08/10/2026
The crate has landed. Time for that proper introduction. ⚙️
A few days ago I left you with nothing but a wrapped-up pallet. Here's what was inside: a Lorch, Schmidt & Co. watchmaker's lathe from Frankfurt am Main, complete with its original bench, the dovetailed drawers and a whole box of accessories.
Roughly a century old. First a gunsmith in the Czech Republic, then many years in 's workshop, and now it's at home in the Watch House in Berlin. Thank you, Mark, for trusting me with it.
Lorch, Schmidt & Co. built some of the finest precision lathes of their time. Every tool rest, chuck and drawer here was made to do one job properly, and to keep doing it for decades. The brass name plates are still there, and so is the smell of old oil and oak.
Unpacking it felt a bit like Christmas, if Christmas weighed several hundred kilos and needed a pallet jack.
Will it be used? Yes.
Do I know what half of these accessories are for yet? Working on it. 😄
Any watchmakers or machinists out there who know their Lorch? Tell me which part I should learn first.
LorchSchmidt WatchmakersLathe VintageTools WatchmakingTools TraditionalWatchmaking MechanicalWatches OldTools Workshop VintageMachinery Berlin
