waterbury simplicity con rod lathe

[noboD]

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.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by noboD

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.

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.

[ModelA29]

Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C

...... 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.....

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

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by ModelA29

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

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.

[Tommy084]

Originally Posted by noboD

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.

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