A reproduction of superb 86-page Boley lathe & watchmakers' tools catalogue is available: e-mail for details
Boley Lathe No. 1a. Centre height 50 mm and 110 mm between centres. A typical Boley watchmaker's lathe. The headstock spindle was hardened and ground and fitted with hardened and ground precision bearings. The pulley was provided with a ring of indexing holes located by a plunger visible at the left hand end of the headstock. A miniature compound screw-feed slide was available to special order - as was a wide range of other finely made accessories including capstan conversion parts.
Boley Lathe No. 1b A longer version of the A, with 230 mm between centres, this lathe was fitted with a screw-feed compound slide rest and two bed supports as standard.
Boley Lathes No. 2a 3a and 4a Heavier still, with a 65 mm centre height, this lathe was available in several versions named according to the type of countershaft used. The Boley 2 lathe was fitted with a screw-feed compound slide rest as standard .
Note quite what it seems…. Although very late model Boley WW type watchmakers lathes had painted headstocks and tailstocks the example shown here - though clearly stamped Boley on the end of the bed - has a bed diameter of 25mm - whilst all known genuine Boley-made versions are 19 to 20mm. It was produced by a maker of watch and clockmakers' equipment based in the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) Andrä & Zwingenberger from the 1950s until the late 1960s (or even 1970s). The lathes were of heavier-than-normal construction (reference the 25 mm diameter bed ) - and usually offered as a complete, boxed kit at a bargain price - the aim being to acquire Western currency at almost any cost. Unlike most other watchmaker's lathes paint (beautifully applied) was used on headstock and tailstock - again mimicking the last of the Boley WW lathes made during the 1950s. The lathe was marketed world-wide, with the East German dealers Georg Jacob perhaps responsible for stamping the end of the bed G. Boley - though with a lack of finesse, the heavy punching and thicker letters too close together betraying the origins of the lathe. If any reader can offer further insights into Andrä & Zwingenberger and their products the writer would be pleased to hear from them.
1957 Catalogue from Georg Jacob
An all-lever-feed production version of the East German "Model 15363" dating from 1976 and arranged on a self-contained motor-drive and base unit.
The screw-feed compound slide rest followed the rest of the lathe in being of heavy construction - with generous amounts of slide travel - and 40 divisions on the metric micrometer dials.
Parallel lines engraved on the top-slide tool clamping area are an immediate identification point
The lack of finesse in the "G.Boley" stamp - heavy punching and the thicker letters too close together - betrays the origins of the lathe