Replies

1. 
   philip | Oct 10, 2008 07:25am | #1

   Looks like it would have been a cast knob which just screwed in there, so you can pull it up or push it down. Why don't you get creative and make one from brass or even wood with a brass ferrule? (I know some folk who would just screw a bolt there and be done-but that machine merits better than that).

   Philip Marcou
1. 
   thumbnailed | Oct 10, 2008 09:40pm | #2

   As it is now, it works, but the plunger has to be pushed about 1/2 " below flush to engage the spindle, which is a little cumbersome. I know the original had something there, there's a threaded hole in the top, and most of the pictures I've seen show something there, you just can't see what. I'm trying to do a fairly accurate mechanical restoration, and I can make almost anything needed, I just need to know what to make. Thanks for your input. 

1. 
   dgreen | Oct 10, 2008 10:34pm | #3

   Did you look on OWWM? There were some pretty good pictures of that head. 

    

   ................................................

   Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot

1. 
   thumbnailed | Oct 10, 2008 11:00pm | #4

   Yeah, I go there a lot, but nothing detailed or close up. I'm hoping someone who owns one can set me straight. Thanks for the recommendation.

2. 
   rdasilva | Oct 22, 2008 08:21am | #5

   I've attached a picture of a 159 with the button. It's not a great close-up, but you can make it out.

   
1. 
   thumbnailed | Oct 22, 2008 08:46pm | #6

   Thanks for your help. Looks like your 159 is an older model than mine, the version with the whole head a solid casting. On mine, the housing around the variable-speed sheaves is sheet metal. Is the button one continuous piece, or is there a screw-off part ? Mine has a tapped hole in the top, as though there should be another part on top. Also, what is the button made of ?

1. 
   rdasilva | Oct 22, 2008 11:40pm | #7

   Thumbnailed, sorry if I lead you to believe that this was MY lathe... I wish. I found the picture on the sawmill creek forum. Maybe you should ask the fellow it belongs to... http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=36018&highlight=Oliver+lathe+restoration

1. 
   thumbnailed | Oct 23, 2008 04:05am | #8

   No problem, I still appreciate the input, and I'll check it out ! thanks for the heads-up.

3. 
   tictac39 | Jun 18, 2012 11:31pm | #9

   Restored Oliver lathe (post #102236)

   Your post was awhile ago now, but I haven't seen the 'correct' response yet - but that hole is a place for a grease 'pot' that screws in.  I have a unit almost exactly like that, except I don't have the attached motor.  I have two of the grease 'pots', and that is exactly where one of them is placed.  The other is back towards the rear of the transmission unit.  The top screws off, and allows one to pack it with lubricating grease.