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Plain Bench Lathes


The No. 3 Bench Lathe was Rivett's first production model of a 7" bench lathe.

The No. 3 Manufacturers' Lathe was what came to be known as a "speed lathe" for production of small parts.  The half open tailstock allowed the rapid change of tailstock tools, and "can be handled much more rapidly than a turret."

The No. 3 ˝ Bench Lathe was a 7" swing machine like the No. 3, but built in the style of the No. 4, being finished all over.

The No. 4 Bench Lathe was a popular model, with 8" swing. It used a similar headstock and tailstock construction to the 8" Precision, and was finished all over, scrape finished and polished.  An almost bewildering array of accessories could be obtained to allow a wide variety of toolroom turning, milling and grinding as well as production turning.

No. 4 Bench Lathe on "bicycle" foot-power stand



No. 5 Manufacturers' Lathe




The No. 505 Plain Precision Bench Lathe was for many years the flagship plain lathe offered "for precision toolmaking and accurate light manufacturing."  Over the years, it was provided with headstocks utilizing either double tapered plain bearings or ball bearings and accepting 3NS, 4NS, 5NS, 5C and, remarkably, 6H collets.  The usual bewildering array of attachments was available including turrets, ball turning rests, slotters, relieving attachments, grinding spindles, milling attachments and a variety of tailstocks.  The 505 had the longest production of any Rivett lathe except the 608, starting sometime prior to 1920 and continuing until 1953.

Sales Brochure (PDF)




The Rivett 507 was a less highly finished bench lathe intended to sell for a more modest price than, for example, the 505.  In earlier years of production, it was known as the Rivett Junior Bench Lathe No. 507, while in later years it was merely the Series 507. An emphasis on cost was achieved "by making the design as simple as the function of the part will permit, by avoiding machined finish on non-working surfaces, by reducing hand labor to a minimum, and by the employment of a new and complete equipment of special manufacturing tools and fixtures, which assure uniformity and aid in lowering expense."

Like the more expensive machines, a wide variety of accesories was available for miling, grinding, indexing and production via turret tailstocks and lever cross slides.

Production was about 250 lathes from 1926 to 1940.

Sales brochure from 1932 (PDF)





The model 715 second operation lathe was similar to the 918 except for a reduced capacity of 7" swing and 15" between centers.  It incorporated a key-drive long taper spindle similar to, but smaller than, the standard L00. The inside of the spindle incorporated a 4C collet seat. A two speed motor, two step pulley between the motor and clutch box, and a dog clutch selection between two different pulley reductions provided eight spindle speeds between 150 and 3500 rpm. The tailstock travel, as well as slide rest motions, were all graduated in thousandths.  The machine weighed 650 pounds.

As was common for bench lathes of this era, a dizzying array of accessories was available to allow the lathe to do dividing, milling, grinding and sawing.

Production was about 180 from 1942 to 1953.

Model 715 User's Manual (pdf)





The model 918 second operation lathe was introduced in 1938 and ceased production in 1960. During that time, about 2100 918's were made, making it the largest production large Rivett lathe.  Like the 608, many of these were produced during World War 2 for use in manufacturing war materičl.





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11-09-2011