Lathe with slide rest and appliances. Plus accessories. The lathe was owned by Charles Babbage. It was made to order for him by London toolmaker Joseph Clement in 1823-1824.
This lathe is of interest given Babbage's work on the Difference Engine. However, the phrase 'made to order' in the description needs to be unpicked. The lathe bed is a standard London-pattern type along the lines established by Holtzapffel (for example). however, the slide rest and tool holder are very out of scale with the rest of the machine. Given the known relationship between Babbage and Clement, I wonder if the latter, asked for a lathe to experiment with by the former, knocked it together from whatever he had to hand without spending too much time over it.
The lathe bed is of cast-iron and is fitted to a wooden frame. The height of centres is 6 inches, and the mandrel has a single pulley driven by a belt from a step pulley on the flywheel. The pulley has a division plate of 200, 180, 112, and 12 holes, with a plain index. The compound slide-rest was made in 1823-4 by Joseph Clement, and was the second of its kind. It has three slides: the lowest, of shallow depth, can be clamped in any position transverse to the bed. To this is bolted a slide, with a leadscrew of nine V-threads to the inch, capable of rotary adjustment through about 45 0 ; the topmost slide is traversed by this screw and has alternative positions for the tool-holder. The holder is fitted with a machine vice whose position can be adjusted vertically by a screw, and it is also capable of partial rotation, being divided on the edge for that purpose.
A slotted bracket which can be fixed in alternative positions on the lowest slide of the rest, is provided for attaching work which is to be shaped. planed, or slotted.
When it is desired to use the lathe for screw cutting, a chuck with one of the toothed wheels keyed on it is put on the mandrel. In gear with it is a train, according to the pitch desired, held on the quadrant bolted to the lathe bed, and ending in a wheel keyed on the end of the lead-screw of the slide-rest.
