Pittler lathe : “Le progrès industriel M.H. Rumpf”

[jan deklerckParticipant @jan-deklerck]

I found a long neglected Pittler, which came with a lot of accessories.

The nameplate is missing, but apparently it is a “Le progrès industriel M.H. Rumpf” ?
According to the info on Vic Newey’s excellent website, this is the only nameplate that was oval and would fit.

I am Belgian, and found the lathe in Belgium.
I hope somebody will be prepared to help me with info and advice ? Thanks in advance.

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[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Wow !

That looks like an amazing restoration project you have there.

MichaelG.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Will be great to see that lathe back as it should be!

Helical back-gears… Was that a Pittler speciality? That’s the first time I’ve seen that on a lathe.

Advice, you ask…..

Another source of information is Tony Griffith’s lathes.co.uk site

 

I’d keep the two lots of metal as you’ve photographed them, separate from each other for the moment.

Strip, clean, repaint, re-assemble the lathe as it is, also clean all those loose items as a separate lot.

That will then make it easier and cleaner to decide in that heap of bits, what is a lathe part, what is an accessory (including change-wheels) and what is neither (or you can’t immediately identify).

 

Examining the heap, I can see:

A type of chuck or tap-holder – at top right, next to a smaller item that might be a die-holder.

In front of those, one journal and bracket for a countershaft I guess originally used with the lathe, and what seems to be a hand-turning tool rest that might fit what may be a socket visible on the front of the saddle.

Next to the tool-rest is a handle that is probably for the cross-slide – it looks a brother of the top-slide handle still in-situ.

Beyond that I see three chuck-jaws, two Stauffer grease-cups, a small lever that could be for the half-nuts mechanism or something similar; and at the back, what might be a bearing half-brass.

I can’t identify the two big castings in the left foreground, the bracket with the worm, and the item with what looks like a plastic pulley (a milling-spindle?).

I assume the shaft with the universal joints is part of the lathe’s power-feed but it really needs an expert on Pittler lathes to identify it correctly.

At least some of those gears may be change-wheels, though using helical gears for that seems unusual. The small pinion in the middle of the heap of gears might be the worm-wheel for that (power-feed?) shaft.

Many of the small items might not be lathe parts, but this should become clearer once you have cleaned everything and started to analyse what fits where… or does not fit anything.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

For the convenience of anyone who hasn’t been there yet

Here is Vic Newewy’s authoritative site:

https://sites.google.com/view/pittler-lathes/

MichaelG.

[Gerard O’TooleParticipant @gerardotoole60348]

Lovely find.

You have already mentioned an expert on these lathes, Vic Newey, and Michael has provided a link to his excellent website.  I don’t think you will get any better help or advice from anywhere else.

Nigel’s identification of parts is good but Vic’s website will aid the identification of all the parts. Vic is a contributor here so hopefully he will be along to cast his expert eye over your find.

 

[Gerard O’Toole]

On Gerard O’Toole Said:

Lovely find.

You have already mentioned an expert on these lathes, Vic Newey, and Michael has provided a link to his excellent website.  I don’t think you will get any better help or advice from anywhere else.

Nigel’s identification of parts is good but Vic’s website will aid the identification of all the parts. Vic is a contributor here so hopefully he will be along to cast his expert eye over your find.

 

Hello Gerard

I’ve been in contact with Jan since 2 days ago via email and also on my Facebook Pittler group. I’ve been on a coach trip today but spotted your email Gerard so will get back to you shortly

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Thank-you for providing that link, Michael.

It should certainly help Ian identify all those bits and restore his lathe to fine fettle.

.

Vic Newey’s archive article had something of a connection for me.

It refers briefly to Adams, in Britain, re-badging Erhlich (German-made) lathes. For some years I owned a large lathe badged “IXL” and this too seems a dealer’s brand on the same make of lathe.

I had to relinquish it eventually, and donated it, plus a comprehensive accessory set, to Lynton & Barnstaple Railway for use in their workshop.

 

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Best advice I can offer for removing rust from that lot is Evaporust. Paint it on and then wrap the part in a clear plastic bag and leave it sit overnight or for a day or two. The plastic bag stops it from drying out and stopping working. Don’t use black plastic bags. The colour stains the fresh metal inside. ( I learned this the hard way!) It does a wonderful job and leaves the metal like new without etching into the metal as vinegar and other methods can do.

