Introduced during the 1950s as a replacement for the LA and LAN models of the 1930s and 1940s, the LLK was sold as a precision plain-turning instrument makers' lathe and its close relation, the Model LAS, as the (very desirable) 65 mm x 280 mm (21/2" x 111/4") backgeared and screwcutting version. The LL-K could be equipped as a plain lathe with a screw-feed compound slide rest or as a second-operation or production lathe when equipped with various extras including a bed-mounted capstan unit, lever-operated collet closer, a cut-off slide and alternative tailstocks.
With a neat and effective epicyclic backgear for slow speeds, together with a conventional leadscrew drive via changewheels to give both metric and imperial pitches (for extra-fine longitudinal feeds a drive by belt was also available), the LAS found favour with those needing a more versatile machine for general precision work. A huge range of accessories was produced for both models - of which the LAS must be considered one of the finest miniature, backgeared, screwcutting types ever made. The bed was of enormous weight and rigidity - and the clever mechanism that operated the single-lever backgear assembly a delight of precision engineering. The speed range depended upon the chosen drive motor but, in standard form, the twelve provided on the LAS spanned 67 to 3000 r.p.m. while those on the LL-K depended upon the motor fitted:
a 1400 r.p.m. 0.35 h.p. unit gave from 375 to 21000 r.p.m.; a 0.45 h.p. 2800 r.p.m. motor from 750 to 4200 r.p.m. and a 2-speed 1400/2800 r.p.m. version from 375 to 4200 r.p.m. Although the motor was mounted behind the headstock on the LAS and drove though a countershaft, on the LL-K it was neatly flange mounted against a reward extension of the headstock support plinth and drove inwards to a countershaft enclosed beneath the spindle..
Oddly, for a German designed and manufactured lathe, there were some strange, not to say eccentric touches: on many late examples the rather small feed-screw micrometer dials were plastic and the tumble reverse arm was (very cleverly) manufactured from a strip of spring-steel rod, the thrust of which was utilised to provide an indent location for the forward, reverse and neutral positions. One very useful feature was the automatic knock-off for the saddle drive, this being activated by a button of the left-hand face of the apron impinging against an adjustable stop on the bed, or by a small lever on the face of the apron - the latter giving the operator perfect control over the stopping point. The English Raglan "5-inch" lathe used a similar and equally effective mechanism.
One extra was particularly interesting, a belt-driven fine feed for the carriage. Whilst Lorch provided a complex, epicyclic units for others models, on the LAS they appeared content to mount a 2-step pulley - on a stud tapped into the bed's end housing - with a very small gear protruding from its face that engaged with the ordinary changewheels. Drive came from a small pulley fixed to the end of the headstock spindle
Fabricated from welded steel plate the stand was unusually heavy - it was partially filled with concrete - and topped by a thick wooden board covered with linoleum. Mounted on this stand, and driven by a 3-phase motor, the lathe ran with uncanny smoothness.
Complete with stand, chucks, collets and essential accessories, LAS sold for nearly £2000 in 1962. Multiply by 16 or 17 to find the equivalent price in 2011 - and you can see why they are now so sought after ....…
More LAS pictures here