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Home Machine Tool Archive Machine-tools Sale & Wanted H.T.H. Home Page H.T.H. Page 3 Humpage, Thompson & Hardy described themselves as "High-class machine-tool makers" and listed, amongst their products, gear hobbers, mechanical hacksaws, hacksaw blade sharpeners, special machines for the grinding of lathe centres and small lathes. Although nothing is known of P.A. Thompson or C.C. Hardy, Thomas P. Humpage is buried in Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol with a tombstone celebrating a lifetime of mechanical achievements with over twenty patents to his name. One interesting patent traced to Humpage, No. 15,289, was granted in England on November 9th, 1887 ) and in the U.S.A. under No. 628,469 on July 11th, 1899) for Improvements in gearing for lathe headstocks, drilling machines and similar mechanisms. The drawings submitted show a lathe headstock with what might best be summed up as a form of epicyclic gearing neatly contained within a 3-step come pulley; as far as is know, the design was never employed any production model. |
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The top and cross slides feed screws lacked micrometer dials and were threaded "right-handed" - which caused the slides to move in the "wrong sense". Most unusually, the screws were fitted into "open" retainers, with the thrust taken against the inside faces of the casting. |
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The top slide was cast with a large boss on its top surface which was machined to accept what must have been a standard-fitment 4-way toolpost. |
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A picture that shows both the shape of the bed and the method by which the tailstock barrel was moved - with the solid barrel slotted on its underside to engage with a handwheel that ran up and down a screwed bar threaded into the casting beneath it. |
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The smallest known H.T.H. was a 2.5-inch centre height lathe that could be had either as a plain-turning model or fitted with backgear and screwcutting. Both types were of simpler construction than the larger HTH and incorporated several cost-saving features. Note, on this example, the maker's transfer on the back of the rear board. In may ways this little lathe resembled the Drummond "Little Goliath" |
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As it resembles those in publicity pictures - and has the maker's transfer still in place on the backboard, this could well be a version of the correct self-contained wooden stand with foot-operated treadle drive. If so, it is a rare survivor |
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Home Machine Tool Archive Machine-tools Sale & Wanted
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