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F.Lorch, Lorch Schmidt, L.S. & Co.
Watchmakers' Lathes
Lorch Schmidt Home Page   Plain-turning Precision Lathes   
Heavy plain-turning Lathe

Lorch Schmidt made a wide range of high-quality watchmakers' lathes but, like most other manufac

Lorch Schmidt Type WW lathe from 1910. Based on the heavier-pattern watchmakers' lathes invented in America this model, the "Kosmo",  had a 50mm centre height and could be specified with 300, 400 or 500 mm between centres. Intended for production use, the 8 mm collets were closed by a quick-action, spring-loaded  lever. Price: 50ff

A screwcutting Lorch Type LL1 (circa 1905) of heavier construction. 65 mm centre height by 500 mm between centres  to take 10 mm collets. In comparison to the basic WW lathe above this was very much more expensive at 515ff

A lighter "Geneva" pattern Lorch Schmidt with a round bed flattened on the back. This model was also available in a boxed set complete with a wide range of accessories.

Probably marketed as "Set No. 2" this outfit would have provided the watch repairer with all the basic equipment. Sets 3 and upwards would have included such luxuries as a compound slide rest, two types of tailstock (with a sliding spindle and a lever-feed spindle), drive plate, screwcutting attachment and changewheels, vertical milling slide, pivot polisher, milling and grinding spindle, 3-jaw self-centring chuck (sometimes called a "Universal Chuck"), 4-jaw independent chuck, drill chuck for headstock or tailstock use, wheel-cutting attachment with division plate (to cut what the laymen would call gears but which are known to the watchmaker as "wheels"), a "Mandrel" - in effect a spare headstock with a "faceplate" attached used for super-precision work - and numerous smaller accessories including a single or double roller rest, fixed steady, saw table, Jacot Drum. pivoting attachment, lapping attachment, wax chucks, button or crown chucks, wood screw chuck, wood turning chuck, emery wheel chucks, lantern chucks in bronze and steel, circular saw chuck, carrier chuck, balance chuck, micrometer-adjustable boring head, adjustable eye glass and a self-centring drilling attachment.

A very comprehensively equipped Lorch watchmaker's lathe set - probably catalogued as the No. 10.  Both 6 mm and 8 mm headstocks are included and only a few items from the maker's extensive accessory range are not present. The next set, the No. 11 was built with a drawer to hold a vast range of collets. The designations of the boxed sets changed over the years and, as Lorch also made the boxes available separately for fitting out by owners, it is not always possible to identify them precisely.

A beautifully preserved 6 mm Lorch Schmidt watchmakers' lathe with the now rare hand-cranked drive unit

Another very early (circa 1890) Lorch Schmidt watchmakers' lathe with its distinctive "over-hung" headstock pulley and hand-turned driving wheel.

A Lorch Schmidt watchmaker's lathe of the 1930s that has seen better days but readily identifiable (in addition to the maker's name engraved on the front face) by the large "grooved" ring against the left-hand face of the pulley and the long nose taper of the spindle end.