email: tony@lathes.co.uk
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Photographs of a Particularly Fine and Original
Pratt & Whitney 3C Precision Bench Miller

P & W Miller Home Page   The Miller in Use   

3C Miller Photographs   Pratt & Whitney Lathes

Another beautifully-constructed small milling machine, the Pratt &Whitney 3C is sometime found with the desirable infinitely variable-speed drive system manufactured by the "Master Electric Co." Called the "Speedranger", the unit drove to the spindle using twin V-belts and offered speeds from 125 to 2250 rpm. Typical of the type first offered in this miniature form from the 1920s, the variation in output speed was achieved by a pair of expanding and contracting V-pulleys connected by a steel chain-link belt running in an oil bath . The unit was neatly designed and heavily built; a specially-made, cast-iron frame 2-speed motor was used (with an integral support bracket) mounted end-on to the speed changer; the  both units being fastened to a heavy metal plate slung, in the case of the 3C miller, beneath the bench. In order to make the unit suitable for as wide a range of applications as possible the position of the variable-speed pulleys were altered through a worm-and-wheel mechanism driven by a cable held within a flexible conduit.

3C Miller with Swivelling Vertical Head Mounted

3C set for horizontal milling with the Universal Dividing Attachment with division plates and changewheels

An original maker's drive system

A wide range of accessories made the Pratt & Whitney 3C a versatile and adaptable machine

P & W Miller Home Page   The Miller in Use    3C Miller Photographs

Pratt & Whitney Lathes

Photographs of a Particularly Fine and Original
Pratt & Whitney 3C Precision Bench Miller

email: tony@lathes.co.uk
Home   Machine Tool Archive   Machine-tools Sale & Wanted
Machine Tool Manuals   Catalogues   Belts   Books   Accessories