Member postings for Andrew Austin 1

Hi all you machinery lovers: I have a Denhams lathe that I acquired a few years ago it is not in A1 condition and I am in two minds weather to refurbish it or scrap it. I does work and I have machined a few pieces on it. It runs on a 15 amp 240 volt supply. It has a gap bed 12" swing and relatively short bed for its size. It also has a wide range of selectable screw cutting ratios.

It was originally supplied to the Air Ministry, I have tried to research its history but cannot even find out what model it is. The only firm information I have is on the name plate. Contract Number 618869/370X11B. Supplied 1938. Serial number (Denhams) 4627. Air ministry Supply Number 592.

The best guess so far is that it was supplied to the Airforce Engineers to support the deployment of Spitfires, The first was 19 Squadron in March 1938 at Duxford. I would appreciate any information or ideas on where I could find out more.

Hi All: I am a retired Engineer with more time to spend on various engineering projects. I stared out as a Mechanical Tech Apprentice and Production Engineer for a major electronics company. I then joined the petro chemical industry as a designer finishing up working in various roles on offshore support contracts.

I have a double garage with access to a Clarke Lathe with O/H mill attachment. floor mounted pillar drill, metal chop saw, Fabricator MIG and stick welder, plasma cutter, compressor and range of engineering hand tools. For woodwork I have a table saw and planer thicknesser plus all the normal hand tools. A lot of these have been collected new and second hand over time from various sources.

I always have several projects on the go and more waiting. Currently I am having a bit of a clear out and rationalisation as I will never get around to finishing them or using the stuff I have horded over the years. One of the reasons for joining the forum is to find out more about some of the bits and pieces I have accumulated before either finding a home for them or just weighing them in for scrap.

First up will be the Denham lathe that has been sat around for at least ten years since I acquired it. I will post more on this on the Machinery section.