waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for any information about the waterbury / simplicity con rod lathe.
It's a very nice machine to machine newly poured con rods to size,
and even possible to make oil groves with it.
Would anyone happen to know from what years they have been made?
and have any catalog, information sheet, or even an manual maybe?
any help/ information is very appreciated.
Because here over in Belgium these are very rare!
The place i bought the lathe from used to pour and machine babbitt bearings.
But now al those employees who did are sadly passed away,
and no one can tell me something more about..
So if someone might help me out.
That would be very kind.

Thanks a lot.
Tom

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

I wonder if there's a patent number on there somewhere you might find the information you're looking for by searching the patent number.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Hi,
thanks for the reply.
Yes there is an plate with two patent numbers on it.
Where could i find patent register or some like?
Im from Belgium..
thanks,
Tom

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Try
https://www.uspto.gov/patents/search...-public-search

This is the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

On YouTube there is a guy who restores and uses all types of antique machines. I don't have a name but I've stumbled on his informative videos a couple of times.

Here is a short discussion of one - https://www.practicalmachinist.com/f...k-here.368850/
You might not get much from the patent office. Basically ideas are patented. Those ideas could be used on numerous machines so you may only get details on a portion of the machine. I couldn't find a PDF operating manual.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Waterbury Tool Co. seems to still be in business. Google it. Or try AACA library, their information is open to anyone.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Thanks Ken coupe,
i found some info on the patent site.
patent asked on 1937
and very nice description.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

hi Model A 29,

yes i found them out.
You mean strongs garage i believe?
they have some very nice video's
i really like them.
i tryed to contact them some time ago.
but sadly i did not succeed.

you can find the waterbury in one of theyre videos.

search after strong's garage babbitt

grts T

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Hi Nobod,

goog idea.
i did not know about the library.
Ill check that out

Thanks,T

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

thanks, Kencoupe, and fullraceflathead

for the link and adressing me to the US Patent and Trademark Office.
i found there an 15 page pattent folder where it describes the machine in detail,
and has somevery nice pictures.
Sadly i cannot put the link on this reply.
the patent scheet is from 1936.
so i may say they made them from 1936 until the second world war? (1945)?

thanks a lot for the help

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Sometimes looking up patents in the patent office is hit and miss on the info but I've also found certain patents contain a lot of information so it's always worth a try.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Tom, it appears you are missing several pieces to your unit based on the design of mine and/or the ones I have seen that are like yours. BJ Miller with Ron's Machine in Shandon, Ohio ( https://www.ronsmachineshop.net/Home.html ) has a couple of units similar to yours. I would reach out to him regarding info about them. I have uploaded 4 pix. The first picture is of my Storm Vulcan Model 24. The next 3 photos are of BJ's units so you can see what is missing on yours.

.
.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

If the company stills exists or was bought out and that company still exists you can obtain manuals from them. It was the only good thing Bill Clinton did while in office. The theory is if don't know how to operate it and you get hurt it's their fault so they have to make information available to you. I was able to get manuals for a 1950 cutoff saw, complete with parts manuals and safety instructions.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

I have the instructional manuals for nearly every machine I own in my machine shop, ...and unfortunately, the only time most of them make sense is reading them after you have seen the machine run by someone who was trained on it by the factory.

Also, most of the rod cutters I have seen are very similar in operation to their competitor's machine. Many companies that manufactured automotive reconditioning machines sold their design to larger companies who then sold them to even larger ones. After each sale, the company rebranded it and often changed one or two small details. Also, because the production numbers were so low on these types of equipment, it seems rarely were there ever two machines exactly alike.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Inventing the better mousetrap. It was probably cheaper to gobble up the little guy and his company than get into a patent fight.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Actually, you are close I think. Often times back then, there were all kinds of little companies that were trying to invent some type of machine to help the reconditioner by saving time on setups. The issue that came is many of these machines just did not sell. For example, the machines I posted were manufactured from 1936 and lasted about a decade. Cast bearings were beginning to be fazed out by the time these machines were even invented. After the war effort, there was a desire for more advanced machines, so the rights, the tooling and patterns for these 'antiquated' machines were sold to larger companies just so they could say they had them in their line-up in case they were to completely outfit a new engine machine shop. This was one of the reasons Kwik-Way equipment is still easily found today is because their salesmen could (-and did) sell all of the machines necessary to outfit a complete shop including Babbitt casting equipment. Storm, and Storm-Vulcan was the same way. So to your point, I have seen machines where they were easier to setup & use before someone bought the rights and then 'modernized' them.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

Hi Nobod,
i believe the company still exists.
But they now sell lawmowers and tractors.
I m unsure if its still the same company...

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

My understanding is it doesn't matter what they make now. My 1 inch Johnson cut off saw went through about three different buyouts until I found the new mother company. They were glad to send me manuals for the cost of shipping. They could also email them.

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

hi All,

i found a nice you tube channel about machining babbitt.
If you search for "the bearded babbitt men".
You can find many interresting videos.
Where you see him machinig on an presumably waterbury lathe.
It has the same model and setup.
But is painted in grey.
So i don't know if this an copy?
I tryed to reach out to the user.
But don't find out how to get in touch.
Might someone maybe knows how to contact an youtube user?
many thanks,
Tom

Re: waterbury simplicity con rod lathe
 

The only way I know of unless they have a email address is to just leave a comment asking unfortunately a lot of the video posters don't read their comments if the video's old.