Part of a range of quality lathes including production, multiple-spindle, automatic and diamond-turning machines, the 130 mm (5.25") centre height by 700 mm (28") between-centres De Vallière H.130C lathe was manufactured in France by M. De Vallière S.A. of 100 Rue de Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt (Seine). Unfortunately the company now appear to have disappeared but, if any French reader has information that would add to the story, the writer would be pleased to know.
A predecessor to the larger and more completely developed De Vallière H.140E, the H.130C was, for a 5-inch lathe, very compact but heavily built (it weighed 580 kg) and of typically early-1950s appearance with a fine aesthetic appeal, smooth, rounded surfaces, a very sturdy full-length welded sheet-steel cabinet stand and a pleasing harmony to the design that reflected immediate post WW2 American practice. An examination of a H.130 will reveal that every component, down even to washer level, had been specifically manufactured and little expense spared to meet the designer's brief. Experienced users of this class of machine agree that the feel of the cross and top slides and their smooth running are the equal of those on a Hardinge HLV-H. All the operating lever arms were anodised and fitted with smaller-than-conventional knobs.
At over 220 mm (8.5") the width of the grey cast-iron bed was near to twice the centre height - a good basic test of whether a machine is designed for toolroom or heavy-duty work - and of considerable depth. Although no gap was fitted to the bed, at the headstock end a 200 mm (8") length of the casting between the ways was carefully radiused out to allow the fitting of a  300 mm (12") diameter faceplate. Two V and two flat ways were used with the makers guaranteeing parallelism between them of better than 0.005 mm (0.0002/3"). As normally finished the ways were of a hardness equal to 220 Brinell (20 Rockwell) but, to special order, and at extra cost, properly hardened and ground-finished beds could be provided. A full-length T-slot was fitted along the length of the back face - presumably to mount a taper-turning attachment
With a very useful span of 16 speeds the headstock was backgeared and held a 1-inch ore, heat-treated and ground nickel-chrome No. 4 Morse taper spindle that ran on three English-made Gamet "micron-precision" machine-tool class taper roller bearings. The two bearings positioned immediately behind the D1-4" Cam-lock spindle nose were of the opposed, pre-loaded type and 85 mm (3.5") diameter and 50 mm (2") long Both sets of bearings were "spring loaded" to allow for expansion as the machine warmed up and to obviate the need for adjustment during their very long service life. The rear of the spindle was engineered to accept various types of collet closer: pneumatically powered, quick-action lever or a handwheel-operated collet draw-in tube. The headstock's 4.5 : 1 ratio "backgears" and their shafts were manufactured in nickel-chrome steel, heat treated to give a hardness of 400 Brinnel, ground all over (on Reishauer, Maag and Matrix machines) and ran on shafts supported in ball races. Two separate oil sumps were provided to lubricate the headstock bearings and each had its own level window fitted to the front face of the headstock.
In order to minimise vibrations transmitted to the headstock the entire drive system was fully enclosed within the cabinet base with the electrical controls - main switches, motor starter, fuses, coolant pump overload relay, lighting transformer and various connecting plugs - neatly mounted together within a removable enclosure immediately beneath the screwcutting gearbox. The elastically-mounted motor, fitted in the base of the stand, could be one of three types: - either a 2-speed 750/3000 rpm 1.3h.p./3h.p (spindle speeds 35 to 2000 rpm); 2-speed 900/1800 rpm 1.6hp/3h.p (spindle speeds 70 to 2000 r.p.m); or a single-speed 1800 r.p.m. 3 h.p. with two-stage pulleys (spindle speeds 35 to 2000 rpm). From the motor the drive was taken upwards by an endless flat belt to a 4-speed, gearbox that contained a set of nickel-chrome, heat-treated and hardened oil-immersed gears that were always in mesh with the speed changes by sliding dog clutches; from the box the drive rose to the headstock spindle by a "silent" chain giving what the makers claimed was a strong, reliable and smooth transmission of power.
