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Guilliet & Fils - France
Machines-Outils a Travailler le Bois

FGuilliet & Fils Factory   Other G & F Wood Machines   



Guilliet & Fils, with a factory in Auxerre and offices at 2, Boulevard Magenta, près la Place de la République, Paris, were makers of woodworking machinery. Their product range was immense, comprising, in the early years of the 20th century, some 307 different items in 41 catagories - from tree-trunk slicing machines to small bandsaws.  Their wood-turning lathes were nearly all industrial-class machines, often fitted with both screw-feed compound slide rests and power feed to the carriage; with the addition of a backgear (which seems not to have been available) many would appear to have been perfectly suitable for light-duty metal turning.

Model TM 320 mm centre height by 3500 mm between centres: a heavy wood lathe with, in addition to conventional T rests, a rack & pinion driven compound slide rest 

Independent, outboard bowl-turning rests have long been a common feature of heavier wood-turning lathes, but usually on ones with some form of spindle-reduction gearing to get the speed down to a useable level when working on large diameters. Both the direct-drive headstock, and rather light construction of the floor stand - at least, in in comparison with the 1/4-ton plus affairs offered with later Wadkin lathes - would seem to have mitigated against the success of this particular installation when used to the limits of its capacity.

Model FG 230 mm centre height. Intended for accurate work on wood, this lathe, although not backgeared, was strong enough to tackle lighter metal-working jobs.

Model FHB 400 MM centre height - with the bed length specified by the customer. The very light, over-tall headstock and tailstock contrast strangely with the very large-diameter leadscrew. Designed to add precisely-turned details to long shafts, the swivelling compound slide rest was adjustable across the bed in two T slots formed in the top surface of the saddle.


Type FK - FL 230 mm centre height by 2000 mm (FK) or 2500 mm (FL) - a special-purpose model designed for the copy-turning and mass-production of long, slender shafts. To prevent the workpiece from whipping, a sturdy tool holder was provided which surrounded the wood being turned. The template was mounted behind the spindle line and the stylus kept in contact by an overhead spring which can be see connecting the front and back of the tool-holding assembly. Well supported on four stout, cast-iron legs, the bed had a section between the middle two supports machined with a flat and T-slot to provide an adjustable location point for another part of the workpiece steadying mechanism. Because the machine was intended only for slender shafts, just one spindle speed as provided, this being controlled by a built-in fast-and-loose flat-belt drive - while the carriage was propelled along the bed by a leadscrew driven from a separately-driven 3-speed pulley.

Detail of the tool-holding and steadying mechanism
on the FK -FL long-shaft turning model.

Light-duty wood lathe Models TG, TH, TI, and TJ with, respectively, centre heights of 40 mm, 320 mm, 250 mm and 180 mm.

Model FE centre height 320 mm. With a separate bed and headstock assembly this lathe could be used as a stand-alone bowl-turning unit, or a centre lathe. The unit would have been very useful for awkward jobs where, for example, a large diameter had to be turned towards one end of a slender shaft. By using the heavy box-section T-slotted tool rest, and correctly positioning the bed and headstock, such jobs would have been easily accommodated and safely turned.


FGuilliet & Fils Factory   Other G & F Wood Machines   


Guilliet & Fils - France
Machines-Outils a Travailler le Bois

email: tony@lathes.co.uk
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