GGs,

Some may remember the lathe I picked up last fall at Bud Brown's 
auction.  I posted a description and pictures under a thread titled 
New-to-me lathe.  I didn't know what I had at the time but a little 
research showed it to be a head stock and sundry other parts from an 
early Bergeron Ornamental lathe from about 1795.  It was set up as more 
of a display gadget than an actual working lathe.  Historically 
significant but not in a usable configuration.

Pursuing the history of that lathe got me started down the path of these 
early Ornamental Lathes.  With my recent downsizing and household move 
I'm developing more of an interest in these lathes and have become less 
interested in my tool focus of recent years. Long story short, I'm 
pursuing the purchase of two lathes from a very knowledgeable 
aficionado, writer and ornamental lathe user. I expect the purchase to 
take a while what with all the packing required, sorting of shipping 
details, selection of appropriate shippers, etc.

In the mean time I thought I'd offer you gents another kind of tool 
porn.  Porn, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, but I find these 
things have become very appealing to me.  Anyway, one of the lathes is a 
small and early Holtzapffel model from 1927. The second is a newer, more 
capable, historically significant lathe by Evans from about 1890.  Both 
were manufactured in the U.K.

A complete description with history, inventory, and pictures is 
contained in these two pdf files:

Holtzapffel SN 1355: http://billwebber.galootcentral.com/H1355.pdf

Evans SN 1288: http://billwebber.galootcentral.com/E1288.pdf

For your enjoyment, stay well...

Bill W.
Charlottesville, VA