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Drive to the oil-sump, splash-lubricated, quick-change screwcutting gearbox was by changewheels through a conventional tumble-reverse mechanism; with an eye to lucrative export markets in the USA and Great Britain the makers decided to offer properly engineered, individual metric and English gearboxes with leadscrews of 5 t.p.i. and 4 mm pitch respectively. The metric box gave 18 pitches from 0.45 to 4 mm pitch and, with conversion gears, a further range of English threads from 2 to 72 t.p.i. The English box gave 30 pitches from 4 to 128 t.p.i. and, with metric translation gears, a selection of metric threads from 0.25 to 7 mm pitch. a clutch allowed the leadscrew drive to pass straight through the box and so be used for generating "special leads" - presumably very coarse pitches (by arranging changewheels) that would otherwise not have been available. On some versions of the lathe the leadscrew was hardened and ground and on all units the leadscrew clasp-nut was of  "high quality bronze" and ran in hardened guides. A separate power shaft, protected by a shear-pin and running at 1/10 the speed of the leadscrew, drove the sliding and surfacing feeds; fitted with an automatic knock-off control for the longitudinal feed it was able to disengage the longitudinal feed to a repeat accuracy of 0.05 mm (0.002"). A single lever, mounted on the left-hand face of the very heavy double-wall apron both selected and engaged the feeds.
Strongly built and of deep section the saddle was long and fitted with both front and rear tapered gib strips; the cross slide was machined from a robust casting and of the full-length type; it was fitted with a raised platform at the rear carrying two T slots to allow the mounting of a parting or other tool holder.
Full-circle, the handwheels carried zeroing satin-chrome micrometer dials and, while that fitted to the cross slide was of a reasonable size and fitted with a knurled rim of greater-than-usual depth, that used on the top slide was (as ever) too small. The cross-slide dial had a through-the-face thumb screw that locked the setting without disturbance. Both feed screws were hardened and ground and that operating the cross slide benefited from running through a small oil bath and, like the contemporary Hardinge HLV, was equipped with a lever-operated quick-withdrawal mechanism designed to allow the operator to screwcut at high speed; as the lever was operated the cutting tool was withdrawn 6 mm (1/4") and could then be reset (against a positive stop) without disturbing the setting of the micrometer dial. A rather large precision 4-way toolpost of patent design was supplied as standard though, if so inclined, the customer could opt for a simple "American" single-post type instead. During final assembly the cross and top slides and their ways were all hand scraped to a "perfect" fit. During final assembly the cross and top slides and their ways were all hand scraped to a "perfect" fit.
Of unusual (and patented) design, the set-over tailstock, though comparatively small, had a spindle fitted with an angled, fine-feed handwheel drive that, once the worm-and-wheel feed was disengaged, could also be activated by a quick-action, capstan-handled control operating through rack-and-pinion gearing. The No. 3 Morse taper barrel had a diameter of 40 mm (19/16"), a travel of 180 mm (7") and, even when fully extended, a good proportion (150 mm/6") remained fully supported within the casting.
Besides the usual range of accessories - steadies, chucks, collets, capstan attachments and various kinds of toolpost - an ingenious and neatly designed taper-turning attachment was also available that could be brought into operation without the need to disengage the cross feed nut from its screw. The unit was also able to turn against templates and the makers offered a variety of standard profiles including those for the common sizes of Morse taper.
The French used a home-grown system for testing the accuracy of precision machine tools - the "Salmon Standard" - though the makers admitted that for the benefit of a customer they would also check and apply any of the other standards by Schlesinger, D.I.N. or ISO and would also, for a small additional charge, apply a higher standard of checking during the build and on the finished machine if that were considered necessary. 
The H. 130C proved to be a very successful machine, selling into markets worldwide and, by the end of 1968, over 8000 examples had been manufactured.
If you have a DeValliere lathe of any type and would like to contribute a set of high-resolution photographs, the writer would be pleased to hear from you..
De Vallière H.130C Lathe pictures continued on page 2

Section through the H.130C headstock showing the large front bearings and the central chain

The ingenious and neatly designed taper turning attachment could be brought into operation without the need to disengage the cross feed nut from its screw. The unit was also able to turn taper threads and against simple templates -  the makers offered a range of standard profiles. including those for the common sizes of Morse taper.

The No. 3 Morse taper barrel of the tailstock had a travel of 180 mm (7") and, even when fully extended, a good proportion of it (150 mm/6") remained fully supported within the casting