Lamberthod's duplication machine

Louis Lamberthod is the inventor of a machine able to duplicate figurative pipes. This machine works on a pantograph principle.
A sensor follows the surface of a model made of metal or plaster. The motion is transmitted to countersink bits which replicate the original into 14 copies.

The pipe bowls delivered by the machine need nevertheless to have details finished. The machine was designed in the very late 19th century and was inspired from the Dalloz machine (1863). It was steadily run at least until the 1930s and it permitted to realize sometimes admirable pipes (See the Vercingetorix pipe) but also pieces with a less successful outcome (See le lion).
The workshop was situated on Emile Zola boulevard (St Claude) which has been renamed Bellevue boulevard in 1941 (!)

Lamberthod's stampings

The outstanding quality of the figurative Lamberthod pipes allowed the corporate to export on behalf of brands as important as Peterson. (See here).

Raymond Monneret bought the machine in the 1960s to try to refurbish it. He aimed at an industrial production. But it was too worn out. He had to give up his project and in 1969 he let Olivier Racine (pipemaker in Saint Claude) have it. The machine works but its age and wear reduce its usage to demonstration purposes.