I am not contributing to this great forum in the way I would really like to, but I hope you guys forgive me (for now). The things that some of you produce in your barn/shop/shed/garage, in my country we address to it as garage, is just stunning. I've collected many manual tools of all sorts over the years including quite rare ones and precision measuring tools. Not to mention all the blueprints and manuals I could find in the field of gunsmithing.
As of now I'm the proud owner of a long version AI Hembrug precision lathe I've taken it completely apart to examine and repair/replace the necessary parts.
The reason I chose this lathe is because it was made by Artillerie Inrichtingen (“artillery workshop”) hence the abbreviation AI, the same Dutch company responsible for all of Holland’s armoury and the AR-10 among other things.
Long story short, the precision-lathe I now have at home can be fairly easily adopted for all kind of gunsmith jobs. So restoring it to its former glory should be a great start in restoring my collection of firearms and gunsmithing jobs for friends.
One day I hope it would look similar to this one (mine has a longer bed)
I’ve got an independent 4-claw, a 3-claw, automatic collet attachment, steady rest and some tools with it.
The rear of the spindle has an hole for attaching the automatic collet or an indexer.
Mine is a 2000 RPM version with only automatic feed along the Z-axis.
The rear end of the spindle can be reached and the diameter thru it is about 1” or 25mm this should just be enough for my barrel work.
I would like to make a cat head that I can attach to the rear of the spindle for the purpose of reaming. But I’ve got a question about that.
I’ve read that some of you guys use some sort of reamer attached to, by lack of better words, hydraulic tube similar in principal to a gundrill. I have a hydraulic pump and could make closed type of cat head so that I push-ream through the barrel with cutting fluid being forced out of the hydraulic tube just rear of the reamer and by some pressure seal along the reamer thereby removing the chips.
A pull through reamer has of course other benefits. What do you guys think I should do accessory wise to my lathe. A taper attachment can be attached or made by example or should i opt for another motor and make it a 4000 RPM version. I will try to make an automatic X-axis feed, the arbor has all the work done but is missing some gears and axle's.
The jobs I want to do in the future are foremost for antique single barrrel shotguns;
Reaming and (re)chambering barrels;
Straigthening barrels;
Making missing and damaged parts such as firing pins, pistons etc.

Bootable usb el capitan. Android emulator mac android studio. That looks like a very nice machine, skiller. I hope yours can be made as nice.
For cutting chambers (chamber reaming) you really don't need any more than a can of oil and a reamer. High-pressure oil is just a convenience and probably only worth it if you're going to chamber many barrels.
GsT

I bought a hembrug lathe about 2 years ago, Haven't had a chance to work with it yet, but it cam fully equipped, lots of tooling, collet set and taper attachment. Let me know if you need any pictures or info to get yours set up.

Thanks Hawkeye2, I will certainly keep that in mind.
From this website you can download a shop manual which is also in English when Dutch or German isn't your mother tongue. The translations are a bit off but still a picture tells more than a thousand words. https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=54..33;1822 (search for Hembrug)
Currently I am working on modeling every part in 3D (I'm neurotic I know) so I can modify everything in 3D without a change of damaging the real deal until I'm fully confident it should work.
GeneT, I really value your opinion so if it was up to you, you would leave it as is I recon.

Here's a link to pictures of my hembrug.
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads..l-gloat

Thats a beautiful lathe. We need some starting pics of yours so that we can appreciate the end result!
As to your question about RPM, you probably won't need more RPM unless you're planning on using carbide tooling with small diameter stuff. HSS isn't very finicky about speed, and it runs at about half the speed of carbide.
For HSM HSS is probably a better choice anyway because it can be resharpened over and over again, but it's hard to beat the convenience of carbide inserts (especially if you're like me and just learning how to grind cutting tools).
Honestly, if it were me I'd just focus on getting what you already have up and running, and then decide from there what modifications you want to do.

wish we had an edit option..
Just saw the pics, you made out like a bandit! The tooling alone is probably worth what you paid!
Looks like a lot of fun to be had. Mac os 10.11 el capitan download.

Wow, that truly is money well spend!
L stands for Links or 'Linksom' (Left, 'to the left' or counterclockwise) and R for Rechts 'Rechtsom' (Right, 'to the right' or clockwise), altough you've probably found this out yourself by now.
I've got the same collet attachment as shown on your lathe. I will post some pics tonight when I get home from work. Although I just realise I haven't shot enough before pics yet and already started to work on it.
Thanks for all the helpfull replies.

There were 2 old AI lathe's both of which I took apart with my students in class. The one on the foreground was rebuild with new bearings along with some better quick wearing (sacrificial and replaceable) parts and the motor from the one in the back. As my wife didn't allow me to take a lathe home I restored it to a very good usable condition, although left rough on the outside, and traded it with a local artist for Brass-casting lessons for my students. Got a pretty good deal for it and still had a reasonably fair and complete lathe plus my students had a good learning experience in maintenance so I forgot about the other one, but it kind of followed me home..
As I've got limited space in my shop and the big and bulky cast iron base weighs in around 1000lbs (500kg) and the bed and headstock are combined in a very solid casting I decided to leave the foot in the scrap yard. Sacrificing a bit of rigidity for a little more room, besides I couldn't get it placed not even with hoists. Still have to work around the shot motor, have to figure a solution for that and make an electrical 380V output in my shop.

Luckily I found a few additional old boxes with spare parts belonging to these lathe's just after the trade. So there were some extra goodies. Including a set of brand new primary reduction change-gears for reversing the rotational direction.
Along with a life-time supply of felt wipes and some other parts.
Although not exessively worn, the bottom gear has a slightly chipped corner on one tooth, still it was replaced.
The first series had Hard-fibre gears instead of these later nylon ones of which I've also got 1 spare.

Wow, beautiful lathe. It's a true shame you couldn't buy a lathe of that quality today.

beautiful machine!

Wrong pic. and can't seem to delete it. Mods feel free to delete the post above.
Thanks for all your kind comments, I sanded and then grounded all the surfaces which should have paint. As you can clearly tell in the picture I'm not that good of a painter.. The side facing us is scraped by the way. All the bronze bearing bushes can be pressed out and are held in place with grub screws, really well designed.