If the rust is too thick and flaky, wire brush or wire wheel the loose rust off first.

Here is my experience with Evaporust. Before and after. Brilliant!

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Rust removal by electrolyosis may be the answer to clean the rust off ??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ck7R9zvUw

Many other links exist on the net.

Bob

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Grrr!!

The forum’s problem with images seems to persist

MichaelG.

.

[Michael Gilligan]

 

On Michael Gilligan Said:

Grrr!!

The forum’s problem with images seems to persist

MichaelG.

.

 

Too weird. They are normal JPEGS uploaded in the normal manner. I can see them on both my HP laptop and my Samsung android phone. Maybe the problem is your device? Or its compatibility with the new forum site???

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Cant see them on my phone

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Now that I double checked, I am not seeing them on my phone either.

I did upload the three pics at once rather than my more usual one at a time. I will try uploading just one below and see if that works better. (Hope burns eternal!)

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

OK. So the single pic uploaded in the above post is now appearing on my Samsung Android phone. Whereas the three uploaded at once in my original post are not showing on the phone.

So maybe the problem lies with simultaneously uploading multiple pics. I will now try uploading the other two pics below, but doing them one at a time, one after the other, instead of in one batch as I did in my original post. All uploading done via HP laptop.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

OK, that looks better on my phone. The two pics in one post are showing on the phone.

So maybe the problem is that multiple pics uploaded as a batch do not show up on phones but do show on laptops? And multiple pics uploaded one at a time do show up  on phones?

How weird is that?

[Hopper]

On Hopper Said:

[…]

How weird is that?

Weird enough to have our good friend Mr Duffer perplexed.

MichaelG.

.

P.S. __ latest version of your photos showing fine on the iPad, thanks !

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Quoite a project but possible.

Wire brush to renove the heavy rust, then Evapo Rust or whatever for the finishing touch.

Then start putting the jigasw puzzle together!

One complete, you will have the joy of using it, and the pride of having brought it back from the almost dead!

Please keep us updated on your progress.

Howard

[jan deklerckParticipant @jan-deklerck]

Bottom :

Foto from Vic Newey’s excellent website.

Top :

Missing nameplate, 3D printed, using bronze filament for the lettering.

[Gerard O’TooleParticipant @gerardotoole60348]

Nice 3D print,  it should look good on the finished lathe. Can you share the settings and printer?

 

[jan deklerckParticipant @jan-deklerck]

The printer : Průša I3 MK3S

Slicer : PrusaSlicer

Filament : background : black PLA.

Then switched to yellow PLA.

Then the last half mm : ColorFab BronzeFill.

Why the yellow PLA : because of the bronze in the filament, the lettering was very imprecise. But if the lettering is started with regular PLA, then the BronzeFill follows the existing outlines nicely.

Settings : standard, chosen in the slicer.

[Gerard O’TooleParticipant @gerardotoole60348]

Thanks Jan. I would never have thought of using an intermediate colour pla to ‘bond’ the Bronze filament. A good idea to remember.

I also like the surface finish and the typeface you used, very near to the original. Looks very good

[jan deklerckParticipant @jan-deklerck]

Hi Gerard !

The process was not exactly what you think it was …

No typeface used at all …

I used the photo in Vic Neweys website.

I fed that to YASW (free) software, to adjust the dimensions, and, more importantly, “straighten” the photo : trapezium becomes rectangular.

Then, using Microsoft paint, I erased everything, except the outlines of the lettering. (tedious).

This then made it possible to convert the (remains of the) photo to vectors (DXF format), which I could import into my 3D software.

[Gerard O’TooleParticipant @gerardotoole60348]

Hi Jan

Very interesting. I will have to look up the software and see can I do similar with freeCAD or Solid Edge. .

You got a very nice result.

[jan deklerckParticipant @jan-deklerck]

This is what I used to convert a JPG to DXF :

https://online.reaconverter.com/convert/jpg-to-dxf

It worked really well.

[Gerard O’TooleParticipant @gerardotoole60348]

Thank Jan, I will try it out . I do have some other photographic software so will see how I get on

[Author]

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