Litton glass blowing lathe

surplusjohn · Mar 4, 2006

I posted this last night and is seemed to disapper, so here it is again.
Does anyone know about a Litton model K glaas blowing lathe> I have one, but don't really know who would use it. It has a 1 hp dc drive, a 6 3/4 hole thru the spindle, a Sanford tool post grinder, and a really weird chuck.
Thanks

TheMetalDoctor · Mar 4, 2006

Send us a pic, John, I really want to see that.

TMD

Jim Williams · Mar 4, 2006

I saw a glass blowing lathe some time back. Don't remember the manufacturer, but it seemed to fit your description. It was said to be used in the manufacture of laboratory glassware used in the chemical industry and schools.

Jim W.

Madlab · Mar 4, 2006

Contact a University Chemistry Dept. They use these. Most departments have a glassblower that makes custom apparatus. -matt

Ries · Mar 4, 2006

I have a friend, one of the ultimate tool collectors of all time, and somewhere in his 10,000 sq ft of machine tools packed so tight you cant walk between em, he has at least two of these things.
He threatens to get em up and running, but he threatens that about a lot of stuff.

Anyway, the ones he has are designed for hot working glass while turning it. His have built in ring burners, to keep the glass hot, and the "turning" is sort of more like metal spinning, as I understand it- you push the spinning hot glass, to form it into various circular shapes- you dont actually remove any glass, just move it from place to place- its a constant volume process.

They were used in industry for making lab glass mostly- any thing that needed multiple parts, it was cheaper to make a mold and blow into that, so they are used for custom one off experimental glass work. Not a huge market, my guess is there are only a few companies that do this anymore.

Some art glass blowers might want to play around with it- maybe Pilchuck should buy it.

surplusjohn · Mar 4, 2006

here are some pics
http://photobucket.com/albums/e115/surplusjohn/litton/
thanks for the feedback

cheapo jim · Mar 4, 2006

there were a couple of Litton glass blowing lathes on craiglist a few days ago ... not cheap!

http://www.craigslist.org/sby/for/137782190.html

jim

goldiver · Mar 4, 2006

SJohn;

Litton glass blowing lathes are still being made here in Grass Valley, CA.....Took a field trip with a H.S. machine shop class thru Litton a couple of years ago (This was the last machine shop class in the county, now gone

) .....

Their shop was huge, and had us drooling, including a planer ~ 25-30' long.....Foundry too.....

You might be able to get some info from the website:

http://www.littonengr.com/

Jim

PS; IIRC, Litton rebuilds their used lathes for resale.....Might be an avenue for you to consider.....

surplusjohn · Mar 4, 2006

more great info. Can't believe the prices on the two on Craig's list

Lambert · Mar 4, 2006

Ries has it right , mainly used for big pieces , rotating slowly wihle heating a (small) radial surface and blowing (by mouth via rubber tubing) the desired shape.
Or shaping it with tools like bricklayers use.

Got my training at a school which also had and still has a scientific glassblowing department.
Spent 6 weeks there , pretty cool to do.

www.lis-mbo.nl

snowman · Mar 4, 2006

you dont have the dual headstocks?

Usually they have two headstocks, set to rotate two pieces of glass at the same time, at the same rate. Thus you'd heat both sides of the glass, then join them together, continue to heat, to make condensors, laser tubes, etc.

As I see that, the most valuable part of it is probably the chuck. Looks like that one was modified to be a production machine or something??

-Jacob

Thermo1 · Mar 4, 2006

David Packard's memoirs mention working with Charlie Litton. According to Packard, some of his lathes were designed for blowing the envelope for radio transimitting tubes.

FWIW

Thermo1

Mike Henry · Mar 5, 2006

Sounds like you already have some good info, but if you need more I can put you in touch with the glass blower where I work. He's been in the trade for 20+ years and might be able to help you out or put you in touch with someone that is looking for one.

Email me if you want to pursue it.

Mike

Tim in D · Mar 5, 2006

Well here is something I know a little about as I've been a glassblower for 27yrs now!! I have two glassblowing lathes in the shop, A Litton HSJ and a Woodland. The Litton has a bore of 4" and is a sweet machine........A Monarch EE of the glass shop. Glass lathes allow a glassblower to rotate two pieces of glass while fusing them together. There are lathes with bores up to 12" and larger. The headstock is fixed on the bed and rotates synchronously with the sliding tailstock. There is a "burner carriage" between them. Indispensable for assembling complex pieces and large pieces. I worked with a lathe out of England that had both head and tailstocks that slid along the bed as well as the ability to tilt the bed from horizontal to verticle on the fly! That one in the pics is missing the tailstock. The chuck would be worth something for sure though.
Tim

surplusjohn · Mar 6, 2006

I get the picture now. Yes this one was adapted for something, possibly a fiberoptic application. The tool post grinder is a puzzel.
I knew that I would get a wealth of information just by asking! You guys are amazing!

surplusjohn · Mar 6, 2006

BTW, this one has a Woodland Lable on it.

Chevelleface · Apr 21, 2022

Please tell me you still have this?

john.k · Apr 23, 2022

Last post was 16 years ago.....surplusjohn was on forum 2 weeks ago....PM him.

Litton glass blowing lathe

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