Copying Lathe 

Any chance the machine is actually 40 or so years older than 1900? In which case here is a possibility: (from NYTimes) "THOMAS BLANCHARD's next valuable invention was a lathe for turning the whole of a gun barrel from end to end, by the combination of a single self-directed operation. This invention, which was immediately taken advantage of by the Government at the armory in this city, was the germ of his greatest invention -- a lathe for turning irregular bodies, his first application of it being to the turning of gun stocks. After obtaining a patent at Washington, he made his first machine for the Harper's Ferry Armory, and soon after -- in the Summer of 1819 -- came to this city, and duplicated it for the armory here, This remarkable machine, with modifications and improvements, it now used in all the armories of this country as well as England, and is applied to numerous operations in making gun stocks, such as cutting the cavity for the lock, barrel, ramrod, butt plates and mountings, comprising, with the turning of the stock and barrel, no less than thirteen different machines. The same principle has been applied to a great variety of objects, such as busts, shoe lasts, ax handles, ox yokes, etc."

Wish I could visit and measure everything. Would be a fun thing to replicate.

Pretty Cool.

Nice how much does a handle cost 28 inches?

I have ober duplicating handle lathe

Rough as guts, i have a Pratt and Witney copy lathe, ( gun stock forming machine ) You should see it work, craps all over this machine