in a small mechanics shop in a village on top of the Pennines [Earby], with a master and his son [Henry Brown and son] who were craftsmen of the old school. They could do anything in that shop, and do it right, and they taught me to do the same.
I was privileged to use the tools in my spare time if I wanted to, and paid 3d per hour for the cost of running the engine. Taking advantage of this, I and a cabinet maker friend of mine made a 4” centre S.C. lathe. He made the patterns I did the machining.
In the shop we had a 12” centre lathe with a 30 ft. bed, two hand lathes, 10” centres on a wooden bed faced with iron plates 28 feet long, and a 42” foot lathe made by my master and used as a pattern lathe. We had no twist drills, and used home-made reamers, no chucks as we know them nowadays. We also had a small side planer, made by the master which was capable of planing 2’ 10”, this was the length of the bed of the lathe we made.
Early in my apprenticeship I was taught pattern making, this enabled me to cut a lot of the gear which I used. At this time I owned a round-bed Drummond lathe which was used for making models, an electric clock ,and a microscope.
In 1906 I saw for the first time a Holtzapfel lathe, it never left my mind, then I saw some of the lathes in South Kensington Museum, so in 1917 as my position had altered (I had been made foreman) and more tools had come into the shop, I thought I would make a lathe I could do something on. I then set about making the patterns for a 6” centre single geared lathe (treadle) with a worm wheel and tangent screw, a metal turning slide-rest. With this lathe I did an enormous amount of work, making a planing machine to plane 2’ 2”x8”x6”. The patterns were made by hand at the works, but all turning, drilling, some cutting and fitting was done at home. At this time I parted with a round-bed Drummond lathe, but after it had gone I found out it was nice to have two lathes so I started to make a plain lathe just for polishing, drilling etc. It was about this time my wife said to me “Why don’t you make something and send it to the exhibition the same as other men do?”
I had at this time seen a notice in the English Mechanics referring to the Turners’ Exhibition so I finished the fast headstock and sent it to the Mansion House in 1927, and was awarded a bronze medal. This inspired me to make a “posh” lathe, so after a little bit of studying, I decided to make it into a front slide S.C. lathe on the lines of Birch of Manchester. The lathe was made by the aid of the aforementioned planing machine and the foot lathe to which had been added screw cutting gear to the slide rest. When the lathe was finished I sent it to the Model Engineers Exhibition in 1927, and was awarded their Silver Medal. The ornamental slide rest, and the Epicycloidal Cutting Frame shown in the photographs, were then made for this lathe, and afterwards forwarded to the Turners Exhibition in 1929. For these items I was awarded a money prize, and in the same year was awarded a silver medal at the Mode1 Engineers Exhibition, also a Bronze Medal at another exhibition in Bradford. With the tools I then possessed, I made a turret clock movement, cutting all the wheels, some of 12 D.P. in cast iron and gunmetal on the treadle lathe. For this I was awarded a Silver Medal in the Model Engineers Exhibition in 1931. This clock has been running in a church about 100 yards from my home [Roman Catholic Church, Gisburn Road], for 25 years, and has never been stopped for any fault of its own I then made another clock which was installed in another church [Riley Street Earby, later installed in Wellhouse Machine Shop and today on Gissing and Lonsdale’s office on Wellhouse Road] as a monument to my old master. In addition to these I have made 4 regulators [Astronomical regulator clocks].
Returning to the subject of the lathe shown in the photograph, it was in about 1922 that I saw described in the Model Engineer a lathe for ornamental turning etc., which had 3 spindles, and was a S.C. and Medallion lathe. It had been made by or belonged to William Hartley of the geometric chuck fame. I thought I would like to make a lathe on these lines, so started with the patterns for the fast headstock. This was just before the last war broke out.
In the meantime I found a 6” centre Milne’s lathe in a brokers shop, it was a plain lathe, fitted with a compound slide-rest, so I bought it for the bed and legs. It was fitted up as seen in the photographs, with a new tail stock and slide-rest, and eventually with Screw Cutting Gear. I then thought I would go the whole “hog” and make it into a proper S.C. lathe, having made the screw in the meantime on the old 12” lathe referred to earlier in the letter.
In the meantime the Geometric Chuck, Universal Cutting Frame, Eccentric Frame, and Drill Spindle, Heavy Milling attachment, and a Vertical Slide had been fitted.
You want to know about the snags, well I don’t think I have had any, but I have had all the pleasure in the world doing this work and would like to go on with it still. I don’t seem to have done much in connection with Holtzapfel Vol. 5.
The enclosed photographs show some of the parts of the lathe, also a clock made recently, and a microscope, I have just finished an 8” telescope.
I will say again I don’t remember any snags, and also I have never made any drawings for any of the things I have made.
Regarding what I do for a living, I am Managing Director of Henry Brown, Sons and Pickles, Ltd., Barnoldswick. We are Engineers Millwrights and Machinists. We do all kinds of work on engines and mill gearing for the Lancashire cotton mills, and also a large amount of machining for outside firms. We can turn up to 9 feet in diameter,
shafts up to 28 feet long, screwcutting up to 26 feet long. We employ 30 men, and follow about 100 cotton mills, so you can appreciate that I have plenty on my plate at times.
Yours . . . . . . .
Dear Mr. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
To write of the difficulties in making my equipment I don’t know where to start as it goes back such a long way. I am 71 years of age, and took the English Mechanic from the age of 9, and the Model Engineer from No. 4.
