Hardinge HLV H

[Bill PudneyParticipant @billpudney37759]

Probably 20 years ago work sold the last of two HLV H, well tooled, well maintained and well looked after. I believe it went for A$5,000. At that time the two guys who ran the turning section and who were not happy with "their" Hardinge being given away (their words), asked me to find out how much a new one cost. I had a look on the Hardinge website, and the basically equipped lathe was available "on special" for something like US$38,000. I had a chat with their local rep and he confirmed that they were not making any more, the normal list price was something over US$50,000. They are probably one of the best two manual lathes ever, up there with Schaublin.

cheers

Bill

Edited By Bill Pudney on 30/09/2021 07:38:43

Edited By Bill Pudney on 30/09/2021 07:39:50

[ianjParticipant @ians]

From Lathes.co.uk site

"HLV-H (US production):
1960…..0100 1961…..0210 1962…..0554 1963…..1042 1964…..1540 1965…..1905
1966…..2345 1967…..2864 1968…..3327 1969 to 1971 ……? 1972…..5014-K
HLV (UK production – the only data ever discovered)
1955…..Serial Number 0207 to 1958….. Serial Number 0442."

[Fernando AbadParticipant @fernandoabad36180]

Hi, according to the picture, do you think that something is missing? I have made some test threads and I think they are metric, but I see pictures of other Hardinge and I see that they have more gears, on the lathe they did not deliver more gears, are more gears necessary? greetings.

[Fernando AbadParticipant @fernandoabad36180]

Hello ian j, the question is that I don't know if it is made in the USA or England, according to the photographs it would be in England, it seems that the first units that were sold in England came from the USA, by the serial number it is very old, 1962 approximately, fortunately it was all its life in the same workshop and was well cared for.

 

Edited By Fernando Abad on 30/09/2021 11:01:59

Edited By Fernando Abad on 30/09/2021 11:02:28

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Fernando, if you have a metric lathe there are gears available to cut Imperial threads & if you have an Imperial machine there are gears for cutting metric.

Tony

[Fernando AbadParticipant @fernandoabad36180]

Thank you Tony for answering, but according to the photograph it is in metric or in inches, if it is in inches, what do I need to change to metric and where to look for it, do you think it is interesting to have both systems, I mean being in Spain and as the normal here is metric except in plumbing which is in inches, maybe I will never make a thread in inches, the thread plate in the photo is in inches or metric, is the same plate for both, or metric would be different, thanks for your help.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

That plate is showing pitch in MM there is no TPI shown so your lathe is what they call 'native' metric. To cut Imperial threads you will need various bracket[s], conversion gears & an instruction book. Others may have more details or a Google search may help with further information.

Tony

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Posted by Fernando Abad on 30/09/2021 10:45:01:

Hi, according to the picture, do you think that something is missing? I have made some test threads and I think they are metric, but I see pictures of other Hardinge and I see that they have more gears, on the lathe they did not deliver more gears, are more gears necessary? greetings.

Yes you are missing the quadrant that holds the extra gears. It may be that it never had one. The rod you can see poking through is the interlock that prevents you from engaging the extra gears if the gearbox has a feed selected. If you move the lever to the AUS (OUT) position you'll see that the rod sits below flush which would allow the quadrant to move (if it had one).

You can cut all of the metric pitches on the chart as the machine sits right now. The quadrant is only required if you want to cut any other pitch than what's on the chart.

Edited By Pete Rimmer on 30/09/2021 18:08:55

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

Posted by Pete Rimmer on 27/09/2021 19:30:38:

Posted by David Colwill on 27/09/2021 07:20:25:

I believe that there is a difference between the British and American built machines. The British Machines have a 4 degree taper as opposed to the 3 degree 59 minute 30 second of the American machines.

Not a problem if you are working to the taper on your machine.

David.

I make it roughly 0.00017" difference which is no difference at all given that the big and small ends have a 7 tenths allowance on the drawing.

