Verticle Glass Lathe

[poncho]

hey came across this "verticle glass lathe" and went and checked it out but was wondering if anyone thought it would be possible to turn it in to a normal glass lathe. here's the link -- http://www.hgrinc.com/buyOurs/inventory_detail.do?sel_word=glass&sel_word_sub=&category=&sel_category=&sel_inventory_num=&sel_start_dt=&sel_end_dt=&hidMenuTab=-1&sch_word_sub=&sortBy=&sortYN=1&pageLine=10&sessionUrl_pass=N&viewMode=list&currPage=1&inventory_num=06100260013&from_url=%2FbuyOurs%2Finventory_list.do&addList=&cust_id=&sch_yn=N&buttonView=1&sel_start_price=&sel_end_price=&priceMode=

[Riley]

i've seen something like this on ebay for a while. it looks like it has a drill press on the top, and probably couldn't be adapted to have any bore or even depth behind the chucks. its funny they have it listed as a vertical glass lathe, i'd like to see what kind of glasswork it is used for.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKWELL-15-000-VERTICAL-GLASS-LATHE-/370448334240?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564070fda0

[LTD]

Drilling out 'vases'?

[poncho]

yea, i went and checked it out today and it is like 2 drill presses mounted facing eachother with a drive train that can run both at the same time, it is a cool machine none the less

[kage]

so does it have chucks at all? where does the glass go if the two drill presses are facing eachother? i really want to know what these are used for. cold working lathe? like riley, i've seen these on ebay, this thing has had me baffled for a while now.

[poncho]

i have no idea, the one chuck has this spring loaded device (bottom) that looks like it could hold just about nothing i can think of relating to glass haha and the top was equally bizzar, it has a chuck but you couldn't stick anything inside of it because it has some type of plate with a nipple with a hole in it in the middle of the chucks. I know that doesn't make much sense but i dont know how to explain that thing.

[dirtyglass]

the most common use I have heard for these machines is making basic seals when charging the tube with some type of gas, they use them in the sci industry and also to seal tv tubes when they still did that here.