Hercus 260 Metal Lathe Manuals

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Hercus lathe; Results 1 to 18. Wow, I am also on the island and own a Hercus! Machinery Manuals & Brochures. Hercus 9' Workshop Lathe Model ARH Serial #15548V. You'll want the manual. View attachment Hercus Lathe Manual.pdf. Toolman49 Active.

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  1. wtrueman
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    hercus lathe

    Hi all; I've got a 9 inch Hercus Model AU Craftsman Lathe. Can someone tell me what the U in Model AU stands for? I understand that the A means I have bearings in the headstock. Is this right? Does it mean anything else? Thanks for your time, Wayne.
  2. snocat_trf
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  3. wtrueman
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    hercus

    Thanks Snocat. But I still did not see what the U meant. Anyother possible links? Wayne
  4. wtrueman
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    hercus

    I'm sitting here eating lunch, daydreaming and, suddenly: would the U stand for underslung because the motor etc. hangs below the headstock? Did I answer my own query? Thanks, Wayne
  5. Hot Rolled
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    hm. How many Hercuses could there possibly be on Vancouver Island? Did you buy this from a guy in Victoria named Nigel? If so I tried your lathe once upon a time. Nice.
  6. wtrueman
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    hercus

    Dr. Rob: No, I bought this from the school in Tahsis. I also got another in my school here in Gold River. Wayne
  7. Diamond
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    Hercus A (aUstralian, down Under)? Labeled for import to North America?
    Does yours look like anything on the lathes.co.uk site?
    Jim
  8. Stainless
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    Hercus still exist and are located in Adelaide, South Australia. I have their ancient Hercus #9 Cylindrical grinder under the house and a friend has one of their bench lathes which he inherited from his father.
    I order a copy of a manual from them for one of their machines a while ago.
  9. wtrueman
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    hercus

    Hi Jim: The lathe looks exactly like all those I've seen on this site. The one here at the school is an AR and except for where the motor is hung (at the back), the headstock, bed and tailstock all look the same. Wayne
  10. Stainless
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  11. Aluminum
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    Wow, I am also on the island and own a Hercus! 260 ATM. Wayne I sent you a PM, please stop by on your way to anywhere. I'm in Courtenay.
    Paul L
    PS, I have a few extra chucks, steady rests if you are missing anything.
  12. Stainless
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    I made the effort to find additional information but it seems not to be of interest.
  13. Aluminum
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    There are a few guys on this aussie forum that run Hercus lathes
    http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...splay.php?f=65
    You could try asking there.
  14. Titanium
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    There's a Hercus (supposedly a 290) for sale at the moment on TradeMe (NZ) but the vendor couldn't remember the name: he listed it as a Herquis, and set a reserve of $1
    http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-fa...955591.htm?p=1
    Despite the photo clearly showing an integrated quick-change gearbox, a prospective buyer felt moved to ask 'Do you know if it can thread cut?' to which the vendor replied 'yes i was told it could'
    Damn it would be good to find a manual lathe which could screwcut on its own initiative, using its innate cunning...
    (sorry for the sardonic tone, I just find it hard to be silent when so many nice machines are becoming bench ballast)
  15. matthew_g
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    I realise that this is a very old thread, but I found it while trying to find info on a Hercus Cylindrical Grinder.
    The 'U' in the model code is put there for export purposes and combined with the 'A' so 'AU' stands for built in Australia.
    So it reads in two ways. Ie; The lathe is a model 'A' but combined with the 'U' it is an export Aussie machine.
    Hope this has helped someone in the future.
    Matt
    Victoria Australia
  16. Titanium
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    Yes the 'AU' stands for Australia, to differentiate it from Austria, which is 'A'. It doesn't seem to stop lots of Americans from complimenting me on how well I speak English when I'm up there however. No, I'm not kidding.
    Incidentally, Hercus till exists in name only. They no longer have anything to do with lathe manufacturing and instead make gears and other poser transmission components. I have two Hercus lathes, and neither of them are especially great quality to be honest. Good honest machines that will last generations, but unfortunately they got caught in a no-mans land of not being in the category of uber-high quality and able to command a high price, while not being anywhere cheap enough to compete with the Chinese competition once it entered the market. With a bit of a tickle up however they can be made to be quite accurate, but will always be as rigid as a noodle compared to high quality toolroom lathes.
  17. Plastic
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    No offence to Pete but the 'U' in serial numbers on Hercus 9 lathes usually refers to under bench drives.Hence an 'AU' would be an imperial 'A' model with underbench drive. Have a look at the Hercus Craftsman.
  18. Hot Rolled
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    Yes 'u' often means underdrive-the motor is normally below in a cupboard-A boxford lathe for example AUD is a model 'A' with under drive (motor is below)not behind headstock on cabinet.BUD is a model 'B' with motor below.'CUD' model 'C' with motor below.Models A/B/C without any lettering the motor is behind headstock on cabinet top.Models are the same but motors are in a different place
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