641RKX8
Shipped: 11/12/1947
10R
4-foot-bed-length-A
Series S, 10R (Regular(small) spindle hole, 10-inch-11/16 Collet Lathe)
199-AF
FLR-UMD
FFA
QCG


A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to acquire a 1947 heavy 10R, here in the Netherlands. Its serial number is 641RKX8, and attached to this message is the serial number card. It seems it was made for a Dutch company, Van Riethoven en Houwens, in Rotterdam at the time. Even though a lot of time has passed, and the company has seen many changes, it kind of still exists today as RH Marine. Sub of VINCI enterprises.
Soon, I will be transporting the lathe to my shed. It will there undergo some well deserved cleaning, maintenance, rewiring and ‘tightening’ of the cross- and compound slides. But it is otherwise in great shape! There are even remnants of the handscraping marks all along the bed ways. Also, essentially all fixtures mentioned on the card, such as micrometer carriage stop, thread dial, rests, etc. are there, and in good order. Again, needing some TLC but in working shape, nonetheless. I am missing centers, both fixed and live, and might be minus one gear, for the metric conversion set up, but have not checked that in detail, nor fitted it on the machine. Also, the toolpost was, I think, replaced, and maybe the three jaw chuck (there is a Germany made one on at the moment).

One thing, or actually two things, on the card I could not figure out as to what it meant. The meaning of R.P. (gear) and the C.F. (gear) in the bottom right corner. Maybe you could shed some light on those?

(wsw-note: RP=Rack Pinion, CF=Cross Feed Gear, P=pluse, M=minus, Adjusted for stack-up tolarance error in assembly)
 
I’ll send you more pictures soon, when the machine is in my actual possession.
Cheers, thank you for and keep up the good work on the South Bend Archives, and have a great weekend!

Francois,
Velserbroek, The Netherlands