I served my time in a small mechanics shop in a village on top of the Pennines [Earby], with a master and his son [Henry Brown and son] who were craftsmen of the old school. They could do anything in that shop, and do it right, and they taught me to do the same.
I was privileged to use the tools in my spare time if I wanted to, and paid 3d per hour for the cost of running the engine. Taking advantage of this, I and a cabinet maker friend of mine made a 4” centre S.C. lathe. He made the patterns I did the machining.
In the shop we had a 12” centre lathe with a 30 ft. bed, two hand lathes, 10” centres on a wooden bed faced with iron plates 28 feet long, and a 42” foot lathe made by my master and used as a pattern lathe. We had no twist drills, and used home-made reamers, no chucks as we know them nowadays. We also had a small side planer, made by the master which was capable of planing 2’ 10”, this was the length of the bed of the lathe we made.
Early in my apprenticeship I was taught pattern making, this enabled me to cut a lot of the gear which I used. At this time I owned a round-bed Drummond lathe which was used for making models, an electric clock ,and a microscope.
In 1906 I saw for the first time a Holtzapfel lathe, it never left my mind, then I saw some of the lathes in South Kensington Museum, so in 1917 as my position had altered (I had been made foreman) and more tools had come into the shop, I thought I would make a lathe I could do something on. I then set about making the patterns for a 6” centre single geared lathe (treadle) with a worm wheel and tangent screw, a metal turning slide-rest. With this lathe I did an enormous amount of work, making a planing machine to plane 2’ 2”x8”x6”. The patterns were made by hand at the works, but all turning, drilling, some cutting and fitting was done at home. At this time I parted with a round-bed Drummond lathe, but after it had gone I found out it was nice to have two lathes so I started to make a plain lathe just for polishing, drilling etc. It was about this time my wife said to me “Why don’t you make something and send it to the exhibition the same as other men do?”
I had at this time seen a notice in the English Mechanics referring to the Turners’ Exhibition so I finished the fast headstock and sent it to the Mansion House in 1927, and was awarded a bronze medal. This inspired me to make a “posh” lathe, so after a little bit of studying, I decided to make it into a front slide S.C. lathe on the lines of Birch of Manchester. The lathe was made by the aid of the aforementioned planing machine and the foot lathe to which had been added screw cutting gear to the slide rest. When the lathe was finished I sent it to the Model Engineers Exhibition in 1927, and was awarded their Silver Medal. The ornamental slide rest, and the Epicycloidal Cutting Frame shown in the photographs, were then made for this lathe, and afterwards forwarded to the Turners Exhibition in 1929. For these items I was awarded a money prize, and in the same year was awarded a silver medal at the Mode1 Engineers Exhibition, also a Bronze Medal at another exhibition in Bradford. With the tools I then possessed, I made a turret clock movement, cutting all the wheels, some of 12 D.P. in cast iron and gunmetal on the treadle lathe. For this I was awarded a Silver Medal in the Model Engineers Exhibition in 1931. This clock has been running in a church about 100 yards from my home [Roman Catholic Church, Gisburn Road], for 25 years, and has never been stopped for any fault of its own I then made another clock which was installed in another church [Riley Street Earby, later installed in Wellhouse Machine Shop and today on Gissing and Lonsdale’s office on Wellhouse Road] as a monument to my old master. In addition to these I have made 4 regulators [Astronomical regulator clocks].
Returning to the subject of the lathe shown in the photograph, it was in about 1922 that I saw described in the Model Engineer a lathe for ornamental turning etc., which had 3 spindles, and was a S.C. and Medallion lathe. It had been made by or belonged to William Hartley of the geometric chuck fame. I thought I would like to make a lathe on these lines, so started with the patterns for the fast headstock. This was just before the last war broke out.
In the meantime I found a 6” centre Milne’s lathe in a brokers shop, it was a plain lathe, fitted with a compound slide-rest, so I bought it for the bed and legs. It was fitted up as seen in the photographs, with a new tail stock and slide-rest, and eventually with Screw Cutting Gear. I then thought I would go the whole “hog” and make it into a proper S.C. lathe, having made the screw in the meantime on the old 12” lathe referred to earlier in the letter.
In the meantime the Geometric Chuck, Universal Cutting Frame, Eccentric Frame, and Drill Spindle, Heavy Milling attachment, and a Vertical Slide had been fitted.
You want to know about the snags, well I don’t think I have had any, but I have had all the pleasure in the world doing this work and would like to go on with it still. I don’t seem to have done much in connection with Holtzapfel Vol. 5.
The enclosed photographs show some of the parts of the lathe, also a clock made recently, and a microscope, I have just finished an 8” telescope.
I will say again I don’t remember any snags, and also I have never made any drawings for any of the things I have made.
Regarding what I do for a living, I am Managing Director of Henry Brown, Sons and Pickles, Ltd., Barnoldswick. We are Engineers Millwrights and Machinists. We do all kinds of work on engines and mill gearing for the Lancashire cotton mills, and also a large amount of machining for outside firms. We can turn up to 9 feet in diameter,
shafts up to 28 feet long, screwcutting up to 26 feet long. We employ 30 men, and follow about 100 cotton mills, so you can appreciate that I have plenty on my plate at times.
Yours . . . . . . .
