The Rockwell/Delta 11 inch Metal Lathe

Updated 6/18/2002

Specifications for Rockwell 25-100 lathe

Click the images below for a larger picture

My "new" Rockwell metal lathe, model no. 25-100, serial no. 1478908. The lathe can spin an 11 X 36 inch part over the bed ways. It came out of a school shop, had VERY little use, and was mainly just collecting dust.
As a side note, I have NO source for parts on the Rockwell lathes except for maybe eBay (if you get lucky), and reprints of the manuals can be purchased at http://www.lathes.co.uk.

Overall photo of the lathe.

Profile photo of the headstock and carriage.

Detail shot of the headstock internals showing the twin belt drive, bull gear for the 6:1 low gear, and the gear select lever.

This particular lathe cam with all the available options such as flame hardened ways, taper attachment, and L-00 taper key chuck mounting system.

Here is the quick-change gear system for threading and power feed.

Speed control lever. The lever pulls out at a 45deg angle to release the adjustment and then you move the lever slowly to adjust the speed. Pushing the lever back into the machine at a 90deg angle locks the speed setting.

Picture of the lathe just as I got it moved into position. Most of the machine was covered with a lovely mixture of wood dust and a shelac/oil film. WD-40 and 00 steel wool did a great job of cleaning it. One thing I discovered is that NAPA brand carb and choke cleaner disolves the grey paint very quickly, so beware!

Photo of a portion of the taper attachment as it's going back together. The taper setup was jambed and wouldn't work so I took it all apart and cleaned it. Most of the gibs on the lathe were out of adjustment as well.

This is what the taper attachment looks like now, all nice and clean. It operates fairly smoothly but seems to bind up occasionally.

Here is the lubrication chart for the lathe showing lubrication points, frequency of oiling, and what oil or grease to use.

The headstock/spindle with the chuck removed. You can see both the threaded locking collar and the L-00 taper and drive key. The bore of the spindle has a taper to accept collets.

Here's the pin drive wrench I used to remove the chuck.

Photo of the spindle with the snap-ring and threaded collar removed for cleaning.

Size comparison on the threaded collar.

Here you can see the threaded collar on the chuck and the tapered seat and drive key slot.

The drive key slot is chipped, as you can see here. It isn't bad enough to affect accuracy though, it's only chipped out at the edge.

First turning on the new lathe! I had some aluminum scraps around so chucked one up and gave it a whirl. The bits I have are really nasty, not sharpened right, and are almost too small for the tool holder. I need to order some HSS 5/16" bits and a fine grit grinding wheel to sharpen them with.