I have to say that I never bothered to work out what the difference was. I just knew that the British machines are 4 degrees.

Sorry for making everyone rush for their calculators.

David.

Edited By Pete Rimmer on 27/09/2021 19:34:35

[Fernando AbadParticipant @fernandoabad36180]

Good morning, looking for information I see that the hardinge HLV-H-EM is configured to make metric and inch threads without the need for more gears, what a pity they do not manufacture all with this configuration, and there would be no need to be changing the gears, the plate of the HLV H EM is also different, greetings.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Hmm, I'm sure extra gears are still needed? Actually the HLV-H-EM was the one & only Hardinge I ever worked on during my last 2 years of employment & I only cut metric threads but I do recall there being loads of extra gears & at least one bracket , fabulous machine in it's day but now replaced with a CNC lathe.

Tony

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Fernando Abad on 30/09/2021 14:12:07:

Thank you Tony for answering, but according to the photograph it is in metric or in inches, […]

.

I am pretty sure that STEIGUNG IN MM …which translates to PITCH IN MM

would be much clearer if written in full and in mixed case !!

Pitch in millimetres

[nothing to do with inches]

MichaelG.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

To reiterate the plate shown is for metric screw cutting, from 2.5 mm pitch down to .3 mm pitch. An Imperial English] plate will quote Threads/Inch or TPI

Tony

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

I have to say that I never bothered to work out what the difference was. I just knew that the British machines are 4 degrees.

Sorry for making everyone rush for their calculators.

David.

If you look at the drawing posted further up David you'll see that the spi dle taper is given as 4 degrees then it's crossed out and pencilled in as 3.59.30. What does that mean? Both sizes are accommodated within the given tolerances it might be that someone has measured an a tual taper and found that its somewhat less than 4deg but still within tolerance, and decided to record the fact, giving birth to the belief that there are two sizes depending on which side of the Atlantic you're on

The thing is, Hardinge USA supplied the spindle assemblies, with their slightly modified bearings, to the UK for the Feltham machines. They all came from the same place.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I'm sure Pete Rimmer is correct, back in the day no design engineer worth the name would specify a taper as 3.59.30 which is nigh on 4 they would just specify it as 4 degrees, it makes no sense to do anything different.

Tony

[BikepeteParticipant @bikepete]

A quick further thought – it may be that importers of HLV "clones" can provide accessories such as backplates or chucks, if making them yourself is not the preferred option. In the UK, this supplier says "We have a complete range of tooling and spindle tooling to fit the Hardinge Lathes as well as our popular new Linear Cyclematic Lathes":

**LINK**

and they also list a brand new Hardinge taper fit faceplate on UK Ebay:

**LINK**

Fernando, maybe you can also find a EU importer of one of the "clone" brands who might also be able to provide accessories to fit your HLV-H?

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

There is also a Feeler brand which is an exact copy of the Hardinge, we had both makes of machine and bits were interchangeable, details are on Lathes website.

[Russ BulleyParticipant @russbulley69715]

Thanks for the reply. Indeed I have been around the Feeler website and found nothing on the “clone” seemed to be all CNC.

 

Russ

Edited By Russ Bulley on 29/05/2023 11:20:01

[Russ BulleyParticipant @russbulley69715]

Posted by David George 1 on 30/09/2021 07:19:22:

ZMT web site is still working they may have spares.

David

Many thanks – except all Hardinge stuff seems to be gold plated when you look at the price! But I will view!

Russ

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by Russ Bulley on 29/05/2023 11:16:30:

Thanks for the reply. Indeed I have been around the Feeler website and found nothing on the “clone” seemed to be all CNC.

 

Russ

Edited By Russ Bulley on 29/05/2023 11:20:01

Have a look on the lathes.co.uk website LINK Not parts for sale but might be useful info?

Edited By Hopper on 29/05/2023 11:59:15

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