Mysterious Headstock!

[thainglo]

All - wanted to share with the group my most recent purchase, as it has some features leaving me befuddled. The serial plate is missing and its been repainted, but judging from some hidden areas on the carriage table, I'm calling it an old Greenie.

Most notable feature is that it has been modified to run in forward and reverse, through an external switch. After checking for play in the quill, plugged the old thing up and it went in both directions.
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Had to pull the motor pan to see how this was wired in - first surprise was that there wasn't a GE motor in the pan, but one from Franklin Enterprises. No motor starter / capacitor mounted to the rear of the motor, so I'm assuming it's part of the large switch. Here's a closeup of the motor plate.
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As if that wasn't enough, the belt cover attaches with an unusual number of 8 cap screws. Typical attachment is with two on the sides, although I've seen a third on top of the headstock on older greenie castings. This one has those three, plus one midway up on each side and three screws mounting it to the motor pan. The belt cover also has a unique opening that appears to be stamped into it. Looking close, it appears a prior owner had it covered up with duct tape as their are still some imprintings from the residue. Any idea on the purpose? Would seem to blow sawdust all over? (Thought I had a picture of the hole, will need to shoot another - it is about three inches across, between the holes for the way tubes).

Two other items on the headstock, one I believe I've got figured out, the other is odd. The access hole has been "nibbled" out to enlarge it, similar to later casting. That leads me to believe it is one of the "A" castings, but I cannot recall the year(s) these were used. Any help?
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Other headstock item that is more curious is the edge around the quill extension feed stop dial. It has a very sharp end to it, versus the more gradual curved edge. I had another Greenie headstock disassembled that I checked against when this feature first caught my eye. Ideas?
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Lastly, a hole was drilled in the speed control dial, I'm guessing to help locate the set screw. First I've seen on any machine I've purchased, wondered if that was a common modification.
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That's always the best part on finding these old machines, never know what oddities are going to pop up, although this one has more than its fair share!

Enjoy the pictures, and I'll appreciate any leads or comments the group has.

Thanks!
Matt

[mickyd]

Comon' Matt, show us pics of the whole beast. Your teasing up with the headstock close-ups!!

What an interesting find!!! Congrats.

Here's my only forensic input related to the mystery belt cover mounting screws. My Greenie had a total of 6 mounting holes, 3 that go into the headstock casting and 3 into the motor pan, all self tapping screws.
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I can only GUESS that the two additional screws may have been to sock in the belt cover due to excess gap. I know that when I reassembled my headstock, I had to manually twist and tweak my belt cover roughly in that area to reduce what I felt was an excessive gap. You can see that I still have a slight gap even after tweaking.
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You mentioned a unique opening in the belt cover that appeared stamped. Did you forget to post a picture of that? I no see.

[tom_k/mo]

Mike, you just wanted an excuse to post a picture of that beautiful restoration job again... LOL. Man, my "new" 520 headstock doesn't look that nice, with all that polished aluminum.

[dlbristol]

I have no info to add to the discussion, but the pics and the descriptions remind me of my Dad. He was an Army air corp engineer in WWII. They built air strips across the Philipines with what ever the could" beg , borrow or steal" and then they had to "find, fix and fabricate" what they needed from that. Like so many of that generation, he was a dedicated "cobbler", as in " we can cobble that together". He delighted in making a machine ,designed to one job, do another. He had an old Ford 8N that would have made Rube Goldberg proud! Just the look of this machine makes me think it may have been the work of a kindred spirit. If I am correct, I will say that your guy was a lot more concerned with esthetics than my Dad was. He seemed to take special pride in making a " cobbled fix" as noticable as possible. A fact that caused much consternation to his wife and kids. Thanks for sharing.

[charlese]

Hi Matt! I read and looked with interest, but no help here as I lack the knowledge.

However, I'll bet our friend Dusty is scratching his head over the reversible capabilities, and figuring out how he can do this to one of his headstocks.

Mike! As always beautiful machine!

[robinson46176]

I want to see the motor shaft / lower pulley arrangement... And the motor mounts.
I have a Mark VII headstock that was highly modified only it looks like it was done out of a junk yard using oddball pieces that didn't seem at all related to the job they were being asked to do, were cut with an ax and machined with a cutting torch.

[thainglo]

Guys - here's a picture of the hole cut in the back of the belt cover. Upon closer examination, it doesn't appear to be stamped, but cut out. Purpose is still confusing. Also, there are four holes over what would have been the plate cover.
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To keep Mike happy, here's a picture from the craigslist listing that shows the fully assembled unit. Nothing pretty!
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Matt

[a1gutterman]

Anyone else notice that it is a 3 1/4 Horse motor? It can be done!

[iclark]

Anyone else notice that it is a 3 1/4 Horse motor? It can be done!

pending Matt's confirmation, I think that that "1" is a scratch in the 3/4 horse stamping.

still, reversible upgrade might make some of us start hunting greenies for lathe use.

[dlbristol]

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I have a Mark VII headstock that was highly modified only it looks like it was done out of a junk yard using oddball pieces that didn't seem at all related to the job they were being asked to do, were cut with an ax and machined with a cutting torch.

One more "cobbler" found! " Odd ball pieces that didn't seem at all related to the job they were being asked to do". That is the best definition of what my Dad did that I've ever seen!:D And the cutting torch was his tool of choice, with grinding off the rough edge totally optional!!!